DBC Pierre

I'd forgotten that I'd really enjoyed DBC Pierre's Vernon God Little until I came across it in my list of books on LT, so I looked for some of his other work and this little red number appealed.

Unlike VGL, this is a non-fiction book full of writing advice from DBC Pierre, but it reminded me how unique and off the wall his voice was in VGL. Although there are plenty of books out there on how to go about writing a novel, somehow this worked for me a lot more. For starters, his own unique writing style throughout has you thinking about what makes writing talent, and he's also a bit like an overgrown teenage rule breaker, with plenty of swearing and the odd crazy / unnecessary chapter on oddball subjects such as the impact (good and bad) that different types of recreational drugs have on your writing creativity and output. BUT, he knows what he's talking about, and there are some really excellent writing tips and information about the writing process, warts and all.

DBC Pierre might not be to everyone's taste, but he's a very intelligent writer, and even if I never write a page of a novel in this lifetime, I think I'll dip in and out of this book plenty in the future as I enjoyed it and feel like a little more will stick with each subsequent visit.

4 stars - slightly batty (if you pardon the pun), but isn't there a little craziness in all the best writers?… (lisätietoja)

This book is downright AMAZING! It was an entertaining journey of hilarity, sincerity and inspiration. This book was one of the main driving forces between helping me choose to stay home and get a big boy job or go out and explore the world.
The book starts with the story's narrator informing you the read that he is about to kill himself. Well, ok I am now hooked, tell me more!
It continues with his journey and making his final huzzah with friends and places around the world he wants to spend time with/in before he goes.
I can't recommend this enough... soooo much love I haz to give… (lisätietoja)

I'm giving it 3 stars though I'm torn because in some regards, I wanted to give it more. And in other regards, I wanted to give it less. So now it has all averaged out into mediocrity.

I must say when the folks tagged this book "humor", I guess they were referring to black humor. Because this book was definitely black. It's the story of a 15 year old boy who is wrongly accused of gunning down 16 classmates and his trials and tribulations as he attempts to convince others of his innocence.

The entire book is written in the first person and uses sort of this uneducated slang that also is rife with the f bombs. At first, the voice was sort of off putting, but there are passages that are absolutely brilliant in it as well. Pierre's metaphors and analogies are very, very fresh - - and that makes the book more interesting. They are also very raw.

The main character, Vernon, is extremely well developed, and you keep hoping against hope that he'll get out of the bind that he in . . .and Pierre just does NOT let you off the hook . . .I was very emotionally caught up in the notion that this innocent kid was being railroaded.

There's also deep social commentary on the role of the media in our society. And in this book, the media is four plus scary and powerful and also leading society into the dark depths of immorality.

The humor is very dark, but there's some very clever stuff . . .but not haa haa funny. More like ironic or sarcastic wit. The book even had an "unput downable" quality, but that really didn't kick in for me full force until the last 50 pages or so of the book. Ok, even as I write this, I'm thinking maybe I should give the book 4 stars, but I just have trouble handing out that extra star when I had to work so hard to grasp the language of the book and to really comprehend what was going on. This book just wasn't an easy read at all. And then, the language and the crassness and the rawness sort of combined to turn me off.

It's just not for the faint of heart.

All in all, if you are a literary reader looking for something fresh (this did win the Booker prize after all), yet challenging, I'd say go for it. If you are the type of reader who just wants to be entertained, then I'm afraid this won't be high on your list.… (lisätietoja)