This Flawless Place Between

Portier, a filmmaker and writer, uses fiction to recast The Tibetan Book of the Dead, a text sacred to Tibetan Buddhists that describes what happens at and after death. Husband and wife Evan and Anne are traveling on a motorcycle on a remote road in Tibet when an accident occurs. From there the two takes different journeys. Tibetans call the stages of consciousness at and after death bardo. What Portier lacks in storytelling skills— the narrative is a simplistic one—he makes up for with his imaginative construction of a soul’s slow departure from life as the body begins to break down and the unique person looks back and slowly moves on to another existence. It’s provocative, emotional, and strangely comforting. Highly recommended for those who dislike a treacly view of the afterlife and also for skeptics who think this is all there is. (May)