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Title: How the Dead Live by Will Self ISBN: 0-8021-3848-9 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: 02 September, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.53 (15 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: First Time Self Reader
Comment: This is my first time reading Will Self's work and while the novel didn't have me running to check out everything else Self has written, it did leave me curious enough to explore his other works.
The story centers around Lily Bloom who dies from cancer and passes into the afterlife where one must get an apartment, attend 12 step programs and what not in order to learn how to live again if you will.
I loved the idea of Bloom being stalked/attached to one of her children who died (Rude Boy), and the Fats (all the weight she had lost/gained in life.)
However, my main problem with the novel was the fact that the characters come across as people who I couldn't sympathize with even though they were interesting. I understand Bloom's cynicism and Self's writing possess' a particular wit. The bluntness, I liked, and the character that I found most interesting was Lily's drug-addicted daughter Natalie. It came to the point where I really didn't care what happened to the characters, but I had to finish the book just to see. Maybe Self did this intentionally, but as mentioned before, this is my first time reading Self and maybe I should just get used to it.
It's a good read for the idea of such a world after death. Lily is reminded not to dwell too much into her daughter's lives after her death, and I don't want to do the same with what turned me off with this book.
Will I read Self again? Yes. But would I recommend this for a first time Self reader? No.
Rating: 5
Summary: Caustic and Poignant Post-Death Masterpiece
Comment: If you enjoy Self's surreal mindscapes and jackhammer wit, you will appreciate this addition to his literary canon. All of the Self trademarks are here: the awesome imagination, the caustic commentary and the subtle and ingenious wordplay. And, for me at least, there were several added bonuses that make this easily my favorite Will book: a fully drawn character (narrator and protagonist Lily Bloom) with whom to identify and empathize; and a certain level of authorial compassion for the character that wasn't evident in previous works like "My Idea of Fun" or "Great Apes." The result is that, as a reader, I found myself drawn to the character rather than simultaneously fascinated with and repelled by her...which is a more typical response to previous Self characters. The "plot," such as it is, is described ad nauseum here, so another summary isn't necessary. Let me just say that as a reader, I was captivated from start to finish, and find myself recalling certain bits of narrative and imagery even as I've moved on with my life and read other books. I'm actually looking forward to attaining a little bit of objective distance from this book and reading it again, maybe in a year or so, with the hope of discovering new insights and nuances I didn't catch in my first reading.
Rating: 3
Summary: Extended Afterlife
Comment: "How the Dead Live" is the story of the death and immediate afterlife of Lily Bloom, an American long-time resident in London. Lily's death leads neither to oblivion, nor heaven, nor hell, rather to a disturbing continuation of her life, albeit with differences! Death provides no escape from some of the main worries of Lily's life: the trials and tribulations of her two daughters; and other irritations such as bureaucracy.
Lily is a cynical character. Little is spared her criticism, especially England and the English. There's great fun in all of this - Lily, despite her cynicism, or perhaps because of it, becomes a sympathetic character, and many of her observations about England rang (uncomfortably) true. There's lots more to enjoy in this novel, as Self is an imaginative writer, despite the fact that for lots of the time the reader is in familiar "Self country", where Jewishness, drug culture and hospitals figure prominently.
However, I felt that at times Self was struggling to keep the plot from flagging: at various points, he abandoned the first person narrative in order to develop sub-plots centred on the private life of Lily's two daughters. It almost seemed as if Self became more interested in these sub-plots as the book develped, but he couldn't cover them by continued use of the first person narrator. The result is that, at times, the book had a patched-together, over-extended feel to it. Cutting a hundred or so pages might have made it a tighter, more enjoyable read.
G Rodgers
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Title: Cock & Bull by Will Self ISBN: 0679750924 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 April, 1994 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Quantity Theory of Insanity: Together With Five Supporting Propositions by Will Self ISBN: 0679750940 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 March, 1996 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Sweet Smell of Psychosis by Will Self, Martin Rowson ISBN: 0802136478 Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1999 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Grey Area: And Other Stories by Will Self ISBN: 0871136732 Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Dorian: An Imitation by Will Self ISBN: 0802117295 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: January, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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