Replay

Jun 26, 2011 Eh?Eh! rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: goodreader-gave-to-me, babble-added

There was a period of time where I made myself think through what I wanted, realistically, and how to achieve them, ultimately. Were you one of those kids who wanted to set the world on fire and initiate changes for the better, if not for fame then for purpose? I was saddened by how scaled back my plans became once I was a bit ground down by circumstances. Then I set it all aside and half-numbly addressed day-to-day tasks.

Recently, I was in a situation where a man-boy poured his little heart out...more There was a period of time where I made myself think through what I wanted, realistically, and how to achieve them, ultimately. Were you one of those kids who wanted to set the world on fire and initiate changes for the better, if not for fame then for purpose? I was saddened by how scaled back my plans became once I was a bit ground down by circumstances. Then I set it all aside and half-numbly addressed day-to-day tasks.

Recently, I was in a situation where a man-boy poured his little heart out to me about the woman he hopes will love him back. They'd gone out on dates, although I ascertained that she may not have realized they were dates. Poor lamb. Since the conversation had progressed to the point where I'd become invested in his happiness and wanted this to work out for him, I grilled him about whether he was also considering her interests, if he was more attracted to her looks and common activities than her self, blabbidy blah blah, and what his goals were and whether they meshed with hers. Hey, he seemed to be relieved to unload and I was obliging. Totally not in a twss way. But, the reason I brought that up, he turned the future goals question back to me and caught me flat-footed. I don't think my stammers were a good return answer. I couldn't remember what I'd worked out before, my "realistic" goals. Too much numb trudging.

And then this book. A man dies in middle age and wakes up back in college to live his life again. He works his way through money, sex, children, nihilism, and it turns out that he keeps dying at the same time but wakes up older and older, skipping at first days then years ahead. I liked that it's not as flashy as you'd expect. He didn't suddenly figure stuff out or have circumstances that ridiculously fell into place for good or ill, no more than you can kinda reasonably expect if you had future knowledge. There was still an undercurrent of mediocrity, which made the story work for me. I think the conclusion was to love what you have. That's a message that can survive my numb days.(less)

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Apr 25, 2013 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: adults wanting a quick, easy, thought-provoking read, but especially American Baby Boomer MEN!

The author does a great job of illuminating the main character's inner dialog and questions about his predicament. At each point in the novel, the protagonist responds to his situation sensibly and/or understandably, demonstrating smarts, will-power, perseverance, and human fallibility (his patience can and does reach a limit). I liked the plot twists and turns ... at least for the first 2/3 of the book, I really had no idea WHAT was going to happen next. I was hoping it wouldn't end the way it...more The author does a great job of illuminating the main character's inner dialog and questions about his predicament. At each point in the novel, the protagonist responds to his situation sensibly and/or understandably, demonstrating smarts, will-power, perseverance, and human fallibility (his patience can and does reach a limit). I liked the plot twists and turns ... at least for the first 2/3 of the book, I really had no idea WHAT was going to happen next. I was hoping it wouldn't end the way it did, simply because that's what I was guessing might happen ... but the author did keep me guessing for the majority of it, so I am mostly satisfied.

This book makes you think of a lot of questions about your life and what it means, and how "REAL" any of it is. Kind of like the Matrix movie. Also, in terms of its mass-market appeal to Americans and its page-turnablity-index, I thought it was on par with the DaVinci Code. Both books are mass-market thriller/fluff pieces on the one hand, but on the other hand, they really get you thinking. And both are very easy and fun to read.

I'm not sure why "Replay" doesn't seem to be famous at all, while the DaVinci Code was this big inflated international phenomenon. Hmmm. Perhaps the DaVinci Code benefitted from the free press due to its controversial religious themes (Whaddyamean, Jesus wasn't a virgin? And he had kids of his own!??!? How could this be? He was GOD, he was perfect! Perfect people don't have SEX! Let's make a big fuss and ... whoops, now the blasphemous author has sold tons of books! Oopsie!!!).

By contrast, there is very little discussion of religion or politics or anything that would get people all "RILED UP" in Replay. So ... maybe that's why this book didn't become an "international sensation" like the DaVinci Code.

One thing about "Replay" which is either positive or negative, depending on who you are, is that it is closely tied to American sports, popular culture, and political events from 1963 to 1988.

Americans of baby-boomer age (and older) will probably personally remember all the historic references and follow along with the book as if re-living their own lives. I grew up in the 80s, so I didn't have THAT feeling reading the book, but at least I was familiar with the goings-on and could imagine what it would have been like. But, as these events recede further and further into the past, I'm not sure how much these "what-once-were-current events" will resonate with people.

Then there's the geographic angle. I'm guessing most people in the world have only vaguely heard of (if at all) the Kentucky Derby or the World Series. (Seriously .... these are purely American things that a busy housewife in Laos probably never had a reason to ever hear about. Know what I mean?)

And I don't know how well the book will translate across time, to readers 100 years from now, when names like Dustin Hoffman will probably no longer mean anything. (No offense to Dustin, but how many great actors can we name from 100+ years ago?) I'm hoping that readers from other places and other time periods will be able to enjoy the thought-provoking themes of the book while using context clues to fill in their mental question marks on names/places/events. Still, the close ties to American events from 1963 to 1988 may create some barriers for some readers.
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Apr 12, 2012 Jacob rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008-2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. July 2009

Groundhog Day is more like Groundhog Quarter-Century for Jeff Winston. Dead of a heart attack at 43, he suddenly wakes up in his old college dorm alive, healthy...and 18 years old. It’s 1963, and Jeff has been given a second chance in life. His dead-end job? His dead-end marriage? Haven’t happened yet, and they don’t have to. Because Jeff also remembers other things: Baseball scores, Kentucky Derby winners, all of the good stock options. Doesn’t take him long to amass a fortune and live...more July 2009

Groundhog Day is more like Groundhog Quarter-Century for Jeff Winston. Dead of a heart attack at 43, he suddenly wakes up in his old college dorm alive, healthy...and 18 years old. It’s 1963, and Jeff has been given a second chance in life. His dead-end job? His dead-end marriage? Haven’t happened yet, and they don’t have to. Because Jeff also remembers other things: Baseball scores, Kentucky Derby winners, all of the good stock options. Doesn’t take him long to amass a fortune and live out his life in luxury...until he dies again and has to start again. And again. He finds some comfort in meeting someone like him, another replayer, but even together their lives (re-lives?) are a frightening mystery. How is this happening? Why them? What happens when they run out of time?

It’s a fascinating story with a great premise: what would you do if you could live your life again? I know what I’d do, which is annoying, because I had an idea for a story like this once and I was disappointed to see it’s already been done, but enough of that. Grimwood does it well. Jeff is understandably curious about this new power, and does what any excitable person would do: make money, have fun, seek love, lose it all, get desperate, make money, live shallowly, hate the world. The elation (and later, despair) soaks through the page.

I do have some problems with the story, though, hence the less-than-stellar rating. The replays themselves are left mysterious and unexplained, and the rules are inconsistent: in his first replay, Jeff attempts to stop JFK’s assassination and fails (more on that below), thus realizing he can’t affect history (even as he makes millions from bets and investments); yet later, when he goes public about the replays in order to find answers, the consequences are horrific and history is altered in nightmarish ways. So which is it? You can change history, or you can’t? You can’t stop the small things but you can cause big events? It may not be a big deal, but it bothered me.

(Aside: the Kennedy thing. In his second life/first replay, Jeff manages to get Lee Harvey Oswald arrested for threatening the president, supposedly making Dallas safe for open-air motorcading. But somebody else shoots Kennedy instead and Jeff gives up, thinking that he can’t change history. That’s it? One try? “Oh, well, maybe there really was a massive conspiracy in place to kill Kennedy after all, and Oswald was just one of the players, dur hur!” Me, I would’ve taken a sort of perverse pleasure in the attempt: On the next replay, I’d get Oswald and the other guy arrested, see if a third gunman shows up, then get him the next time around, and so on. Or just grab a camera and capture it better than the other guy did. I’d probably run out of replays soon, but c’mon, where’s the fun in quitting?)

The second problem, far more important: as I said, the replays are unexplained, but worse, they don’t change anything. It’s one thing to leave the entire plot a mystery, but it’s quite another to end the story with no resolution. I mentioned the film Groundhog Day earlier, and it makes a good comparison. In the film, the reason Bill Murray was stuck repeating Groundhog Day for years on end was left unexplained too (I always suspected the bartender was behind it, given Hollywood’s love of the magical negro stereotype), but when February 3 rolled around, it was clear that those thousands of February 2nds had mattered. Here--and I don’t really want to give too much away--we’re left with a sense that those four or five replays, well over 100 years worth of time, were just...nothing more than a dream. I gotta say, that’s not a very satisfying ending.
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Mar 09, 2008 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone aware that their future self is trapped in the past

Right from the back of the book: “As exciting as ‘Back to the Future’, As romantic as ‘Peggy Sue Got Married’, a phenomenal time-tripping adventure.” Well, in the spirit of a little ‘time-tripping’ let me bring these comparisons slightly up to date; Replay certainly has a quaint combination of elements from the aforementioned films, but it most resembles ‘Groundhog Day’. Any fan of the three previously mentioned films would find it difficult to be disappointed by Replay.

Beginning with the first...more Right from the back of the book: “As exciting as ‘Back to the Future’, As romantic as ‘Peggy Sue Got Married’, a phenomenal time-tripping adventure.” Well, in the spirit of a little ‘time-tripping’ let me bring these comparisons slightly up to date; Replay certainly has a quaint combination of elements from the aforementioned films, but it most resembles ‘Groundhog Day’. Any fan of the three previously mentioned films would find it difficult to be disappointed by Replay.

Beginning with the first sentence of the book, author Grimwood makes it obvious that something spectacular is happening to the protagonist, Jeff Winston. Jeff is in the throes of death before we truly know anything about him, and in his final seconds under the strain of a heart attack, the little that is related is that his marriage to his wife Linda has become unfulfilling and is headed towards divorce, his dream of moving from radio station management to a job in television has been unsuccessful, his efforts to have a child with Linda have failed, and money is tight. Basically, Jeff Winston is a man with many regrets as to which fork in the road of life he’d followed on numerous occasions, and just after 1PM on October 18th of 1988, his life stops and he falls face forward on his desk after another tedious and routine staff meeting.

Jeff suddenly comes to, and after a short time of trying to piece together what the hell has just happened, he’s rather shocked to discover he’s now back in 1963, at Emory University, eighteen years old and still possessing all the knowledge of his previous life and world events. Naturally, he has some serious questions as to what is going on; could the ‘life’ he’d experienced have been a nightmare brought on by a serious bender, is this really what the afterlife is like, can he effect any changes in this alternate reality? Luckily, Jeff doesn’t play around, once he’s reasonably sure that this is for real he goes about using his foreknowledge of events to come to his advantage, beginning by rounding up every dollar he can get and placing a bet at 11 to 1 odds on Chateaugay at the Kentucky Derby. In doing so, due to his age, he has to get an older student to place the bet, and that person is Frank Maddock, who meant very little to Jeff in his original existence. At this point, I was sold on the book, one of my best friends lives on a street called Chateaugay (all the streets in his area are named after successful racehorses like Man O War and Dark Star) and every time we’d have a crazy-ass party there and call Hungry Howies pizza to make a delivery at 1AM while trashed was extremely interesting. “Chateaugay. Yes, GAY, G-A-Y…no, this isn’t a joke, it’s the name of a champion racehorse.” Well, after the success at the Derby, Frank assumes that Winston is a mastermind handicapper, and they head off to Vegas increasing to their roll. Jeff meets Sharla Baker, a rough-around-the-edges nymphet with an insatiable sexual appetite. His partner in the whole affair, Frank, is pushing for him to prove his gambling prowess again, and here is where they make it big, Jeff tells him to lay all their previous winning on the World Series, claiming the Dodgers will sweep the Yankees 4-0. This bet pays out over 12 million in cold, hard cash, but also succeeds in making sure no reputable bookie is ever going to do any business with them again, so they begin Future, Inc, and start making some honest money by snatching up stock which Jeff knows will experience phenomenal growth.

Jeff is soon faced with some dilemmas, despite what appears to be a far more fortuitous existence than he could have ever counted on, as he’s now changed his own history, and the events in his own future are no longer so predictable. Frank has become suspicious of the accuracy of Jeff’s investments and apparent knowledge of things to come and breaks off their partnership. Sharla has also become tiring, he also misses having a meaningful companion and he kicks her slutty ass to the curb with a parting gift of 200K. But the real mind-boggler is his inability to change a single world event: he tries to stop the JFK assassination by getting Lee Harvey Oswald arrested, but on that fateful day in Dallas the deed is still done, this time by some chump called Nelson Bennett. This is obviously bothersome, as it means that this JFK shooting was either much more involved than he thought (perhaps Bennett had always been a back-up should Oswald wind up arrested or perhaps throw his back out laying the wood to his old lady) or can there be events which he is simply powerless to change? These questions are enough to make him start doubting himself, but the most devastating event occurs when he goes to meet Linda, his former wife, at the same time and place he did in his original life, but this doesn’t work out so well, he’s too full of himself and his intimate knowledge of her (as a total stranger) freaks her out and chases her off. He’d thought that with his wealth secured and having a comfy job he could make their relationship work this time, alas, she ends up threatening to call the police on him. He ends up in yet another unfulfilling marriage, this time to a snobby socialite named Diane. The only good thing to happen in the coming years is finally having a child, a daughter named Gretchen, the light of his life. But before she enters womanhood, despite his routine medical check-ups and all the precautions he takes concerning his health, he still kicks the bucket on the same day, at the same time, when Oct 18 1988 rolls around.

But, he wakes up again in 1963, and this is destined to keep happening to him, but with a minor variation, each time he begins life anew, he starts a little later in time, the next replay begins a matter of hours later, but the pace increases, and soon he’s starting month later, then years later.

Seems like I just ruined the book, eh? Far from it. This isn’t even the first third of the book. It only gets better from here. His first replay is exactly what you’d expect someone to do, hook themselves up and live the good life. With each successive replay, Jeff approaches his course of events from a different angle, with wildly varying results for good and for ill.

Over the course of his next lives he’ll end up spending one with his college sweetheart, Judy, serene, loving, and peaceful, in another he just goes apeshit, once more hooking up with Sharla the floozy before living in Paris, where they spend years having wanton group sex while smoking pounds of opium.

However, when a movie called ‘Starsea’ becomes the highest grossing film in history something is awry and after seeing the film, he realizes that only another Replayer could have made such a stunning allegorical work; when he meets producer Pamela Phillips, his suspicions are confirmed. Pamela, however, is determined to use her experiences replaying to heighten the collective consciousness of mankind, and they immediately clash over how to use the unnatural influence they have. When Pamela’s sequel to Starsea is a dismal failure, she returns to Jeff and they fall madly in love, until 1988, of course.

More replays; one with a common goal, to seek out other replayers. Now that they know their situation isn’t quite as unique as they once suspected, they begin putting ads in major newspapers asking anyone who is familiar with obscure references to the future to reply. Another to try getting help in understanding their situation; they go public with their knowledge of the future, in an effort to get some help or explanation from the scientific community as to what is happening to them, and, more specifically, what might be the cause of the ‘skew’, why are they beginning each replay later and later, and will the final one result in permanent death?

This is where it gets sentimental and begins making the reader question what they might do in this strange circumstance. When Jeff begins a replay in which he’s already with Linda, back when they were still passionately in love, can he bring himself to go to Pamela now? As bad as he knows his relationship with Linda will end, he’s lived almost 100 years without her, having failed to win her heart in the first replay and not seeing her since. So, what do you do? Do you go and try making the best of the life you originally lead? Do you go and try spending that precious little time left with a new love that has proven to have varied results? The remainder of the book, with Jeff and Pam forced to make these decisions, is definitely worth the price of admission.

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Jun 22, 2008 Nancy rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of "The Time Traveller's Wife"

Shelves: sf-fantasy, waste-of-trees, time-travel

I had very high expectations for this 1988 World Fantasy award winner. The main character, 43-year-old Jeff Winston has a heart attack and dies, only to wake up in his college dorm room 25 years earlier with his current memories intact. He "replays" his life several times throughout the book trying to correct the mistakes of his "previous" lives. After the second "replay", I got tired of reading about Winston's miserable life and sexual escapades and wished he would just die and stay that way. T...more

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May 07, 2013 Cheryl in CC NV rated it 5 of 5 stars

Lose yourself in it. Forget the science and just enjoy the characters and their reactions. Two of us here read it and we did discuss it afterwords - and a book that both of us (with our divergent tastes) are intrigued to discuss is a good book!

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Apr 13, 2007 Christine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2007

A friend suggested this book to me years ago. Honestly, I didn't ever think I'd read it because sci-fi/fantasy really isn't my *thing*. I'm glad I gave in. Replay is one of the best stories I've ever read.

The main character of this book dies within the first few pages... and then returns to relive his life over and over with all of the knowledge his life experiences have given him. There are twists and turns throughout, keeping you guessing about what will happen, where Jeff's life will take hi...more

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Jan 01, 2009 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

I heard about this book on NPR in an interview (not with the author) about forgotten books that most influenced readers. Written in 1988, it might be classified as "science-fiction," but it doesn't fall in that category for me. It has no technology for example. It is about a man who dies one day at the age of 42 and wakes up immediately afterward in his college dorm. He gets to relive his entire life with the knowledge he had before and rectify mistakes....and then at the age of 42, he dies agai...more

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Sep 14, 2009 Donna rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fantasy & time travel fans

Recommended to Donna by: Cathy Rugeri

Shelves: fantasy, twisted-sisters

I don't read much fantasy, but for what it's worth, I really enjoyed this book. It's sort of like the movie "Groundhog Day", but instead of repeating just one day, the character relives 25 years of his life and then dies again on the same day/time and then starts over again...but he still remembers everything that happened to him in his prior life. After several cycles he meets another person who is also replaying their life. Great premise, good writing, a bit (just a bit) weak at the end. The s...more

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Feb 19, 2010 Robin Nicholas rated it 5 of 5 stars

Great Book! Loved the premise. Jeff Winston dies at age 43 and instantly finds himself age 18 back in his dorm room. He has all of his life experience intact, but he is starting over again. He then creates a completely different life. He is able to win huge bets, invest in the right stocks, and knows what is going to happen. However once he hits 43 he dies again! Boom...back to college. Now he has two lifetimes of experience. How does this affect how he lives the next life? Loved it! Of course y...more

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Jul 12, 2011 Oky Septya rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, favorites

Selalu menarik untuk menyimak kisah time-travel dalam bentuk apapun. Dalam novel Replay ini mengusung tema unik dimana tokohnya dikhianati sang waktu untuk mati berkali-kali di waktu (tahun, bulan, hari, jam, menit dan detik) yang sama. Selama siklus kehidupan yang berulang itu Jeff berkali-kali menjalani kehilangan, pengasingan, dan bahkan penyembuhan. Tapi yang terparah dari semua apa itu adalah kehilangan akan orang-orang yang dicintai.

Hingga separuh buku novel ini mengisahkan betapa membing...more Selalu menarik untuk menyimak kisah time-travel dalam bentuk apapun. Dalam novel Replay ini mengusung tema unik dimana tokohnya dikhianati sang waktu untuk mati berkali-kali di waktu (tahun, bulan, hari, jam, menit dan detik) yang sama. Selama siklus kehidupan yang berulang itu Jeff berkali-kali menjalani kehilangan, pengasingan, dan bahkan penyembuhan. Tapi yang terparah dari semua apa itu adalah kehilangan akan orang-orang yang dicintai.

Hingga separuh buku novel ini mengisahkan betapa membingungkan dan frustasinya Jeff karena permainan waktu dimana ia kembali hidup dan mati berkali-kali, ia gunakan kesempatan itu untuk bertaruh pada pertandingan olah raga besar yang hasilnya digunakan sebagai modal investasi supaya dirinya bisa mandiri secara finansial, mendengarkan berita politik yang sama dan mengetahui hampir seluruh kejadian besar meliputi perang, kecelakaan, dll di seluruh dunia dalam kurun waktu 25 tahun siklus hidupnya.

Di tengah pengasingannya, akhirnya ia menangkap satu kejanggalan. Sesuatu yang seharusnya tidak ada selama 3 kali kehidupannya. Dan disitulah ia bertemu sesama Replayer, Repeater, atau apapun sebutannya. Mulai dari situ kisah berkembang menarik. Mulai dari pertemuannya dengan sesama Replayer lain yang membuatnya jatuh cinta, usahanya mencari sesama Replayer-Replayer lainnya, berkurangnya waktu siklus hidup mereka hingga keterlibatan Jeff dalam politik yang mengubah sejarah dan kejadian-kejadian yang tidak seharusnya terjadi.

Sungguh kisah fantasy yang mengesankan meskipun di beberapa bab terakhir banyak typo yang saya temukan. Sebenarnya ide time-travel sudah klise, tapi kemasan dan olahan Ken Grimwood yang terbit tahun 1986 ini belum pernah ada sebelumnya (ya kan? Atau udah pernah?) ruang lingkup yang dipakai juga terbatas pada tahun 1963-1988 saja membuat plotnya tertata apik. Bahkan menyerempet sedikit dengan keterlibatan alien yang sampai akhir tidak dijelaskan lebih lanjut dan bikin saya tambah penasaran. Tapi pendeskripsian rasa sedih, frustasi, pemahaman yang tercapai selama masa siklus Replaynya dan ironi jatuh cinta berkali-kali hingga masa-masa pengasingan Jeff yang digambarkan Grimwood sangat manusiawi tapi kurang menyentuh. Bagi pecinta drama, jangan berharap Anda bisa nangis berember-ember ketika membaca novel ini karena tidak ada drama berlebihan yang ditulis.

Dan yang paling menyenangkan adalah twisted ending yang sama sekali tidak tertebak. Bisa dibilang setelah antiklimaks, masih ada klimaks kecil dan berujung pada antiklimaks kedua di bagian epilog. Lovely!

Read my other review on http://sinopsisuntukmu.blogspot.com/2...(less)

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Jan 25, 2011 Joel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, audiobooks, sci-fi-fantasy, time-travels, fantasy-masterworks

With a setup that recalls Groundhog Day and Back to the Future II (a middle-aged man, Jeff, relives his life from age 18 to his "death" at 43 over and over, able to change things each time but never escaping the loop; going back in time gives him a chance to make a fortune betting on horse races), Replay promises to be a fun sci-fi wish fulfillment story, but winds up something else entirely, a wistful meditation on the relentless passage of time and the regrets we all carry about the choices we...more

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Feb 12, 2008 Nancy Oakes rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy

Jeff Winston, as the reader finds out on page one, dies. Hell of a story opening, but then just as Grimwood is describing the pain exploding in Winston's chest, Jeff finds himself back in 1963, memories & knowledge of the future intact. So the first thing he does is to bet on the Kentucky Derby and win a fortune. He goes on to live a rich life then inexplicably, at the same time and on the same date in this life, he dies again. Then it starts over again...each time just a litle different. Ev...more

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Apr 02, 2011 Karen rated it 5 of 5 stars

An amazing read. Jeff Winston dies of a heart attack at age 43 in 1988 but wakes up as his 18-year-old self in 1963. Everything is as it had been but his knowledge of the future remains with him. He builds a new life, only to die again on the same day in 1988. He approaches life differently in each of his "replays" but the crux of the story is his discovery of a woman, Pamela, also replaying. It's a wonderful love story with endless complications as they continually die and return. A complex and...more

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Jun 24, 2012 Veeral rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Jeff Winston, the protagonist of the novel, dies at the age of 43 again and again and relives his life starting at the age of 18 (for the first replay at least). There are no paradoxes here as Jeff is not going to meet his past self in the other life. The only thing that has been transferred are the memories from his past life. This happens repeatedly, and he remembers all his replayed lives every time he starts anew.

The novel is more nearer to being classified as a fantasy rather than a science...more

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May 13, 2008 Lisa Vegan rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of sci-fi and romance books (I’m not really of the latter but I enjoyed it)

Shelves: fiction, bookclub, reviewed, novel, speculative-fiction, altta, time-travel

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, although the portion (I found disturbing) near the two-thirds mark and the rest of the events in the last third were all “plausible.” I did think that most of the plot, at least up until the very end, was predictable, but that didn’t really detract from my enjoyment in reading it. It turned out to be not...more

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Dec 09, 2008 Gretchen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Jeff Winston dies at 43. And wakes up at age 18 to live his life again. And he keeps living it again, over and over. With each life his life takes a different approach to figure out how to stop the replays, and how to make sense of it all.

This is an amazing science fiction novel that is a treat to read. Besides giving a very interesting look at historical events from the past 60 years it really makes you reevaluate how you are spending your life. I felt a range of emotions while reading, but ul...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Ron added it

The premise of this book is clever and fascinating: the hero, Jeff Winston dies of a heart attack in his forties and finds himself alive again but at the age of eighteen with all the knowledge and memories of the past 20+ years. He relives his life in a different way - money from bets on certainties, hedonism etc - and dies again at the same age in 1988, only to return again to the early 60s. This is repeated several times and he tries several ways of living his life; he tries to prevent the Ken...more The premise of this book is clever and fascinating: the hero, Jeff Winston dies of a heart attack in his forties and finds himself alive again but at the age of eighteen with all the knowledge and memories of the past 20+ years. He relives his life in a different way - money from bets on certainties, hedonism etc - and dies again at the same age in 1988, only to return again to the early 60s. This is repeated several times and he tries several ways of living his life; he tries to prevent the Kennedy assassination actually getting Lee Harvey Oswald arrested beforehand, only to find Kennedy is killed by another guy in the same way. This goes on until he meets another Replayer, a woman called Pamela Phillips. Together they try to discover what is happening to them and how to deal with it. All sorts of other women come into Jeff's life: his original girlfriend when he was 18, his original wife, Linda, and a good-time girl Sharla, and he has various attempts at living with each in different ways. There's even another Replayer, a crazy killer. We discover so much about Jeff's frustrations and emotional states, his relationships and ambitions, but also many historical events of 1963-88 are replayed for us too.

The book intrigued me and annoyed me in equal measure. I loved the idea and many of the incidents and twists, even the ending in some ways. The relationships between Jeff and the four women were also well drawn, although necessarily brief as things kept changing. However, the language style is limited and the US bias very strong indeed - many minor American events of the 1970s briefly mentioned as if we should all know them - I had to look up several. Also, while Grimwood must have had a chart himself to keep track of the all the people at each stage, it is very difficult for us to follow them all at different times, especially towards the end when time shifts were happening more quickly. In addition, I feel that certain sections were unnecessary, especially Stuart McCowan who comes and goes so fast his inclusion seems arbitrary.

All in all, a memorable book with great ideas, but spoilt by certain details that grate upon this reader.(less)

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Mar 26, 2009 Danielle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009-read, picks, sci-fi

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 28, 2008 J.C. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008-reads, science-fiction, time-travel

The Finest Speculation. REPLAY Has it All

Replay, by Ken Grimwood, is a miraculous journey through time and the human spirit. Grimwood wonderfully exposes the possible outcomes of having advanced knowledge while leading life. What happens when you live the same thirty years over, and over, and over? What makes a life worthwhile? Is it a lifetime of money, fame, or positive interactions with others? What does anything matter if at the end of the "replay" everything just gets erased, except in your...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Yichen rated it 5 of 5 stars

When the book started off with the a first person view of dying, I knew that it would not be like a normal book. This book takes you through the mind of someone who is forced to live 25 years of his life, over and over again, keeping intact only the memories from the last world. It forces the reader to make some interesting questions about themselves and what they would do if they had to relive everything over again. Would they skip college? Use the facts that they know about the future for pers...more

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Mar 17, 2013 Don rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After learning in my youth that Albert Einstein believed time, was a scalable, space-time continuum, I have always been intrigued by his belief that time travel was theoretically possible. Since I have yet to meet anyone remotely approaching Albert's intelligence, nor who could persuasively convince me that Mr. Einstein's theory had no merit, I remain openly and enthusiastically receptive to his theory.

From the outset, Ken Grimwood grabs the reader's attention and in very short order, thrusts yo...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Zachary rated it 5 of 5 stars

Out of so many science fiction books, my favorite theme is time-travel stories or related thereof. There can be similar plots from many stories, but Grimwood's "Replay" is different in such respect because one would have no idea what the outcome to be. The plot of "Replay" is unique and fascinating.

This is a story about a man who died in 1988 of a heart attack, then suddenly finds himself back in time as a college student in 1963 with all of the memories of his future intact. There lies a parado...more

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Feb 07, 2013 Al rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jeff Winston, forty-three, didn't know he was a replayer until he died and woke up twenty-five years younger in his college dorm room; he lived another life. And died again. And lived again and died again -- in a continuous twenty-five-year cycle -- each time starting from scratch at the age of eighteen to reclaim lost loves, remedy past mistakes, or make a fortune in the stock market. A novel of gripping adventure, romance, and fascinating speculation on the nature of time, Replay asks the ques

...more

Jeff Winston, forty-three, didn't know he was a replayer until he died and woke up twenty-five years younger in his college dorm room; he lived another life. And died again. And lived again and died again -- in a continuous twenty-five-year cycle -- each time starting from scratch at the age of eighteen to reclaim lost loves, remedy past mistakes, or make a fortune in the stock market. A novel of gripping adventure, romance, and fascinating speculation on the nature of time, Replay asks the question: "What if you could live your life over again?"

From Publishers Weekly

In this intriguing fantasy adventure, Jeff Winston, a failing 43-year-old radio journalist, dies and wakes up in his 18-year-old body in 1963 with his memories of the next 25 years intact. He views the future from the perspective of naive 1963: "null-eyed punks in leather and chains . . . death-beams in orbit around the polluted, choking earth . . . his world sounded like the most nightmarish of science fiction." But Grimwood has transcended genre with this carefully observed, literate and original story. Jeff's knowledge soon becomes as much a curse as a blessing. After recovering from the shock (is the future a dream, or is it real life?), he plays out missed choices. In one life, for example, he falls in love with Pamela, a housewife who died nine minutes after Jeff; they try to warn the world of the disasters it faces, coming in conflict with the government and history. A third replayer turns out to be a serial killer, murdering the same people over and over. Jeff and Pamela are still searching for some missing part of their lives when they notice they are returning closer and closer to the time of their deaths, and realize that the replays and their times together may be coming to an end. 60,000 first printing; 75,000 ad/promo; film rights to United Artists; Literary Guild selection.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The possibility of traveling back in time to relive one's life has long fascinated science fiction writers. Without a single gesture toward an explanation, this mainstream novel recounts the story of a man and a woman mysteriously given the ability to live their lives over. Each dies in 1988 only to awaken as a teenager in 1963 with adult knowledge and wisdom intact and the ability to make a new set of choices. Different spouses, lovers, children, careers, await them in each go-round of the past 25 years, as well as slightly altered versions of world events. Their deep commitment to one another continues through the centuries of their many lifetimes. This delightful and completely engrossing story will appeal to a wide variety of readers. Literary Guild selection. Marcia R. Hoffman, M.L.S., American Hoechst Corp., Somerville,
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Jan 09, 2013 Reid rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: fiction, 2013, sci-fi, fantasy, most-recently-read, review

This time travel novel is so understated and set in reality that at times it felt truly possible for me to relive my life over by making different choices. And, of course, that’s fairly true, with certain limitations, and it’s the message the author gets across fairly strongly. In between, we get to relive the historical years 1963-1988, vicariously through the main character, a man who dies at about age 43 and comes back to life again and again at age 18. Sounds like a pretty good fantasy, righ...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Eric Newton added it

I finally finished Replay. It is about a guy named Jeff Winston who dies in 1988, while he is at work talking to his wife on the phone. When he wakes up he is in his college dorm room in Atlanata, in 1963. He replays his life all the way up to 1988 where he died again. He woke up for his second replay while he was at college, he starts to make some changes from his original life. For example he creates an investing company in New York City that will only existsonly in his second replay. Jeff rep...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Erica Verrillo rated it 5 of 5 stars

Replay is possibly the most addicting novel I have ever read. (I believe I am up to six reads...possibly more. But, I can quit any time!) The premise is positively intoxicating. What if you could live your life over again?

That is what happens to paunchy, middle-aged Jeff Winston who has a heart attack in the midst of a phone conversation with his dissatisfied wife. "We need--" she says, and then Jeff "dies." You don't find out how that sentence ends until the end of the book, because Jeff is whi...more

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Oct 07, 2012 Ken Foreman rated it 5 of 5 stars

For me, Replay is perhaps one of the most fascinating books I've ever read. When I first read it, I remember being dismayed by the endless opportunity that Jeff Winston faced in replaying his life. I panicked a lot at the notion that any moment of my one-life was a mis-step or a mistake. Like listening to Pink Floyd's Time and thinking that you really were "ticking away the moments that make up a dull day". We don't all have the luxury of stripping back twenty years' worth of life and starting a...more For me, Replay is perhaps one of the most fascinating books I've ever read. When I first read it, I remember being dismayed by the endless opportunity that Jeff Winston faced in replaying his life. I panicked a lot at the notion that any moment of my one-life was a mis-step or a mistake. Like listening to Pink Floyd's Time and thinking that you really were "ticking away the moments that make up a dull day". We don't all have the luxury of stripping back twenty years' worth of life and starting again. I was horrified.

The message that I'm interpreting from this book - certainly from the ending - is that we don't have the luxury of rewriting our past lives or living them differently. The universal truth is that we don't replay, so in life we shouldn't put up with situations where we're patently unhappy or dissatisfied. In later replays, Jeff walks away from his tepid marriage, knowing that there's nothing he can change. He makes sure his wife is comfortably off, but leaves her - with the wisdom that to continue the cold war between them will slowly destroy both of them.

I think perhaps we all look backward to a 'golden era', defined by innocence and optimism. These things sometimes become eroded by the simple process of living. We call it baggage, we become jaded. But surely the message of Replay is that even in middle age, we still have options. (I'm not middle aged yet, by the way!) Isn't that what happens when Jeff stops replaying and starts living the rest of his life? The certainty of the replays is replaced by the uncertainty of the future. Rather than be disturbed by what's ahead of him, Jeff embraces the fact that all bets are off.
Summary

For me, Ken Grimwood created a masterpiece of modern fiction. Replay is a time travel story that reflects lifetimes of opportunity and regret. For all the requisite science-fiction elements, it's the passage of time and its effect on people. Maybe I'm at an age when I can appreciate the contrast between a young and optimistic me and the current, older model complete with regrets and sometimes jaded by the events in my life.

It's the human element in the book that speaks to me - the 'what if's and possibilities that Grimwood explores. He's one of those rare authors who immerse you in their fictional world to the point where you wonder if they've experienced this world.

There aren't many books that I have this kind of relationship with. Replay has been an inspiration to me on some levels, a cautionary horror story on others.(less)

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Jun 11, 2012 Christopher McDonald rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow!! Okay... Normally when I finish a good book, I head to Amazon.com to read other readers' reviews. This process is sort of like an online book club for me. A few months ago after finishing Stephen King's time travel thriller "11/22/63," I immediately went to Amazon.com to read those reviews. During those readings, I noticed several people compared King's book to "Replay." Like I've mentioned before, there's no better genre for me than the time travel genre, and this "Replay" book fell right...more

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Apr 01, 2012 John Herbert rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: time-travel, ten-out-of-ten

Apparently this book won the World Fantasy Award, and now that I've read it, I can see why.

Just imagine it: dying at 43, only to re-awaken at 18, back wherever you were at that time. The only difference is that your memory of that previous life stays with you.
And so Jeff Winston does what we all would do: huge bets on events where you knew the outcome; investing in stocks and shares that multiply your finances through the roof.
And, of course, he lives a different life, but is tempted to check up...more

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