Staff Recommendation #16 : Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

So, here I am, once again, reviewing a book that is hard to review. It's not as bad as trying to review Gone Girl without giving away anything, but it is still a little complicated. But here goes!

First off, I've been a fan of Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie series for quite awhile, but had never read any of her other works. Her earlier novels were all written before Case Histories (the first in the Brodie series) was published in 2005. While the Brodie series is a mystery series, they are a little different. What I liked about Case Histories is that it wasn't a typical mystery. Yes, there is a murder to solve, but it's only one of three cases that Brodie is working on.

When I heard that Kate Atkinson was writing another book, I was actually a little disappointed that it wasn't a Jackson Brodie book. But since I already knew I liked her writing style, I assumed that I would get to the new book sooner or later. Well, it turned out to be sooner rather than later.

Life After Life starts off with the birth of Ursula Todd in 1910. Minutes later, she dies. And then she is born again, but this time she lives. That is, until she dies again and the process starts over. Good things and bad things happen to Ursula in her different lives. Some events are exactly the same; other times, they are very different. Often she is aware of her past life, but most times she is not. Maybe it's déjà vu? Maybe it's not?

Ursula's very proper English mother is quite exasperated by Ursula's behavior (it is very un-English like), and eventually takes her to see a psychiatrist, who brings up the subject of reincarnation. But Ursula doesn't always encounter Dr. Kellet, so is she aware of this idea in her other lives?

London during the Blitz -- 1941

Much of the story revolves around English life during World War II, and Ursula's role in it. In one life, she is a warden during the Blitz; in another, she is acquainted with Eva Braun and Hitler. Sometimes she meets the same people, sometimes she doesn't.

As you see, it's a hard book to describe. But I think the author put it best herself:

People always ask you what a book is ‘about,’ and I generally make something up, as I have no idea what a book is about (it’s ‘about’ itself). But if pressed, I think I would say Life After Life is about being English (on reflection, perhaps that’s what all my books are about). Not just the reality of being English, but also what we are in our own imaginations.

Atkinson just uses the premise of living your life over and over again to demonstrate her view on being "English".  (She goes into greater detail here, but don't read it if you don't want spoilers.)

This book turned out not to be exactly what I thought it would be, but sometimes it's good not to have your expectations met. In this case, it was a very good thing.




Click below for books in the Jackson Brodie series:

Case Histories

One Good Turn

When Will There be Good News?

Started Early, Took My Dog

Click below for other books by Kate Atkinson:

Behind the Scenes at the Museum

Human Croquet

Emotionally Weird

Not the End of the World





-- Post by Tracy

The Golden Age of Radio

KDKA, November 2, 1920 - East Pittsburgh, PA

Are you sick and tired of all the political ads that are being shown almost non-stop on television? Are you tired of phone calls for one of the many candidates up for election on November 6th? For most of us, it's hard to imagine a time when we weren't inundated with all of this political advertising. But there was a day when the American people weren't connected with the world 24/7. There was a time when people got all of their information from their local newspaper. There was no television, no radio, and definitely no cell phones! Most people didn't even have a regular landline phone in their home.

On November 2, 1920, right here in Southwestern Pennsylvania, the age of information (kind of) started. On that night, from a room on top of one of the Westinghouse buildings in East Pittsburgh, four hours of election results were broadcast. Communication would never be the same. At the most, a thousand people heard that first broadcast. Those people found out before the rest of the country that Warren G. Harding was to be the next President of the United States. Everyone else would have to wait for the next edition of their local newspaper.

By the next Presidential election, all of that would change. In 1922, WEAF in New York City (which later became WNBC) became the first commercial radio station. Its advertising wasn't as we know it today, but it established the precedent that commercial broadcasting was viable.

The 1920s saw the growth in the number of stations throughout the country and the number of radios in American homes. By the 1930s, about 90 percent of Americans owned at least one radio. This was the beginning of the Golden Age of radio.

The basic format was music, news, and other programming. Much of the programming would be theatrical productions, such as dramas, comedies, soap operas, westerns, and such. Many of these radio shows would go on to be television shows as well (Perry Mason, The Lone Ranger, The Guiding Light).

Listen to that historic broadcast here.

So to celebrate the beginnings of radio broadcasting, here are some of the most well-known moments in radio history.

The Hindenburg Disaster

Hindenburg disaster, New Jersey - May 6, 1937

Dirigibles, or Zeppelins as they came to be known, had been around since the late 19th century. They had been invented by a French man, but it wasn't until German Graf Ferdinand von Zeppelin that the crafts were remodeled into viable flying machines. By 1937, Zeppelins had been used by the Germans during World War I and had flown across the Atlantic many times. Still, it was always a big event when an airship was going to land in America. So, Herb Morrison, of WLS in Chicago, was in Lakehurst, New Jersey on May 6, 1937 to cover the landing of the Hindenburg. Little did he know of the horror he was about to witness. His emotional and personal reaction to the disaster would outlive him.

Listen to the original radio broadcast here.

"War of the Worlds" 

Orson Welles, 1938

On the night of October 30, 1938, the world was invaded by Martians! Or, at least, that was what many people thought, when Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater broadcast a radio play version of H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds. It was done as a Halloween prank and as a way to boost the show's ratings. (It was on the air against the most popular radio show of the time.) Despite the fact that it was announced that this was just a dramatization of the book several times during the broadcast, most people somehow seemed to miss that. Panic ensued because so many people believed this broadcast to be real and that Martians were invading Earth. The belief was so strong that people were fleeing their homes to escape the invasion. Once people realized that there was no invasion, there was anger and frustration. Police were even thinking about arresting Welles. This did not happen, and this "prank" would put Orson Welles on the map and help him establish his acting and directing career. Four years later, Citizen Kane (considered to be the greatest American film) would premiere -- a movie that most likely would never have been made without this moment in radio.

Listen to the original broadcast here. Or you can check out the broadcast on CD from the library. And for another take on the radio play, listen to L.A. Theatre works production (which includes several Star Trek actors!).

The London Blitz

Edward R. Murrow

In 1940, the United States was not yet involved in World War II, but there was still great interest in what was going on in Europe. Edward R. Murrow was just beginning his broadcast career when he began reporting from London for CBS. His live, first-hand accounts during the London Blitz captivated the American public.  These broadcasts would establish him as one of the most well-known and well-respected journalists in the US. After the War, he would return to the States and establish himself as a television journalist who took on many controversial subjects, including Sen. Joseph McCarthy's search for Communists in politics and entertainment.

To listen:
September 20, 1940 - London rooftop during the blitz

From Trafalgar Square during an air raid



Further reading on the history of radio:

Hello Everybody: The Dawn of American Radio by Anthony Rudel

Don't Touch That Dial: The History of Broadcasting by J. Fred MacDonald

Sold on Radio : Advertisers in the Golden Age of Broadcasting by Jim Cox


-- Post by Tracy