Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
I thought it was going to be just a gag book, but really it was a fun take on the hard boiled detective genre, with a lot of care given to the Toon side of it.
I'll be honest, I enjoyed the movie a lot more than the book. The idea of living breathing cartoons coexisting with human beings is fascinating--and obviously whoever wrote the screen adaptation saw the wealth of possibilities in this novel. Some of the core characters are the same between versions (Eddie, Roger, Jessica, and Baby Herman are present in both), but their mannerisms and the story-lines are quite different. If Eddie's drinking habits seemed excessive in the film, it's a wonder he's not hooked up to dialysis in the book. Roger is far less cute and far more tricky (and sometimes sinister).
Certain things about Wolf's writing style distracted from the story. The word-balloons for toon-speech, initially interesting, get repetitive and clunky in the midst of conversation without adding much to scenes. Similarly, Eddie's first-person moments of cliche detective-noir metaphor and simile are at first charming, but they quickly become a hurdle in the middle of dialogue that might actually be relative to the mystery.
And, yes, in spite of the criticism I've just leveled at the source material, I think I may eventually get around to the sequel that Wolf penned following the success of the movie. Rumour has it, the follow-up is a vast improvement on the original. Here's hoping!
Certain things about Wolf's writing style distracted from the story. The word-balloons for toon-speech, initially interesting, get repetitive and clunky in the midst of conversation without adding much to scenes. Similarly, Eddie's first-person moments of cliche detective-noir metaphor and simile are at first charming, but they quickly become a hurdle in the middle of dialogue that might actually be relative to the mystery.
And, yes, in spite of the criticism I've just leveled at the source material, I think I may eventually get around to the sequel that Wolf penned following the success of the movie. Rumour has it, the follow-up is a vast improvement on the original. Here's hoping!
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a fun read, overall. It had a lot of the features of a pulp noir novel with the added charm and humor of a setting filled with cartoons. The premise and setting are treated with a deadpan seriousness that made me believe the presence of toons was some sort of half-baked allegory for… something, perhaps racism or social class or something similar. The problem is that the book never addresses it. So it seems toons were meant to be a placeholder for whatever theme the author wanted to work into the narrative and he simply never got back to it after the first draft.
Most of the characters are pretty likable, like Roger, Eddie, and even some grimier characters like Sid Sleaze. The mystery continues to unfold right up until the final chapter, as it should be with any good detective story. The ending was a bit of a letdown, but the rest of the story is packed with so much heart and good humor that it didn’t really matter by the time I finished the book.
Generally well written but also more enjoyable than “good”, I believe Who Censored Roger Rabbit earns a solid four star rated for execution.
A couple notes on content:
Who Censored Roger Rabbit has some moments of casual homophobia, transphobia, and misogyny. It’s not too overt but it can be expected that a book of this genre written in the early 80’s will contain some “jokes” characterizing LGBTQ+ people as essentially being sexual degenerates, or depicting women as generally mean-spirited and untrustworthy. This maybe bothers me less because I’m used to reading works of authors like Raymond Chandler but some will be put off by it. At least the book doesn’t linger on these themes much. It’s usually just a few lines to the tone of “Of course the smut peddler is a transvestite” and then the narrator moves on.
For any fans of the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, this book is significantly darker and more serious in tone. The plot is also very different. If you’re looking for something like a novelization of the movie you’ll be disappointed, probably to the point of aggravation. But if you’re looking for a noir-esque detective story with farcical elements sprinkled throughout, you’ll probably enjoy this one.
Most of the characters are pretty likable, like Roger, Eddie, and even some grimier characters like Sid Sleaze. The mystery continues to unfold right up until the final chapter, as it should be with any good detective story. The ending was a bit of a letdown, but the rest of the story is packed with so much heart and good humor that it didn’t really matter by the time I finished the book.
Generally well written but also more enjoyable than “good”, I believe Who Censored Roger Rabbit earns a solid four star rated for execution.
A couple notes on content:
Who Censored Roger Rabbit has some moments of casual homophobia, transphobia, and misogyny. It’s not too overt but it can be expected that a book of this genre written in the early 80’s will contain some “jokes” characterizing LGBTQ+ people as essentially being sexual degenerates, or depicting women as generally mean-spirited and untrustworthy. This maybe bothers me less because I’m used to reading works of authors like Raymond Chandler but some will be put off by it. At least the book doesn’t linger on these themes much. It’s usually just a few lines to the tone of “Of course the smut peddler is a transvestite” and then the narrator moves on.
For any fans of the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, this book is significantly darker and more serious in tone. The plot is also very different. If you’re looking for something like a novelization of the movie you’ll be disappointed, probably to the point of aggravation. But if you’re looking for a noir-esque detective story with farcical elements sprinkled throughout, you’ll probably enjoy this one.
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
On one hand, character growth, overcoming prejudice and racism. On the other hand, Jessica Rabbit and Jessica Jones have a lot more in common than I'm comfortable with.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Rape
A truly weird reading experience, especially as a fan of the movie version. This is more of a straightforward detective novel that just so happens to feature walking, talking comic strip characters. It’s consistently surreal, particularly the descriptions of word balloons that physically manifest when the cartoons speak. I haven’t read a ton of mystery/crime stuff, but the mystery here leaves a lot to be desired. The ending is positively ludicrous. A genie that talks in ye olde versions of modern figures of speech was behind most of it. Sure, okay. It’s not as good as the movie, but it’s definitely an interesting read.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
As someone who watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit probably far too many times as a kid it was interesting reading the book that inspired it, but if it had been any longer I don't think I'd have finished it. While the movie is something of a deconstruction of a film noir, the book (ironically) plays the genre fully straight, including the bonus flavors of misogyny and racism. Maybe not so bad to someone who enjoys 1940s detective novels, but it was published in '81, not 1940, and it's enough Not My Thing I think I can safely take a pass on anything else by the author.
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Holy shit, almost everyone is an asshole! Really the stars should be 3.9 or 3.8. The concept is fantastic the grizzled detective is done well. The mysteries aren’t too mysterious but the end suspects did “surprise” me. One because I was just hoping it wasn’t them. The other because it was dumb. Fun little read though that falls nicely with other Pulp. This one just comes with the great feature of toons added.
Major issue with the novel is how Eddie starts to learn beyond his racism towards toons then brings it back hard towards Persians. Throughout the book it felt like it was going to grow in its commentary on bigotry. It stayed small with the toons and had added ignorant human racism brought to us by Eddie. All that Eddie was learning about holding back judgment stop in the last third.
I feel the movie is better. The movie could used a little more crudeness from the book but the book didn’t use it perfectly either. Both the book and movie should have delved deeper into the theme of bigotry. Both didn’t go far enough.
A fine quick read this one.
Major issue with the novel is how Eddie starts to learn beyond his racism towards toons then brings it back hard towards Persians. Throughout the book it felt like it was going to grow in its commentary on bigotry. It stayed small with the toons and had added ignorant human racism brought to us by Eddie. All that Eddie was learning about holding back judgment stop in the last third.
I feel the movie is better. The movie could used a little more crudeness from the book but the book didn’t use it perfectly either. Both the book and movie should have delved deeper into the theme of bigotry. Both didn’t go far enough.
A fine quick read this one.
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes