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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
Interesting premise but the attitude and repetitive tics are grating and remind me why i tossed aside one of his other books
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Let me flip to a random page of "Breathers" and see how long it takes me to find a lame joke....
Here we go, "If you've never been in a room full of zombies eating freshly cooked pieces of human flesh, then you probably wouldn't understand."
That took four flips, and I was having bad luck.
That phrase comes up a lot, the whole, "Then you probably wouldn't understand." It's one of the many touches in the book lifted pretty shamelessly from Chuck Palahniuk. I think Chuck Palahniuk has inspired about as many terrible first person narratives as Tarantino did bad student films about wise-cracking gangsters.
Putting aside the stylistic borrowing, the main issue with this book is that S.G. Browne just isn't funny. His jokes fall flat, his witticisms aren't witty, and the book practically smells from the flop-sweat of him trying too damn hard. There's so many pop culture references I felt like I was watching "The Soup" or one of those "Best Week Ever" shows. He's trying really hard to shock and be clever and after a while it felt almost awkward to read.
The paper-thin characterization didn't help either. There are a few fully realized, interesting characters but they're mostly on the fringe. The central cast are either devoid of distinguishing traits or flat stereotypes. The main character suffers the worst, appearing to be a little more than a cipher for the author. He makes more snide, metrosexual comments about fashion and cooking that Patrick Batemen in American Psycho, and that's the only thing that stands out. God, look what he just made me do!
Some of the drama is halfway decent, the discussions of dying and rebirth are interesting, but on some level I just couldn't suspend disbelief long enough to get into it. I just don't think humanity would react to zombies like it was a civil rights issue. It would probably be a straight up geekshow if anything.
He gets an extra star for some of the details and the world-building, but this feels like amateur hour that stumbled into print.
Here we go, "If you've never been in a room full of zombies eating freshly cooked pieces of human flesh, then you probably wouldn't understand."
That took four flips, and I was having bad luck.
That phrase comes up a lot, the whole, "Then you probably wouldn't understand." It's one of the many touches in the book lifted pretty shamelessly from Chuck Palahniuk. I think Chuck Palahniuk has inspired about as many terrible first person narratives as Tarantino did bad student films about wise-cracking gangsters.
Putting aside the stylistic borrowing, the main issue with this book is that S.G. Browne just isn't funny. His jokes fall flat, his witticisms aren't witty, and the book practically smells from the flop-sweat of him trying too damn hard. There's so many pop culture references I felt like I was watching "The Soup" or one of those "Best Week Ever" shows. He's trying really hard to shock and be clever and after a while it felt almost awkward to read.
The paper-thin characterization didn't help either. There are a few fully realized, interesting characters but they're mostly on the fringe. The central cast are either devoid of distinguishing traits or flat stereotypes. The main character suffers the worst, appearing to be a little more than a cipher for the author. He makes more snide, metrosexual comments about fashion and cooking that Patrick Batemen in American Psycho, and that's the only thing that stands out. God, look what he just made me do!
Some of the drama is halfway decent, the discussions of dying and rebirth are interesting, but on some level I just couldn't suspend disbelief long enough to get into it. I just don't think humanity would react to zombies like it was a civil rights issue. It would probably be a straight up geekshow if anything.
He gets an extra star for some of the details and the world-building, but this feels like amateur hour that stumbled into print.
Amy was right. This book was "gross" but it was also really easy to get through. Not a waste of time but not amazing.
I’ve read a lot of zombie books and watched a lot of zombie movies, but this is the first time I’ve heard the zombie’s side of the story. S.G. Browne’s Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament follows Andy, a recently resurrected zombie as he tries to figure out why he’s alive (read: undead) and what his purpose is. As I read, I thought that this book was a horror novel with aspirations to be a literary novel. While there’s a lot more action that I’ve come to expect from literary novels, there’s as much introspection and pensiveness. And, of course, there is no happy ending...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
My fifth star is broken this year. I know this is weird since historically I've been fast and loose with high ratings, but this deficiency in me should not be taken as a reflection of the book.
I wrote a good portion of this review yesterday when I wasn’t actually finished with the book which does lead to the positive that there shouldn’t be any spoilers at least not any end spoilers… I tried really hard to not have any middle spoilers either but we’ll see.
I have a lot of live concerts in my itunes, which means I've got a lot of random recordings of different artists talking about nothing. One of these (okay a good number of them, dude doesn't shut up) is john mayer talking about people telling him they like his early work. He equates this to someone walking up to you and saying "you were so great at your last job." Well Mr, mrs, initials Browne you were fucking fantastic at your old job.
I expected a lot of things from this book, but the one thing I didn't expect was for this book to be substantially better than Browne’s more recent book. Don’t get me wrong I loved fated, but this well it’s just so much more. If fated is the bastard child of tom robbins and terry pratchett, well Breathers is that child of an incestuous affair between that child and daddy, tom robbins not pratchett. If that’s too gross for you it’s kind of like being the child of douglas adams and tom robbins but way fucking cooler. Basically what I’m saying is that it’s funnier, smarter, and more poignant.
Just to look stalkery, he lists his influences as Chuck Palahniuk, Christopher Moore, and Stephen King. I think he does a better job than any of these gentlemen, I mean he’s not as overwritten as king (although it’s hard to say if he’s as nice a guy personally, let’s hope so, and that no one is trying to run him down with cars, he’s smarter than Christopher Moore (but not at all smart in an alienating way), and more interesting than Palahniuk (to be honest this one is hard for me cause I really love Palahniuk and I think god those are good ideas, but his tend to be good ideas that most 15 year old boys have thought of, this could possibly be said for zombies but I think browne deals with it in a much more interesting way).
Now this book does have those aspects of things that you know long before the characters know but since I like that in books I’m cool. And the fact is there are plenty of plot twists you don’t know in advance. Also the verbal repetitive diarrhea thing I hated in the other book is used way better here, it doesn’t actually bug me at all, although I think it is also used less which probably helps.
Lastly, I just have to say this book reminds me of still life with woodpecker, I guess just in the sense that when you read it there is definitely a level on which you’ve got to reevaluate your own life and your own actions.
I guess my point is I'm a fan.
I wrote a good portion of this review yesterday when I wasn’t actually finished with the book which does lead to the positive that there shouldn’t be any spoilers at least not any end spoilers… I tried really hard to not have any middle spoilers either but we’ll see.
I have a lot of live concerts in my itunes, which means I've got a lot of random recordings of different artists talking about nothing. One of these (okay a good number of them, dude doesn't shut up) is john mayer talking about people telling him they like his early work. He equates this to someone walking up to you and saying "you were so great at your last job." Well Mr, mrs, initials Browne you were fucking fantastic at your old job.
I expected a lot of things from this book, but the one thing I didn't expect was for this book to be substantially better than Browne’s more recent book. Don’t get me wrong I loved fated, but this well it’s just so much more. If fated is the bastard child of tom robbins and terry pratchett, well Breathers is that child of an incestuous affair between that child and daddy, tom robbins not pratchett. If that’s too gross for you it’s kind of like being the child of douglas adams and tom robbins but way fucking cooler. Basically what I’m saying is that it’s funnier, smarter, and more poignant.
Just to look stalkery, he lists his influences as Chuck Palahniuk, Christopher Moore, and Stephen King. I think he does a better job than any of these gentlemen, I mean he’s not as overwritten as king (although it’s hard to say if he’s as nice a guy personally, let’s hope so, and that no one is trying to run him down with cars, he’s smarter than Christopher Moore (but not at all smart in an alienating way), and more interesting than Palahniuk (to be honest this one is hard for me cause I really love Palahniuk and I think god those are good ideas, but his tend to be good ideas that most 15 year old boys have thought of, this could possibly be said for zombies but I think browne deals with it in a much more interesting way).
Now this book does have those aspects of things that you know long before the characters know
Spoiler
BRAINSLastly, I just have to say this book reminds me of still life with woodpecker, I guess just in the sense that when you read it there is definitely a level on which you’ve got to reevaluate your own life and your own actions.
I guess my point is I'm a fan.
I found this hilarious. It's basically a book about a support group for the reanimated (in other words, zombies). Read the blurb or other reviews for a fuller summary. I thought the characters were rich and the constant struggle between the undead and the rest of the living world is funny and yet felt like it could be real. A definite read for anyone who wants some lighter zombie entertainment.
Made it about 40 pages into this one before putting it down. It's an interesting concept, and the opening "hook" scene promised a few twists along the way, but I just couldn't put up with the complete lack of self-awareness of the protagonist.
In this darkly comic take on the zombie story, Browne presents a world in which the dead arise, but instead of being brainless shuffling corpses, they are actually intelligent and only ocasionally shuffling corpses. After a car crash in which both he and his wife die, Andy finds himself embalmed and shuffling away from the mortuary on a distortedly broken ankle. His afterlife is immediately beset with problems, as he is now considered a worthless subhuman with out any of the basic rights that the living enjoy.
Andy spends his time watching reruns in his parent's basement (with the door locked, because they are embarrassed of him), being shouted at and pelted with food when he walks down the street, trying to keep from falling apart by getting his fix of formaldehyde, and once a week going to Undead Anonomous meetings with others who are in his same situation. His daily depression is compounded by the fact that he cannot even speak of his problems to his therapist. Things begin to turn around for him, however, when he falls for another zombie who sucks on lipstick and makeup to get her fix of formaldehyde.
I love the dark humor and the clever writing style. You are made to wholy sympathise with the zombies and their plight to the point that humans, also known as breathers, seem to be one dimensional. Every breather is so disgusted with zombies that they are cruel and viscious to them. In a way this was necessary to your sympathy for the zombies, but it also made the world seem somewhat flat. For it seems to me, that if zombies were real there would be a certain number of people who would want to help them out and be kind to them, even if the majority of the population was as hateful as they were in the book.
But this is a minor foible and Breathers is a great zombie love story, or zombie revolution story (depending on your point of view), and a fun read.
Andy spends his time watching reruns in his parent's basement (with the door locked, because they are embarrassed of him), being shouted at and pelted with food when he walks down the street, trying to keep from falling apart by getting his fix of formaldehyde, and once a week going to Undead Anonomous meetings with others who are in his same situation. His daily depression is compounded by the fact that he cannot even speak of his problems to his therapist. Things begin to turn around for him, however, when he falls for another zombie who sucks on lipstick and makeup to get her fix of formaldehyde.
I love the dark humor and the clever writing style. You are made to wholy sympathise with the zombies and their plight to the point that humans, also known as breathers, seem to be one dimensional. Every breather is so disgusted with zombies that they are cruel and viscious to them. In a way this was necessary to your sympathy for the zombies, but it also made the world seem somewhat flat. For it seems to me, that if zombies were real there would be a certain number of people who would want to help them out and be kind to them, even if the majority of the population was as hateful as they were in the book.
But this is a minor foible and Breathers is a great zombie love story, or zombie revolution story (depending on your point of view), and a fun read.
Overall, I thought it was pretty good novel. However, it did have it's up and down moments. It is all told through Andy's point of view so it is a bit restricted, but you still get a good sense of the other characters that are featured. I thought the opening and the middle were brilliant, but when it started dwindling toward the end ("the zombie movement") it started lacking for me. But the ending was something I actually didn't expect, so I was happy about that. Browne does a wonderful job creating this zombie world that isn't like Hollywood has painted them which I really enjoyed and bless him for. I would recommend it to other zombie enthusiasts.