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After Life
If you could upload your mind, where would you put it? A postcyberpunk Extropian sci-fi with psychological and philosophical suspense.
118 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 30, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
December 10, 2015
After Life was a fairly quick read but was certainly a trip. The story was as convoluting as it could get and at times it was difficult to keep track of the story. However, the visions the protagonist sees in his dreams/reality(?) were vividly described by Funke. They were surreal. Every minute and trivial detail was described in detail which I loved.
There was one chapter which I specifically loved where the author talks about reality. What is real and what is not. How do you describe reality? Is it the physical manifestation of something which you have known since your life or is it something else? It was very fascinating and really makes you wonder.
All in all it was an excellent and thought provoking read.
There was one chapter which I specifically loved where the author talks about reality. What is real and what is not. How do you describe reality? Is it the physical manifestation of something which you have known since your life or is it something else? It was very fascinating and really makes you wonder.
All in all it was an excellent and thought provoking read.
September 8, 2016
This was...uh, interesting to say the least.
It felt like I was reading a simplified cyberpunk Kafkaesque work. Some parts of this book are brilliantly written and address issues I never thought I would find addressed in novellas like this, the other parts struck me as just sort of bland and very unnecessary.
I had absolutely no idea what I was reading until about halfway through the book, and the ending is pretty interesting, so in so far as plot goes, I'd say it's definitely a mind-twister.
All in all I would say perhaps the more brilliant parts of this book outweigh the bland ones and I would recommend giving this a try if you like mind-bending stuff or even just cyberpunk. It's a good attempt at combining two independently twisty genres and the outcome is quite good to say the least about it. Funk's style of writing is interesting.
It felt like I was reading a simplified cyberpunk Kafkaesque work. Some parts of this book are brilliantly written and address issues I never thought I would find addressed in novellas like this, the other parts struck me as just sort of bland and very unnecessary.
I had absolutely no idea what I was reading until about halfway through the book, and the ending is pretty interesting, so in so far as plot goes, I'd say it's definitely a mind-twister.
All in all I would say perhaps the more brilliant parts of this book outweigh the bland ones and I would recommend giving this a try if you like mind-bending stuff or even just cyberpunk. It's a good attempt at combining two independently twisty genres and the outcome is quite good to say the least about it. Funk's style of writing is interesting.
March 20, 2012
Take a slice of Isaac Asimov, add a dash of Kafka, 5 tbsps of neo-cyberpunk, and add a whole heap of WTF, then heat until golden brown. This is a bizarre novella, but a good one. The large majority of it is trying to figure out what is going on, but the book leads you along without ever letting you get completely lost. My only gripe is that Simon Funk's mind tends to fall into the gutter every now and then, but if you can look past that, its a great read.
May 27, 2013
The writing style is odd, full of dreams and strange scenarios, not following a visible thread until most of the way through the book. It really works for this story. I enjoy reading books that try to give a glimpse of a possible future, and this one uses (what I think are) plausible mechanisms and a reasonable storyline for future technology. A very enjoyable book that seems like it will hold up as a futuristic sci-fi story for a long time.
September 18, 2017
Want to read a really smart sci-fi book on AI, long-term human evolution, self-identity etc.? Here you go (http://sifter.org/~simon/AfterLife/)!
You'll need to read it thoroughly to understand all the plot twists (incl. the ending :P). After fully finding out what's going on, you'll have a spontaneous altruistic desire to give the author his fully deserved one dollar on Amazon!
You'll need to read it thoroughly to understand all the plot twists (incl. the ending :P). After fully finding out what's going on, you'll have a spontaneous altruistic desire to give the author his fully deserved one dollar on Amazon!
July 23, 2019
An engaging post-human mystery.
October 29, 2020
Enjoyed it. Is it cyberpunk? I think I'd skip giving this quite interesting novella that definition—it's definitely speculative, sci-fi, perhaps little more prolix than is necessary, but maybe not cyberpunk. Yeah, there's a dash of cyberpunk or a glimpse here or there. More than anything this story reminded me of a more benevolent, more human Universal Paperclips.
It's definitely the sort of beard-stroking science fiction you'd find, say, I dunno, following a random user's posted link and recommendation on a youtube video published by a (presumably) dragonkin writer/videogame critic about a horror/sci-fi video game which explores posthumanism, consciousness, and the apocalypse.
In other words, to me the reality of my experience finding this delightful novella is more cyberpunk than the novel itself. After Life is more sci-fi with a speculative bent, though very parts of it reminded me a little of Stross's Glasshouse. It's interesting, it's got a cool surreal dream-like plot that's equal parts plausible, speculative, and kind of stoner philosophical. Sometimes it thinks it's deeper than it is, and quite often it's on the wordy side, but it is going after some high-concept, highly interesting stuff.
Definitely worth the small amount of time it will cost you to read, but only if you like science fiction and don't mind (thematically significant) horniness that you'd think was just the precocious author's projection into the author surrogate protagonist.
It's definitely the sort of beard-stroking science fiction you'd find, say, I dunno, following a random user's posted link and recommendation on a youtube video published by a (presumably) dragonkin writer/videogame critic about a horror/sci-fi video game which explores posthumanism, consciousness, and the apocalypse.
In other words, to me the reality of my experience finding this delightful novella is more cyberpunk than the novel itself. After Life is more sci-fi with a speculative bent, though very parts of it reminded me a little of Stross's Glasshouse. It's interesting, it's got a cool surreal dream-like plot that's equal parts plausible, speculative, and kind of stoner philosophical. Sometimes it thinks it's deeper than it is, and quite often it's on the wordy side, but it is going after some high-concept, highly interesting stuff.
Definitely worth the small amount of time it will cost you to read, but only if you like science fiction and don't mind (thematically significant) horniness that you'd think was just the precocious author's projection into the author surrogate protagonist.
August 18, 2022
An interesting novella about the singularity and mind uploading. Seen mentioned somewhere in Eliezer Yudkowsky’s writing.
Some of it is excellent some part are confusing, and some I plainly did not understand. The first - long - half has too many disconnected descriptions. The second half made more sense.
Some of my favourites were:
"and I took the offer of his eyes "
"it's not a church of Christ, it's a church of me. "
"this human preserve, is but a vestige of some time long ago, an appendix in the bowels of an organism too grand to care. "
"even within the mind, where do 'I' begin?" "
"How sorely people underestimate the totality with which their feelings define them. One has but to relentlessly ask themselves "why?" to realize this. In particular start with "why am I doing this?" whatever "this" is at the moment. It always bottoms out in "want" or "feel", which is as far as one can go with direct introspection. "
I also liked the idea of “dreams” that turned out to not be dreams. I really do not like dreams in literature, but these where an exception.
3 stars: Too many disconnected(?) descriptions and too much I did not understand that I do not think is my fault for not understanding.
Some of it is excellent some part are confusing, and some I plainly did not understand. The first - long - half has too many disconnected descriptions. The second half made more sense.
Some of my favourites were:
"and I took the offer of his eyes "
"it's not a church of Christ, it's a church of me. "
"this human preserve, is but a vestige of some time long ago, an appendix in the bowels of an organism too grand to care. "
"even within the mind, where do 'I' begin?" "
"How sorely people underestimate the totality with which their feelings define them. One has but to relentlessly ask themselves "why?" to realize this. In particular start with "why am I doing this?" whatever "this" is at the moment. It always bottoms out in "want" or "feel", which is as far as one can go with direct introspection. "
I also liked the idea of “dreams” that turned out to not be dreams. I really do not like dreams in literature, but these where an exception.
3 stars: Too many disconnected(?) descriptions and too much I did not understand that I do not think is my fault for not understanding.
February 22, 2024
what I thought after reading the first chapter:
I read the first chapter of After Life: Alex in Wonderland. I liked it. I hadn't read anything in a very long time and it rekindled my interest in reading.
what I thought after I finished reading the book:
I just finished AfterLife about 60 seconds ago. I'm amazed it wasn't written by a critically acclaimed writer or something. That was fucking awesome.
I loved it. Usually I numb my mind with predictable YouTube videos of political mush. For the first time in a long time I spent my time reading. This was great. Liberating even. This story took me on a journey and I was along for the ride with my arms raised. It made me think too. How I see myself and what I am. And what will happen to humans in the future.
After Life is a great piece of writing, and I am grateful it can be read online for free.
I read the first chapter of After Life: Alex in Wonderland. I liked it. I hadn't read anything in a very long time and it rekindled my interest in reading.
what I thought after I finished reading the book:
I just finished AfterLife about 60 seconds ago. I'm amazed it wasn't written by a critically acclaimed writer or something. That was fucking awesome.
I loved it. Usually I numb my mind with predictable YouTube videos of political mush. For the first time in a long time I spent my time reading. This was great. Liberating even. This story took me on a journey and I was along for the ride with my arms raised. It made me think too. How I see myself and what I am. And what will happen to humans in the future.
After Life is a great piece of writing, and I am grateful it can be read online for free.
August 31, 2024
3.5/5
First 65% of the book held my interest. The sense of mystery at the unknown world and all the dreams was incredible and my kind of thing. Exploring how this unknown minecraft-esque world operates was a treat. However, the last 35% of the book felt all over the place. It became hard to keep track of dreams and everything that was going on. It was moving too fast. It felt like the author had an image of what was happening but explained it poorly. I was detached from the ending because I didn't enjoy the writing leading up to it.
Overall, I'm happy I read this book. It was very fun in certain moments and quite interesting overall.
My pdf had 160 pages rather than the 118 on goodreads. Longer than I expected.
First 65% of the book held my interest. The sense of mystery at the unknown world and all the dreams was incredible and my kind of thing. Exploring how this unknown minecraft-esque world operates was a treat. However, the last 35% of the book felt all over the place. It became hard to keep track of dreams and everything that was going on. It was moving too fast. It felt like the author had an image of what was happening but explained it poorly. I was detached from the ending because I didn't enjoy the writing leading up to it.
Overall, I'm happy I read this book. It was very fun in certain moments and quite interesting overall.
My pdf had 160 pages rather than the 118 on goodreads. Longer than I expected.
May 19, 2019
Fun exploration of the Singularity Amusing, entertaining, mysterious, and nicely mind-bending toward the end.
January 18, 2017
Fantastically relevant perspective on what makes humans human and what makes us...us. The engaging writing style kept the pace mostly fast with necessary slow points when the author works in philosophical discussions.
Highly recommend.
Highly recommend.
October 20, 2020
Could have been a good Black Mirror episode. This story really deserves points for seeming very incoherent at first, but ultimately giving a reasonable explanation to everything in the end. I read it in one evening.
November 22, 2024
I couldn't make heads nor tails of what was going on. Some very interesting ideas, but it was extremely hard to keep track of, or make sense of, what was actually happening. I kept hoping the story would all come together and make sense in the end, but it never did.
May 17, 2017
Brilliant take on transhumanism.
September 3, 2020
Trippy at first but comes together satisfyingly
September 20, 2020
Clearly written and eminently thought provoking. Unsettling for my hindbrain.
dropped-books
April 5, 2021Started to get too weird around 40% of the book. Weird as in over the top, with too many complications to be enjoyable or to make me want to deal with what everythings means.
October 16, 2021
One of the craziest rides I've been on.
March 8, 2022
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
October 16, 2022
Liked the concept of genetic codes versus computer ones, but the story itself is quite plain and kinda pointless. Still worth a quick read.
January 22, 2013
This is a story about a man named Alexander who is a PhD and decides to allow a new experiment in technology be implemented on his own brain, resulting in a meandering story of robots and artificial intelligence and dreams of robots and what happens when these machines take over the world.
I read through this fairly quickly without taking time to think and ponder through the possibilities and implications that Funk brings up. It was an intriguing and mildly engaging story simply for the ideas and concept it brings up - but it doesn't quite push the boundaries of anything new. These thoughts have been written out before, I believe. Only the journey to that end is different, as well as the different characters in play.
I liked the dreamlike atmosphere the story gave from chapter to chapter; there was an uncertain drop going from scene to scene, just as a person might feel right after falling from the top of a roller coaster, just like in dreams where the absurd seems normal until it doesn't, but somehow you still acclimatize to it.
Two and half stars because I liked it, but rounded down because it didn't really bring anything new to the scifi table for me.
I read through this fairly quickly without taking time to think and ponder through the possibilities and implications that Funk brings up. It was an intriguing and mildly engaging story simply for the ideas and concept it brings up - but it doesn't quite push the boundaries of anything new. These thoughts have been written out before, I believe. Only the journey to that end is different, as well as the different characters in play.
I liked the dreamlike atmosphere the story gave from chapter to chapter; there was an uncertain drop going from scene to scene, just as a person might feel right after falling from the top of a roller coaster, just like in dreams where the absurd seems normal until it doesn't, but somehow you still acclimatize to it.
Two and half stars because I liked it, but rounded down because it didn't really bring anything new to the scifi table for me.
October 3, 2019
I stumbled upon After Life by Simon Funk randomly; its novella format and premise of a man who “dies” physically but finds himself revived into a machine (via brain uploading) was intriguing enough for me to pick up.
The philosophical and psychological underpinnings of the novella are told from an Extropian perspective (those believe that advances in science and technology will some day let people live indefinitely). While the narrative was at times convoluted, crude, confusing and hard to follow, the story and its characters have an ethereal, Kafkaesque tonality to it.
Though short, it’s the kind of story that ought to be read and pondered bit by bit, without hurry. It asks (and answers) big existential questions such as what makes us human, what is reality, love and life after death—questions we need to be asking and thinking about as society continues to move in the direction of man’s evolution into machines (or artificial intelligence).
The philosophical and psychological underpinnings of the novella are told from an Extropian perspective (those believe that advances in science and technology will some day let people live indefinitely). While the narrative was at times convoluted, crude, confusing and hard to follow, the story and its characters have an ethereal, Kafkaesque tonality to it.
Though short, it’s the kind of story that ought to be read and pondered bit by bit, without hurry. It asks (and answers) big existential questions such as what makes us human, what is reality, love and life after death—questions we need to be asking and thinking about as society continues to move in the direction of man’s evolution into machines (or artificial intelligence).
June 12, 2013
I really wanted to like this book, but I just found it too hard to follow. I guess that's intended to simulate the experience of the main character, but I found it very confusing. Each chapter is its own snippet of an experience, and the reader must deduce nearly everything about what is happening and why.
January 12, 2009
Read the free online copy, then immediately ordered a hard copy from Lulu. Great little novella about post-human existence, but embued with a wonderful sense of humour throughout. Some rather well-written ideas about the architecture of the human mind as well.
August 1, 2013
A decent sf novella about artificial intelligence, embodiment and what comes after the human. The speculative parts are better than the story, which often creaks under the desire to create an unstable but fascinating narrator.
October 6, 2011
great little novella about mind mapping. free. http://interstice.com/~simon/AfterLife/
July 25, 2012
Very interesting novella. It reminds me a bit of Manna, but set further along in the future. It can get raunchy in parts, but overall a fun read.
July 4, 2014
Interesting chronicle of the human race evolution into machines. Didn't see that ending coming.
June 15, 2015
Questo è un libro che ti fa restare incollato alla sedia.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews