Replay (novel)
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| Author | Ken Grimwood |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction, Novel |
| Publisher | Arbor House |
| Released | January 1987 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 272 p. |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-87795-781-9 (hardback edition) & ISBN 0-575-07559-7 (paperback edition) |
Replay is a novel by Ken Grimwood first published by Arbor House in 1987. It won the 1988 World Fantasy Award.
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[edit] Plot summary
Replay is the account of 43-year-old radio journalist Jeff Winston, who dies of a heart attack in 1988 and awakens back in 1963 in his 18-year-old body as a student at Atlanta's Emory University. He then begins to relive his life with intact memories of the next 25 years, until - despite his best efforts at cardiac health - he dies of a heart attack in 1988. He then awakens back in 1963, again, but some months later than the last "time". This happens repeatedly with different events in each cycle, each time beginning from a slightly later date.
[edit] Major themes
Linear descriptions of Replay do not convey the book's rich philosophical and spiritual underlying themes.
[edit] Literary significance & criticism
Orson Scott Card, reviewing Replay for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (May, 1987), wrote, "Jeff makes a quick fortune gambling on sure things; this time the 1970s and 1980s are filled with the glamour and disappointment of wealth. Until he dies again. And again wakes up in 1963. And again, and again, replays of his past life, each time wiser than the time before, each time surprised by new joy, new pain. Children he raised and then lost, lovers who don't want him the second time around. Desperately lonely with all his knowledge that he cannot share, he searches for others caught in the same endless loop of lifetimes. And finds some. Grimwood's style is clear, penetrating. He leads us through Jeff Winston's lives with great skill, never lingering too long with any one experience, never moving so rapidly that we cannot taste the flavor of each passage through the decades. Replay is Pilgrim's Progress for our time, a stern yet affectionate portrait of the lives we lead. When I finished it, I felt I had been moving with the hidden rhythm of life, that I had seen more clearly, that I had loved more deeply than is ever possible in one short passage of years."
Publishers Weekly reviewed, "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 parts of their lives when they notice they are returning closer and closer to the time of their deaths, and realize the replays and their times together may be coming to an end."
[edit] Allusions/references from other works
This acclaimed novel, a bestseller in Japan, was an obvious influence on Harold Ramis' comedy-drama Groundhog Day (1993), and variations of Grimwood's plot premise can also be seen in the Japanese film Taan, aka Turn (2001), and the 1993 TV movie 12:01, adapted from Richard A. Lupoff's short story.
[edit] Awards and nominations
It won the 1988 World Fantasy Award.
[edit] Trivia
The novel was included in several lists of recommended reading: Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels (1988), Locus Reader's Poll: Best Science Fiction Novel (1988), Aurel Guillemette's The Best in Science Fiction (1993) and David Pringle's Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction (1995).
