Spook

Science Tackles the Afterlife

By: Mary Roach

Narrated by: Bernadette Quigley

Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

"What happens when we die? Does the light just go out and that's that - the million-year nap? Or will some part of my personality, my me-ness persist? What will that feel like? What will I do all day? Is there a place to plug in my laptop?"

In an attempt to find out, Mary Roach brings her tireless curiosity to bear on an array of contemporary and historical soul-searchers: scientists, schemers, engineers, mediums, all trying to prove (or disprove) that life goes on after we die. She begins the journey in rural India with a reincarnation researcher and ends up in a University of Virginia operating room where cardiologists have installed equipment near the ceiling to study out-of-body near-death experiences. Along the way, she enrolls in an English medium school, gets electromagnetically haunted at a university in Ontario, and visits a Duke University professor with a plan to weigh the consciousness of a leech. Her historical wanderings unearth soul-seeking philosophers who rummaged through cadavers and calves' heads, a North Carolina lawsuit that established legal precedence for ghosts, and the last surviving sample of "ectoplasm" in a Cambridge University archive.

©2005 Mary Roach (P)2005 Brilliance Audio

Ignorance, if not bliss, is at least less lonely.

Mary Roach, once again, not only did her homework, but occasionally was her homework (brave [or reckless] woman) to enlighten us as to how science has tried to clarify the whole soul-and-what-happens-to-it-when-we-die thing. After listening to her broad-ranging, and sometimes laugh out loud survey, I now have no idea what happens to our souls when we die, but am much happier in my ignorance.

the book's good, but the reader makes bad choices

I love Mary Roach, and I love audiobooks. But the narrator insists on reading all dialogue from an Indian researcher in a cartoonish accent, and it feels really xenophobic. I feel like it unnecessarily makes him seem 'foreign' and a little bit goofy.

Interesting but not my favorite Mary Roach

I really liked the first chapter and the sheep farmer that weighed souls and thought the increase in weight was the moment the soul passed over and was open to the vast beyond. I think for someone interested in ghosts this would be a really fascinating book but I realized about half way through that while I was enjoying it I wasn’t as captivated as I was my Stiff or Gulp because I just wasn’t as personally interested in the subject matter.

So fun

Didn't really know a thing about the book when I bought it, just thought the title sounded fun and it was! Very funny but very interesting. I enjoyed this audiobook a LOT!

In short this author will keep me coming back.

I can’t get enough of this author. This book is well referenced, carriers subject matter from diverse sources from both sides and, does it all with a witty intelligent since of humor.

Bad performance, good content

The performance detracts from the content of the book. A few of the accents done by the reader were downright annoying. Others bordered on being racist caricatures. I love Mary Roache's work, but I'm not sure if I'd purchase another audiobook read by this person.

Less Science Than Expected

The narrator really did a good job as there were many different characters that she portrayed well. Additionally, I think I that she read the book as how it was meant to be read. If I were to have read the book myself, Iwoukd have struggled with how informal it is at times. It
is constantly switching styles of writing and often includes the authors personal thoughts in a situation. It can be jarring how these thoughts enter the narrative.

Really good but a couple of issues

First off, Bernadette Quigley is amazing. Her range of voices and accents is very impressive.
Second, I've read several of Mary Roach's books and I love them because they're equally informative and funny.
My main issue with this one -and I won't say it detracts my enjoyment of the book- is that she doesn't seem as open-minded as she claims. I personally am not sold on the idea of the afterlife, ghosts, etc. but she does have a few very powerful experiences which she discounts almost immediately. Some seem rightfully debunked. But I feel in general, she went into things with her mind already made up. Hoping to find something to prove her wrong but not fully opening herself up to the possibility. So that was a bit disappointing.

meh

I really enjoyed this author in print. The story is well put together. This particular narrator is a bit too enthusiastic for me; paired with her liberal use of accents, it wasn't something I was able get past. I'll read this one myself

Accents distracting

I love Mary Roach and was looking forward to this book. The story is great but the performance was distracting at times. I understand a desire for differentiation when telling a story but this was too much. Also, I found some of the accents borderline offensive. Especially the Indian and "cockney" readings. I found them to be very stereotypical and grating.