I just finished The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier.
This novel delves into the importance of Memory. Think of all of the people you encountered in your entire life, even the nameless ones. They exist in the after-life as long as we remember them. That is the premise of this novel, and a brilliant one at that.
The book packs in a lot in a mere 250 pages. This can easily be read in a weekend and it caused me to ponder. Remembering the Dead. Isn't that why I write? Who will speak for those who couldn't speak before? Millions of people died of AIDS--each of them deserves a book dedicated to their memory.
What I most enjoyed about this book is that it inspired me to write. I write regularly, but reading a book like this stirred my love of stories and characters and plotting. If you can, pick up Brockmeier's novel.
More here.
2 comments:
I had that experience recently with a couple of books, that they really make me want to write: "The Anthologist" by Nicholson Baker and "The Republic of Poetry," by Martin Espada. Wonderful to be lifted like that!
Every time I skip a writing date an angel dies?! Way to put the pressure on. :-)
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