Hello, Stranger.
Let's talk about Ken Grimwood's Replay.
The Short of It
Plot: Jeff Winston dies of a heart attack and returns as his younger self. What would you do with a second chance?
Page Count: 311
Award: 1988 World Fantasy Award
Worth a read: No.
Primary Driver: (Plot, World, or Character)
Bechdel Test: Fail
Technobabble: Minimal to none.
Review: The most generic possible take on (de facto) time travel. Dislikable protagonist doing the blandest and most predictable possible things. If you've read anything similar, you know every single beat of this story. Unremarkable writing. Slow pacing. Completely underwhelming.
The Medium of It
Spoiler Free!
This book is not terrible. There's just no reason to read it.
I pull all of my book covers from Goodreads - it's a good way of finding early editions. And, of course, I look at other reviews that people put up. Not to change my own, of course, but out of curiosity. So color me surprised when I see that this thing has better than four stars from more than 30,000 people. Hot diggity dog! They love it! Am I J. Jonah Jameson? Does everyone get it but me?
No. No, they're wrong.
An astonishing portion of the positive reviews for this book are people reflecting on the concept - second chances. This is fair. The redeeming quality of this book is that it does indeed raise the question: if you could live your life back through, what would you change?
It's a good question. Would you stay with that first person you dated? What about that friend who you learned, years later, was interested in you? Should have stuck with that internship and then worked elsewhere!
That, however, is just the idea. That's what a short story is for. To raise the issue, to offer consideration, to contemplate.
This book does not deliver on that idea. I mean, wow does it not. Discussing that further goes into spoiler territory, so this non-spoiler section ends here.
The Long of It
Spoilers Ahead!
I was on the phone with my father and he asked for an update on the reading project.
"I just finished a book. It's time travel - a guy reliving his own life over and over. What do you think happens?"
"Uh, stocks and sex?"
"You left out betting. And thwarting the Kennedy assassination."
"Someone else still makes it happen, correct?"
"Of course."
"Are they alone or do they look for others like them?"
"That's also a plot point."
He had never read this book - and never even heard of it. And still knocked it out of the park. It's just so... bland. The only thing he missed was that for one life, Jeff and Pamela ("Replayer") try to gain attention, and are tortured for information about the future. But that's also pretty standard play...
It's The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August but without a good gimmick. Back to the Future without the humor. And without either of those, it just drags. It gets exhausting to just read about someone being rich and getting laid. Why is this happening to them? Because. How many others are there? Some. Why does it speed up? Also because, for reasons.
Read a better time travel story.
Live a life worth repeating, Stranger!
And don't forget to read a book.
This is one of my favorite all time books. So bummed you thought it was cookie cutter story :(
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