Back in December 2012, I wrote a review on a feel-good novel about dying. That novel was ‘Don’t Tell Anyone’, by Laurie Boris, and it’s still one of my favourite stories, but today’s novel comes a close second. It’s all about being dead.
‘The Ups and Downs of Being Dead’ was written by M.R. Cornelius, and is a hard novel to categorize. Part science fiction, part ghost story and part love story, it fuses all three categories into a seamless whole because the core theme is about personal growth.
Confused you yet? I thought so. Let’s go back and start at the beginning.
The story begins with the death of Robert Malone, a successful, 57 year old businessman. As Robert detaches from his body, he sees the cryonics team get to work preparing his corpse for freezing. But there is one slight problem. Robert was not supposed to be awake to see any of this. He assumed he would die and wake up decades later, when technology was sufficiently advanced to thaw him and cure his cancer.
What is he supposed to do for the next seventy odd years while he waits for technology to catch up? As a ghost, he can’t work a computer, drink a scotch or influence the world of the living in any way. All he can do is sulk, until two ‘greeters’ take him under their wing.
Greeters are the ghosts of earlier cryonics patients who volunteer to show new arrivals the ropes. They teach Robert how to walk through walls and doors, catch buses and survive in his new, unwelcome state of ghosthood.
Maggie, a dear little-old-lady of a ghost with a will of iron, is determined to help Robert accept the possibilities of his new ‘life’. But first he has to come to terms with his old life, which was less than happy.
And so Robert’s journey begins. Along the way he discovers his wife has been unfaithful to him, and then has to stand in impotent horror as their drug addicted son shoots her. How much responsibility should Robert shoulder for the way his family has turned out?
As a woman who used to be married to a driven entrepreneur, I found myself nodding an awful lot during Robert’s soul-searching. However if ‘Ups and Downs’ had been about nothing but finger wagging, I would have lost interest very quickly. Luckily, ‘Ups and Downs’ was also incredibly funny in spots, and the love story that develops between Robert, and an ordinary ghost called Suzanne, really touched me. You see Suzanne has no body to reanimate, so when Robert is thawed, their time together will be over.
If you want to know how the story ends you’ll have to buy the book. For now I’d like to say a few things about the science fiction elements. The story spans 70 odd years so you would expect everyday consumer technology to change, and it does. The author weaves the technology into the story so cleverly that it never overshadows the characters, but it is there, and as a sci-fi buff I was delighted with some of the gadgets Cornelius comes up with. The all seems quite… plausible.
The only part of the story I thought I might have trouble with was the whole ‘ghost’ thing. I don’t believe in ghosts, at all. Yet despite my skepticism, I found myself accepting the supernatural aspects of the story without feeling uneasy. Part of the reason for that was because the author did not indulge in any metaphysical mumbo jumbo. Being a ghost was just something that happened. There are a couple of nice passages where the ghosts discuss how becoming a ghost might happen, but it is done in a natural way, as if they’re discussing a dip in the stock market, or a spate of bad weather.
And finally a word about that character development/personal growth I mentioned. There were a couple of small areas where the author could have been a tiny bit more subtle, but overall, Robert’s growth over the decades of waiting feels right. And makes the ending such a pleasurable, uplifting climax to the story.
There is nothing average about ‘The Ups and Downs of Being Dead’. In fact I’d call it a must-read for anyone who is sick of the same, tired old themes. I loved it. 😀
cheers
Meeks
February 4th, 2013 at 12:04 pm
I have added it to my reading list. Thanks.
Good science fiction can be really hard to write, because the author needs to make the reader feel that he/she is part of a world created by the author. For example, I get annoyed by stories set in a future Earth that only reference our known history. The good ones have created a history between now and when the story is set, and assumes that the reader is familiar with an event in that time.
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February 4th, 2013 at 8:11 pm
Agree completely. One of my favourite sci-fi authors is C.J.Cherryh. Her novel Cyteen won a Hugo and builds upon both future tech and hundreds of years of history during the diasporia. And then she weaves a story about how human culture and attitudes change in response to the long term changes in their world[s].
lol – sorry, I’ll stop babbling now.
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February 4th, 2013 at 1:58 am
This looks really good. Thank you! (adds to TBR list)
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February 4th, 2013 at 8:28 am
Welcome Laurie. 🙂 Another gem to add to the collection methinks.
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February 4th, 2013 at 1:56 am
It can be difficult to come up with original story lines, but this writer seems to have done it. Great title, too.
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February 4th, 2013 at 8:27 am
Yeah. 🙂 I think I was most impressed with the cross genre integration. I love stories that jump out of the box without bashing you around the head with it.
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February 3rd, 2013 at 11:23 pm
wow…i want this book 🙂
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February 4th, 2013 at 8:24 am
-grin- I think you’ll like it.
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February 5th, 2013 at 3:24 am
Guess what…i completed Jane Doe last night…i know there is hell of editing and proofreading left but my story is finished,,…and you my friend were the biggest push…Meeka thankyou 😀
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February 5th, 2013 at 1:33 pm
Oh Little I’m so thrilled for you! You’ve done it girl. 🙂 The first, and biggest step is finished. Lots more steps to go but you are now on your way to being published. -hugs- Congratulations!
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February 6th, 2013 at 5:48 am
thankyouuu…even if it doesnt get published the very fact that i finished it makes me happy..and i rem when i almost gave up… Meeka thankyou so so much!! 😀
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February 6th, 2013 at 9:34 am
I remember the incredible feeling of accomplishment when I first wrote ‘the end’ on Vokhtah. I felt as if I was on cloud 9.
It wasn’t the Vokhtah I ended up publishing almost 9 years later but the important bits remained the same through all the restructuring and editing.
This is something no-one can take away from you. And if you do publish [which I hope you do] that story will be around forever. That spells immortality to me. 😀
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February 3rd, 2013 at 8:23 pm
It sounds so good I just put it on my kindle 🙂 Thanks!
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February 3rd, 2013 at 9:39 pm
lol – fantastic! You won’t be disappointed. 🙂
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February 3rd, 2013 at 6:34 pm
Knowing you enjoyed the book despite your scepticism , and knowing you can still do a great review on a book where you don’t agree with the basic premise tells me how well written it must be. I shall make this a ‘Want to Read’.and I don’t doubt it will be as good as you say. Nicely done.
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February 3rd, 2013 at 7:36 pm
I think you’ll enjoy. If you do read it I’d love to know what you think of it. 🙂
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February 3rd, 2013 at 5:28 pm
Sounds like an original take on the theme!
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February 3rd, 2013 at 6:09 pm
It is. I was prepared for the worst but ended up enjoying it immensely.
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