Search - Being Dead

This book was a very quick read for me. Tells the story of an older couple who are murdered in the sand dunes near where they first fell in love. Sounds like a love story gone wrong, where there will be many tears shed, right? Wrong! This book tells in minute detail the physical breakdown of the couples bodies, ie. weather, insects, crabs, flies and general decomposition of corpses. Totally not a love story...well, maybe in a sick way, as they died with the husband still clutching her leg. Good book, but definitely NOT a sweet love story.

It is scary to think just how long a person can be missing, decomposing and soon completely disappear before anyone notices.

This is a hauntingly beautiful novel that keeps popping up in my mind even though it's been a couple years since I read it. Well written and speaks to the soul.

This ranks as one of the most tedious books I've ever slogged though. The characters were thoroughly unlikeable and uninteresting. I guess the best point of the book was to embody (pun intended) the randomness of life. Not to be too harsh, but it felt as though "Better Off Dead" would have been a better title. Maybe the characters will get a chance to live interesting unembittered lives next time around. Then again, Mr. Crace, please let them rest where they fell!

I really liked this book, but I'm sure it isn't for everyone. The author describes the physical process of 2 human bodies as they decay after death. This description is mixed in with stories about some of the events that occurred before their death. There is a bit of a mystery for a while about how the pople died, but the basic theme seems to be that people are mistaken when they assign meaning and cause to their life's events. A very thought provoking book.

This book starts with the sudden death of a couple and then alternates chapters moving backwards and forwards in time to show the chain of events that led to their death, and the final evolution of their bodies.

Primarily, it is a love story; it is not a drama or mystery. Poetic. Very biological (a lot of time is spent throughout the book on decomposition).

Great writing, but I didn't care for it.

2 stars out of 5