Seconds by David Ely

First published in 1963; published by Harper Voyager on January 22, 2013 

According to the publisher, Seconds is a cult classic. I must belong to the wrong cult because I wasn't familiar with it until it appeared in a new edition.

Should Wilson leave his life behind? Should he start again? He gets along with his wife but passion, even affection, has long disappeared. He rarely hears from his daughter. His job at the bank provides him with a comfortable living but its routine nature is less than satisfying. It's a difficult decision to make but, as someone tells him, "there never was a struggle in the soul of a good man that wasn't hard."

These questions arise when Wilson (who isn't yet known by that name) gets a call from a dead friend who recommends a service that offers its clients a rebirth. Wilson doesn't quite understand what the service is all about, but his friend arranges an appointment and Wilson keeps it. The firm provides Wilson with a faked death complete with a corpse that passes as his own, then gives him a new appearance, occupation (artist, complete with a fine arts degree, portfolio, and solid reviews), and residence.

Reinventing oneself as a completely new person, leaving the old self behind, is an inviting fantasy, but Wilson learns (and this, I think, is the story's point) that it isn't as pleasant as we imagine it to be. It isn't easy to "cast off all the old associations and memories on which he had become accustomed to depend." In fact, once Wilson is "dead," he defies the rules by investigating his old life as others saw him. Unsurprisingly, he's not pleased with what he learns, or with the knowledge that he is so little missed. The fate of those, like Wilson, who don't follow the rules, who don't adjust well to rebirth, is the story's kicker.

If Seconds is indeed a cult classic, I can understand why. Soylent Green is something of a cult classic for similar reasons: there's a sort of irony in the surprise ending and the story can be seen as a commentary on the true value of human life. Seconds sends additional messages: Dreams don't always come true, particularly when the dream isn't yours to begin with. And: If you want to abandon your life because you've made a botch of it and start over, what makes you think you'll do any better the second time around? As with Soylent Green, you need to accept a certain measure of implausibility to enjoy Seconds, but enjoy it I did. I guess that means I've joined a new cult.

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