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aoib's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Bell Hammers is a truly enjoyable book, with good character development and a simplicity in the prose that only serve to highlight the complexity of the story. The language may seem strange at first, but I believe it adds to the book's charm. It reminded me of Guimarães Rosa - which is a huge compliment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Violence, and Racism
Minor: Rape
duchessofreadin's review
4.0
Written as a string of short stories that span eighty years, we get the story of Remmy, from his grandson - the author.
These stories are entertaining, and regale the reader with fun pranks, some not so fun areas, and go through the time that Remmy spends in prison for some sabotage, just so they can get the company to admit to their wrongdoings - all of which will come out during the court case.
This book will keep you engaged throughout, and might cause you to giggle a few times out loud as you are reading.
These stories are entertaining, and regale the reader with fun pranks, some not so fun areas, and go through the time that Remmy spends in prison for some sabotage, just so they can get the company to admit to their wrongdoings - all of which will come out during the court case.
This book will keep you engaged throughout, and might cause you to giggle a few times out loud as you are reading.
mrsoz's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
What a beautiful story. Great humor and I really felt the undercurrent of working class frustration, and how we get artificially divided if we don't look "Deeper" as the Lord kept urging Remmy. It was just really relatable, and how we tend to use irreverent humor to get through and make sense of difficult things too. I loved the little Easter eggs too. A beautiful testament to your family's roots, as well as a classic-worthy work of Americana. Bravo and thank you for the hours I got to spend enjoying it. I will definitely be diving into the rest of the Vale universe! Thanks again Lancelot
lanceschaubert's review against another edition
5.0
I WILL do author's notes soon. It's taking longer than I would like since I'm being radically thorough: mine will do the opposite of these lame 7-note promos. It'll work like a director's cut hosted on Goodreads.
Also: if you haven't tried the audiobook, I promise it's a good time. If you get to the end and didn't laugh or cry or rage at injustice, I'll give you your money back. Seriously.
Technically read this during the audiobook production finalization. I'm realizing if you include your own books, you end up shelving them like twenty times, which would be ridiculous, but since this is a new version, it seemed to fit.
Also: if you haven't tried the audiobook, I promise it's a good time. If you get to the end and didn't laugh or cry or rage at injustice, I'll give you your money back. Seriously.
Technically read this during the audiobook production finalization. I'm realizing if you include your own books, you end up shelving them like twenty times, which would be ridiculous, but since this is a new version, it seemed to fit.
lanceschaubert's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
TODAY March 14th, the audiobook of BELL HAMMERS comes out. I read it myself, Neil Gaiman style. If you had trouble with the dialect of the prose, THIS is the way to experience the novel: in the original brogue. It'll be available on every platform, so preorder now.
rmarcin's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this audiobook narrated by the author.
It is a bit of a love story, with quite a bit of humor, songs, religion, and the little guy fighting back against the big corporate oil company.
Remmy learns from his grandfather how to prank the corporations, telling them a lie to get free cigarettes. From there, Remmy begins pranking his neighbors and finally pulls a huge prank on the company. This doesn't go so well! However, Remmy keeps his good nature and never lets up on pranks. It eventually works out for him, and his love, Beth.
Humorous story and you definitely root for Remmy, while following his life from the 1940s to the 2010s.
I especially enjoyed hearing the songs sung by the author, it gave the book a real voice!
It is a bit of a love story, with quite a bit of humor, songs, religion, and the little guy fighting back against the big corporate oil company.
Remmy learns from his grandfather how to prank the corporations, telling them a lie to get free cigarettes. From there, Remmy begins pranking his neighbors and finally pulls a huge prank on the company. This doesn't go so well! However, Remmy keeps his good nature and never lets up on pranks. It eventually works out for him, and his love, Beth.
Humorous story and you definitely root for Remmy, while following his life from the 1940s to the 2010s.
I especially enjoyed hearing the songs sung by the author, it gave the book a real voice!
shaylag's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mermaird's review
I'm not rating this book as I end up DNF-ing it. (DNF = Do Not Finish)
Bell Hammers is not the kind of book that I often read, so it was no surprise that I end up unable to finish it. It is a little bit of a shame though, because while I quite liked the main character, Remmy, I probably could not get myself familiar with the writing style.
It is not exactly a bad writing style, but it has a touch of country-ish sound to it, and the satyr and sarcasm included in most parts went over my head. A lot of historical parts were mentioned too, and as I am not familiar with the country and place the events took place, I was not able to get them either. There were multiple times where I had to continuously reread the pages or chapters, because I did not understand what was going on.
In terms of the characters, they are quite likeable. The story started when Remmy is a young boy, and reading about him growing up made me able to warm up to him, and I like how respectful he is towards his father and grandfather. He was up to mischief most of the time, but it was fun to read about his pranks. Occasionally, I found myself laughing along to the jokes he made. I enjoyed his banters with Beth too—the girl that used to ignore him and ended up marrying him later.
Overall, I like the characters, but I could not get the story. Although this may not be my cup of tea, if you enjoy reading books with humour and country people, this may be a good book to check out.
Many thanks to the author for sending me a copy of Bell Hammers in exchange for my honest review.
Bell Hammers is not the kind of book that I often read, so it was no surprise that I end up unable to finish it. It is a little bit of a shame though, because while I quite liked the main character, Remmy, I probably could not get myself familiar with the writing style.
It is not exactly a bad writing style, but it has a touch of country-ish sound to it, and the satyr and sarcasm included in most parts went over my head. A lot of historical parts were mentioned too, and as I am not familiar with the country and place the events took place, I was not able to get them either. There were multiple times where I had to continuously reread the pages or chapters, because I did not understand what was going on.
In terms of the characters, they are quite likeable. The story started when Remmy is a young boy, and reading about him growing up made me able to warm up to him, and I like how respectful he is towards his father and grandfather. He was up to mischief most of the time, but it was fun to read about his pranks. Occasionally, I found myself laughing along to the jokes he made. I enjoyed his banters with Beth too—the girl that used to ignore him and ended up marrying him later.
Overall, I like the characters, but I could not get the story. Although this may not be my cup of tea, if you enjoy reading books with humour and country people, this may be a good book to check out.
Many thanks to the author for sending me a copy of Bell Hammers in exchange for my honest review.
areadseverything's review
dnf. normally, i feel like i would have just roughed it out with this book, because it wasn’t THAT bad, but i’m trying to only read books that i really want to read, so i’m not going to finish this one.