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3.01 AVERAGE
3.01 AVERAGE
This book was much more depressing than I'd expected. The book "jacket" made it sound as if it were a satirical examination of over-zealous prosecution of terrorists. Which was present but was so bizarrely disconnected from the the true heart of the story. The book overall made me depressed and feel guilty about my old teddy-bear sitting in the closet.
This was an interesting concept for a book. It was a pretty easy read. The social and political perspectives of this book were intriguing and provocative.
This may be the strangest book I've encountered in a long time. I picked it up for the premise--teddy bear accused of terrorist acts--but what I fell for were the parts that had nothing to do with the heavy handed social satire and terrorist witch trial metaphors [however valid, those quickly got old]. Underneath all that there's actually a very sweet warped story of a teddy bear coming to terms with life and identity both in terms of gender and age, and that quiet story--which is a lot easier to identify with than the "big" social themes of injustice intolerance etc--is more interesting than any of the politics. I suppose this could be a velveteen rabbit story for my generation, but it would have to lose the very era specific preaching and focus on the bear him/herself.
OK so this is by far the weirdest book I’ve ever read. Granted, I really liked the idea of the story and think the premise was promising but the execution threw me completely astray because I went into it expecting something completely different than what I got. I liked the idea of a teddy bear being falsely convicted of terrorism as a way to reveal our misplaced paranoia and understood what the book was trying to, do but the use of effective satire got lost somewhere along the way. I would like to compare the experience of reading this book to one time in my childhood when I found a mysterious cup of liquid on the counter of my kitchen and took a sip, expecting the sweet and exciting sensation of juice upon my tongue but rather tasted the disappointing and rather revolting taste of lukewarm milk. Multiple times throughout this book i said “what” out loud due to honest and utter shock. I’m still recovering from whiplash because I actually don’t know what I just read. Maybe I am just missing something, but after reading other reviews I think I’m not alone in believing this book was really, really weird and not necessarily in a good way
This book was both absurd and fantastic. The whole premise of a teddy bear who comes to life and ends up targeted as an alleged terrorist is so incredibly creative.
Free Winkie!
Free Winkie!
I really liked this book! It was incredibly imaginative and the story was great.
Das Buch war einfach anstrengend. Ein Teil der Mitte und das Ende waren ziemlich unterhaltsam und gut lesbar, aber der Rest (und leider mehr als Hälfte) war langweilig, schwer zu lesen und einfach uninteressant.
Das größte Problem stellte für mich die Diskrepanz zwischen den Abbildungen und dem Text dar. Im Text war an mehreren Stellen deutlich gemacht, dass die Tatsache, dass der Teddy-Bär Augen hat, deren Lidern zugemacht werden können, sehr wichtig ist. Aber dann guckt man sich die Bilder, und man sieht, dass die Augen eher wie Knöpfe sind und jedenfalls nicht zugemacht werden können. Es hat mich jedesmal aufgeregt, wenn der Bär solche Augen nicht hatte, warum wird daraus ein so wichtiges Merkmal gemacht.
Die Geschichte hatte jedenfalls potenzial, aber der Übergang von etwas magischem bis zur totaler Absurdität war nicht besonders gut. Dass der Bär angeblich nicht nur mit griechischen Philosophen, aber auch mit den Hexen aus Salem zu tun hätte...
Wie gesagt, das Ende war ganz gut, aber das macht leider nicht alles gut. Ich kann das Buch einfach nicht empfehlen.
Das größte Problem stellte für mich die Diskrepanz zwischen den Abbildungen und dem Text dar. Im Text war an mehreren Stellen deutlich gemacht, dass die Tatsache, dass der Teddy-Bär Augen hat, deren Lidern zugemacht werden können, sehr wichtig ist. Aber dann guckt man sich die Bilder, und man sieht, dass die Augen eher wie Knöpfe sind und jedenfalls nicht zugemacht werden können. Es hat mich jedesmal aufgeregt, wenn der Bär solche Augen nicht hatte, warum wird daraus ein so wichtiges Merkmal gemacht.
Die Geschichte hatte jedenfalls potenzial, aber der Übergang von etwas magischem bis zur totaler Absurdität war nicht besonders gut. Dass der Bär angeblich nicht nur mit griechischen Philosophen, aber auch mit den Hexen aus Salem zu tun hätte...
Wie gesagt, das Ende war ganz gut, aber das macht leider nicht alles gut. Ich kann das Buch einfach nicht empfehlen.
So this was a great analog to a book I liked a lot when i was younger, James Lincoln Collier's The Teddy Bear Habit. Winkie is about a teddy bear who develops a soul and the ability to walk and talk (sort of) after years of desperate loneliness as the forgotten object of many children's affection.
And the book is an allegory about the terror. Basically Winkie gets taken for terrorist and thrown in jail and tried for all crimes ever over time.
If it sounds like a mixed up mess--well, it is. But it's fun and touching without being obvious or cheesy (which is what one would normally expect from a teddy bear novel). I am not sure if the (depressing) story re: Winkie the bear abnd the satirc trail stuff really meshed, but whatever, it was fun.
And it's a fast read. This was the first novel by the this author (who made the leap from short erotic fiction to this pretty well I'd say) and hopefully is the start of a good body of work.
And the book is an allegory about the terror. Basically Winkie gets taken for terrorist and thrown in jail and tried for all crimes ever over time.
If it sounds like a mixed up mess--well, it is. But it's fun and touching without being obvious or cheesy (which is what one would normally expect from a teddy bear novel). I am not sure if the (depressing) story re: Winkie the bear abnd the satirc trail stuff really meshed, but whatever, it was fun.
And it's a fast read. This was the first novel by the this author (who made the leap from short erotic fiction to this pretty well I'd say) and hopefully is the start of a good body of work.
I adored this book! Excellent writing! Winkie is an amazing character. Nothing like making the most of being in the wrong place at the wrong time just trying to change its fate. The story was beautiful and heartbreaking at times. I also absolutely loved the humor. I recommend for something different! It’s velveteen rabbit meets political satire.
