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grahamclements's review against another edition
3.0
Not as good as the previous two novels of his I have read, but they were stellar reads, so perhaps I am being a bit harsh with just three stars. It is about a 25 year-old English man who escapes from rehab to go on one last binge before he kills himself. And what a spectacular binge of decandance it proves to be, taking place in three different countries, with lots of grog and drugs. It was hard to like the progtagnist or even emphasise with him, even though his prime beef with the world was its consumerism and profit over morality. One brief section of the book, really hit home though for this reader, and it might even have me changing a life time of waste.
harrydargavel's review against another edition
Shit pretentious unreadable bollocks
rocketiza's review against another edition
5.0
Written like Hunter S. Thompson if he was more heady/literary and instead of anger had the helpless malaise of our current culture against trying to stop the bourgeois from fucking over everyone. It was to hard to keep with the author in parts and I'm sure there was a lot that sailed over my head but I enjoyed it.
elaineruss's review against another edition
5.0
2nd time reading this. I gave it 4 stars originally but on 2nd read through it truly deserves 5. Just brilliant. Loved every moment. Unique, vibrant, inspiring and surprisingly joyous.
Also, some amazing descriptions of Berlin
Also, some amazing descriptions of Berlin
vanessar's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a rant about capitalism and how it is basically rogering the masses and benefiting very few. But it is also a heartfelt story of a young man that has lost his way and for most of the book chooses to stay lost. I loved DBC Pierre's use of language in Vernon God Little and loved it here too. It's clear this man really relishes words; any book that has the phrase 'neo-Californian ano-extremists' 6 pages in has me convinced.
whatsatajahism's review against another edition
5.0
The debauchery. It was done well. And it really made me think about some philosophical Q's - am i just a cog in a machine? Do I know when to quit? Does any of this even matter? DBC Pierre spitting fire as usual.
tessaays's review against another edition
2.0
I’ve been torn over this review for a while now. While this book is hopelessly enveloping and I genuinely enjoyed reading it, it was ultimately let down by some flaws that became harder and harder to overlook.
The footnotes - awful, pretentious, added nothing. I skipped them after making an effort for the first couple of chapters.
The absolutely outlandish ending - solved nothing, thematically inconsistent, and didn’t redeem or even challenge any of the characters.
The overall aim of the book - it didn’t work as a satire, and neither was it a meaningful indictment of any of the things that the protagonist claimed to hate so much. It was a rollicking good read but ultimately felt hollow and like it had very little to say.
The footnotes - awful, pretentious, added nothing. I skipped them after making an effort for the first couple of chapters.
The absolutely outlandish ending - solved nothing, thematically inconsistent, and didn’t redeem or even challenge any of the characters.
The overall aim of the book - it didn’t work as a satire, and neither was it a meaningful indictment of any of the things that the protagonist claimed to hate so much. It was a rollicking good read but ultimately felt hollow and like it had very little to say.
ppeytonw's review against another edition
3.0
I was indifferent towards this book, and planning on giving it two stars, until the last 60 pages. Chapters 23 and 24 are so beautiful and really took the ending of this novel in a completely different direction that I really enjoyed.
moonkissedtiger's review against another edition
1.0
I'm rated this so low simply because this book was beyond my reading comprehension level. Not in the sense that it was wordy or written poorly. It was heavily focused on philosophy and I could not understand the concepts that the author was trying to get across.
I could not finish reading this book because I became confused and lost on what was going on. I think this would be a great read for anyone who was into philosophy and was able to firmly grasp the concepts within this book. I truly wish I was able to understand what I was reading.
I could not finish reading this book because I became confused and lost on what was going on. I think this would be a great read for anyone who was into philosophy and was able to firmly grasp the concepts within this book. I truly wish I was able to understand what I was reading.
jenny44indy's review against another edition
2.0
Really, I had a love/hate relationship with this book; and finished it merely to prove it would not win. Surely most of us have fought that battle with a book or two; sometimes to give up and other times to carry on.
There were moments that I thought a paragraph, or 2-3 pages flowed nicely.
Sometimes the writing felt so disjointed I had to put the book down and come back for it to make sense. Though I actually rather liked the style of using foot notes for separate rants - and that was an aspect of the writing, and my own oral ranting and personal thought patterns that kept me reading.
I wrote down a few quotes to keep, not many.
Other times I thought to myself, how can this character possibly be 25? He's acting 15, or 20, and I really just want to smack him upside the head, frankly.
Not only that - what really bothered me, more than the immaturity or maturity of the character (articles which can be excused, because it is after all, a character), but the blatant xenophobia and ridiculous cultural stereotypes. Really? A sex scene involving an Octopus bite in Tokyo? How unoriginal and banal. Doing drugs in a former Nazi compound, and then starting to listen to Rammstein? Really? Listening to Rammstein and making middle school Nazi jokes - I'm so impressed.
Sure, attempting to stick it to Capitalism, playing with the notion of living inside a suicidal arc and general themes of learning to grow up and get on with it appeal; but frankly could have been done in a shorter storyline with a lot less drivel and clear lack of global understanding or travel experience.
I picked this up as somewhat of a beach read, get through Immigration queues read, and I was slightly embarrassed to pass it along to another traveler, and said as much when I did. It has it's moments and a few quotes - but beyond trying to save sanity when stuck in an 8 hour queue of some sort I wouldn't read it again. Perhaps I'd say otherwise were I 18, or 22 - but at 26 I just can't be bothered with some of the nonsense this character spews. I rather agree with the female character in the book that pretty much wants to smack him upside the head the majority of the time - and to avoid spoilers I won't say more than she's far more patient with him than I ever would be.
There were moments that I thought a paragraph, or 2-3 pages flowed nicely.
Sometimes the writing felt so disjointed I had to put the book down and come back for it to make sense. Though I actually rather liked the style of using foot notes for separate rants - and that was an aspect of the writing, and my own oral ranting and personal thought patterns that kept me reading.
I wrote down a few quotes to keep, not many.
Other times I thought to myself, how can this character possibly be 25? He's acting 15, or 20, and I really just want to smack him upside the head, frankly.
Not only that - what really bothered me, more than the immaturity or maturity of the character (articles which can be excused, because it is after all, a character), but the blatant xenophobia and ridiculous cultural stereotypes. Really? A sex scene involving an Octopus bite in Tokyo? How unoriginal and banal. Doing drugs in a former Nazi compound, and then starting to listen to Rammstein? Really? Listening to Rammstein and making middle school Nazi jokes - I'm so impressed.
Sure, attempting to stick it to Capitalism, playing with the notion of living inside a suicidal arc and general themes of learning to grow up and get on with it appeal; but frankly could have been done in a shorter storyline with a lot less drivel and clear lack of global understanding or travel experience.
I picked this up as somewhat of a beach read, get through Immigration queues read, and I was slightly embarrassed to pass it along to another traveler, and said as much when I did. It has it's moments and a few quotes - but beyond trying to save sanity when stuck in an 8 hour queue of some sort I wouldn't read it again. Perhaps I'd say otherwise were I 18, or 22 - but at 26 I just can't be bothered with some of the nonsense this character spews. I rather agree with the female character in the book that pretty much wants to smack him upside the head the majority of the time - and to avoid spoilers I won't say more than she's far more patient with him than I ever would be.
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