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Available
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Publication
Vintage (2009), Edition: 1st, 130 pages
Description
At once funny, wistful and unsettling, Sum is a dazzling exploration of unexpected afterlives--each presented as a vignette that offers a stunning lens through which to see ourselves in the here and now. In one afterlife, you may find that God is the size of a microbe and unaware of your existence. In another version, you work as a background character in other people's dreams. Or you may find that God is a married couple, or that the universe is running backward, or that you are forced to live out your afterlife with annoying versions of who you could have been. With a probing imagination and deep understanding of the human condition, acclaimed neuroscientist David Eagleman offers wonderfully imagined tales that shine a brilliant light on the here and now.… (more)
Media reviews
New Scientist
Eagleman will find Sum a hard act to follow.
This delightful, thought-provoking little collection belongs to that category of strange, unclassifiable books that will haunt the reader long after the last page has been turned.
This stunningly original book is little more than a 100 pages long. You can get through it in an hour, but you'd be mad to hurry, and you will certainly want to return to it many times. The "sum" of the title is from Descartes's "Cogito ergo sum". Its subject, as vast as the book is small, is what
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happens when the "Am" becomes "Amn't", the zero-sum game called death. In 40 luminous parables, David Eagleman offers meticulously itemised, plausibly fantastic scenarios of what the afterlife may comprise. Show Less
Nature
The best stories in Sum remind us that it is natural to want to know our place in the scheme of things. The book is a scripture of sorts, but because each myth contradicts the last, it is not a dogmatic collection.
Wall Street Journal
Yet while Mr. Eagleman squeezes from his tales a trite message about life, his many passing observations -- especially those concerning time and space -- convey sharp insights about how we think about death.
Booklist
Eagleman’s engaging mixture of dark humor, witty quips, and unsettling observations about the human psyche should engage a readership extending from New Age buffs to amateur philosophers.
Texas Monthly
Sum Is great fun--sort of a brainy parlor game in print--and a modest satire aimed at zealots who define heaven and God to serve their own ends. It is also a reminder that when it comes to our knowledge of the hereafter, we have toads of faith but not a scintilla of proof.
Publishers Weekly
Eagleman's turned out a well-executed and thought-provoking book.
User reviews
LibraryThing member jnwelch
[Sum:Forty Tales from the Afterlives] by [[David Eagleman] is a one of a kind collection of parables about what happens after you die. The title comes from Descartes' "Cogito ergo sum", I think therefore I am, and the good news is in these stories you get to keep thinking and am-ing after death. In
He comes at you from mind-opening angles. In one you get to relive your life by categories of activities, rather than sequential time, so you spend six days clipping your nails, 18 months standing in line, and so on. In another you get to choose your next incarnation, e.g. as a horse, and you'd better choose wisely. Another one that caught my fancy is his positing that we are sophisticated machines created by a stupider race to help answer their questions about life. However, they have trouble understanding how we live our lives and what our answers to high level questions mean - which then gets compared to our relationship with the sophisticated machines we have created in this life.
Each of these very short stories in an approximately 100 page paperback made me stop and think a while about its message. Eagleman's a neuroscientist, and the closest comparison I can think of to this book is physics professor [[Alan Lightman]]'s great book of short story-fables, [Einstein's Dreams], in which Einstein dreams of places where time acts differently than the way we conceive it. Here, [[Eagleman]] is able to poke humbling holes in our foibles and assumptions through his stories of what the afterlife may be.
I saw one reviewer called this a work of genius, and that fits. Thanks to Megan for recommending this one.
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one, the paradisal afterlife is equally unsatisfying to everyone: "The Communists are baffled and irritated, because they have finally achieved their perfect society, but only by the help of a God in whom they don't want to believe. The meritocrats are abashed that they're stuck in eternity in an incentiveless system with a bunch of pinkos. The conservatives have no penniless to disparage; the liberals have no downtrodden to promote." How terrible! In another the religious warring among true believers continues, which apparently is much more satisfying.He comes at you from mind-opening angles. In one you get to relive your life by categories of activities, rather than sequential time, so you spend six days clipping your nails, 18 months standing in line, and so on. In another you get to choose your next incarnation, e.g. as a horse, and you'd better choose wisely. Another one that caught my fancy is his positing that we are sophisticated machines created by a stupider race to help answer their questions about life. However, they have trouble understanding how we live our lives and what our answers to high level questions mean - which then gets compared to our relationship with the sophisticated machines we have created in this life.
Each of these very short stories in an approximately 100 page paperback made me stop and think a while about its message. Eagleman's a neuroscientist, and the closest comparison I can think of to this book is physics professor [[Alan Lightman]]'s great book of short story-fables, [Einstein's Dreams], in which Einstein dreams of places where time acts differently than the way we conceive it. Here, [[Eagleman]] is able to poke humbling holes in our foibles and assumptions through his stories of what the afterlife may be.
I saw one reviewer called this a work of genius, and that fits. Thanks to Megan for recommending this one.
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LibraryThing member detailmuse
David Eagleman’s Sum is a collection of forty 2-3-page vignettes as variations on the theme of afterlife. God is a woman, man, couple, deity, alien creature, frequent researcher, and sometimes AWOL; the afterlives are filled with reflection and purpose. Most of the vignettes finish with a twist
They’re extraordinarily imaginative, reminiscent of the mind-bending variations on the theme of time in Alan Lightman’s Einstein’s Dreams. Whereas Lightman’s vignettes combine into a narrative, each of these stands alone. They accumulate into something like a small bag of M&Ms -- delightful one by one or as a handful, but growing into sameness if you gobble up the whole bag.
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that opens them up and turns them into cautionary tales -- the afterlife as mirror to the lived life. They prompt an appreciation for life and inspire a more mindfully lived life.They’re extraordinarily imaginative, reminiscent of the mind-bending variations on the theme of time in Alan Lightman’s Einstein’s Dreams. Whereas Lightman’s vignettes combine into a narrative, each of these stands alone. They accumulate into something like a small bag of M&Ms -- delightful one by one or as a handful, but growing into sameness if you gobble up the whole bag.
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LibraryThing member Jenners26
What a strange and wondrous little book this is! The concept is very easy to describe―neuroscientist David Eagleman imagines 40 different possible afterlives―but the details and scenarios that Eagleman imagines are delightfully inventive. Each afterlife is described in a just a few pages, but
From Sum: “In the afterlife you relive all your experiences, but this time with the events reshuffled into a new order: all the moments that share a quality are grouped together. You spend two months driving the street in front of your house, seven months having sex. You sleep for thirty years without opening your eyes. For five months straight you flip through magazines while sitting on a toilet.”
From Circle of Friends: “When you die, you feel as though there were some subtle change, but everything looks approximately the same. You get up and brush your teeth. You kiss your spouse and kids and leave for the office. There is less traffic than normal. The rest of your building seems less full, as though it’s a holiday. But everyone in your office is here, and they greet you kindly. You feel strangely popular. Everyone you run into is someone you know. At some point, it dawns on you that this is the afterlife: the world is only made up of people you’ve met before.”
From The Cast: “…But it turns out you missed the mark. It is not life that is a dream; it is death that is a dream. Stranger still, it is not your dream; it is someone elses’s. You now recall that your dreams always had background characters: the crowds in the restaurant, the knots of people in the malls and schoolyards, the other drivers on the road and the jaywalking pedestrians. Those actors don’t come from nowhere. We stand in the background, playing our part, allowing the experience to feel real for the dreamer…This is not a job choice but indenture: you owe the same number of hours of services as you spent dreaming during your lifetime.”
From Metamorphosis: “There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment sometime in the future, when you name is spoken for the last time. So you wait in this lobby until the third death….”
From Subjunctive: “In the afterlife, you are judged not against other people, but against yourself. Specifically, you are judged against what you could have been. So the afterworld is much like the present world, but it now includes all the yous that could have been.”
Eagleman isn’t afraid to play with the concept of God either. In one scenario, God is a microbe completely unaware of our existence. In another, God is a married couple. In still another, we discover that our Creators are “… a species of small, dim-witted, obtuse creatures.” In other scenarios, God doesn’t exist at all; the afterlife is run by Technicians or Cartographers or Collectors.
I just loved this book! It was so imaginative and quirky and odd. I couldn’t wait to read the next idea that Eagleman had dreamed up. Eagleman’s writing is simple and precise, but the concepts that he describes are so diverse―an intoxicating mixture of the odd, mundane, ridiculous, comforting, inspiring, humorous and sad―that I never knew what was coming next.
I’m quite sure this book isn’t for everyone. If you’re pretty set in your ideas of what God is like and what the afterlife will be, I’m sure you may find this book bordering on sacrilege. For others, this book will be what I imagine Eagleman intended it to be: a mind-trip into a time and place that none of us really understand or know. Consider it fantasy or science fiction … but consider reading it if what I’ve described appeals to your sense of curiosity or whimsy.
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Eagleman’s ideas are so odd and fascinating that you feel like taking a moment after each one to ponder what you’ve just read. After all, we’re not talking angels and harps here! Probably the best way to give you a feel for the book is to excerpt just a few of the concepts that Eagleman throws out there.From Sum: “In the afterlife you relive all your experiences, but this time with the events reshuffled into a new order: all the moments that share a quality are grouped together. You spend two months driving the street in front of your house, seven months having sex. You sleep for thirty years without opening your eyes. For five months straight you flip through magazines while sitting on a toilet.”
From Circle of Friends: “When you die, you feel as though there were some subtle change, but everything looks approximately the same. You get up and brush your teeth. You kiss your spouse and kids and leave for the office. There is less traffic than normal. The rest of your building seems less full, as though it’s a holiday. But everyone in your office is here, and they greet you kindly. You feel strangely popular. Everyone you run into is someone you know. At some point, it dawns on you that this is the afterlife: the world is only made up of people you’ve met before.”
From The Cast: “…But it turns out you missed the mark. It is not life that is a dream; it is death that is a dream. Stranger still, it is not your dream; it is someone elses’s. You now recall that your dreams always had background characters: the crowds in the restaurant, the knots of people in the malls and schoolyards, the other drivers on the road and the jaywalking pedestrians. Those actors don’t come from nowhere. We stand in the background, playing our part, allowing the experience to feel real for the dreamer…This is not a job choice but indenture: you owe the same number of hours of services as you spent dreaming during your lifetime.”
From Metamorphosis: “There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment sometime in the future, when you name is spoken for the last time. So you wait in this lobby until the third death….”
From Subjunctive: “In the afterlife, you are judged not against other people, but against yourself. Specifically, you are judged against what you could have been. So the afterworld is much like the present world, but it now includes all the yous that could have been.”
Eagleman isn’t afraid to play with the concept of God either. In one scenario, God is a microbe completely unaware of our existence. In another, God is a married couple. In still another, we discover that our Creators are “… a species of small, dim-witted, obtuse creatures.” In other scenarios, God doesn’t exist at all; the afterlife is run by Technicians or Cartographers or Collectors.
I just loved this book! It was so imaginative and quirky and odd. I couldn’t wait to read the next idea that Eagleman had dreamed up. Eagleman’s writing is simple and precise, but the concepts that he describes are so diverse―an intoxicating mixture of the odd, mundane, ridiculous, comforting, inspiring, humorous and sad―that I never knew what was coming next.
I’m quite sure this book isn’t for everyone. If you’re pretty set in your ideas of what God is like and what the afterlife will be, I’m sure you may find this book bordering on sacrilege. For others, this book will be what I imagine Eagleman intended it to be: a mind-trip into a time and place that none of us really understand or know. Consider it fantasy or science fiction … but consider reading it if what I’ve described appeals to your sense of curiosity or whimsy.
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LibraryThing member LovingLit
What a find! I picked it up because of the cover (wow) and kept it because of the quote from Brian Eno on the cover saying how wonderfully original it is. It is a collection of forty short, and I mean short, stories. Stories are 2 or 3 pages long, more like extended statements really. Each one
The stories are fantastical and in some cases seem to be inspired by drug-taking or being mentally ill- but in a good way! They mess with your head and get to approach things from some very odd angles. This book has a very "life is not what it seems" theme to it.
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starts with something like "In the afterlife, you....." and goes on to elaborate on an idea about what happens when you are dead.The stories are fantastical and in some cases seem to be inspired by drug-taking or being mentally ill- but in a good way! They mess with your head and get to approach things from some very odd angles. This book has a very "life is not what it seems" theme to it.
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LibraryThing member clfisha
40 perfectly formed stories, exuberantly exploring the "what if" of our afterlife’s. Each exceedingly short tale (2-3 pages) not only contains a gem of an idea and is beautifully written but manages to twist and turn in wonderfully surprising ways. Not just a cool premise but a brief exploration
Written by neuroscientist David Eagleman to fit into his idea of "Possibilianism", straddled between fundamental atheism and religious belief.."with Possibilianism I'm hoping to define a new position — one that emphasizes the exploration of new,
unconsidered possibilities. Possibilianism is comfortable holding multiple ideas in mind; it is not interested in committing to any particular story"
You don’t have to care a jot for the reason behind the book, you can take joy in the stories. Only a strict fundamentalist could be offended, there are gods and a God, there are aliens, secret masters, robots and well just us.
It’s hard to pick a favourite but to give you a flavour (skip to the next paragraph if you want no idea spoilers) I loved the delicious view that in heaven God venerates Mary Shelley because he understands Dr Frankenstein and shuddered at the thought of an eternity where we live with all possible versions of us, so we always compare ourselves against the ones who did better & loathe the ones who failed.
Highly recommended to everyone, It is a joyful celebration of us and our imaginations and our ability to spin yarns.
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of it, of what this idea could really mean.Written by neuroscientist David Eagleman to fit into his idea of "Possibilianism", straddled between fundamental atheism and religious belief.."with Possibilianism I'm hoping to define a new position — one that emphasizes the exploration of new,
unconsidered possibilities. Possibilianism is comfortable holding multiple ideas in mind; it is not interested in committing to any particular story"
You don’t have to care a jot for the reason behind the book, you can take joy in the stories. Only a strict fundamentalist could be offended, there are gods and a God, there are aliens, secret masters, robots and well just us.
It’s hard to pick a favourite but to give you a flavour (skip to the next paragraph if you want no idea spoilers) I loved the delicious view that in heaven God venerates Mary Shelley because he understands Dr Frankenstein and shuddered at the thought of an eternity where we live with all possible versions of us, so we always compare ourselves against the ones who did better & loathe the ones who failed.
Highly recommended to everyone, It is a joyful celebration of us and our imaginations and our ability to spin yarns.
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LibraryThing member AlRiske
David Eagleman's Sum is the most surprising, delightful, and thought-provoking book I've read in a long, long time.
In its far-flung flights of imagination, it reminds me of Einstein's Dreams, by Alan Lightman (who is quoted on the back cover). Instead of concepts about time, though, the subject of
What I like most, I think, is that many of the forty possible afterlives Eagleman dreams up turn out to be lessons in unintended consequences. For us and for God.
In its far-flung flights of imagination, it reminds me of Einstein's Dreams, by Alan Lightman (who is quoted on the back cover). Instead of concepts about time, though, the subject of
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Sum is the afterlife.What I like most, I think, is that many of the forty possible afterlives Eagleman dreams up turn out to be lessons in unintended consequences. For us and for God.
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LibraryThing member wandering_star
This is a book of 40 very short episodes (most are two or three pages), each one of which posits a different afterlife.
There are some common themes which crop up in multiple stories - creators, in one form or another, baffled by their human creations; the tiny scale of human existence (a bit like
This could have meant that the stories were too repetitive, but I think the book is saved from that by some of the other overarching themes: the dramatic contrast between the theoretical capacity of the human body, mind and emotions and what we actually do with them, which leaves you with a smile on your face - and the interconnectedness of humanity and the incomprehensible importance of love, which makes that smile a warm one.
Sample sentence: After some questioning, you discover that God's favourite book is Shelley's [Frankenstein]. He sits up at night with a worn copy of the book clutched in His mighty hands, alternately reading the book and staring reflectively into the night sky.
There are some common themes which crop up in multiple stories - creators, in one form or another, baffled by their human creations; the tiny scale of human existence (a bit like
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the machine in [Hitchhiker] which drove people mad by showing them their true place in the universe); or paradoxical situations where what seems like paradise is actually hell - such as the world where God gives the sinners eternal life, because he is so bored by it that he feels that nothing could be a greater reward than oblivion. This could have meant that the stories were too repetitive, but I think the book is saved from that by some of the other overarching themes: the dramatic contrast between the theoretical capacity of the human body, mind and emotions and what we actually do with them, which leaves you with a smile on your face - and the interconnectedness of humanity and the incomprehensible importance of love, which makes that smile a warm one.
Sample sentence: After some questioning, you discover that God's favourite book is Shelley's [Frankenstein]. He sits up at night with a worn copy of the book clutched in His mighty hands, alternately reading the book and staring reflectively into the night sky.
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LibraryThing member jvalka
Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman is very short, the kind of book that could be read from start to finish in a single afternoon. The forty tales all qualify as “flash fiction,” most of them only three or four pages in length. I think it would be a great mistake though to
In terms of the writing style, "Sum" closely resembles "Einstein’s Dreams" by Alan Lightman, another collection of very short stories that muses upon grand metaphysical ideas. Like Alan Lightman, David Eagleman is also a scientist, and both writers have a gleeful flair for the surreal and wondrous. Italo Calvino’s "Invisible Cities" is the grandaddy of both "Einstein’s Dreams" and "Sum." Barry Yourgrau has also done very well with this kind of short-short magical realism, and it’s the kind of thing I myself tried to write in "Dragonfly Heart."
One of my favorite stories in Sum was “Mary,” and I feel that I must share a bit of it here. The author writes:
"When you arrive in the afterlife, you find that Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley sits on a throne. She is cared for and protected by a covey of angels. After some questioning, you discover that God’s favorite book is Shelley’s Frankenstein. He sits up at night with a worn copy of the book clutched in His mighty hands, alternately reading the book and staring reflectively into the night sky."
Here’s another great bit from “Impulse:”
"Just as there is no afterlife for a computer chip, there is none for us: we are, after all, the same thing. Humans are the small, networked units of hardware running a massive and unseen software program, the product of three cosmic Programmers."
In “Will-o’-the-Wisp” souls of the departed watch life continue down on earth, seated in comfortable chairs in front of a dizzying array of television screens (much like Adrian Veidt in Watchmen, I imagine). Each person is watching for some sign that their time on earth mattered, that they were able to make some kind of contribution, to affect things for good after they are gone.
The only fault that I have with this book is that sometimes the author’s speculation can get a bit woolly and unfocused. It doesn’t happen often, but in a story that’s less than 1,000 words in length, a small digression or lack of focus becomes glaringly obvious. This is a very small criticism though, and almost not worth mentioning.
In short, I really loved reading "Sum" and would highly recommend it. It’s a book that I know I will be reading over again some time.
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gulp this book down so quickly, because these stories are packed with hundreds of great metaphysical ideas and speculations. As I read through I found myself pausing after each story, thinking for a moment on the ramifications of what the author is suggesting, often whispering “whoa” to myself. What happens to us after we die? Nobody knows for sure, and so the possibilities are endless. These stories posit forty potential afterlives for the human soul after the body stops functioning. In terms of the writing style, "Sum" closely resembles "Einstein’s Dreams" by Alan Lightman, another collection of very short stories that muses upon grand metaphysical ideas. Like Alan Lightman, David Eagleman is also a scientist, and both writers have a gleeful flair for the surreal and wondrous. Italo Calvino’s "Invisible Cities" is the grandaddy of both "Einstein’s Dreams" and "Sum." Barry Yourgrau has also done very well with this kind of short-short magical realism, and it’s the kind of thing I myself tried to write in "Dragonfly Heart."
One of my favorite stories in Sum was “Mary,” and I feel that I must share a bit of it here. The author writes:
"When you arrive in the afterlife, you find that Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley sits on a throne. She is cared for and protected by a covey of angels. After some questioning, you discover that God’s favorite book is Shelley’s Frankenstein. He sits up at night with a worn copy of the book clutched in His mighty hands, alternately reading the book and staring reflectively into the night sky."
Here’s another great bit from “Impulse:”
"Just as there is no afterlife for a computer chip, there is none for us: we are, after all, the same thing. Humans are the small, networked units of hardware running a massive and unseen software program, the product of three cosmic Programmers."
In “Will-o’-the-Wisp” souls of the departed watch life continue down on earth, seated in comfortable chairs in front of a dizzying array of television screens (much like Adrian Veidt in Watchmen, I imagine). Each person is watching for some sign that their time on earth mattered, that they were able to make some kind of contribution, to affect things for good after they are gone.
The only fault that I have with this book is that sometimes the author’s speculation can get a bit woolly and unfocused. It doesn’t happen often, but in a story that’s less than 1,000 words in length, a small digression or lack of focus becomes glaringly obvious. This is a very small criticism though, and almost not worth mentioning.
In short, I really loved reading "Sum" and would highly recommend it. It’s a book that I know I will be reading over again some time.
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LibraryThing member JolleyG
The author gives us 40 different versions of what might happen after we die. Each one is a priceless gem that is worth meditating on. I could sense a grain of truth in each tale that illuminated the values we hold in life. I read each tale in sequence, but I would be glad to pick up this book from
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time to time and reread the tales at random. Show Less
LibraryThing member Polaris-
A diverting collection of imaginative explorations into the possible Afterlife. Most are brief and fleeting, and leave the reader with a tantalising glimpse of what could be. Some are simplistic representations of complex organisms breaking down, or of atomic compounds reforming into different
With an impressive array of voices and styles, David Eagleman has managed to genuinely provide pause for thought with these thought-provoking essays. Encompassing themes of religion, love, family, possessions, ethics, organic chemistry, inter-galactic wars and others - there is some good value here. Even a little humour to boot.
Unfortunately I felt that the cumulative effect of the 'forty tales' was that too many were too similar or reminiscent of those already discovered. My personal preference might have been for ten or twenty essays which might have had the luxury in time and space to really explore some bright ideas that too often came across as not much more than a decent plot for an above-average sci-fi episode on TV.
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incarnations or entities; others are jarring visualisations of dystopic existences that make the humdrum surroundings the reader may find themselves in gain a sudden appeal not noticed before! Several are actually quite uplifting and genuinely surprising. This is a pleasant and thoughtful read overall.With an impressive array of voices and styles, David Eagleman has managed to genuinely provide pause for thought with these thought-provoking essays. Encompassing themes of religion, love, family, possessions, ethics, organic chemistry, inter-galactic wars and others - there is some good value here. Even a little humour to boot.
Unfortunately I felt that the cumulative effect of the 'forty tales' was that too many were too similar or reminiscent of those already discovered. My personal preference might have been for ten or twenty essays which might have had the luxury in time and space to really explore some bright ideas that too often came across as not much more than a decent plot for an above-average sci-fi episode on TV.
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LibraryThing member msbaba
Open this slim, delightful, and clever book and take a journey inside the mind of David Eagleman, a remarkable modern-day renaissance man. Eagleman is a brilliant, accomplished neuroscientist who also happens to have a B. A. in British and American literature. He has both a fierce love for
In this book, Eagleman sets his prodigious creative genius to the task of imagining a set of forty different fates that might await us in the afterlife. These forty vignettes are fantasies; he’s not serious. It’s probably best to think of them as “thought experiments.” Certainly, most were done for fun; however, in some cases, along the way, some significant and profound ideas are uncovered.
The book is only 128 pages, but it is one of those svelte beauties that is best read a little at a time; in fact, if you try to read too many of these brief narratives in one sitting, the vignettes start to fade and lose their luster. Eagleman is a powerful prose stylist; he has obviously read a great deal of fine literature and knows how to put words together effectively. Many of the tales would be very entertaining if read out loud at a social gathering.
Because Eagleman is a scientist, it is not surprising that many of the forty afterlife narratives contain parodies of well-accepted scientific research processes; they are like insider jokes. Scientists will see themselves in these vignettes and laugh at their hubris.
I’m glad I have this work in electronic form on my Kindle. I have a feeling that I’ll enjoy revisiting these essays from time to time when I need something brief, clever, and whimsical to fill my time.
I heartily recommend this book to anyone with an inquisitive mind and an offbeat sense of humor.
[You might wonder how I know so much about the author. It is because I am in the process of researching and writing a report on his life and achievements for a class I’m taking on the book, “This Will Make You Smarter: New Scientific Concepts to Improve Your Thinking.” I recommend that book, too!]
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literature and an insatiable scientific curiosity. He is also the kind of all-around normal type of guy who makes a stand-out charming guest on “The Colbert Report.” This background is a marvelous brew and makes any journey through his gifted brain a unique intellectual delight. In this book, Eagleman sets his prodigious creative genius to the task of imagining a set of forty different fates that might await us in the afterlife. These forty vignettes are fantasies; he’s not serious. It’s probably best to think of them as “thought experiments.” Certainly, most were done for fun; however, in some cases, along the way, some significant and profound ideas are uncovered.
The book is only 128 pages, but it is one of those svelte beauties that is best read a little at a time; in fact, if you try to read too many of these brief narratives in one sitting, the vignettes start to fade and lose their luster. Eagleman is a powerful prose stylist; he has obviously read a great deal of fine literature and knows how to put words together effectively. Many of the tales would be very entertaining if read out loud at a social gathering.
Because Eagleman is a scientist, it is not surprising that many of the forty afterlife narratives contain parodies of well-accepted scientific research processes; they are like insider jokes. Scientists will see themselves in these vignettes and laugh at their hubris.
I’m glad I have this work in electronic form on my Kindle. I have a feeling that I’ll enjoy revisiting these essays from time to time when I need something brief, clever, and whimsical to fill my time.
I heartily recommend this book to anyone with an inquisitive mind and an offbeat sense of humor.
[You might wonder how I know so much about the author. It is because I am in the process of researching and writing a report on his life and achievements for a class I’m taking on the book, “This Will Make You Smarter: New Scientific Concepts to Improve Your Thinking.” I recommend that book, too!]
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LibraryThing member bragan
Forty tiny glimpses of different afterlives, different gods, different ways for the mysteries of the universe to be arranged: An afterlife that's a dull suburb, or a battleground, or where you can meet your possible alternate selves or a you for every age you've ever been. A god who is an amateur
Some of these are more original than others, more clever or thought-provoking or effective than others. Most of them don't hold up terribly well if you try to take them too literally. But all in all, it's a nifty collection of imaginative exercises, with a few brilliant little gems scattered through it.
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tinkerer, or a married couple, or a being too vast to be aware of our microscopic existences or too microscopic to be aware of our vastness. A world that's a giant computer, or the place where godlike beings come on vacation, or nothing but one subatomic particle telling stories to itself.Some of these are more original than others, more clever or thought-provoking or effective than others. Most of them don't hold up terribly well if you try to take them too literally. But all in all, it's a nifty collection of imaginative exercises, with a few brilliant little gems scattered through it.
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LibraryThing member Parthurbook
There are more ideas packed into its 110 small pages than you'll find in a complete case of business books, Eagleman's first work of fiction, it's forty imaginings of what happens after death - none of which feature pearly gates or fluffy clouds. Astonishing economy in the writing, much of it is
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almost prose-poetry. But it's the richness of the ideas that really captures. Slip it into your briefcase and dip in when you need inspiration - if only to make you appreciate what you have right here, right now. Show Less
LibraryThing member metavida
While David Eagleman doesn't seem to be very optimistic about god's competence, these stories were a great way to reflect on my own perceptions of the afterlife. The tales are diverse and intriguing; short, but thorough. I'm definitely going to recommend this book to friends.
LibraryThing member SarahSomebody
Absolutely a delightful, imaginative journey into possibilities of reality!
LibraryThing member pdever
"Sum" is a delightful, quick read that presents 40 different takes on the hereafter. It's witty and gives the reader plenty to think about. It's full of good humor, smart, well written, and loads of fun.
LibraryThing member Dalar
I smiled throughout the book. Eagleman's Sum has the imagination and quirkiness of Neil Gaiman's works, the conciseness and insightfulness of The Little Prince, and philosophical dimensions comparable to a modern Voltaire. I highly recommend this for everyone.
LibraryThing member AJBraithwaite
Loved the inventiveness and humour in these vignettes, all looking at how an afterlife might work. The 'recreators' one where people's lives are reconstructed in the afterlife from their traces in the records they leave behind was particularly resonant for an archivist!
LibraryThing member nmele
Imaginative, humorous, profound. Don't read this all in one sitting, read one or two of these short pieces at a time.
LibraryThing member vpfluke
This collection of forty 'tales', really vignettes, captured my attention. They almost remind me of the French Oulipo effort at trying to organize a small universe with an outlying structural form that tries to be exhaustive in unwrapping all angles of the theme. The theme here is what are the
"Impulse" start with: "Just as there is no afterlife for a computer chip, there is none for us: we are, after all, the same thing." The idea that we are all computer programs is not unique to Eagleman, but there is a bug....
"Blueprints" states: "We look forward to finding out answers in the afterlife." But is knowing the underlying blueprint enough?
"Metamorphosis" reveals that we actually go through three deaths. (body stops, into grave, last person remembers us). The question is, do we want to spend endless years in limbo because we are remembered?
This book has a lot to take in.
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variable possibilities of afterlife. It's fun to see where each one of the stars that Eagleman shoots out will land."Impulse" start with: "Just as there is no afterlife for a computer chip, there is none for us: we are, after all, the same thing." The idea that we are all computer programs is not unique to Eagleman, but there is a bug....
"Blueprints" states: "We look forward to finding out answers in the afterlife." But is knowing the underlying blueprint enough?
"Metamorphosis" reveals that we actually go through three deaths. (body stops, into grave, last person remembers us). The question is, do we want to spend endless years in limbo because we are remembered?
This book has a lot to take in.
Show Less
LibraryThing member kristi17
Forty short stories (that read more like science fiction rather than anything religious or spiritual) that present alternative versions of what happens after we die. I didn't like all of the stories but the ones I liked (most of them) I really, really enjoyed. The most creative book I've read in
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while. Show Less
LibraryThing member Niecierpek
The key word here is 'afterlives'. David Eagelman imagines different scenarios of what happens after we die. Imaginative and inventive.
LibraryThing member hayduke
Forty "what if" scenarios regarding the afterlife. These short tales are funny, quirky, and sure to spark your imagination. I immediately felt the urge to reread my favorites, and quote them to friends.
LibraryThing member greglief
Frankly I have never read anything like it, and I look forward to reading it many more times.
LibraryThing member alwright1
This little collection is written in the second person, and it describes 40 afterlives in rapid succession. They are both thoughtful and whimsical, and it was a delight to see where you (I) would end up next. There were some great ideas, and some pleasing flights of fancy, and I really enjoyed it.
Awards
Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award (Longlist — 2009)
Language
Original publication date
2009