Through Derek Sivers, one of my great inspirations, I was introduced to David Eagleman’s book SUM. Sivers, known for, among other things, CD Baby, his inspiring talks in podcasts and YouTube videos, including memorable interviews with Tim Ferriss, regularly recommends this book as one of his favorites.
SUM is an intriguing collection of 40 short stories, each offering a unique vision of what may await us after death. The opening story, which bears the same title as the book, presents a fascinating hypothesis: in the afterlife, you relive your entire life, but not chronologically. Instead, all your experiences are regrouped by activity. For example, you sleep thirty years in a row, spend four years washing your hands, three weeks scratching behind your ears, three years brooding, two weeks coughing, 12 months picking out clothes, etc. Included in these systematic re-experiences, of course, is the time when you think about the afterlife. In which you contemplate what your life would be like if all the moments were randomly distributed…
Of all the stories, “Metamorphosis” made the deepest impression on me. It begins with a powerful passage:
“There are three deaths: the first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time.
So you wait in this lobby until the third death. There are long tables with coffee, tea, and cookies – you can help yourself. There are people here from all around the world, and you can try to strike up a conversation with whomever you’d like. Just be aware that your conversation may be interrupted at any moment by the Callers, who call out your conversations partner’s name to indicate there will never again be another remembrance of him by anyone on the Earth. Your partner slumps out, face like a shattered and re-glued plate, saddened even though he’s kindly told by the Callers that he’s off to a better place. No one knows where that better place is, or what it offers, because no one exiting through that door has returned to tell us. Tragically, many people leave just as their loved ones arrive, since the loved ones were the only ones doing the remembering. We all wag our heads at that typical timing.”
Interestingly, SUM was even adapted into an opera, as mentioned on Wikipedia. What struck me while reading was the sophisticated use of language. The vocabulary is noticeably more complex than in average English-language literature, which gives the book an added dimension.
Highly recommended!
Via Derek Sivers, een van mijn grote inspiratiebronnen, kwam ik in aanraking met het boek SUM van David Eagleman. Sivers, bekend van o.a. CD Baby, zijn inspirerende gesprekken in podcasts en YouTube-video’s, waaronder memorabele interviews met Tim Ferriss, beveelt dit boek regelmatig aan als een van zijn favorieten.
SUM is een intrigerende verzameling van 40 korte verhalen die elk een unieke visie bieden op wat ons mogelijk te wachten staat na de dood. Het openingsverhaal, dat dezelfde titel draagt als het boek, presenteert een fascinerende hypothese: in het hiernamaals herbeleef je je hele leven, maar niet chronologisch. In plaats daarvan worden al je ervaringen gehergroepeerd per activiteit. Je slaapt bijvoorbeeld dertig jaar achter elkaar, besteedt vier jaar aan het wassen van je handen, drie weken aan krabben achter je oren, 3 jaren aan piekeren, twee weken aan hoesten en 12 maanden aan het uitkiezen van kleding, enz. In deze systematische herbelevingen zit natuurlijk ook de tijd waarin je nadenkt over het hiernamaals. Waarin je overweegt hoe je leven er zou uitzien als alle momenten willekeurig waren verdeeld…
Van alle verhalen heeft “Metamorphosis” de diepste indruk op mij gemaakt. Het begint met een krachtige passage:
“There are three deaths: the first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time.
So you wait in this lobby until the third death. There are long tables with coffee, tea, and cookies – you can help yourself. There are people here from all around the world, and you can try to strike up a conversation with whomever you’d like. Just be aware that your conversation may be interrupted at any moment by the Callers, who call out your conversations partner’s name to indicate there will never again be another remembrance of him by anyone on the Earth. Your partner slumps out, face like a shattered and re-glued plate, saddened even though he’s kindly told by the Callers that he’s off to a better place. No one knows where that better place is, or what it offers, because no one exiting through that door has returned to tell us. Tragically, many people leave just as their loved ones arrive, since the loved ones were the only ones doing the remembering. We all wag our heads at that typical timing.”
Interessant genoeg is SUM zelfs bewerkt tot een opera, zoals vermeld op Wikipedia. Wat me tijdens het lezen opviel, was het verfijnde taalgebruik. Het vocabulaire is merkbaar complexer dan in de doorsnee Engelstalige literatuur, wat het boek een extra dimensie geeft en moeilijk om te lezen (voor mij).
Een aanrader
