A review by jenbsbooks
The Postmortal by Drew Magary
dark
3.5
This one is a little tough to rate. I liked it fine. Great premise (a medical fix that halts aging. Not immortality per se ... you can still die from sickness, injury, accident, murder, but not old age). I think that's what I liked best about it, the possible discussion points. Could be good for a book club, even though the story itself is a little lacking. I picked up this one because my son did. I like to read what he's reading ... as mentioned, discussion (and he had brought this one one recognizing the many points to ponder and talk about).
I went with the audio edition - and I'll admit, the narrator threw me off a little. Personal problem, I recognized the voice from [book:The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver|31286995] - and definitely had that character in my head still.
There's a little "intro" ... in the Kindle copy, there's not even a link to it (A Note About the Text) ... after the epigraph, before the first section. It's absolutely part of the novel, not just a note. Some Kindle readers might miss it if they started the first chapter using the table of contents. Dated in the year 2093, this introduction to the text tells us that an old device with text files had been discovered. These were journal entries, or written as blog posts, that the writer had used "LifeRecorder" to preserve and transcribe interactions. Now I realize this might be considered sacrilegious to make any comparison to The Diary of Anne Frank, but this does have a similar (if fictionalized for a sci-fi future) feel. At some point in the future, a manuscript discovered, detailing a time of turmoil and trauma, has been discovered and is now being made available to the public to shed light on the time. Ironically, Anne Frank is alluded to at one point also ... "so what, I have to go hide in an attic for the rest of my life? Keep a diary?"
It's easy to see why it might have been thought these had been prepared as "blog posts" ... catchy title headers, ending with a "date modified" ... I rather wish the date had been included at the start (as would be for a diary, or blog posts). Definitely with the feel of being written to be read by others. Dialog included (which doesn't fit a diary entry much to me ... although all the "diary" books I've read have dialog, even though my personal diary of 40+ years has hardly any, and any that is included is just mid paragraph, not formatted like novels do). Also included are other articles (seems like there could be some copyright issues if this WAS a blog! *Ü*
It was a little hard to follow - no numerical chapters listed, but the heading were quite memorable (#4 said he lost his place at one point, but did remember the chapter heading and was able to find his spot again). An early "chapter" it titled "I'm Always Gonna Get My Period" ... and to have that read in a male voice threw me a bit (but it was our MC, referring to a conversation with his female roomate).
This ^ ... always getting your period (if women don't age and go through menopause) is just ONE of the many issues brought up in a world were people don't age. Another header ... "You realize you can never retire now, right?" ... because again, retirement is age related. Another tantalizing title ... "They're All Getting Divorced" .... our MC is a lawyer, and it's recommended he get out of estate law (as death is being delayed) and into divorce law, as while people promise "as long as we both shall live" that is based on the thought that life is limited ... add in unlimited years, and that takes on new meaning. Marriage takes on new meaning (literally here, as there are new marriage contracts to last a set number of years, a set end date that can be renewed if desired, dissolved if not).
In addition to such issues ... is the "cure" itself. Should it be legal, should it be easy. What are the restrictions (age, minimum/maximum age) ... you just KNOW it will be abused (What Do We Do With Baby Emilia?) Young women in the sex trade forced to halt their aging. Russia requiring young military men to get the cure. There are protests for and against the cure. Overpopulation.
The book is divided into four sections: (1) Prohibition/June2019 (2) Spread/June2019 (3)Saturation/March2059 (4) Correction/June2079
Obviously overpopulation will become an issue - our MC becomes an "End Specialist" who assists those who decide it is time to die. Basically legally assisted suicide, it's encouraged ... and then moves beyond that (requirements, more murder).
I think the basic premise will stick with me ... but the story itself was disjointed and hard to follow. You didn't really get to know characters, enough to care about them, to track a timeline and be able to give a recap of the actual events in the book.
Content: There was proFanity (x65), sex and violence/death.
I went with the audio edition - and I'll admit, the narrator threw me off a little. Personal problem, I recognized the voice from [book:The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver|31286995] - and definitely had that character in my head still.
There's a little "intro" ... in the Kindle copy, there's not even a link to it (A Note About the Text) ... after the epigraph, before the first section. It's absolutely part of the novel, not just a note. Some Kindle readers might miss it if they started the first chapter using the table of contents. Dated in the year 2093, this introduction to the text tells us that an old device with text files had been discovered. These were journal entries, or written as blog posts, that the writer had used "LifeRecorder" to preserve and transcribe interactions. Now I realize this might be considered sacrilegious to make any comparison to The Diary of Anne Frank, but this does have a similar (if fictionalized for a sci-fi future) feel. At some point in the future, a manuscript discovered, detailing a time of turmoil and trauma, has been discovered and is now being made available to the public to shed light on the time. Ironically, Anne Frank is alluded to at one point also ... "so what, I have to go hide in an attic for the rest of my life? Keep a diary?"
It's easy to see why it might have been thought these had been prepared as "blog posts" ... catchy title headers, ending with a "date modified" ... I rather wish the date had been included at the start (as would be for a diary, or blog posts). Definitely with the feel of being written to be read by others. Dialog included (which doesn't fit a diary entry much to me ... although all the "diary" books I've read have dialog, even though my personal diary of 40+ years has hardly any, and any that is included is just mid paragraph, not formatted like novels do). Also included are other articles (seems like there could be some copyright issues if this WAS a blog! *Ü*
It was a little hard to follow - no numerical chapters listed, but the heading were quite memorable (#4 said he lost his place at one point, but did remember the chapter heading and was able to find his spot again). An early "chapter" it titled "I'm Always Gonna Get My Period" ... and to have that read in a male voice threw me a bit (but it was our MC, referring to a conversation with his female roomate).
This ^ ... always getting your period (if women don't age and go through menopause) is just ONE of the many issues brought up in a world were people don't age. Another header ... "You realize you can never retire now, right?" ... because again, retirement is age related. Another tantalizing title ... "They're All Getting Divorced" .... our MC is a lawyer, and it's recommended he get out of estate law (as death is being delayed) and into divorce law, as while people promise "as long as we both shall live" that is based on the thought that life is limited ... add in unlimited years, and that takes on new meaning. Marriage takes on new meaning (literally here, as there are new marriage contracts to last a set number of years, a set end date that can be renewed if desired, dissolved if not).
In addition to such issues ... is the "cure" itself. Should it be legal, should it be easy. What are the restrictions (age, minimum/maximum age) ... you just KNOW it will be abused (What Do We Do With Baby Emilia?) Young women in the sex trade forced to halt their aging. Russia requiring young military men to get the cure. There are protests for and against the cure. Overpopulation.
The book is divided into four sections: (1) Prohibition/June2019 (2) Spread/June2019 (3)Saturation/March2059 (4) Correction/June2079
Obviously overpopulation will become an issue - our MC becomes an "End Specialist" who assists those who decide it is time to die. Basically legally assisted suicide, it's encouraged ... and then moves beyond that (requirements, more murder).
I think the basic premise will stick with me ... but the story itself was disjointed and hard to follow. You didn't really get to know characters, enough to care about them, to track a timeline and be able to give a recap of the actual events in the book.
Content: There was proFanity (x65), sex and violence/death.