(1978) Genre: Bangsian Fantasy
Synopsis: An unexpected accident cuts Chris Neilsen's life short. But even Heaven is not complete without his beloved wife, Annie, and when tragedy threatens to divide them forever, Chris risks his very soul to save Annie from an eternity of despair.
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Review: This is a very subjective read, as a great many factors about the reader will influence their interpretation of this book. Older readers will be able to better appreciate the context of 30 years ago in which it was written. Younger readers may well have seen the movie adapation first. Readers of every age will have very different views of the delicate subject matter at hand and all readers will have have certain preconceptions.
Once Chris has begun to ‘discover the true nature of life after death’, it turns, rather slowly, into a darkly psychological love story spanning the realms of life and death, and indeed Heaven and Hell. Certainly, the basic concept behind this book is original and thought-provoking, and perhaps the most ambitious of Matheson’s attempts. It deals with a love that transcends death, it explores the metaphysical concept of a soulmate. Its visions are notably well ahead of its time, and it relates many philosophical ideas in an easy-to-understand, although almost ‘lecturing’ manner. It reminds me of B. F Skinner’s ‘Walden Two’ in this regard.
Unfortunately, that is how its execution lets it down. It is well known for being a heavily researched book, with several pages of a bibliography encouraging engagement with further study. It covers many intriguing metaphysical ideas. It accounts for a lot of them in great detail, and lacks only a bit of credibility. Indeed, the strands the author does pick out are very interesting to read about. But book picks strands from many different spiritual doctrines/ideas, resulting in an amalgamation of unrelated concepts. There is a Christian heaven and hell, there is reincarnation, spirits function merely on another wavelength, and hell is a psychological construction of a persons own making. The level of research, and thus the level of explanation necessary, completely overpowers the characters and plot. It leaves the reader thinking, but unmoved by those thoughts. By the time the love story really starts up, and the adventure descends into hell (probably the most appealing part of the book) – very little actually happens.
The movie adaption waters down these concepts. It leaves out some concepts altogether, and explains in a concise manner what you need to know. Instead of being bogged down with research, develops the characters and plot to a point where you really care about them. Both approaches are okay, but if you’re going to write a ‘novel’, you need to spend more time with the actual story than Matheson did in this book.
In the end, it comes down to what you want this story to become to you. If you want a love story to drag you down into an emotional, hell-bound adventure, stick to the movie. It does it well, it adds character relations that don’t exist in the book, and is a crafted entertainment piece. But that is not to dismiss the book entirely. If, like me, you are a philosophical mind looking for a deeper exploration of the spiritual and metaphysical - you will find this book rewarding enough to be well worth at least one read.
Rating: 3.5/5
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