Just Finished Reading: Replay by Ken Grimwood (FP: 1986)

42-year old Jeff Winston is more than aware of his failures in life. So many missed opportunities, so many mistakes, and so many things that could have been different if only….. With a career going nowhere, a failing marriage and nothing to look forward to he is at a loss. What to do? Just what to do? Then it hits him, hard, in the chest. A searing pain like nothing he has felt before. So, this is how it ends…… The world goes black….. and he wakes in bed. In hospital? No. At home? No. But in his dorm room….. 25 years previously… but this time with his full adult memories. It’s 1963 and his full life is ahead of him. This time he knows winning horses, winning baseball teams and which technologies to buy into on the ground floor. This time his life will be a success and nothing can stop him. Thoughts of why this is happening fade under the glare of possibilities. Then it hits him. If this is real and his knowledge is accurate….. Maybe he can prevent the upcoming Kennedy assassination and put the world on the right track. If he can change his own life so dramatically why not the lives (and deaths) of others?

Obviously this is an intriguing idea. Who wouldn’t want to go back 25 years and replay their lives with a perfect knowledge of upcoming events? Just think of the mistakes that could be avoided and the missed opportunities that could be salvaged. Just think of the good you can do or the harm you (and others) could avoid. Naturally, being a work of fiction (indeed Fantasy in this case) nothing goes as planned. The variables are just too many and time or history wants to stubbornly revert to its original course. Of course too much of a good thing can become a nightmare – and this is where things get really interesting – so what happens when you get a third chance, and a fourth and a fifth resetting back to zero each time with nothing to show for it but knowledge, experience and emotional loss. How long would it be before you went mad, became a nihilist, played God, or became completely numb to the whole experience?

This was both a fun and fast read. I do miss this sort of thing that used to be my ‘go to’ novel. Well told, often fast paced, full of big ideas and emotional pathos this was the kind of book that leaves you thinking about things weeks after you turn the last page. Throughout you’re constantly asking yourself – what would I do in this situation? Of course you judge the main protagonist but the judgement is always tempered by the thought of how you, the reader, might have done better or, maybe, worse. It’s all very sobering at times. The fact that there are (not really giving much away here) multiple replays never gets boring. Each one is very different as Jeff tries to figure out what’s happening and reacts to the previous replays as much as the present one. It’s one hell of a ride. A definite must read for all SF/Fantasy fans and most especially those who remember life from the 1960’s onwards! HIGHLY recommended.