I kind of get the feeling that I may be the only one who read the book this month. It was very long and perhaps a little daunting. However, unlike "The Poisonwood Bible" the longness seemed to be an asset rather than a drawback.
But let me tell you - it was oh so worth it! I would rank this book as one of the best I've read this year. First of all, I found it to be very clever in the prose. He had so many lines that I just laughed at all the time. Very witty. And then the plot was just amazing. I loved how he tied everything back together. In many books there are so many unimportant details, but here all the details came together in the end. (Example: the stretcher guy who caught a bit of shrapnel. Who knew he'd end up being very very important?)
In the middle of reading the book, when Gonzo shot the narrator, I was just shocked. I couldn't understand why he would shoot his best friend. I guess I hadn't picked up on the fact that the narrator never had a name. (Very seemless of Harkaway that I didn't notice.) I was so sad for the narrator. And then when it came out that he was "new" I just thought it was brilliant. The one thing I didn't get about that was how he had memories of Elisabeth and Master Wu. Did Gonzo take lessons from him too?
Anyway, I thought it was a very insightful book on human nature and doing the right thing and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. (Well, anyone who is not offended by the amount of profanity used by the British.)
I kind of get the feeling that I may be the only one who read the book this month. It was very long and perhaps a little daunting. However, unlike "The Poisonwood Bible" the longness seemed to be an asset rather than a drawback.
ReplyDeleteBut let me tell you - it was oh so worth it! I would rank this book as one of the best I've read this year. First of all, I found it to be very clever in the prose. He had so many lines that I just laughed at all the time. Very witty. And then the plot was just amazing. I loved how he tied everything back together. In many books there are so many unimportant details, but here all the details came together in the end. (Example: the stretcher guy who caught a bit of shrapnel. Who knew he'd end up being very very important?)
In the middle of reading the book, when Gonzo shot the narrator, I was just shocked. I couldn't understand why he would shoot his best friend. I guess I hadn't picked up on the fact that the narrator never had a name. (Very seemless of Harkaway that I didn't notice.) I was so sad for the narrator. And then when it came out that he was "new" I just thought it was brilliant. The one thing I didn't get about that was how he had memories of Elisabeth and Master Wu. Did Gonzo take lessons from him too?
Anyway, I thought it was a very insightful book on human nature and doing the right thing and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. (Well, anyone who is not offended by the amount of profanity used by the British.)