Elsewhere
by Gabrielle Zevin 
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After fifteen-year-old Liz Hall is hit by a taxi and killed, she finds herself in a place that is both like and unlike Earth, where she must adjust to her new status and figure out how to "live."Tags
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Sixteen-year-old Liz awakens in a berth aboard a ship with no recollection of how she arrived there, and her fellow passengers initially seem to be as disoriented as she is. Over time, though, as they interact with one another and share their stories some of their most recent memories return, and they come to the reluctant conclusion that they have died. Eventually, the ship docks in Elsewhere, and Liz's grandmother, who passed away before she was born, is there on the dock to welcome her to this new place where everyone is dead and aging backward.
Though a somewhat dark premise on its surface, the story is told in a lighthearted style and is a sweet, poignant and enjoyable page-turner. I laughed out loud (rare for me!) when Liz is show more apprised of what her last words in life had been. Zevin presents some interesting ideas and moral/existential dilemmas to consider as Liz navigates this new "life" and attempts to reconcile it with the one of which she feels she was robbed. show less
Though a somewhat dark premise on its surface, the story is told in a lighthearted style and is a sweet, poignant and enjoyable page-turner. I laughed out loud (rare for me!) when Liz is show more apprised of what her last words in life had been. Zevin presents some interesting ideas and moral/existential dilemmas to consider as Liz navigates this new "life" and attempts to reconcile it with the one of which she feels she was robbed. show less
Reread June 2019 because I needed a hug and an ugly cry and if possible I love it more. I'd forgotten just how every sentence is worthy of highlighting and so perfectly constructed. And I think I wrote this review in like 2014, but it should be known that I have no fewer than three copies in my office right now, just waiting for some unsuspecting human to come along needing this in their life.
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Elsewhere is my favourite book of all time. I've read a lot of books in my days, and this is the book that I keep coming back to.I'm glad I read it when I was younger, however, as I think if I were to pick it up as an adult it wouldn't quite speak to me the way it did then. Despite no longer being a teenager, however, this book makes me bawl my show more eyes out every single time I read it. Zevin knows how to make you think without you realising she's doing so. She raises questions of life and death and love, as well as what happens when we age, how we can grow out of love and how experiences and memories really influence our age. Her writing is gorgeous--very precise and never entering the minds of her characters. She shows us what's happening and allows us to make our own inferences and come to our own realisations. This book makes me feel hopeful and in love and naive all over again. I own two physical copies in addition to my kindle edition just so I can force people to read it. It's an easy read, and well worth the time show less
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Elsewhere is my favourite book of all time. I've read a lot of books in my days, and this is the book that I keep coming back to.I'm glad I read it when I was younger, however, as I think if I were to pick it up as an adult it wouldn't quite speak to me the way it did then. Despite no longer being a teenager, however, this book makes me bawl my show more eyes out every single time I read it. Zevin knows how to make you think without you realising she's doing so. She raises questions of life and death and love, as well as what happens when we age, how we can grow out of love and how experiences and memories really influence our age. Her writing is gorgeous--very precise and never entering the minds of her characters. She shows us what's happening and allows us to make our own inferences and come to our own realisations. This book makes me feel hopeful and in love and naive all over again. I own two physical copies in addition to my kindle edition just so I can force people to read it. It's an easy read, and well worth the time show less
The story of what happens to fifteen-year-old Elizabeth Marie Hall, of Massachusetts, after she is killed in a bicycle accident, Elsewhere is lovely and imaginative. Liz wakes to find herself on a boat ("Could death be a boat?" -Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead), and believes she's dreaming; only slowly does she realize that she's dead.
When she arrives in Elsewhere, she is met by her maternal grandmother, Betty, who died from breast cancer before Liz was born. Betty takes her in, but Liz has a hard time adjusting to Elsewhere and spends much of her time watching her family and friends back on Earth: her parents, her younger brother Alvy, her best friend Zooey, her ex-boyfriend Edward.
There are many delightful, inventive touches show more throughout: Liz's ability to speak Canine (a language all dogs speak, but most humans don't know), communication via plumbing (Elsewhere to Earth) and message in a bottle (Earth to Elsewhere), "avocations" (not a job; something you do because you like it), and of course, aging backward: everyone in Elsewhere ages backward from the age at which they arrived until they are babies, ready to go back to Earth again.
One is naturally reminded of The Lovely Bones and Benjamin Button, but Elsewhere is lighter and sweeter than either, thoughtful without being dark. It would be an excellent book discussion pick for any age group.
Quotes:
How long, she wonders, does hair take to grow? How long does a dream have to last before it's just life? (23)
In a way, it feels more like she is still alive and the only guest at the collective funeral for everyone she has ever known. (32)
...she reflects on her last words....Um means nothing. Um is what you say while you're thinking of what you'll really say. Um suggests someone interrupted before they'd begun. (81)
The scent, Liz things, is sweet and melancholy. A bit like dying, a bit like falling in love. (125)
There is a world of difference between twenty-six and fifteen. Twenty-six does things that fifteen only dreams of. (146)
"I guess I'm a little homesick, but it's the worst kind of homesickness because I know I can't ever go back there or see them ever again."
"That doesn't happen just on Elsewhere, Liz," says Owen. "Even on Earth, it's difficult to ever go back to the same places or people. You turn away, even for a moment, and when you turn back around, everything's changed." (167)
"No one actually needs another person or another person's love to survive. Love...is when we have irrationally convinced ourselves that we do." (Curtis to Lizzie, 180)
As many have discovered, it is entirely possible (though not particularly desirable) to love two people with all your heart. It is entirely possible to long for two lives, to feel that one life can't come close to containing it all. (192)
Almost fifteen years was a long time. Almost fifteen years was a gift. Anything could happen here in Elsewhere, the place where Liz's life had supposedly ended.
If I interrupt this life, I will never know how my life was supposed to turn out. A life is a good story, Liz realizes, even a crazy, backward life like hers. To cling to her old forward life was pointless. She would never have her old forward life. This backward life was her forward life when she really thought about it. It isn't her time, and her desire to know how the story will end is too strong. (220)
"I think she felt the conditions here were not likely to result in a lasting love....Then again, the conditions are rarely very good anywhere, but love still happens all the time." (Curtis to Betty, 223)
If you are going to forgive a person, Liz decides, it is best to do it sooner rather than later. Later, Liz knows from experience, could be sooner than you thought. (235)
Wherever you are, whatever it's called (Zooey's invitation addressed to Lizzie, via message in a bottle) (243)
There is no difference in quality between a life lived forward and a life lived backward, she thinks. She had come to love this backward life. (275)
There was a time Liz was afraid that she would forget things, but by the time she truly began to forget, she forgot to be afraid to forget. Life is kind... (276) show less
When she arrives in Elsewhere, she is met by her maternal grandmother, Betty, who died from breast cancer before Liz was born. Betty takes her in, but Liz has a hard time adjusting to Elsewhere and spends much of her time watching her family and friends back on Earth: her parents, her younger brother Alvy, her best friend Zooey, her ex-boyfriend Edward.
There are many delightful, inventive touches show more throughout: Liz's ability to speak Canine (a language all dogs speak, but most humans don't know), communication via plumbing (Elsewhere to Earth) and message in a bottle (Earth to Elsewhere), "avocations" (not a job; something you do because you like it), and of course, aging backward: everyone in Elsewhere ages backward from the age at which they arrived until they are babies, ready to go back to Earth again.
One is naturally reminded of The Lovely Bones and Benjamin Button, but Elsewhere is lighter and sweeter than either, thoughtful without being dark. It would be an excellent book discussion pick for any age group.
Quotes:
How long, she wonders, does hair take to grow? How long does a dream have to last before it's just life? (23)
In a way, it feels more like she is still alive and the only guest at the collective funeral for everyone she has ever known. (32)
...she reflects on her last words....Um means nothing. Um is what you say while you're thinking of what you'll really say. Um suggests someone interrupted before they'd begun. (81)
The scent, Liz things, is sweet and melancholy. A bit like dying, a bit like falling in love. (125)
There is a world of difference between twenty-six and fifteen. Twenty-six does things that fifteen only dreams of. (146)
"I guess I'm a little homesick, but it's the worst kind of homesickness because I know I can't ever go back there or see them ever again."
"That doesn't happen just on Elsewhere, Liz," says Owen. "Even on Earth, it's difficult to ever go back to the same places or people. You turn away, even for a moment, and when you turn back around, everything's changed." (167)
"No one actually needs another person or another person's love to survive. Love...is when we have irrationally convinced ourselves that we do." (Curtis to Lizzie, 180)
As many have discovered, it is entirely possible (though not particularly desirable) to love two people with all your heart. It is entirely possible to long for two lives, to feel that one life can't come close to containing it all. (192)
Almost fifteen years was a long time. Almost fifteen years was a gift. Anything could happen here in Elsewhere, the place where Liz's life had supposedly ended.
If I interrupt this life, I will never know how my life was supposed to turn out. A life is a good story, Liz realizes, even a crazy, backward life like hers. To cling to her old forward life was pointless. She would never have her old forward life. This backward life was her forward life when she really thought about it. It isn't her time, and her desire to know how the story will end is too strong. (220)
"I think she felt the conditions here were not likely to result in a lasting love....Then again, the conditions are rarely very good anywhere, but love still happens all the time." (Curtis to Betty, 223)
If you are going to forgive a person, Liz decides, it is best to do it sooner rather than later. Later, Liz knows from experience, could be sooner than you thought. (235)
Wherever you are, whatever it's called (Zooey's invitation addressed to Lizzie, via message in a bottle) (243)
There is no difference in quality between a life lived forward and a life lived backward, she thinks. She had come to love this backward life. (275)
There was a time Liz was afraid that she would forget things, but by the time she truly began to forget, she forgot to be afraid to forget. Life is kind... (276) show less
If you have to be dead, it is better to be somewhere, anywhere, than nowhere at all. Page 35
Death came as a surprise and a shock to fifteen year old Lizzie. Just when she thought her life was about to begin, it abruptly ends, leaving her longing and yearning for all the things that she has lost and all the things that could have been. What she comes to discover is that dying is not the end. Sometimes, the end is merely just the beginning of a whole new adventure.
Elsewhere is a shining example of how YA books can be done well, complete with a refreshing and intriguing storyline and executed with both empathy and thoughtfulness. I absolutely loved the twist that Zevin explores when it comes to the subject of death, the afterlife and the show more our notions of what living really looks like. If you have never given YA books a chance, Elsewhere is an excellent place to start. Highly recommended for its originality and readability. show less
Death came as a surprise and a shock to fifteen year old Lizzie. Just when she thought her life was about to begin, it abruptly ends, leaving her longing and yearning for all the things that she has lost and all the things that could have been. What she comes to discover is that dying is not the end. Sometimes, the end is merely just the beginning of a whole new adventure.
Elsewhere is a shining example of how YA books can be done well, complete with a refreshing and intriguing storyline and executed with both empathy and thoughtfulness. I absolutely loved the twist that Zevin explores when it comes to the subject of death, the afterlife and the show more our notions of what living really looks like. If you have never given YA books a chance, Elsewhere is an excellent place to start. Highly recommended for its originality and readability. show less
15-year-old Liz is learning to cope with disappointment. She’s never going to have a boyfriend, go to the prom, or learn to drive. Not in this lifetime, anyway. Because Liz is in Elsewhere, the place she went after the bike accident that killed her, where she’ll age backward until she’s an infant sent back down to earth. For now, she has to find a job and adjust her outlook, because the afterlife can be pretty nice—if she lets it.
Picture The Lovely Bones without the suck, and you have something like this--a sweet coming-of-age story about a girl coming to terms with what happened to her, her efforts to hold onto the life she had, and everyone else's efforts to engage her in the life she has now.
Picture The Lovely Bones without the suck, and you have something like this--a sweet coming-of-age story about a girl coming to terms with what happened to her, her efforts to hold onto the life she had, and everyone else's efforts to engage her in the life she has now.
from James:
I like to read and I like books. One of the reasons I like to read is because sometimes you find a book you'll love. I loved Elsewhere, a marvelously imaginative book about the after world and reincarnation...sorta. In some ways, it reminded me of Passages by Connie Willis and Time and Again by Jack Finney. But, ultimately, it is its own wonderful book.
The story starts when the main character, a 16-year from New England, is killed (don't worry, I'm not giving anything away). Through the course of the book, she has to come to terms with what her life was and wasn't and can still be. Although it sounds like a potential downer, it's very much the opposite. Zevin introduces the reader to Elswhere, the next step after death. It's show more not necessarily heaven, but maybe it is. But, this is not a metaphysical novel, but simply an idea of what happens when you die on earth and second chances.
It's a sweet romance of a novel. I highly suggest it and Zevin's other great novel, The Storied Life of AJ Fikry. show less
I like to read and I like books. One of the reasons I like to read is because sometimes you find a book you'll love. I loved Elsewhere, a marvelously imaginative book about the after world and reincarnation...sorta. In some ways, it reminded me of Passages by Connie Willis and Time and Again by Jack Finney. But, ultimately, it is its own wonderful book.
The story starts when the main character, a 16-year from New England, is killed (don't worry, I'm not giving anything away). Through the course of the book, she has to come to terms with what her life was and wasn't and can still be. Although it sounds like a potential downer, it's very much the opposite. Zevin introduces the reader to Elswhere, the next step after death. It's show more not necessarily heaven, but maybe it is. But, this is not a metaphysical novel, but simply an idea of what happens when you die on earth and second chances.
It's a sweet romance of a novel. I highly suggest it and Zevin's other great novel, The Storied Life of AJ Fikry. show less
Teen fiction; afterlife romance. I thought I wasn't going to like this book (the first chapter is written from the perspective of the family dog, which seems unwarranted until you learn about Liz's avocation as a dog therapist in Elsewhere) but as the story progressed, I got attached to Liz and Betty and Owen. I skimmed over the ending, but it was pretty satisfactory.
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Author Information
14+ Works 25,826 Members
Gabrielle Zevin was born in New York City on October 24, 1977. She received a degree in English and American literature from Harvard University in 2000. She has written both adult and young adult novels. Her debut, Margarettown, was a selection of the Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers program. Her other works include The Hole We're In, show more Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, and The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry. Her young adult novel Elsewhere was an American Library Association Notable Children's Book. She has also written for the New York Times Book Review and NPR's All Things Considered. She is the screenwriter of Conversations with Other Women starring Helena Bonham Carter and Aaron Eckhart, for which she received an Independent Spirit Award Nomination. In 2009, she and director Hans Canosa adapted her novel Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac into the Japanese film, Dareka ga Watashi ni Kiss wo Shita. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Gabrielle Zevin is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
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Awards
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Is abridged in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Elsewhere
- Original title
- Elsewhere
- Alternate titles*
- Het was best een fijn leven
- Original publication date
- 2005-09-09
- People/Characters
- Liz Hall (Elizabeth Hall); Owen; Curtis Jest; Grandma Betty; Aldous Ghent; Thandi (show all 7); Amadou Bonamy
- Important places
- Elsewhere; Medford, Massachusetts, USA; Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Dedication
- To HCC
- First words
- Prologue
The end came quickly, and there wasn't any pain.
Elizabeth Hall wakes in a strange bed in a strange room with the strange feeling that her sheets are trying to smother her. - Quotations
- Liz considers what the strange little boy has said. As much as she longs to be with her family and her friends, she doesn't want to be a ghost. She certainly doesn't want to cause more pain to the people she loves. She knows ... (show all)there is only one thing to do.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And in response, this baby, who is Liz and not Liz at the same time, laughs.
- Publisher's editor
- Janine O'Malley
- Blurbers
- Mackler, Carolyn
- Original language*
- Engels
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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