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The book was used but in good condition. An unusual story that had me confused in parts! Really interesting though. Keeps you thinking
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
If a cat has nine lives, Ursula Todd, the protagonist of Kate Atkinson’s “Life After Life”, has at least thirteen. Each death (e.g. strangulation by umbilical cord at birth in 1910, drowning in the sea, falling from a roof, four deaths from influenza in 1918, gas fire poisoning and several later demises during the blitz) is followed by rebirth on 11th February 1910 and a life which differs in various ways from its predecessors. We meet a large cast of characters, including an attractive father, a less than attractive older brother who later becomes a top civil servant and many of Ursula’s friends among whom is Eva Braun who introduces her to life on the Berghof in Bavaria where she meets Adolf Hitler. The latter part of the narrative takes place in London during the blitz and the story concludes in the year 1967. For the most part Atkinson knows how to retain her reader’s attention, the story-line is highly imaginative and I thoroughly enjoyed her humorous asides (e.g. puns on “Pindar” and “Pinner”, the conclusion that “it seemed unlikely that Nietzsche had obtained anything from Pinner, least of all his beliefs” [p. 199] and the observation that a knowledge of the Classics well equips a person for a job opening and closing filing cabinet drawers [p. 302]). I am, however, slightly disappointed that no clear explanation is ever given of the metaphysical basis of “life after life”. There are occasional references to Nietzsche’s philosophy of recurrence (though nothing about the Stoics), Ursula’s doctor mentions doctrines of reincarnation (though without citing Plato) and Ursula herself offers the observation that time is a palimpsest (p. 589). Yet no one consistent ontological theory emerges, which in my view would strengthen “Life After Life”. The blitz scenes are graphically depicted and a bibliography is printed at the end of the book for readers who wish to pursue this aspect of English history. Nonetheless, because the principal figure in the story relives so many parallel scenes during the period 1940-41, this section becomes rather repetitive and tedious, e.g. the grisly fate of Lavinia Nesbit and the death of baby Emil. One further criticism is the frequent use of the ungrammatical “different to” instead of “different from” (e.g. p. 70, 316). Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
A favourite author !! good qualty condition at the right price.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Great read. thoroughly recommend., Good quality book received. Very speedy.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
A favourite author. I had lost my copy of this so this was a replacement.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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