“Replay”

My good internet buddy Mike had a blog post about a book called Replay, and made it sound interesting enough to the point that I actually added it to my Amazon wish list (of things I probably won’t spend my own money on, but sometimes would if I have some extra cash.) Anyway, one day not too long ago I went to pick up my mail and you can imagine my surprise when I found the book in the mailbox from Amazon, with the return address listing him as the buyer. What a guy, that one!!

The book was put near the top of my “to read” stack, and I was able to get through it last week sometime.

The book is classified as ’sci-fi,’ and the premise is much like Groundhog Day, but instead of a guy reliving one day over and over again, this guy relives portions of his entire life over and over again. That is, he dies at age 40-something only to wake up 20 years in the past, as a college freshman. The catch is, he remembers everything about his life up to the point that he died, so he knows everything that will happen in the next 20 years and can use that knowledge to his advantage.

The book might have seemed like a Groundhog Day rip-off, except Groundhog Day was definately not the first and only story to use that premise. In fact, Replay was published before that movie, so I read keeping in mind that at the time, Replay was a relatively fresh idea.

Anyway, you can imagine the hijinks that ensue. There are no doubt things you’d do differently in your own life if you woke up in your own past. If I woke up as a college freshman, that would mean I’d get to relive the last 7 years of my life, and sure, I’d do things differently. We make the decisions we make based on logic and the level of risk (at least, we should). Well, for at least one decision, you know for sure the level of risk, so you can alter things knowing that.

Of course, knowledge of the future leads the main character to do some other things, as well. Namely, gambling. So in his first “replay” of life he wins big, invests more, and becomes a megamillionaire. He does this in every subsequent replay of his life (and really, why wouldn’t you?)

(Next three paragraphs will spoil if you’d think you’d like to read the book).

All in all, he replays his life about four or five times. There is no explanation about why he got to relive his life, such as a “temporal anomaly” or a broken “causality loop,” but attempts are made. The biggest reveal to me was that there are other replayers, other people he meets that have been replaying their lives, and one of them tells him that it’s “the aliens” who like watching us over and over again so they distort time for certain people. This was a cool thought, and I wouldn’t have been disappointed if it ended up being the truth, but it’s never really confirmed.

The idea of others who replay their lives becomes more interesting when they realize they can meet-up after they die again, and do things over. One of the more powerful lines in the book comes when he and another replayer that he has fallen in love with have a lifetime of falling out, and meet up toward the end of that cycle and say, “Next time will be for us, I promise…” The idea that there is a next time is very attractive and you envy the characters.

The one gripe I have is that not once does he consider he might be in heaven. He immediately is confused by his predicament the first time, and sets to find out what happened, as if it all can be explained scientifically. This might sound depressing, but college was the best time of my life so far, so if I died tomorrow and woke up in my bed my freshman year of college, I might be thinking that there really is a heaven.

I also kind of feel like the character should have grown a lot wiser by the end of the story.  He has replayed his life more than four times, over twenty years each time.  He was 40 when it first started, so that’s 40 years, plus twenty, plus another twenty, plus three more twenties (give or take).  That’s at least 120 years worth of experience.  Think about how wise your grandparents are, just about life-in-general.  But this guy just seemed like he had an average 40 year old intellect all the way through.

The ultimate lesson learned is nothing else but “live one day at a time and cherish all you can when you have the chance,” but it does get your mind going about what you’d do if you were in his situation. It’s a nice fantasy and a good story and time well spent reading it, but I wouldn’t necessarily put it in my Life Changing Books category.

So, Mike, I need to return the favor. If you give me the link of your Amazon wish list, if you have one, I’ll hook you up! Otherwise maybe I can send a blind recommendation next time I read something I think you might enjoy.

Approximate Hours Spent Reading This Book: 6 hours