Life After Life

Author: Kate Atkinson

Rating: ⭐ 2/5

Date Read: 2014/03/18

Pages: 544

One way to completely lower the stakes in a novel is to have your protagonist die, over and over again, with absolutely no consequences. I hadn’t realized this before I picked up the incredibly over-hyped novel, Life After Life, but it hit me a few chapters in. Ursula is born, and dies, and is born again, and you, dear reader, begin to care less and less. There’s no use in becoming invested in one eventuality, when you know that everything is really just a hypothetical.

Maybe a different author could have done this idea justice, but maybe not: I think the premise is fundamentally flawed. I did find myself riveted by scenes of the Blitz during WWII, but I was always frustrated when these scenes ended in death, one way or another. I didn’t feel like investing in any of the characters, because I knew that they would evaporate sooner or later, replaced by another almost-but-not-quite-identical version of themselves.

People have mentioned that, if nothing else, Atkinson’s writing style is okay. Honestly, though, it just didn’t work for me, especially (I don’t know how much of this can be considered a spoiler, because nothing in the book really happened in the book) towards the end, when it devolved into a meandering solipsistic mess. There was no true ending, just a bunch of might have beens and a bunch of snow. Anyway, the writing here is only sometimes technically proficient. I think it could have used an edit, but then again there’s no use gilding a pile of shit, and that’s what this was.

If you like the premise, do yourself a favor and just (re)watch Groundhog Day. At least that has the benefit of Bill Murray.