Rating: 
Summary: Velocity Hitting the Wall
Review: Books featuring boring, selfish, uninteresting characters often make terrific novels. Sadly, this is not one of them. Repetitive, over-long and tiring, this novel offers the reader very little satisfaction.
Rating: 
Summary: Great concept but lacks quality of "Staggering"
Review: At a reading in Seattle, Dave Eggers expressed his disappointment in his jacket cover. In this new novel, he's waved the cover entirely and tells the beginning and ending of the novel right on front of the book. The story continues, glued on the inside cover, and proceeds to pull the reader into an around-the-world farce of romp and circumstance. The world feels as a too-slow playground, where a couple of grown bullies redeem themselves through impulsive philanthrapy. Eggers clearly has a "buzz" in his head, and the reader feels it. The story zig-zags this way and that, lingers on odd details, and keeps the reader guessing. Highlights for me was the "car-to-cart jump" and the "criss-cross tree-jump." Eggers is great at "exploding" every interlocking part of life's thrills, such as jumping into a cold pool. One difficult memory which was hard to swallow was gassing and setting a cow on fire. I'm not sure what to make of this. I've heard of cow-tipping, but this is a little over the the top for my taste. There were also some glaring typos that occasionally stops the reader, but Eggers goes all out to make the language alive, the story interesting and the characters true. The farce has the feel of Murakami at times, especially the team of librarians that keep files on all his painful memories. Truly inspired, fun, I hope I can catch his dog-and-pony show when he comes round to peddle his book, spoons, banjos and all.
Rating:
Summary: Great concept but lacks quality of "Staggering"
Review: At a reading in Seattle, Dave Eggers expressed disappointment in his dustjacket. In this new novel, he's waved the cover entirely and tells the beginning and ending of the novel right on front of the book. The story winds into the inside cover, and proceeds to pull the reader into an around-the-world farce of romp and circumstance. To the speeding minds of protagnist Will and his best friend Hand, the world feels as a too-slow playground, where a couple of grown dare devils redeem themselves through impulsive philanthrapy. Eggers clearly has a "buzz" in his head, and the reader feels it. The story zig-zags this way and that, lingers on odd details, and keeps the reader guessing. Highlights include the "car-to-cart jump" and the "criss-cross tree-jump." Eggers is great at "exploding" every interlocking part of a thrill ride, such as jumping into a cold pool or running barefoot on stepping stones. Several times I laughed out loud. However, I found one childhood memory about "gassing a cow" a little disturbing. I've heard of cow-tipping, but that was a little over the top for my taste ... There were also some glaring typos that occasionally stop the reader, but Eggers goes all out to make the language alive, the story interesting and the characters true. The farce has the feel of Murakami at times, especially the team of librarians that keep files on all of Will's painful memories. Truly inspired, fun, but perhaps too hastily written ("Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" had more self-recursive emotional depth and care put into the craft). The impulsive philanthrapy is inspired but grows stale after a while and doesn't pan out. In any event, I look forward to Eggers' dog-and-pony show if he comes to Seattle ... banjo, spoons and all.
Rating: 
Summary: The fourth world
Review: In many ways, YSKOV is the polar opposite of AHWOSG. While Eggers' first book was angry and bustling with energy and chaos, here he takes a more leisurely pace, no less staggering, but in a more subtle and less fanfare way. The main character, Will, is diametrically different: he is melancholy and lonely, having recently lost his best friend and been physically beaten by a couple of anonymous attackers. So he decides to travel around the world handing out money to poor strangers with his friend Hand. They do it spontaneously, however, hoping that Providence will guide them to where they are supposed to be. So most of the places they decide to go to - Greenland, Siberia, Egypt, Mongolia, etc. - they never reach. Instead they end up in Senegal, Morocco, Estonia, and Latvia, and unlike most adventure stories, rather than finding adventure they find only a dead end. Their trip is a failure from start to finish - they never escape what they want to leave behind, and they never find where they want to be. They constantly abort their plans. Their philanthropy seems to help no one. Will tries to hop a horse buggy to hand the driver some cash, but falls on his face instead; they drive to the top of a mountain at night, looking for poor mountaindwellers, but find it empty and silent. This is a travel-adventure story made up of airport terminals, hotel rooms, empty beaches, vacant bars, desolate mountaintops and lonely woods. It is the 'fourth world', the desolate regions of the world where people rarely ever come and rarely ever stay.Yet the fact that Will and Hand don't succeed is really the success of the story. It is not about the destinations, or the journey there, but about the things that lie in the past. Will's rememberance of his childhood are the most beautiful passages. It is enjoyable just to be in the company of the characters and the antics they pull. Eggers' paints a beautiful picture, if less loudly innovative, at least as heartbreaking and emotional as his memoir. And even if it is a little modernistic or existentialistic, Eggers' combination of such with his own style of wit and irony make it genuine. It is definately a superbly crafted work.
Rating:
Summary: I liked it a lot
Review: I found this book original and well-written. It reminded me of Salinger at some points. Dave Eggers is one of our best writers.
Rating:
Summary: Only Available at Independent Bookstores
Review: ... His last book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and was a bestseller. His witty, raw, honest and goofy writing style has made him a very popular writer, and he edits the equally unique McSweeny's semi-quarterly literary journal. ... This is a great book!
Rating:
Summary: You Should Know Your Strengths
Review: This book is silly, pompous and indulgent. Dave Eggers is an excellent writer, but clearly he needs an editor and a real publisher. I recommend it only for hard core McSweeneys fans who can't help themselves.
Rating:
Summary: See how it sputters!
Review: Occassionally, I will fall for a catchy title. And fall, I did.There is not much depth here; attempts to amuse and entertain fall as flat as the prose. Not worth the trouble. Oh, well. Better luck next time.
Rating: 
Summary: I think Eggers is great, but really, this book...
Review: I've watched Dave Eggers rise to fame from our shared corner of the world, and I thought his first novel was brilliant, but something has happened to Eggers' writing in this novel. What was once quirky and refreshing about his writing seems more like artifice in this book. More often than not, Eggers' writing and plot twists are less profound than they are show-offy. While I was reading the book, I felt like Eggers was a two-year-old prancing around in front of the reading public saying, "Look at me! Aren't I cute? Look at the adorable tricks I can do!" Admittedly, some of Eggers' literary tricks in this book are cute, and there are moments of touching and hilarious prose. (My favorite line: "I opened my mouth but couldn't think of any way to answer. Someone was using my head to power a coffeemaker.") But in the end, the plot feels too forced, the writing too self-conscious. Dave Eggers is a good writer. This book doesn't, sadly, fully reflect that. _
Rating:
Summary: This book is incredible
Review: Dave Eggers proves that he is, in fact, a genius with this sophmore gem. The characters practically live and breathe in these pages and you can't help but fall in love with Hand and Will as they clumsily try to change the world. I won't go into plot for it is completely unneccesary to do so.
But i will say this, Eggers is earning a bit of a reputation as the George Lucas of literature. Meaning that the sonavabitch is always altering his stories and novels after already debuting them in a particular form. I HATE THIS! STOP IT EGGERS! With that said, be warned that the paperback version includes a 50 pg. interruption by Hand which strongly conflicts with the story you have come to known. I recommend skipping this (pgs 250-300) and reading it AFTER the rest. Thankfully I did not read this book in its original hardcover release because I would have felt badly betrayed. This is a major problem and I think that perhaps I am being genorous with my 5 star review. But its just so damn brilliant on every other level . . . i had to.
You've been warned.
|
