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dantastic's review against another edition
2.0
After killing the Nowhere Man on his last mission, Vincent Prague was promoted to Anvil-in-Chief of the Ministry of Applied Pressure. Now, he's tasked with going to Prague in the former Czech Republic, going to the Hotel Prague on Prague street where he will meet Henri Prague, who will introduce him to his sister Madchen "The Prague" Prague, who will take him to the Delova Prague. Prague, Prague, Prague, Prague, Prague. There's also a monster that's a clone of John Keats and Hitler that looks like Jean Claude Van Damme with a mustache.
Codename Prague is an absurdist cyberpunk spy thriller, emphasis on the absurd. I'm kind of at a loss to describe what actually happened and I'm not sure whether I liked it or not. There were parts where the wordplay made me snicker like a psychopath and I loved all the obscure pulp culture references. The idea of people crossing the Atlantic via catapult was nicely done. The technology was so over the top that it was awesome.
So what wasn't I crazy about? Most of the characters were incredibly flat. I think Dr. Teufeldrockh was the only one I had any attachment to. About halfway through the book, the wordplay and absurdity became so thick that the whole book threatened to go off the rails at any moment. There were a few times that I wondered if I'd gone insane and the book was completely normal.
To sum up, Codename Prague had its moments and I loved parts of it but it was no Dr. Identity and not my cup of tea.
Codename Prague is an absurdist cyberpunk spy thriller, emphasis on the absurd. I'm kind of at a loss to describe what actually happened and I'm not sure whether I liked it or not. There were parts where the wordplay made me snicker like a psychopath and I loved all the obscure pulp culture references. The idea of people crossing the Atlantic via catapult was nicely done. The technology was so over the top that it was awesome.
So what wasn't I crazy about? Most of the characters were incredibly flat. I think Dr. Teufeldrockh was the only one I had any attachment to. About halfway through the book, the wordplay and absurdity became so thick that the whole book threatened to go off the rails at any moment. There were a few times that I wondered if I'd gone insane and the book was completely normal.
To sum up, Codename Prague had its moments and I loved parts of it but it was no Dr. Identity and not my cup of tea.
bmacenlightened's review against another edition
5.0
I would definitely watch this as a movie, for what its worth, but I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't understand what was going on for most of it. The ultra-violence and scenes of ridiculous technocolor torture were pretty awesome. I loved the characterization even though they were as characters that were really really bizarre in their activities and traits throughout. The codes provided and citations really added to the perplexity of it as did the out of order chapters and breaking of the fourth wall. I'm not really sure what else to say, but it was pretty awesome and reading it in one sitting right before sleep is definitely going to help induce some pretty bizarre dreams. At least I hope :D.
sscalavera's review against another edition
3.0
D. Harlan Wilson is the sort of writer who’s either terrifyingly intelligent and shrouded in shocking imagery, or a nightmarish Andy Warhol - creating meaningless artifacts out of the wildest parts of pop culture. Either way, Codename Prague isn’t for everyone, and it definitely isn’t his most accessible work. He used to be my favourite writer, but as time’s gone by I’ve fallen out of love with him in favour of other, arguably more measured writers, but ones who see writing as a human project rather than a metafictional exercise.
sarahconnor89757's review against another edition
3.0
This book fits within the utopian ideal the 80s scifi genre so hard fought for.
The best thing about reading a book is being able to experience things and places that are not only beyond you physically but beyond your imagination all together and that's what makes Wilson a great storyteller; he can write what you would never otherwise have the opportunity to experience. Codename Pague has a hyper-cool universe of technologies, intrigue, culture, language and characters that is just enough off the end to make it unforgettable.
Wilson has a great talent for writing action, adventure, universe and characters but the attempts at humor fell short, sometimes so much so that I felt embarrassed for him and can, at times, cut the story’s legs out from under it.
The best thing about reading a book is being able to experience things and places that are not only beyond you physically but beyond your imagination all together and that's what makes Wilson a great storyteller; he can write what you would never otherwise have the opportunity to experience. Codename Pague has a hyper-cool universe of technologies, intrigue, culture, language and characters that is just enough off the end to make it unforgettable.
Wilson has a great talent for writing action, adventure, universe and characters but the attempts at humor fell short, sometimes so much so that I felt embarrassed for him and can, at times, cut the story’s legs out from under it.
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