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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
I first read this book back in 2010, when I went through a phase where I thought Neil Gaiman could do no wrong. I enjoyed it very much then and planned to reread it when the TV show came out and just never did...
My summer job was 100% menial labor, so I listened to the audio book this summer, counting it as a reread and...
Hmm.
Some of the dry British humor still stands. Parts of this book are still riotously funny. The absurdity of every tape left in a car eventually turning into a Queen tape. The highway being planned as a sigil of evil. Adam's misunderstandings and oversimplification of the Aquarian(not sure of the spelling here) magazines. Those are all still very good. In non-humorous plot, the thought of a child's love for his mundane life being enough to save the world is also still excellent. A sneakered foot "Slouching hopefully towards Tadfield" is a better, more optimistic ending than imagining a rough beast as it "slouches towards Bethlehem."
However, some of the humor is racist, homophobic, ableist, fatphobic and just plain mean natured. The f-slur and r-slur show up repeatedly, as well as (in the audio book, at least) several very unfortunate attempts at accents. The humor punches down at marginalized groups almost as often as it punches up at people in power. I don't believe in authors being forced to edit their past writing, but as far as I know Gaiman and Pterry never really apologized for this less than ideal humor.
The book was still enjoyable, but that major flaw with some of the humor left me uncomfortable, and 15 years after the first time I read it, I am now able to express why. The story itself is so good, but those moments....
Eh. They left the book tarnished. That's really all I can say on the matter.
My summer job was 100% menial labor, so I listened to the audio book this summer, counting it as a reread and...
Hmm.
Some of the dry British humor still stands. Parts of this book are still riotously funny. The absurdity of every tape left in a car eventually turning into a Queen tape. The highway being planned as a sigil of evil. Adam's misunderstandings and oversimplification of the Aquarian(not sure of the spelling here) magazines. Those are all still very good. In non-humorous plot, the thought of a child's love for his mundane life being enough to save the world is also still excellent. A sneakered foot "Slouching hopefully towards Tadfield" is a better, more optimistic ending than imagining a rough beast as it "slouches towards Bethlehem."
However, some of the humor is racist, homophobic, ableist, fatphobic and just plain mean natured. The f-slur and r-slur show up repeatedly, as well as (in the audio book, at least) several very unfortunate attempts at accents. The humor punches down at marginalized groups almost as often as it punches up at people in power. I don't believe in authors being forced to edit their past writing, but as far as I know Gaiman and Pterry never really apologized for this less than ideal humor.
The book was still enjoyable, but that major flaw with some of the humor left me uncomfortable, and 15 years after the first time I read it, I am now able to express why. The story itself is so good, but those moments....
Eh. They left the book tarnished. That's really all I can say on the matter.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Read this as a young teen and again as a 20something and again as a 30something. Something about the friendship between the two writers comes across every single page of this story. It's the only book I've ever been able to count on to make me laugh. It's silly and simple and good.
Enjoyable, love Terry Pratchett, loved the audiobook. I just think, the story of over-inflated and hyped up by many others by the time I got to read it
Might get lynched for this but the TV series was way better
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loved it! Love it on every rereading! Clever, funny..great book!
Had to return to the library. Would love to come back to this book at a later date
adventurous
funny