false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171249182m/92559.jpg 92559 17 It begins with a murder. Celice and Joseph, in their mid-fifties and married for more than thirty years, are returning to the seacoast where they met as students. They are reliving their first amorous encounter in the sand dunes when they are set upon by the murderer who beats them to death with a rock and steals their watches, their jewelery, and even their meagre lunch. From that moment onwards, this remarkably written book by Jim Crace becomes less about murder and more about death. Alternating chapters move back in time from the murder in hourly and two-hourly increments. As the narrative moves backward, we see Celice and Joseph make the small decisions about their day that will lead them inexorably towards their own deaths. Eventually we learn about their first meeting, and that this is not the first time tragedy has struck them in this idyllic setting. In other chapters the narrative moves forward. Celice and Joseph are on vacation and nobody misses them until they do not return. Thus, it is six days before their bodies are found. Crace describes in minute detail their gradual return to the land with the help of crabs, birds, and the numerous insects that attack the body and gently and not so gently prepare it for the dust-to-dust phase of death. Celice and Joseph would have been delighted with the description: she was a zoologist and he was an oceanographer, and they spent their lives with their eyes to the microscope, observing the phenomena of life and death. Some readers might find this gruesome, but the facts of death are told in such glorious prose that these descriptions in no way detract from the enjoyment of the book. After her parents do not return home, their daughter, Syl, must search the morgues and follow up John and Jane Doe reports until she is finally asked to make an identification of the remains in the dunes. We then discover that the reader has had a more intimate relationship with them in death than Syl ever had with them in life. This small gem of a book, not really a mystery in the usual sense, will stay with you long after you finish. 1239782 book 1999 Being Dead: A Novel total:946|5:214|4:358|3:262|2:86|1:26| 946 3486 1289 156 1 6 false false Sun Aug 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 07 12:23:48 -0700 2009 Mon Nov 23 06:36:02 -0800 2009
The form of the story we...more...]]> 4 3 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Dec 25 09:06:34 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 26 19:05:44 -0800 2007 more...]]> 0 3 false false Sat May 19 13:06:02 -0700 2007 Fri May 25 12:45:56 -0700 2007
I liked "Being Dead" very much, especially the form of the novel, the deft way Crace moves us between the moments after Celice and Joseph are murdered, the events that preceded their deaths, and the couple's meeting thirty years prior.
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Jim Crace's novel Being Dead is, for lack of a better term, an anti-murder mystery. Specifically, it is the antithesis of Heinrich Boll's novel The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum. Instead of getting a book where the murderer is known f...more...]]> 2 1 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Mar 21 07:29:25 -0700 2007 Thu Jan 03 14:02:51 -0800 2008
Crace's characters, and I no...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Aug 14 08:24:30 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 14 16:58:13 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Nov 13 05:12:30 -0800 2007 Tue Nov 13 05:12:35 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Jun 11 11:59:58 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 12:20:36 -0700 2009
The novel focuses on the deaths of two zoologists--Celice and Joseph--tracing backwards from their murders. The narration ste...more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Mar 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 22 10:22:04 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 02 10:01:53 -0800 2009 always sleep in separate beds, Joseph always says "I'm too short to do (whatever)". They're characters with catchphrases and static manner...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Sep 15 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Sat Jun 13 09:26:30 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 13 09:26:55 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 21:27:49 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 21:39:22 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Oct 22 11:44:21 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 22 11:45:11 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Wed Jul 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 15 07:15:52 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 15 07:15:52 -0700 2009
"The earth is practiced in the craft of burial. It gathers round. It embraces and adopts the dead. Joseph and Celice would ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 08:09:18 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 07:25:44 -0700 2009
It's well written, fun...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 18 08:43:10 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 18 08:43:35 -0800 2009 A couple in their 50ies, both with academic degrees in zoology take a Tuesday off to drive to an isolated bea...more...]]> 2 0 false true Sat Jun 28 00:32:51 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 12 19:11:46 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 28 00:32:51 -0700 2008
I'm pretty sure Crace could've spared us by not going into fine detail. . .especially in the chapter that describes the murder.

Also, what's with his repe...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jun 17 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 09 09:19:20 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 20 06:16:33 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false true Fri May 30 12:19:44 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 26 07:23:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 true false Wed May 07 05:27:07 -0700 2008 Tue Feb 19 10:10:17 -0800 2008 Wed May 07 05:27:07 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jul 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Dec 16 18:11:30 -0800 2007 Wed Jul 16 10:18:48 -0700 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=92559