The Brief History of the Dead

Ok, I leant out my copy of this novel to the slowest reader in the history of the world and have not gotten it back yet, so bear with me on this review. When I get the novel back I promise to come back here and put a little more "meat on the bones" of this review, but since I requested this novel be added to the site I feel obligated to give the reader something. Don't you hate it when a novel is given a low star review, but there is no reason given as to why it got so few stars? I do, and so here goes.

What if when a person dies they go to another version of the world and continue their existence as long as someone still living remembers them? This is the premise behind The Brief History of The Dead by Kevin Brockmeir.

The first chapter of this novel was a revelation. It is so beautifully written, it almost drove me to tears. I later found out that this chapter was originally a short story that Mr. Brockmeir turned into a full length novel. I really really, really wish I had only read that first chapter because than my opinion of the story would be so much more positive. The problem with this novel is that as you expand the story, more and more questions started to arise in my mind and what I originally read as a blissful dream became an ever expanding nightmare.

The concept is that as long as a living person remembers you, that after death you continue to exist in another reality of Earth. When the last person who remembers you dies, you cease to exist on this other realm also. But the further I got into the novel the worse and worse that sounded. The dead still have to work so they can earn money to "live" in this other realm. WTF? When I die I sure do not want to continue to work. I expect to "lay down my burdens" and sit at the right hand of Jesus at the table. I do not expect Jesus to hand me a check at the end of the meal!