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floodfish's review
5.0
Very few books make me giggle like an idiot on a crowded subway. This one does.
elizabeth_d's review
5.0
An absolute work of comedy genius. Small, succinct and perfectly formed, this book does exactly what it promises. Read it. Then read it again. Then go and see your doctor about the hernia you've contracted from laughing too much. Maybe he'll wrap you in cling film. Lose friends and terrify strangers as you roll about on the bus / train / airplane floor laughing helplessly. It really is that funny. And if you don't think so, you're clearly broken.
edders's review
4.0
I think that when it is time to discuss those books concerning the wrapping of Roy Orbison in Clingfilm it is Ulrich Haarburste's fine literary efforts that first spring to my mind.
It is perhaps best to start with the fundamental negatives I see in the book that I have read: clingfilm is the be-all-end-all and nothing else can take centre stage at any one time. This is the defining characteristic of the short stories and the novel contained in the book and it shapes everything that is surreal and wonderful but simultaneously gives it boundaries that it cannot escape from.
Now that unpleasantries have been cast by the way-side I can tout the glory of that scintillating, gleaming figure iridescent as he walks with shoelaces tied: it is Roy Orbison, and he is completely wrapped in clingfilm. No doubt anyone else familiar with Ulrich's words will feel their chest swell in remembered pride and satisfaction at this note of accomplishment.
The novel at the end seems to me influenced in equal measures by Dickens - a bizarre juiced up pastiche of a serial novel, hailing as it does from weekly online releases of chapters which have been lovingly printed (alas, not on clingfilm) - and maybe The Hobbit in some way that I struggle to identify (perhaps the interesting way that peripheral characters interject, or the marvellous return journey to Dusseldorf). In any event it is a unique and interesting book.
It is perhaps best to start with the fundamental negatives I see in the book that I have read: clingfilm is the be-all-end-all and nothing else can take centre stage at any one time. This is the defining characteristic of the short stories and the novel contained in the book and it shapes everything that is surreal and wonderful but simultaneously gives it boundaries that it cannot escape from.
Now that unpleasantries have been cast by the way-side I can tout the glory of that scintillating, gleaming figure iridescent as he walks with shoelaces tied: it is Roy Orbison, and he is completely wrapped in clingfilm. No doubt anyone else familiar with Ulrich's words will feel their chest swell in remembered pride and satisfaction at this note of accomplishment.
The novel at the end seems to me influenced in equal measures by Dickens - a bizarre juiced up pastiche of a serial novel, hailing as it does from weekly online releases of chapters which have been lovingly printed (alas, not on clingfilm) - and maybe The Hobbit in some way that I struggle to identify (perhaps the interesting way that peripheral characters interject, or the marvellous return journey to Dusseldorf). In any event it is a unique and interesting book.
jenniereads's review
4.0
I gave this book four stars because the overall idea is hilarious. However, it begins to get repetitive towards the middle of the book and I found myself losing interest. Still, Haarburste's voice is something everyone should experience. You'll find yourself talking like him in everyday speech. The short stories in the beginning of the book are the best part. Too funny.
olijba's review
2.0
While I was enticed with the early short stories, eventually the joke starts to wear thin. Bar a change in location, the beats of the tale remain the same, and the humour found in the writing gets a bit stale. I hoped that the novel would be a change of pace, but it still felt repetitive. A few decent chuckles found within, but once you've read one story about Roy Orbison in clingfilm, you've read them all...
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