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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Really like this tho. I know its not a great book, but i was enternained the whole time.
Years ago, I read one of Winlow's later titles, which actually turned out to be a prequel to this one ("The Kings of Cool"). Even though I typically don't read thrillers, I was drwan in by the book and its original characters and Winslow's crude and yet incredibly clever style.
Ever since, I wanted to recreate that feeling and have now read Savages.
And I will say, in terms of the story craft, this title is far superior to its prequel. The plot is plausible (well, as plausible as it can be, I suppose) and (unlike the Kings of Cool) refrains from relying on melodrama or other storytelling clichees. Insofar, it was a fairly well-crafted book and thus an enjoyable read.
There are, however, two reasons why this title ultimtely ranks lower than its prequel.
First, the characters seem to be a little less fleshed out. While they are certainly distinct, the main characters seem to be heavily defined by one major aspect - and very little else. Other elements of their personalities (such as Chon's love for etymology) have little relevance and are never brought up again. Thus, they lacked a certain depth.
On the other hand, there are certain characters that seem to turn up rather late in the story and yet receive an extensive characterisation. I'm primarily thinking of Jesus and Doc. For me, this shift of focus let to some pacing issues.
Second, I missed the celver word plays I enjoyed so much in the prequel. The style in this book is certainly quite similar, if less refined. There are certain lines I will always remember from The Kings of Cool. Sadly, that will not be the case for this one.
Overall, this was a 3-star read for me - very enjoyable and yet somewhat underwhelming.
Ever since, I wanted to recreate that feeling and have now read Savages.
And I will say, in terms of the story craft, this title is far superior to its prequel. The plot is plausible (well, as plausible as it can be, I suppose) and (unlike the Kings of Cool) refrains from relying on melodrama or other storytelling clichees. Insofar, it was a fairly well-crafted book and thus an enjoyable read.
There are, however, two reasons why this title ultimtely ranks lower than its prequel.
First, the characters seem to be a little less fleshed out. While they are certainly distinct, the main characters seem to be heavily defined by one major aspect - and very little else. Other elements of their personalities (such as Chon's love for etymology) have little relevance and are never brought up again. Thus, they lacked a certain depth.
On the other hand, there are certain characters that seem to turn up rather late in the story and yet receive an extensive characterisation. I'm primarily thinking of Jesus and Doc. For me, this shift of focus let to some pacing issues.
Second, I missed the celver word plays I enjoyed so much in the prequel. The style in this book is certainly quite similar, if less refined. There are certain lines I will always remember from The Kings of Cool. Sadly, that will not be the case for this one.
Overall, this was a 3-star read for me - very enjoyable and yet somewhat underwhelming.
Thinking about it, I liked this book a good deal more while I was reading it, than I do now that I'm finished. It's a fun book to read. At its best, the prose rolls right along. Rhythmic, choppy, endlessly witty, high energy. And that makes it an easy and entertaining experience.
Except when the wit gets forced and the high energy starts to become exhausting. Then there's just a vaguely ridiculous plot, characters who are shallow, adolescent wish fulfillment, and an ending that happens that way because why not.
Eh. It was entertaining enough. Just too caught up in its own cleverness to do much with the details of the story.
Except when the wit gets forced and the high energy starts to become exhausting. Then there's just a vaguely ridiculous plot, characters who are shallow, adolescent wish fulfillment, and an ending that happens that way because why not.
Eh. It was entertaining enough. Just too caught up in its own cleverness to do much with the details of the story.
OK, it's great. Yes, candy. Kind of like the first chocolate covered cherry with cognac you ever had. Sex, drugs, rock&roll ultra violence. The Mexican drug wars ignite in Laguna. No heroes - bad bad guys and good bad guys, but the good bad guys (and truly terrific bad girl) are so nice, lovable even, even altruistic if not a little naive, that I couldn't help but want them as friends. The bad guys are the Baja Cartel, dripping in blood and deceit. Bad, bad guys. And the prose...eccentric and absolutely right to propel this whole drug trip of a book at a clip.
If you like this kind of stuff, but you need a plot run-down I'm sure you'll be able to find it, I'll tell you though, crosses, double-crosses, love - maternal and erotic (good sex) - beheadings, ambushes, beatings, drugs, and great dialogue.
So if you like this kind of stuff, you'll like this.
Oh, yeah, very funny.
PS: Oliver Stone is doing the movie. What does that tell you?
If you like this kind of stuff, but you need a plot run-down I'm sure you'll be able to find it, I'll tell you though, crosses, double-crosses, love - maternal and erotic (good sex) - beheadings, ambushes, beatings, drugs, and great dialogue.
So if you like this kind of stuff, you'll like this.
Oh, yeah, very funny.
PS: Oliver Stone is doing the movie. What does that tell you?
Very stylish and very awesome. The writing is so cool that it shouldn't work, but it does. The short chapters move the story along at a rapid pace leading to an explosive finish. The stylish writing provides plenty of grammatical errors, which bugged the crap out of me, but I was able to move on. Overall, a fun, quick read.
This is definitely a more modern type of writing with the inclusion of scriptwriting, and the play with sentence structure. There was also a lot of slang but it all worked well together and made the story feel like the generation of now. I must admit I saw the movie before reading the book, and this is the case like many others where the book was better than the movie. I don't know who wrote the ending of the movie but the book is much different and more straightforward which really makes the story work better. There is a lot of social commentary, which has a tinge of humor so it's not rigorous. The main three characters were interesting and like-able as a whole, but even the "bad" characters had more to their characters that made them fleshed out. The book has many different aspects that are appealing to a wide variety for its audience and I find it to be a nice, action-packed, easy read.
So the film was a Hollywood (disaster) blockbuster which made apprehensive to begin reading this but luckily for me, I persevered.
What a book. What brilliant sharp and precise writing. Don Winslow doesn't waste words at all. I think this might be the most word efficient novel I've ever read. Being so concise it is really a miracle how many anecdotes and epigrams Don Winslow manages to cram into one book. There is also great use of space that gives the words extra space to resonate when necessary. This is a writer who obviously has been around the block. The structure is really something to be admired and respected.
The ability to take something well known and utilize it in proper context and then to break it down and change it, putting it in a completely new context is something that is repeated throughout, the repurposing of common knowledge and re-contextualization is used to squeeze every last drip of wisdom out, to the point of showboating but when you're at this level it's permissable.
A true pleasure to read.
This book is to be read by everyone who saw the film and hated it, those who saw the film and enjoyed it and those who did not see the film. If you fall into one of those categories this book comes highly recommended by me.
What a book. What brilliant sharp and precise writing. Don Winslow doesn't waste words at all. I think this might be the most word efficient novel I've ever read. Being so concise it is really a miracle how many anecdotes and epigrams Don Winslow manages to cram into one book. There is also great use of space that gives the words extra space to resonate when necessary. This is a writer who obviously has been around the block. The structure is really something to be admired and respected.
The ability to take something well known and utilize it in proper context and then to break it down and change it, putting it in a completely new context is something that is repeated throughout, the repurposing of common knowledge and re-contextualization is used to squeeze every last drip of wisdom out, to the point of showboating but when you're at this level it's permissable.
A true pleasure to read.
This book is to be read by everyone who saw the film and hated it, those who saw the film and enjoyed it and those who did not see the film. If you fall into one of those categories this book comes highly recommended by me.
Easy to finish because the pacing is (thankfully) very fast. Difficult to get through because it was like listening to an obnoxious try-too-hard spinning some wishful fantasy about nymphomaniac rich girls and white guys from the suburbs making it big in the drug trade and then righteously shooting up enemies like Rambo. Actually, that's exactly what it is. Over-eager, like a teen boy jumping up and down with excitement over a story meant to impress but which instead exasperates.
I really liked the way it is written - so abstract, all over the place, and sort of messy. Very different than a lot of novels I've read. The one thing that sort of threw me off, was the number of characters involved and there back stories. It made it a little difficult to pick up, and start a few weeks later (which is what I tend to do with books). Interesting read overall, and would recommend it to a friend.