Sunday, September 8, 2013

After Life........

Here is the promised follow up to my original post about this book. I finished it last week and I still don't know what I think of it.  It continues to get rave reviews but overall it left me somewhat disenchanted.  I greatly admire Atkinson's writing and the concept of the story but it was just so hard to listen to parts of the story over and over again.  At times it was a case of "enough already!"  The stories within the stories were often based on occurrences that you were already entirely familiar with.  There was just a small twist to the section that brought about a different ending. It got more than a bit tedious toward the end.

The author does attempt to tie things together in the final chapter.  She hints at a reason for there being a "life after life" but there's no real resolution.  Can you say "reincarnation?" Can you really rely on that final chapter?  Can you pick your own ending? 

In reading over my reaction to the book, I feel like I tried as hard as I could to love this book, like so many others. I just couldn't.  Am I glad I finished it?  You bet.  Will I read another Atkinson novel?  You bet. Will it be on a lot of "best of 2013" lists?  You bet.

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