Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

Something about Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac made me want to read all of the writer's other books, and I find myself somewhat disappointed. Elsewhere was interesting and well written, but I must say that the plot devices were rather dull. I think that Gabrielle Zevin's strength is the way she writes the relationships between her characters, and there was just too much in the way of the characters' development to really make me enjoy this book.

I think I would have gotten the idea about living life no matter what just as well if it has been a love story set on this side of life, I really don't see what purpose setting the story in the afterlife really, truly served in the plot. Gabrielle has a strong grasp on allegory, as can be seen in Margrettown, why embrace fantasy now?

This story is based around the afterlife of a young teenage world in a place called Elsewhere, where the departed can have any day job they want and grow younger until they float back to Earth on a current to experience life again. I think the talking dogs where to keep me awake. I did not hate this book it was well written, and as I said earlier I enjoyed the relationships of the characters, but the whole afterlife thing was not working for me. I felt that the story was not very strong, what with the departed able to watch back on Earth should they choose, or to go back after a year, or to swim there and communicate via plumbing.

Why do lifetimes only seem to overlap one at a time, if each person has lived before? Are the personalities a fixed point in time, then? Why is there no crime or evidence of unhappiness in the other world if it is so much like ours? Why do they bother eating? I just felt the premise left me scratching my head. This book was not a waste of my time, and it gave me a sense of the flow of life, but I just was not over-all impressed by the book.