Sum: Tales from the Afterlives

De: David Eagleman

Narrado por: Gillian Anderson, Emily Blunt, Nick Cave, Jarvis Cocker, David Eagleman, Noel Fielding, Stephen Fry

In this astounding book, David Eagleman entertains 40 fictional possibilities of life beyond death. With wit and humanity he asks the key questions about existence, hope, technology and love.

These stories are full of big ideas and bold imagination.This audiobook assembles a stellar cast of readers who bring the scenarios of SUM brilliantly alive: Gillian Anderson, Emily Blunt, Nick Cave, Jarvis Cocker, Jack Davenport, Lisa Dwan, David Eagleman, Noel Fielding, Kerry Fox, Stephen Fry, Clarke Peters, Lemn Sissay and Harriet Walter.

©2009 David Eagleman (P)2010 Canongate Audiobooks

Reseñas de la Crítica

"You will not read a more dazzling book this year." (Stephen Fry)

"SUM has the unaccountable, jaw-dropping quality of genius." ( Observer)

"This delightful, thought-provoking little collection...will haunt the reader long after the last page has been turned." (Alexander McCall Smith)

"Elegant, surreal and philosophically questioning, each story from neuroscientist Eagleman offers an inventive, thought-provoking blend of science and romance." ( Metro)

"SUM is terrific . . .The inventiveness, the clarity and wit of the prose and the calm air of moral understanding that pervades this book add up to something completely original." (Philip Pullman)

"Read SUM and be amazed." ( Time)

"Witty, bright, sharp, and unexpected - as surprising a book as I've read for years. Every story is a new Heaven." (Brian Eno)

Entertaining and in parts smart

This book is a collection of stories that portray the metaphysical reality we find ourselves living and others dying in. Each story tries to give a unique spin on the idea of life after death and justify it by giving a semi-compelling description of how everything around came to be and is appearing to us the way it is.

However, upon making some progress in the book you will come to realization that there are only a few tropes that make up most of the stories. Consequently as you realize it, the stories will become predictable and somewhat drudging to listen, but still mildly entertaining till the end.

I must note though that several stories were indeed truly original and actually good. I would not recommend this book if it did not contain these gems that make you stop and think for a while and thus make it up for the rest of the book. This made the book worth listening to for me. However, it seems like the onus is on you the listener to seek these gems amongst the mediocrity.

The biggest frustration with this book for me is that in most stories the creator is referred to as a "he". It seems contrary to the spirit of times these days. It's not a big issue, but it seems unnecessarily patriarchical and distracting to me. Some stories were hard to listen to because of that. Luckily, you can skip individual stories if that's the case since the book is nicely chaptered.

On a related note, the book is full of needless anthropomorphizing of other-worldly characters or even non-living things such as atoms and quarks, but that does not detract much from the experience, it is just silly.

Overall, I am happy I picked the book. The concept is interesting, I was entertained for the most part, and enjoyed some parts. I wouldn't listen to it again though.

Astonishing fiction from a brilliant scientist

Everything about this audiobook is great. As a collection of stories Sum is unique and benefits from being written by a fiction virgin in neuroscientist David Eagleman. His work on the brain and personal responsibility, among other topics, has made him one of the most fascinating young non-fiction writers in the world. But such are his annoyingly numerous talents that he is able to produce a series of speculative shorts on the theme of the afterlife that is both artfully written and intellectually playful.The stories follow no particular stylistic or narrative tradition, which makes them free to be open-ended, thought-provoking, metaphysical aperitifs, if I can be so prolix.

Some of the scenarios dreamed up in this work will stay with you and for those who are worried, it's not overtly religious or even theistic at all really. It's kind of an agnostic's meditation on what the afterlife could be like and what we mean when we say "afterlife". I'm not at all religious and although I don't think any of the scenarios are literally possible, they are intellectually possible, inasmuch as they are primers for thinking about mortality, consciousness, time, religion, parallel universes, eternity, etc.

The cast of multiple narrators worked very well and they are all great readers, particularly the always lovely and eloquent Stephen Fry, the lachrymose Nick Cave and the sportive Emily Blunt. Eagleman himself even displays his skills as a reader on this recording ??? even more reason to resent this multitalented upstart.

Highly recommended as a fresh approach to short fiction, which works particularly well in the audiobook medium.

Simply incredible

What a profound rollercoaster to question Who you thought you were, he saved the best for last!

outstanding, thought provoking

A fantastic collection of musings about the afterlife. Can't recommend enough, I challenge any thoughtful human being to to be intrigued and delighted with this book.

cool stories

Some nice ideas on what an afterlife actually constitutes. I like that it's spoken by different people, I guess the ones who actually wrote the parts. They're mostly quirky and funny and have obvious hidden messages that hint at how one should look at their current life. Somewhere halfway through the book, they start to resemble each other a bit, though, in the way they are constructed.