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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
Wickedly funny and salacious. The guy's vocabulary makes me grab a dictionary.
“I've sucked way too much cement for this year. Bad juju rising off them city sidewalks. I need to babble with a brook or two, inhale starlight, make friends with some trees.”
Sometime earlier this year, the internal decision was made to revisit some of the old friends lost in the shelves - books that I read years and years ago that I either remembered too little or too much and I wanted to hold again, visit with an old friend, laugh, or cry or just listen, whatever they wanted to do with our time. With the "To Read Pile" gathering height, I would limit this re-read or re-visit only once a year, and I knew exactly which book to begin with.
Robbins' "Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates" (the title of the novel comes from Arthur Rimbaud's "A Season in Hell," in which he daydreams about becoming one of "ces féroces infirmes retour des pays chauds") crossed my path just after college, the turn of the century, the turn of the millennium. Life and youth have a way of squandering one's valued time, books fell by the wayside. Once life had settled, the itch to read, the familiar habit came back stronger than ever. Where to start? Where to begin?
I remember the public library, standing there in the dull lighting, walking up and down the aisles, searching for something to read. My eyes and fingertips flowed over the spines until they found this book, "FIHFHC." I read Robbins in my youth (high school) and enjoyed him. The humor appealed to me and his view of the world. It was meeting an old friend on the street after all the years. Let's go talk. Have a read.
Returning to the book, I held it and tried to summon what memories I could. I liked the book, liked it enough to want it to be the first book revisited. I remember when and where I read the book, and there memories of reading the book but could only recall about a quarter of the book. Mostly, just the beginning. I forgot the middle (the journey to the convent) and I thought I remembered the end but as I arrived there, the ending I thought I remembered was not the ending that occurred. I was eager to start but as the narrative continued the zest faded.
Perhaps the book did not age well with me or vice versa, I aged, and the book did not. Robbins voice is steady and familiar, funny but not as biting or as intelligent as memory would have me believe. There a lot of problems with the book that 20 years later nag at me, that apparently in my youth I didn't care for: Switters pedophilia, numerous plot points that are either dropped (Maestra's legal problems) or handled poorly (after everything with Domino, Suzy is still on his mind; and the 'resolution of the curse) and the book seems to peter out after 400 pages its purpose and clarity lost and doesn't really know what to do but end. Eh? Having met this old friend, talked, and read, I don't think I'll visit this one again. The narrative doesn't lack, it was, in the end, the book I remembered. The book hadn't changed. I had.
“Peeple of zee wurl, relax”
Sometime earlier this year, the internal decision was made to revisit some of the old friends lost in the shelves - books that I read years and years ago that I either remembered too little or too much and I wanted to hold again, visit with an old friend, laugh, or cry or just listen, whatever they wanted to do with our time. With the "To Read Pile" gathering height, I would limit this re-read or re-visit only once a year, and I knew exactly which book to begin with.
Robbins' "Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates" (the title of the novel comes from Arthur Rimbaud's "A Season in Hell," in which he daydreams about becoming one of "ces féroces infirmes retour des pays chauds") crossed my path just after college, the turn of the century, the turn of the millennium. Life and youth have a way of squandering one's valued time, books fell by the wayside. Once life had settled, the itch to read, the familiar habit came back stronger than ever. Where to start? Where to begin?
I remember the public library, standing there in the dull lighting, walking up and down the aisles, searching for something to read. My eyes and fingertips flowed over the spines until they found this book, "FIHFHC." I read Robbins in my youth (high school) and enjoyed him. The humor appealed to me and his view of the world. It was meeting an old friend on the street after all the years. Let's go talk. Have a read.
Returning to the book, I held it and tried to summon what memories I could. I liked the book, liked it enough to want it to be the first book revisited. I remember when and where I read the book, and there memories of reading the book but could only recall about a quarter of the book. Mostly, just the beginning. I forgot the middle (the journey to the convent) and I thought I remembered the end but as I arrived there, the ending I thought I remembered was not the ending that occurred. I was eager to start but as the narrative continued the zest faded.
Perhaps the book did not age well with me or vice versa, I aged, and the book did not. Robbins voice is steady and familiar, funny but not as biting or as intelligent as memory would have me believe. There a lot of problems with the book that 20 years later nag at me, that apparently in my youth I didn't care for: Switters pedophilia, numerous plot points that are either dropped (Maestra's legal problems) or handled poorly (after everything with Domino, Suzy is still on his mind; and the 'resolution of the curse) and the book seems to peter out after 400 pages its purpose and clarity lost and doesn't really know what to do but end. Eh? Having met this old friend, talked, and read, I don't think I'll visit this one again. The narrative doesn't lack, it was, in the end, the book I remembered. The book hadn't changed. I had.
“Peeple of zee wurl, relax”
The cover of this book touts it as a CIA thriller, though in Tom Robbins's distinctive style. Do not be fooled. If you are looking for a CIA thriller, you have come to the wrong place. If you are looking for a novel by a writer who has great insights on life and the world around us and who expresses them in beautiful and almost always surprising new ways (i.e., if you like books by Tom Robbins) then this is not to be missed. The central character, Switters, is added to the list of my top-10 literary characters. And the writing is Robbins at his best. If you haven't tried Tom Robbins before, this is a great place to start. If you've tried him in the past, then this will live up to all of your expectations for him.
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
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:
Complicated
Trevor and I are kind of obsessed with this book. It's so good we named our cat Switters. And he's SUCH a Switters...
Robbins defies adequate representation within the synapse-length of a quick review. If you’ve not read him before, prepare for a great ride that will make you laugh, stretch your comfort level, question whether you will finish the book or pick up a second Robbins. If you’re already indoctrinated, read away. It’s bawdy good stuff. I too wish to be linguistically, epistemologically, and physically prepared to thrive in any reality.
It's been a decade or two since I've read a Tom Robbins book, and this one did not disappoint! A hilarious hero's journey through the jungles of the Amazon to the Syrian deserts, Robins spins light-hearted Christian-Muslim-Buddhist yarn that will make you laugh out loud, all while singing "Send In the Clowns" for the millionth time. Great way to kick off summer reading.
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This isn’t a book I would normally go for but if Johnny Depp tells me to read it, I’m going to read it. The book is absolutely insane but it’s so fun!