Fluke : Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings

Rating:
Summary: Great fun
Review: I enjoyed this book a great deal. It attempts to do a number of different things, and succeeds at all of them. But its strength, to me, was the characters. There are some great ones here. The main character -- an ethical and uncompromising Canadian marine biologist driven to his craft by a formative conservation experience -- is so easy to like that it keeps the pages turning. But it's the supporting cast that really make the book fun -- from the seemingly crazy (is she?) "Old Broad" that funds the research, to the more-than-meets-the-eye-Rastawaain surfer kid who saves the day, to the loyal-to-a-fault photographer guy's guy buddy (and his wonderfully crazy and lovable significant other), to the happy-go-lucky research assistant who turns out to be much more than she seems.

There are two important caveats for those considering whether this book is for them. First, if you don't speak sarcasm you might not enjoy it, because it is quite sarcastic with some Vonnegut-like subversism blended in. Second, it does take a turn to science fiction in its third act; not unbearably so for non-scifi fans like me, but by the end it's not the same book that you thought you were getting to know. (Many will view this as a strength, and that's fair too.)

My four star review is mostly because I didn't love the third part of the book. Not because of the sci fi aspects to it, or because it got weird, but because I just didn't find the turn the story took to be that interesting or nearly as funny as the rest. The part I loved most about the book was the interactions between all the characters that dominate the first two thirds, and I guess I just missed that when I got to the end.

Anyway, a fun read that I recommend highly. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Funny stuff
Review: This book is a quick, fun read that will leave you laughing out loud at times. Also, after reading this book, you will never think the same way about whale penises.

Rating:
Summary: "deep" humor
Review: Christopher Moore has this indescribeable subversive humor that is so sly you might miss it as you read through his prose. If you're fascinated by marine biology or even if you're just up for a great imaginative story about truth being stranger than fiction this book is for you. The plot (if you can call it that) revolves around Nathan Quinn, marine biologist extraordinaire who has been tracing humpback whales around Hawaii. He is determined to understand their language - their wailing or whaling. One day - one fluke (the farthest horizontal tail fin of a whale) has the words "bite me" written on it. Other incredulous events lead them to believe their research is being impaired by other professionals jealous of their work. Yada yada yada they end up off the coast of Chile.

To provide snippets of the story would undermine the sarcasm and un"fathomable" wit. But this book is just what I needed. A descriptive, sardonic but fascinating read. Highly recommended read.

Rating:
Summary: I had the best time . . .
Review: . . . reading this book. I've just finished ISLAND OF THE SEQUINED LOVE NUN and THE LUST LIZARD OF MELANCHOLY COVE, too.

Christopher Moore is a New Age Hunter Thompson. Irreverent. Cheeky. Cynical. And thought-provoking.

Set in Maui, FLUKE centers around an expert whale researcher seeing the words BITE ME on the tail of a humpback whale. Of course, he was the only one who saw it and the pictures he took didn't turn out, so he has to prove to himself that he's not going crazy from too much time in a boat.

Moore has filled his book with rich characters, a plausible plot (mostly), and some really wild adventures.

Moore has many gifts, but the one that shines brightest is his skewed view of what most of us see as normal. He makes his readers pause and think: "Could this really happen?"

Enjoy!!!



Rating:
Summary: Audio version
Review: I enjoyed this audio version of Fluke.... At first I found the cadence of Bill Irwin a little odd in that he sometimes inserts pauses at unexpected places. It didn't take long to appreciate the effect, however. He does well with making the characters discernable; although, his Rasta guy sounds just like his Irish gal and his Greek guy. It's not an iritation though. His performance enhanced the story.

By the way, this is my first book by Christopher Moore & I'm hooked. I loved and related to all the characters - esp. Kona the faux Hawaiian. The strange twists in this story are the kind of thing where you love 'em or hate 'em, I guess. I won't ruin it for you other readers/listeners by going too much into the story. My favorite line was ...it felt like he had to pee really badly from his eyes....

I'd recommend this audio book to anyone who enjoys a good, intelligent laugh generated by deep set of great characters.

Rating:
Summary: Love this book
Review: I've now read three of Moore's books - The Stupidest Angel, Lamb, and Fluke, and I've loved all of them. Lamb was easily the best and gets five stars. However, Fluke was really wonderful as well. I'm not sure what the "dissapointment" reviews are about, because I haven't read his earlier works, but so far, I'm absolutely sold on his books. I'm trying not to read all of them at once, because I don't want to end up with no more Moore books to read, but I'm tempted to just go buy all of the rest right now. He's right up there with Tom Robbins for me, which is saying quite a lot. Go read and enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Started out great....then took a wrong turn
Review: This was my first of Moore's books. I just happened to pick it up at my local bookstore and read the back of the book and laughed outloud at the premise. I read the first couple of chapters at the store and had to buy it to see what would occur with these wonderful characters. The characters are well thought out, very personable and with such interesting dialogue you feel like you are a fly on the wall in the book. I sped through the first half of the book laughing and enjoying myself immensely, and then BOOM...it became a sci-fi book before my eyes. The dialogue was not nearly as quick and the story became positively dull at times, so much so that I shamefully admit to skimming the last 100 pages of the book just to finish it up and praying for a return to what I had enjoyed. This book hasn't made me not want to read other Moore books, but next time around I will probably check them out from my local library to save a couple of bucks.

Rating:
Summary: A Big Comeback by Moore
Review: Lamb is a superior book. The Sequined Nun is an inferior book. In Fluke, Christopher makes a comeback with a very funny book that is also a very good book.

In Lamb and Fluke, Moore's outlandish humor takes a backseat to the quality of the novel (I thought Sequined was written for the whackiness rather than any plot). He has two main heros and a few sidekicks who are all terrific characters - each with their own quirks (of course) and qualities. In each is a major component of reality which actually makes them believeable. They may be extreme, but everyone has met at least one person like each of them - though usually not all in one setting.

The setting here is the whale research community in Hawaii. Mr. Moore includes interesting (true) information about whales in the telling of a story that at different times reads as an adventure novel, a mystery, a sci-fi fantasy, a conservationist tome and an evolution debate. Obviously there is much more in this novel than just whackiness and humor.

Humor is still also a significant part of the book. If you can't laugh at the white Rastaferean from New Jersey, there may not be a character in literature at whom you can laugh.

This is a fun read that is also worthwhile for the information it provides and is also thought-provoking on a few levels - evolution and conservation among them. Read it, enjoy it and laugh at an extremely funny book that has redeeming value beyond the guffaws.

Rating:
Summary: Way too weird to be funny or entertaining.
Review: This was my first Christopher Moore book, and may be my last. This book started off good enough, I liked the people, their situation, and the interactions between each one. It started off as a good, somewhat humorous tale about whaling research. Funny, amusing - pretty much what I hoped for.

Then all of sudden, the plot went out there. The second half of the book was a giant, "what the heck is this?". From whaling research in Hawaii, it switches to a story about whale boy hybrids, giant Goos controlling the seas, and Amelia Earhart. It just was too out there to be interesting or funny.

Rating:
Summary: Very good "fluffy" read
Review: I picked this book up not knowing at all what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. Yes, it starts out completely normal and then somehow descends into the absurd (come on, Mr. Moore...Gooville? Couldn't you have come up with something a little less childlike?), but the absurd was surprisingly captivating. I actually wanted to know why these people were living in Gooville and what it was all about. I would recommend this to people who are up for a little science fiction, but if you like books that stick within the realm of the possible or even plausible, it's not for you.