Book review: The Brief History of the Dead

What happens when we die? In Kevin Brockmeier's complex and somewhat disturbing novel, The Brief History of the Dead, we cross over to the city of the dead, where we remain as long as someone alive remembers us. When the last person who remembered us dies, we go on to whatever comes next, which is unknown.

The book begins by introducing us to the dead and their city. "The blind man" (the only name he's ever given) and Luka Sims are both dead, the blind man of "old age and neglect," Luka in a car accident. They remain the age they were when they died; Luka is middle-aged, but anyone who died as a child remains a child. They also take up the same occupations of their living years: kids ride skateboards; the blind man walks around the city, navigating by sound and touch; Luka was a newspaper man, so he prints a paper.

Luka talks to the recent arrivals to discover news of the living world, which is some unspecified time in our not-too-distant future. Back on earth, we are introduced to Laura Byrd, a scientist who works for the ubiquitous Coca-Cola company and has been sent on a mission to Antarctica. The company has recently bought the South Pole and is trying to figure out how to purify the water from the melting ice cap.

The story moves back and forth from the living world of Laura to the city of the dead, where the focus shifts among different inhabitants. We learn much about how the recent dead spend their time. They do many usual things, like go to work or out to eat. Some do things they weren't doing in life, like falling in love for the first time, or falling back in love. The big difference between life and the city of the dead is the lack of physical change. No one gets older, no children are born.

We learn a lot about Laura, too -- her first love, her best friend in third grade, a million little details that stick in the brain of any one person. We follow her on a trek across the Antarctic ice, with its heroic triumphs and travails.

As the chapters pass, the parallel tracks of the narrative slowly convergence. As the dead piece together what is happening in the land of the living, we pick up clues of why the story follows Laura so closely, but it's only clear at the end exactly where the lines converge.

While the main characters feel real enough, and we are reliably returned to Laura's story after visiting the city, the author's gaze does not fall steadily on any one of the dead. The resulting change of voice can be disorienting and makes the connections harder to follow. "Was that someone mentioned three chapters back?"” the reader may wonder, and not be sure.

Laura, although a main character, is not entirely realized. There are some good reasons for this, essential to the construction of the narrative. But the author spent a ton of time on her travels, including much detail he garnered from reading true accounts of Antarctic expeditions. We learn enough about Laura to root for her, but it would have been nice to get more. She's courageous, yes, but why? What motivates her? The story could do with more of Laura's past and less ice.

The Coca-Cola company is a character in itself and speaks volumes of what the author thinks of big business. It is amusing, and then alarming, to hear what the mega-corporation is selling, especially how it is selling. The social commentary remains in the background of the story, but it adds depth and color.

This story is inventive and often insightful, but I was happy to leave it in the end. As the tracks of the story converged, the horizon and hope shrank, so what started out as fascinating and interesting ended up being horrifying and depressing. I must admit, however, that since I finished The Brief History of the Dead, I have thought about the people I remember a lot more.

Cross-posted to Blogcritics.org.

Essay: The Cable Guy

We got a new, high-definition TV using our credit-card flyer miles. My DH (dear husband), who has in the past resisted anything advanced in channel-selection, wanted a cable box that would allow us to get HD broadcasts (why have an HD TV is you can't get HD?). So, he went over to the local cable office and got a box.

Not surprisingly, we couldn't get it to work. (We had to go back the office once because they forgot to give us a power cord.) I called the cable people for help, but their systems were too slow and I hung up. DH called them, and they "pinged" our box, but it didn't help. We tried different configurations (we have at least 4 sets of directions, none of which match our equipment exactly). We decided to have a service call set up. DH tried but was disgusted he'd have to wait all day for them to show up. When I called, they gave me a two-hour window, but a week-and-a-half away. Fine.

The bill came in the mail, and they were charging a lot more than we thought. I called them again, waited again for their slow systems, was swapped around because the person who answered the phone was having a problem with her computer. I finally figured out what the charges meant, and they promised they'd credit our account for the weeks we've been without the service.

The day arrived for the service call. I was told it would be between 1 and 3 p.m., so I made sure I was home by 12:45. I found a message on my answering machine left by the cable company an hour before; they were calling to see if I still needed service. If I got the message, I should call the toll-free number.

Hunh, I thought to myself. I almost ignored the call, because I couldn't understand the whole phone number in the message. But I was a good doobee, and looked it up on the Internet. Calling it dropped me into the automated system, press-one-for-this, two-for-that. I finally got to the point where I could request a person, and was put on hold.

I was on hold for probably ten minutes. When the call was finally answered, I told them my info and why I had called (because they had asked me to). They girl didn't have the right system, she'd have to transfer me to someone else. Back on hold. Next girl picks up, "What can I do for you?" I had to tell my story all over again. Grr. She says, "Let me look that up for you," and puts me on hold again. "I don't see a call scheduled for today," she says. "It's been rescheduled."

WHAT?! I hit the roof. The pitch of my voice rose. "This is ridiculous!" I said. "I'm going to quit cable if this isn't resolved today." "Ok, let me put you back on hold." She comes back with the answer they will try to call again, if I'm not home, then they'll reschedule. "I'm on the phone, I might be missing the call," I say. She tries to get me off the phone, and I try to tell her to let someone know how mad I am. She finally snapped, "I'm in Kansas, and I can't control what your dispatcher does!" She says she'll make a note of my irateness. I hang up, feeling like I've been through a fist fight.

A few minutes later, the phone rings, and the nice local guy calls. "We're going through a transition," he says. The Kansas call center is new. I say they ought not tell people to call Kansas to talk about local service calls, a suggestion I'm sure fell on deaf ears.

About 15 minutes after all the hubbub, the technician showed up. He was very nice and polite. He kept coming in and out, bringing in new cables and equipment. He went in the basement, he went outside. It took him an hour, but he finally got it going. The cable was a mess, he said, but the company had also neglected to remove the block.

Thirty minutes before the technician arrived, I was ready to kick out cable and get DirecTV. Now, since it works, I don't dare change a thing.