I have read 23 today. Max is in his afterlife and he is in Paris with a new identity. Its a strange story from part two on. I think he is reincarnated, don't you think so? Interesting is, that he has to live a complete other life than before. He is a waiter now.
I hope its o.k., that I have commented so far. I'm quite handicapped because of my little touchscreen, so my comment is quite short.

Ok, Andreas – I finished the book several days ago too, but since I know that you are currently not able to check in daily, I have been dragging my feet in commenting here.

So…. wasn’t that a strange ending? I don’t really know what to make of it. Not sure I like it, either. In fact, I liked the first half of the book when Max was alive, better than the second half when he was dead. I don’t like that the dead people could not do what they used to do like play piano, or sing, etc…and kind of funny the part about Dean Martin and Peggy Lee.

Is it reincarnation? Not sure about that, because I always believed to be reincarnated meant to be born again as a different person. Max was not born again, but he was put back onto earth with a slightly altered appearance, so maybe it is reincarnation. I dunno…. Kind of a strange book, wasn’t it?

Hi Monica,
I will answer at length when I will be back, because its the third attempt to write something here, the first two failed and I have lost my texts twice. I agree to all your points. I didn't like the second part, but the first was more interesting because of its stage fright subject. I think the author plays with the probability and the possibilities of narrating, so this novel has a much more modern character than the two we have read before. Destiny seems more absurd and hazard than to have a final or even higher sense. I think its not a real reincarnation the author lets experience Max. I believe in reality in most cases there is much more time between the two lifes and indeed we are reborn as another person. But our microcosm takes the experiences of the former lifes with him. Normally we aren't conscious about that.