Vernon God Little: A 21st Century Comedy in the Presence of Death

Rating:
Summary: A well-written, funny,compelling, and moving pageturner
Review: Why is it that some people need likable characters in order to enjoy a book? One of my favourite novels is "American Psycho", and the main character, Patrick Bateman, is hardly a likable person. Okay, I'll admit that once I got it, I liked Patrick Bateman a lot; the guy is funny as hell. So is Vernon Gregory Little, the main character of the brillant "Vernon God Little". I like Vernon, but even if I didn't that wouldn't have stopped me from enjoying this book. It's got everything: it's a well-written, funny, compelling, and moving pageturner. It's a social satire/ black comedy, completely over-the-top, but at the same time genuinely moving. I love this book! And anyone who doesn't has to come up with better critique than that none of the characters are likable, or that all Americans are stereotypes. It's satire people! An when it's done this good, it really is that good. All praise is correct.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I haven't read a book this good in ages. Vernon is the kind of character you can completley understand and therefore adore. It reminded me of "catcher in the rye" another booked i loved. Buy this book and give it to your teenage son to read.

Rating:
Summary: If you like rap music, you'll love this book
Review: I think most adults find most rap music not only uninteligble but incomprehensible as well. It seems to me that a writer's prime obligation is to communicate to his readers and when he writes like a rap music composer he fails. While this book is on the surface about a young Texas redneck falsely accused of a school massacre, it is clear that the author intends to make the work a commentary on present day social mores including media ethics, small town life, fast food addictions, homosexuality and more.But his writing style, use of language and syntax comes of like rap music. You can read a page 5 times and still not understand what the words mean let alone what the author is trying to tell you. Much of the work is just gibberish that is impossible to understand. I read pretty sophisticated stuff but folks like Umberto Ecco write 3rd grade kid stories compared to this guy. And you get the impression it's all about wowing the reader with catchy, glib, sleek and sleezy technique. The court room and legal descriptions are ridiculous. I did finish the book, however, because I was sufficently interested in the main character to see how it all turned out. Hence the 2 rating. I do feel I wasted my time with this book.


Rating:
Summary: No thanks!
Review: Am I only only person who hated this novel with a passion? It was the worst piece of pretentious drivel that I have read since....? The novel is narrated by VGL who is a 15 year old who becomes a scapegoat for a school massacre carried out by his friend who killed himself at the scene.

Other reviewers have criticised the bad language. In fact that was one of the few things that didn't irritate me. You would expect this from the mouth of a rebellious teenager. The main problem was that I didn't seem to be listening to a young narrator but to the novelist being smart. At one point he observes an old man whose skin 'hangs down in his pockets...erosion caused from waves of diappointment' Oh please!

Apart from the writing the characters simply got on my nerves. I was struggling to find one likeable person. By the end I did not really care what happened to Vernon so long as it was over quickly.

I am in a minority. Others love this book - not least the 2003 Booker Judges! But we can't like everything.

Rating:
Summary: Not another teen-er-- novel-
Review: I approached this book hoping to like it. Something I would enjoy-and don't get me wrong, I think this author is a good writer-there's definitely strong humor here and that always ranks high with me-but it lacked substance. Spree killings by teens deserves more intelligent exploration than what I found here. It's also annoyingly obvious that this author is clearly not an American-(the accents are all wrong, bud, if you are trying to do Texas right!!) This may have worked in England and Australia, all right, but it doesn't work here -at least, for this American. And here is where a big part of the problem lies: it's supposed to be about America!

I suggest if anyone out there is looking for meaningful works targeted to young people-late teens-early 20's on up--I recommend SIMON LAZARUS over this work any day. It's a wry, intelligent, yet funny as hell read that surpasses this on all fronts.








Rating:
Summary: A roller coaster novel
Review: Vernon God Little is certainly a fun read. The witty writing pulled me through the book, almost like I was running rather than reading.

The character of Vernon reminded me of Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye. However, the youth of today are expose to far more shady sides of human nature and sexualtiy than were previous generations due to the media's ability to reveal every form of mindless perversion in their mad dash to higher ratings. In fact the power of the American media to help shape our vision of truth is certainly one of the main themes of the book.

Poor Vernon, surrounded by lower middle class Texan adults who are self serving and idiotic. The fresh eyes of a nieve youth like Vernon always cast light on the follies of desire. Yet, even as Vernon sees his mother's weaknesses and failures,he grows to see her strengths and intentions.

There is also a Colombine theme here that deserves exploration. A tortured gay young Mexican, Jesus, kills 16 classmates and then himself. A dark comedy is spun around this tragedy which never seems real in the novel. Vernon is continually being pulled into the aftermath of the tragedy and nearly does not escape.

I was surprized the book won the Booker prize. DBC Pierre's use of language is superb. He is a master of imagery and pacing in his writing. However, the plot had gaps - in fact - too many gaps and untied isssues to deserve the Booker prize.

Have fun and read this book. It is a very quick read. But as social commentary, it does not deserve 5 stars or the Booker prize.

Rating:
Summary: Too profane in the beginning, too wimpering in the end
Review: Title character Vernon Little is a foul-mouthed teen in a small Texas town when his friend murders 17 high school classmates in a Columbine-like massacre. Vernon's friend commits suicide, the only other witness to the crime falls into a stupor, and Vernon is fingered for the crime.

The story's premise is intriguing and author Pierre wraps a tight plotline around this main character. The plot even leads to page-turning suspense and a tight denouement that is rather surprising. But, alas, after that it whimpers to a weak close.

In Vernon, Pierre has created a character so profane and so unwilling to accept responsibility for his own life that he is unlikeable. Vernon blames his troubles on his single mother. He blames the town's problems on his mother's friends. And he blames the crime situation on poor policework. This protrayal of a troubled teen is likely to be highly accurate. But it hinders this novel.

The author also creates a smarmy villain who is so morally decrepit that the reader will want to strangle him. But, frustratingly, the villain's role in the book comes to an unsatisfying finish.

Aside from the inexcusable profanity that drenches the first half of this book, DBC Pierre shows a fantastic sense of style and humor. Pierre may be a future star author. But this book is not the one that will take him there.


Rating:
Summary: inside the mind of a teen
Review: Two pieces of advice: 1. If you have no love for dark comedy or sarcasm or the kind of wit an bravado in ventures such as Michael Moore's work, then you should probably steer clear of this book because you will find it more frustrating than rewarding. 2. If you find swearing offensive, take your reading eyes elsewhere.

Vernon God Little was fun for me and the strength of the title does not become apparent until the last two chapters of the book. I'm not much of a person to get hung up on titles, but it was a bit of a question rattling around in my while reading.

There's much talk about the book being a foray into satirical comedy pointed at the US. This is very true and very admirable in the book. Still, in reading the book I felt like I was reading a hip contemporary version of The Stranger, written in vernacular. This book was written by a man who was born in Australia, lived in Mexico and the US, and currently resides in Ireland. I can't help wondering if folks who aren't American by passport are better suited to telling the world about America. Interesting that the author seems closer to his characters than I would have imagined.