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The Brief History of the Dead

7 Ratings: 2.0
A book by Kevin Brockmeier

Starred Review.A deadly virus has spread rapidly across Earth, effectively cutting off wildlife specialist Laura Byrd at her crippled Antarctica research station from the rest of the world. Meanwhile, the planet's dead populate "the city," … see full wiki

Author: Kevin Brockmeier
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Vintage
6 reviews about The Brief History of the Dead
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review by . July 10, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Just when you thought there were no more original ideas left in literature, Brockmeier comes up with this brilliant novel, A Brief History of the Dead.      The City is inhabited by the dead, who remain there as long as someone on earth still remembers them. Certainly this ensures that with all of our many connections, there will always be residents inside The City, unless of course something tragic should occur. The story goes back and forth between the residents of The City …
review by . June 04, 2009
This book grabbed me and pulled me in. The story idea is a great one and kept me reading it. The writing style is lyrical, so much so that I looked up to see 2 hours had passed me by without me even noticing. I truly got lost in this book.    This was end of the world meets end of life meets end of a journey. It is definitely a book that will make you think, will make you question yourself, and probably more importantly, will make you question the world around you.    It …
review by . November 08, 2007
I picked up this book based on recommendations and good reviews that were posted here. I was greatly disappointed. I had a lot of difficulty I getting through this book which seemed like a poor imitation of Richard Matheson's "What Dreams May Come." The author of this book must have read that book first to get his ideas for this book but he did a poor job of trying to put a different spin about places beyond death. I suggest reading Matheson's book instead which is excellent!
review by . July 16, 2007
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
What if there is a middle stage between death and the afterlife, where the dead go and "live" as long as people who are still alive remember them? After that, they "disappear", and no one really knows where they go. This is the premise of this extremely well-written book, and it is fascinating reading. The plot moves ahead to a plague that seems to kill everyone on earth, except one female alone in the Antartic. Even so, there are thousands of people in the "waiting room" who must have beem remembered, …
review by . August 29, 2006
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Pros: Language and pacing      Cons: Plot      The Bottom Line: I am so neutral about this novel I can't think of a way to sum it up. Read the blurb, if you like that, then read the book, otherwise, avoid.      This novel isn’t really a thriller and doesn’t really have plot twists, but there are some tropes that make it impossible to review without explaining them. Read the blurb on Amazon and if it interests you, then don’t …
review by . May 02, 2006
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Like many who have reacted to this novel, the first chapter knocked me out. I had already read two disparate critiques in newspapers of the book that led me to seek the book out, so I knew that after the opening the initial thrill might not sustain itself. This hesitation was, after I read the novel straight through in two sittings, shown to be true. The long polar trek of Laura does borrow from the well-titled "The Worst Journey in the World," but I found these sections, after a while, rather pat …
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"Great idea, but plot & characters underdeveloped"
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