Tom Robbins (1)Kirja-arvosteluja

A book I stuck with if only to say I had read it. In most ways reads like the 70s novel it is. A bit dated, a touch too wacky, and an unsatisfying ending, left this reader cold. Not my cup of tea I suppose.½

I liked parts of this a lot, but some of the characters (including the narrator) were sooooo long winded. When I was younger I'm sure I would've been ape over this book, but now I feel annoyed that it all sounded like Robbins' own diatribe against death and seriousness. Nearly all the characters talk in the same voice and the message is way too message-y.

At the same time, Robbins has such a fun style and everything is so wacky it's hard not to smile when you're reading this.

And--this is totally random--when I was reading the part about the four elements, I suddenly became really upset about the band Earth, Wind & Fire. What did they have against Water? (According to Wikipedia, it has something to do with the band leader's astrological sign.)

If you're looking for an excuse to take hot baths, have lots of sex, breathe rhythmically, eat hella beets, and live forever, this book is your ticket!

I've had a few conversations that remind me of this book: always with a fast-talker armed with cheesy jokes, half-baked notions, and conspiracy theories, salted with tasteless stereotypes, but interesting and weird enough that I want to hear just a little more. But I do always feel relief when it's over...

See the review of 'Even Cowgirls Get the Blues'.

I enjoyed this book shortly after its paperback was published, but not so much when I tried to read it years later.

Tom Robbins books all fit into a pattern: beautiful woman needs direction/help, and an eccentric man uses sex to unlock her mind and give her wisdom. Robbins will also focus on a particular thing - in this book it is redheads - and philosophize upon it at length. So basically if you've read one of his books you've read them all, and this is by far the best of the bunch.

Maybe I was just tired of Tom Robbin's writing pattern (see my review of Still Life with Woodpecker) but this book was so boring and predictable. Couldn't finish it, wish I hadn't started it.

The only book I've ever read that was written in the second person. For that alone it is worth reading.

I can't stomach reading any more of this. There's no joy in reading chapter upon chapter where someone's thumb is described ad nauseum. It's repetitive masturbatory nothingness.

This is an "interesting" read ... it was a book club selection or I don't think I would have chosen it for myself. He has some very interesting, strong female characters, but his writing is NOT for everyone. I haven't read anything else by Robbins, but I wouldn't rule him out.

The beginning of this book was a bit of a struggle to get into. Tom Robbins is an absurd writer, with nonsensical descriptions, and overly sexual tones, it can be random and cringy at times. For this, I really struggled with the first 50 pages.

That being said, his writing can also be genius, and incredible insightful about society and human nature. I flew through the next 150 pages. The Woodpecker character is fascinating, and Leigh-Cheri's self imprisonment was incredible. Some of the random thought tangents characters would go through are incredible original, interesting, and occasionally insightful.

The last 50 pages were a slog again though, similar to the beginning. I lost interest in the plot and characters. The writing felt closer to the cringe side of the spectrum vs the genius side a lot more often. I had to force myself to finish, but the very end was pretty decent.

I'm interested in trying more Robbins, and the peaks of this book were very high. But the valleys have me apprehensive. Robbins strikes me as a very manic writer, who needs a better editor.

A hormonal, Luciferian comedy of the singularity, infused with a sort of hippy-dippy spiritualism, filtered through a lens of mid-80's pseudoscience, and brought to life with a scattershot approach to verbal acrobatics.

I liked it.

DNF at p62 because it was due at the library and so far all it involved was sex, sexualizing, some objectification, and more sex, and y'know, I'm just not that interested.

Pretty disappointed. In fact I couldn't finish it since I had high hopes after reading "Still life and Woodpecker". Humor was missing, narrative was dull and it's clear "Woodpecker" was an enigma in Tom's body of work.

Tom is my new hero; I loved this story and is outrageous humor. I mean seriously.. when an exiled Queen's favorite response to just about any incident is "Oh, Oh, spaghetti-o's" you gotta love it! Tom obviously lives in a world far different from most of us and that's why he's so great. And no Seattle isn't that odd though it IS different, LOL. I'm hooked on his wacky mind and will read everything he's written. I've give this 5 stars and maybe some of his others will merit it.

When I first read this book it was the 1980's and I was an almost 30 something dabbling in different philosophies. It became one of my favorites - it's off the wall, deadpan humor was refreshing. But for me, this book has not aged well - what seemed fresh now seems trite, and what seemed adventurous now strikes me as mere escapism. It's still funny as hell in places, and still worth a read if you've never read it. But I must say I wish I'd not picked it up again. Some books are best left as fond memories - this is one of them.½

Probably my favorite novel of all time. I like Tom Robbins's other novels but this one has it all: his linguistic pyrotechnics, his wacky characters, a storyline that's both epic and down-to-earth, and his mordant observations about religion, politics, human nature... and the trials and tribulations of taking a longevity potion.

Once I got through the first chapter and Tom Robbins tangential, wordy voice, I had a blast. It's a very fun, weird book. I must admit I skipped all the direct, typewritter referencing chapters.

Hmm it seems I am never sure quite where to start with Tom Robbins' books. I will admit though that I do much prefer this one to Still Life with Woodpecker. It had more of a storyline and dare I say it, the almost random musings did seem to actually tie in with the book and become relevant (although they are talked about to DEATH - e.g Beets, Pan, scent ect).
I struggled in the beginning to stay interested and almost decided to give up, but I am glad I continued as the story and characters became more interesting as it went on (although it could definitely do with some heavy handed editing of chapters).
Whilst at times the writing is beautiful, I still find all of his references to sex to be lewd and jarring, I am no prude but his way of talking about sex cheapens it for me and always seems out of place in his novels.

Overall I thought the book was OK. There are a few things I will take away from it (the whole immortality thing) but the rest I will forget and it's not a book I would read again.

I'm not sure where to start with this one. I liked the writing itself but in this particular novel it didn't come together as anything resembling cohesive.
For me it felt more like a person's inner ramblings, their train of thought masquerading as a story. The characters just felt like extensions of the author himself, just mouthpieces really.

As for the story itself, it was nonsense, completely absurd. The only person I didn't mind was the King. He seemed somewhat believable.

I do know one thing, I never want to hear the words - outlaw, yum, yuk, peachfish, or oh o spaghetti-o again.

I'd still be interesting in reading other works, if they resemble anything remotely considered an actual story that is.

I first read this book at least 45 years ago and didn't remember anything about it. I'm not sure that it has aged well in that the whole hippie culture feels quaint to me rather than edgy as it probably was when first released in 1971. It is still quirky and thought-provoking, though. My biggest beef with the book has nothing to do with its treatment of Christianity, but rather the fact that Robbins goes on and on and on and on and on with his theories ad nauseum. Marx Marvelous will simply not shut up about his theories and the book becomes bogged down and very very tedious to read at times. Even Robbins knew that he went on too long with some of it as shown by his actually including the words blah blah blah into Marx's arguments which are falling on Amanda's deaf ears. Blah blah blah indeed. It put me in mind of the gab sessions in the dorm that were more fueled by too much weed than by good ideas. Very self-indulgent stuff. If some of this were edited out, I would give the book a much higher rating because Tom Robbins imagination creates a such a fantastical, fun world.½

Hard to follow sometimes... very weird... good, just very weird...

i liked the musings regarding women and paganism. beyond that, it's difficult to identify with the characters.

found it difficult to identify with the characters. the narrative is very jumpy and in segments. though there are nice moments to be sure, these are far and few in between

I pushed through to the end and ... I still don't get it. It was different kind of read for me. It reminds me of At-swim-two-birds by Flann O'Brien. [b:At Swim-Two-Birds|97333|At Swim-Two-Birds|Flann O'Brien|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1584237539l/97333._SY75_.jpg|983387]