Born With the Dead [Mass Market Paperback]

This consists of 3 short stories. The first bears the title of the book, and concerns a man's attempts to continue a relationship with his dead wife, who has been rekindled into a new life. He notices disturbing differences in her personality, but continues to seek his old relationship with her. A horrible end to his efforts is the consequence. The second story, "Thomas the proclaimer", concerns an evangelist who decides to prove to everyone that God is still watching over them by asking for a sign from Him. After the sign is apparently received, Thomas expects the people of the world to come together in peace. Things do not go as expected, however. The third story, simply titled "Going", tells an emotional tale of a 135 year old man dealing with a decision to end his life. The custom of the day allows the man to retire to a sort of nursing home, where he is allowed as much time as needed to prepare for and determine the exact day of his death. The process is completely voluntary. Upon entering the home the man believes he is ready. But as, one by one, others in the home depart from their lives, the man copes with many mixed feelings. The story is so absorbing for many reasons, the least of which is the story itself. The words quietly and softly spoke volumes about the issues of aging and quality of life, and about the journey each of us must eventually face. This story alone earns the book a place at my home. While the other two are also interesting, they did not grip me on a personal level the way "Going" did. The strong feelings that it brought me are the reasons I enjoy good science fiction, and the reasons I find myself constantly amazed with the writings of Robert Silverberg.

In the Silverburg book the main character repeats a legend "the reanimated dead are given a million dollars when they come back to life. Their leasure time is often spent hunting cloned Dodo birds."

Such is "Born with the Dead" a tale about two diverse cultures, the living and the dead. And much like the old saying "East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet" the in debth examination of the living and dead force the average reader to honestly comtemplate death. It is the changing of all? The main character,Jorge, loses his wife and is unable to handle the grief. The dead are brought back to live using a technique called "rekindling" which allows the dead to have life after death (Was this the basic plot genesis for the movie The Chronicles of Riddick (Widescreen Unrated Director's Cut)). The former dead do not resume their old lives. Instead the Dead form a culture with new ways. The Dead call Jorge "a warm", their slang for a first life person, and thus is cut out of this society, often with some force Is there any way that Jorge can again meet his lost wife. Spoiler alert, the dead engage in sex but it's not love. It's not sexy, fun, nor with much of a point. That is exactly what Silverberg is trying to prove with this story. It's not that the story is weak, far from it. It's just that the Dead have a different purpose than the living. They are alien as any off world species.

The "Going" novella deals with the acceptance of life's end, the culmination of one's work, and one meaning as a member of the world. A society where life can be prolonged indefinitely, when will a person or society put forth the concept "is enough enough?" Silverberg has always been decades ahead of his time in his predictions of humans.

The middle story "Thomas the Proclaimer" is the weakest of the three. Basically, a person asks for proof of God's existence and gets it. Then the consequences of that are discovered and not for the better of civilization. Was Silverberg correct in his observations of the human condition?

I have always liked Robert Silverberg's writings more than Heilein and the other great science fiction writers. It more introspective. He does tend to push a tad bit of '60s era sex into his writings; it can make the stories feel dated. That being said the fact is that Silverberg tries to show the faults or the actions of the human and non-human characters.

Robert Silverberg hasn't gotten the "star" status of Asimov, Heinlein or Herbert among science fiction writers, but his novels and novellas are surely among the best science fiction has to offer--in fact, I think his novellas supercede the genre and are examples for anyone who loves writing to study and emulate.

"Born with the Dead" is a disturbing tale about the nature of death and more so, life. Jorge, the main character, loses his young wife and is understandably unable to handle the grief. But to make matters worse, a new technique called "rekindling" allows the dead to have a sort of life after death. But they don't resume their old ways. Instead the Dead are a new culture with new ways. Jorge is a "warm" and thus shut out of this society. His lack of acceptance of change and the ultimate tragedy is a fable for all of us.

"Thomas the Proclaimer" is the weakest novella in the set, but still worthy to be read. A prophet demands, and gets, a sign from God. But sometimes proof destroys belief.

"Going" is a fine novella dealing with the acceptance of life's end and the culmination of one's work and meaning as a living member of the world. In a society where life can be prolonged indefinitely, when is enough enough? This issue, along with euthanasia, aging and medical miracles makes "Going" a worthwhile thing to read--just look at the news about medical-assisted suicide and stem cell research. Silverberg is decades ahead of his time.

Highly Recommended.