bookperson
Written on Jul 30, 2018
Premise was interesting but story itself wasn't interesting enough to keep me reading.
A wildly imaginative novel about a man who is reincarnated over ten thousand lifetimes to be with his one true love: Death herself.
“Tales of gods and men akin to Neil Gaiman’s Sandman as penned by a kindred spirit of Douglas Adams.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
First we live. Then we die. And then . . . we get another try?
Ten thousand tries, to be exact. Ten thousand lives to “get it right.” Answer all the Big Questions. Achieve Wisdom. And Become One with Everything.
Milo has had 9,995 chances so far and has just five more lives to earn a place in the cosmic soul. If he doesn’t make the cut, oblivion awaits. But all Milo really wants is to fall forever into the arms of Death. Or Suzie, as he calls her.
More than just Milo’s lover throughout his countless layovers in the Afterlife, Suzie is literally his reason for living—as he dives into one new existence after another, praying for the day he’ll never have to leave her side again.
But Reincarnation Blues is more than a great love story: Every journey from cradle to grave offers Milo more pieces of the great cosmic puzzle—if only he can piece them together in time to finally understand what it means to be part of something bigger than infinity. As darkly enchanting as the works of Neil Gaiman and as wisely hilarious as Kurt Vonnegut’s, Michael Poore’s Reincarnation Blues is the story of everything that makes life profound, beautiful, absurd, and heartbreaking.
Because it’s more than Milo and Suzie’s story. It’s your story, too.
Praise for Reincarnation Blues
“The most fun you’ll have reading about a man who has been killed by both catapult and car accident.”—NPR
“This book made me laugh out loud. And then a page later, it made me sob. Reminiscent of Tom Robbins and Christopher Moore, Poore finds humor in the dark absurdities of life.”—Chicago Review of Books
“Charming . . . surprisingly light and uplifting . . . It reads like a writer having fun.”—New York Journal of Books
- ISBN10 0399178503
- ISBN13 9780399178504
- Publish Date 10 July 2018 (first published 22 August 2017)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Del Rey Books
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 384
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780399178504
Reviews
Premise was interesting but story itself wasn't interesting enough to keep me reading.
Quirky Cat
Written on Aug 15, 2017
Reincarnation Blues is an enchanting tale of a soul trying to achieve perfection despite his very human flaws. I found the tone to be reminiscent of Douglas Adams’ work, and thus greatly enjoyed it (there were times where I couldn’t stop thinking of Arajag and his struggles).
Warnings first: It goes without saying really that there’s a lot of death in this book. Sometimes it’s graphic, sometimes not. Animal violence and death also occur, but at lower frequencies. One of the lives portrayed experiences rape, abuse and slavery (which life it is becomes quickly evident, if that helps).
The title is both fairly accurate and descriptive in this case, as Milo struggles to figure out how to be perfect within the maximum number of allotted lives (ten thousand, for anybody that’s curious). One would think that many attempts would be more than enough, and based on the reactions of others around him, Milo has well exceeded the average attempts it takes a soul. I think that’s the very reason Milo is so relatable – he’s so human and has human flaws, including failure (obviously).
Despite the overall upbeat tone of voice for this story, the material covered at times does make it a bit of a heavy read – after all, in order for Milo to live again he must die, and not all of his deaths are easy (to read or experience, I imagine).
When I first realized I would be reading about multiples lives of Milo, I was concerned about two things: would the constant retelling become tedious (not enough variation, covering the same thing again and again) or would they make the character too different each time? I was surprised, but very pleasantly so, by the way Poore handled things. The perspectives for Milo’s multiple lives changes starting points (usually skipping childhood, unless there’s relevant information there), starting right in on where the character’s relevant events occur (basically, showing us the reason Milo chose that life, and what he was attempting to do with it).
I particularly enjoyed Milo’s last two lives – I won’t go into excessive detail about them, as I believe they are better told in the context of the story. With so many attempts already told, Poore had to present us with final attempts that upped the ante while still being entertaining. He did so with great success, wiping away any concerns I had about the conclusion of the novel.
Up until this point I haven’t mentioned one of the important characters of the novel, Suzie (aka Death, but she doesn’t like that name, so I would advise against calling her that). I felt that Suzie was a perfect foil for Milo. The connection the two of them had with each other was both their strength and weakness. A fact that becomes more and more obvious throughout the book. I think it’s the reason I liked the two of them together so much.
I have not read anything else by Michael Poore, but if Reincarnation Blues is an example of what he comes up with in that brain of his I’m very much interested in keeping an eye on his works from now on.
For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks