Call number
Genres
Publication
Pages
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Literature. Science Fiction. HTML: A time-travel classic in the tradition of Jack Finney's Time and Again, Ken Grimwood's acclaimed novel Replay asks the provocative question: "What if you could live your life over again, knowing the mistakes you'd made before?" Forty-three-year-old Jeff Winston gets several chances to do just that. Trapped in a tepid marriage and a dead-end job, he dies in 1988 and wakes up to find himself in 1963, at the age of eighteen, staring at his dorm room walls at Emory University. It's all the same...but different: Jeff knows what the future holds. He knows who will win every World Series...every Kentucky Derby...even how to win on Wall Street. The one thing he doesn't know is: Why has he been chosen to replay his life? And how many times must he win---and lose---everything he loves? Winner of the 1988 World Fantasy Award for best novel and published in eleven languages, Replay unravels the answers in a masterful skein that captivates our imagination..… (more)
Awards
Language
Original publication date
Physical description
ISBN
Similar in this library
User reviews
Or does he? It doesn't take much to alter the story, even on this first day back. With a little planning, a little capital, and somebody to place the bets for him, Jeff quickly amasses a small fortune based on his foreknowledge of several key sporting events that year. A multimillionaire by twenty-one, Jeff and his partner form an investing firm, Future, Inc., and Jeff lives out his second life a rich man.
And on October 18, 1988, at 1:06 p.m., he dies. Again. And comes to himself at college, in the spring of 1963. Again.
In what could be a gimmicky and cheap conceit, Jeff lives his life over and over, each time differently, rarely better, sometimes worse. He lives, he learns, he dies; each time he awakens with the memories and knowledge of all his previous lives. But Replay is not gimmicky, and it's not at all cheap. Rather, Replay is a thoughtful study of fate, self-determination, free will, what it means to be a good person living a good life. Jeff lives lives of fabulous wealth, of decadent hedonism, of quiet isolation. He attempts to influence world events, only to discover that certain events will happen. He meets a fellow replayer who is his soulmate, and together they move through their lives, trying to make sense of it and to make a difference.
Replay is intelligent, thought-provoking, and beautiful. It is a truly satisfying book that leaves one wanting more.
This is my favorite kind of sci-fi book: well written and thought provoking, and with completely believable people in unusual circumstances. I enjoyed the first two thirds of the book the best,
I read it for my book club but it was already on my to-read list.
The more I think about it, the more immensely satisfying I find this book, and I can think of much to discuss.
For the first 100 pages of this short, 300 page book, I
As Jeff continues to cycle through the final years of his life, he takes various tracks that one can certainly sympathize with. He accumulates extreme wealth by trading on his knowledge of sporting results and stock market fluctuations, he tries to forestall tragedies (some successful, others not), he searches for kindred souls, tries to make the world a better place, tries to find answers and finally just seeks what happiness he can find in simplistic existence.
The author throws in a few twists that are effective in differentiating this work from others in a similar vein. Despite the same date of death, each cycle begins to shorten, giving the "replayers" less and less time. Finally, the ending contains a final, satisfying surprise.
All in all, a well done treatment of a somewhat overdone premise.
This is exactly the scenario posited in Replay, in which Jeff Winston dies of a heart attack in 1988
The author never poses an explanation for why this is happening to Jeff. He is more interested in the choices Jeff makes in each of his lives and how those choices affect the course his life will take. Jeff’s journey ultimately leads him to a deep understanding of how isolated each of us is as we navigate through our lives, and how funadmentally important our connections with others — no matter how impermanent — become. By allowing his character to relive his life over and over, Grimwood is cycling in on the fundamental meaning of life itself. As the story progresses, Jeff’s “replays” become shorter, forcing him also to face and accept his own mortality. This unique story will fire the reader’s imagination long after the book is closed.
While obviously a work of fiction, it makes the reader ponder what they would do with this time for a replay in their own life. Such a creative premise, and truly the best "time travel" book I've read - it secured a spot on my favorites shelf, that's for sure!
Wow. No matter its shortcomings, this book succeeds in no small part because its premise is so captivating. This is one of those stories that makes you wonder why it hadn’t been written
Briefly: man has a heart attack at 40, dies and awakens, alive, earlier in his own life at 20 year of age.
This is a book I couldn’t put down easily, and when I did I was anxious to get back to it. That is the way reading is at its best; books that are a chore and a duty violate the love of reading that so passionately bound me as a child. And as a child I knew how to make myself happy. Note to self: remember always the lessons of one’s experience. And that is the topic of this book as well.
So perhaps the less said the better. No, the writing isn’t Proust, but it’s not bad either. Yes, I wish the protagonist were a little better fleshed out, a little more likeable. Maybe early in the book he needn’t have been so callow. Some of its sensibility is already a bit dated. I would love to see this book written again by a greater writer. Again, the topic of the book.
All that said, Grimwood has created a an irresistible saga about the meaning of life, the freedom to choose one’s path, and the limits of change and control. And serious as that is, the book is fun! I recommend it to you.
Although I’m perfectly happy with my life, there have been times when I wondered what might have happened if I’d made different choices – worked harder at school, married my first ‘love’, taken a different job... I think at some time or another we’ve all had the fantasy of revisiting the past.
For Jeff Winston, this fantasy becomes reality when he suffers a heart-attack in 1988… and wakes up as a college freshman in 1963. At first he’s completely bewildered, but soon he comes to realise that this situation could work to his advantage. After all, a well-timed bet might change his fortunes – and he is onto a winner, being able to back a dead cert.
But will he be happy with his new-found life? And what will happen when he dies once more – and wakes up in 1963 again?
I mentioned on the Book Club Forum that I don’t “do” fantasy and was challenged to read this by another member. I needn’t have worried though – it was great. It’s such a good story. Despite the fantasy element of the book, Jeff is a totally believable character. Although he changes the course of his history, he doesn’t become egotistical and try to change his life into something extraordinary or to make himself into a hero. I guessed a few things in the book but that didn’t detract from it at all.
If I have one, tiny, criticism of the book it’s that some of the secondary characters, even some of those with whom Jeff becomes very involved, maybe lack a little depth, but that’s only a minor criticism. I hardly like to admit this, but this is definitely one of my favourite reads of this year. Thanks for the recommendation, Steve. :)
According to Wikipedia, Ken Grimwood was working on a sequel to Replay when he suffered an untimely heart-attack at the age of just 59 and died. Or maybe he just went back to being 18 again…?!
The story is about Jeff, who dies fairly early in the book and goes on to wake up at 18 in his 1960s dorm room, and he keeps coming back at the end of each cycle. It’s an existential piece; and some self-reflection is going to happen whether you plan it or not. He does things we would all probably do: trying to change catastrophes, falling in love with various people (and of course “the one that got away”), changing mistakes that were made, using winning numbers to win vast sums of cash. There’s romance, adventure, a serial killer, and intrigue, all in a well-written, interesting take on the age old question of what you would change in your own life if you went back in time.
He wakes up back in his study, only to die immediately. (Although he isn't aware of it at first, each "life" begins a bit later in his personal history than the previous iteration did, and each brief return to his original life and his next death also shifts--at a much slower rate, but backwards in time.)
I was struck by the poignancy of his many lives. Attempts to court the same woman, with subtly varying results. "Losing" both his wife and his children with each return to his study, since no two lives are exactly alike, so minute shifts in words and actions make changes in people around him and even result in different children.
In one of the most poignant pair of "replays", Jeff ends up in a version of his life in which someone has created a film which has an immense positive effect on viewers around the world. In the next life, Jeff tries to see that the film is again produced but he is not successful. The chance for a much-changed future for humanity has slipped away.
I think this is a love-or-hate book. And I think for some people it may take some time to settle into the story. I found details of his first iteration during his life on campus a bit dull. Sort of "been there, done that". But I kept reading. I was glad I did. One very good thing: over the course of the book, Grimwood telescopes much of Jeff's early years, skipping virtually unchanged events and details that don't need repeating, while focusing on the aspects where Jeff either tries to make changes in what will happen or inadvertently causes such changes.
Great, great book! I'm always recommending it to others.
The novel begins with the death of 43-year-old Jeff Winston, who inexplicably awakens back in 1963 as his 18-year-old college student self (the book was published in the late 1980s, which is totally amazing to me, as aside from the references to the dates, for a science fiction time travel novel it has aged extraordinarily well). With his memories of his previous life intact, Jeff thus begins to "replay" his life again. Like a time-loop, this happens again and again, with Jeff dying at 43 each time, but awakening later and later in his life, losing more time each cycle. Each of Jeff's replays become vastly different, due to his attempts to change events.
I adored the concept, but as with the danger with many great ideas, I think sometimes they can become too big for themselves. I thought this was the case with this book. I have to say the ending was a little disappointing, but at the same time it was something I'd expected; a book like this with such an original and imaginative premise, it's difficult to imagine what kind of ending would be worthy of it, with which I would have been happy. I would say that the final message, to live life to its fullest, is adequate enough. In any case, I ate this book up like candy.
Some people have said this book changed their lives. I don't know if that's true for me, but it certainly gave me a lot to think about, and that's high praise for any book, I think.
Reading this book and spending a little time reflecting on it made me
Eventually, though, I spotted the flaw in the reasoning. In the novel, the protagonist Jeff Winston changes his life because he remembers the winner of the Kentucky Derby from 25 years before. I can't remember the winner of either the Grand National or the Derby from last year, let alone 25 years ago. The same goes for any other sporting event that people bet on. About the only thing I could win bets on would be the outcome of British general elections - and I'd have to wait until 1992 to get long enough odds to make it worth my while...
Grimwood’s protagonist, Jeff, opens the book by dying on October 18, 1988. He then awakens in 1963, to find himself eighteen again, in college, with his entire life ahead of him. He takes the obvious strategy of selling his car, betting on sports, investing in fast food and computers, and quickly amassing a multi-million dollar fortune. Unfortunately, his life does not turn out as he plans and on October 18, 1988 he dies, again.
What follows is a twisting, fantastic story in which Jeff tries to recreate his first life many times, abandons all hope to a life of decadence and drugs, discovers another person replaying her life, falls in love, tries (and utterly fails) to change the world and discovers that, ultimately, the best thing he can do is to live his normal life.
Grimwood has crafted a time-travelling masterpiece that is completely uninterested in time-travel. Instead, the author focuses on his character and the connections they make. Ultimately, it becomes obvious that, in our lives, we bear relatively little importance. Instead, it is the people we meet and the relationships we form that have the greatest influence on our lives.
I'm always intrigued by these time travel-ish novels. Each one I read seems to bring a new twist to the story, or at least an alternate way of looking at things, even if they don't always make complete sense to me. This one was enjoyable, albeit a bit dated, but I did enjoy reliving some of the 60's, 70's, and 80's. The plot reminded me of Kate Atkinson's Life After Life, although written with more simplicity and an overall easier read. The writing itself was adequate, although a bit cliche'd at times. As an audiobook, the reader was mildly annoying, but I could overlook that as the plot was fun enough to keep me going. Overall enjoyable, and one of those stories to make the reader ponder "What if....".
The novel is more nearer to being classified as a fantasy rather than a science fiction one as Ken Grimwood never dwells on the science of time travel. Instead, the story focuses itself on the psychological effects one might have to endure if put through Replays of life.
The whole essence of the book can be summed up by the line said by another Replayer in the book, Pamela who puts it as, "We only make things different, not better."
In some ways Replay reminds me of the Groundhog Day film, where Bill Murray's character relived the same day over and over again. In the book, Jeff relives the last 25 years of his life at a random starting point as a junior in college up to when he gets a heart attack in
It's an interesting premise and one where we could fantasize what we would do ourselves. Jeff tries to stop the Kennedy assassination and fails, although he gets Lee Harvey Oswald arrested. Kennedy dies anyway. Why? Jeff figures that some large events cannot be changed. I don't agree with that. If a small change can occur then certainly a large one can.
Jeff's theory is further bunked by the middle of the novel where he and another "replayer," Pamela, make startling predictions that all come true up to a point. The US Government under Nixon start listening and soon Carter does not get elected and Reagan is bombing the Middle East! Oops!. Now tell me that's not big.
Jeff at first gets selfish and becomes a multimillionaire. In another replay, he gets married and has a daughter, Gretchen, whom he misses greatly in his next replay. In another, he tries to see if there are other "replayers" out there with dubious results.
As in Bill Murray's adventure in Groundhog Day, Jeff comes to an epiphany of sorts in regards his previous lives and the future that he eventually sees for himself. [Spoiler] The live-die-live-die every minute at the end was quite freaky! [End Spoiler].
Bottom Line:
The book is easy enough to read and you can get through it in a day. The mild sexual descriptions may raise the age to 18 on some scenes. What would you do? Could you relive the last 25 years knowing what you know now? Great story.
Other Books by This Author:
Breakthrough
Into the Deep
Related Material:
Biography - Grimwood, Ken(neth) (1945-2003): An article from: Contemporary Authors
It's sort of like Groundhog Day, except the guy keeps living his whole life over and over.