Fierce People

Rating:
Summary: Fiercely Fantastic!
Review: Fierce People is one of the best books I have read in months. Finn, the main character, is a wildly funny, terribly naive, extremely trusting, and hopelessly brave 15-year-old. He finds himself in situations he can't control and comes out of each of them smelling like a rose. While reading this book, I thought I knew each and every character personally. But, the author threw a twist in every now and then, which increased my fascination with the entire population of Vlyvalle all the more.

This book draws you in from page one and doesn't loosen its grip until the end. The climax of the book is a nailbiter! I couldn't put this one down. I REALLY hope there is a sequel!! I would love to read more about Finn and the entire "tribe"!

Rating:
Summary: light reading.
Review: Fierce People

By Dirk Wittenborn

Osbourne stunned me when he recited from one of my father's books. '"A small, primitive tribe in the remote corners of Amazonia who offers us a unique glimpse into what it means to be human."'
Osbourne blew his nose again and chuckled. "Vlyvalle without money."

Living under his mother's refuge from her parents, fifteen-year-old Finn's only wish is to spend the summer in Africa studying the Yonomamö tribe of Indians, or "Fierce People," with his anthropologist father he'd only read about. But Finn's dream is ruined when he's caught buying coke in his desperate attempt to calm his addicted mother, Liz, before his only enemies at the time, his grandparents, arrive. Determined to become a normal family, Liz accepts a favor from an old billionaire friend, Ogden C. Osbourne. Osbourne allows them to live in the guesthouse in the small town he's turned into an oasis. In Osbourne's exotic world of wealth, Finn and his mother meet people that even the Yonomamö tribe would fear. While Finn's mother tries to get her life back on track trying to overcome her addictions and win a place in society, Finn falls in love with Osbourne's granddaughter, Maya, and becomes friends with her older brother, Bryce. Finn even befriends Osbourne himself, because of common interest, and common hate. Soon after they make a cozy reputation in the town, a lurid chain of events start to happen in Vlyvalle, and the oasis doesn't appear as glamorous as it once seemed.

Fierce People is a novel knee deep in lies and betrayal that teaches you that wealth isn't always what it seems. As enjoyable as the novel was, it's pace was too jumpy. At one point in the book you would read for about 25 pages, and all of the sudden a dramatic death would occur, and another 25 pages later, you were at plateau. Although the dull parts came and went, Dirk Wittenborn really managed to make this book a page-turner.
Near the end, there was a lot of over plotting, allowing you to be more prepared and less astonished for the twisted ending. There was the cliché revealing of the antagonist's malicious intent, followed by the change of plans, just like most other suspense novels. Reading this was really a let down for the book, because the author could have moved the book in a different direction, adding the element of surprise.
Also, the timing in the story was completely inconsistent. The author began the story setting the time in the early 70's, but as you read later on, they're drinking Diet Coke, a product which was released in the early 80's. After the first 50 pages, you forget anything about the era, and just assume its in present day, for there is no surprise to the characters when technology, that at the time would be considered modern, comes up.
Overall, I would give this book 3 and half out of 5 stars. The first half of the book was witty and entertaining, but when you got to the second half, it was a bit raunchy and obscure. I would recommend this book to people looking for a long car ride novel, for its good for the time being, but its not necessarily something you're going to want to purchase in hard cover.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Disappointment
Review: I must offer a word of dissent, having found this book a great disappointment. I grew up in the environment it purports to describe: the WASPy inner circles of the New Jersey suburbs in the 1970s, and I can say first hand that this book entirely fails to convey a proper sense of time, place, or social milieu. I understand the book is intended as parody, not portraiture, but it still fails. The plot can be dismissed as extremely contrived, melodramatic, and incredible. The characters, ersatz Holden Caulfield, sensitive heiress, apparently perfect rich boy with dark secrets, etc., are one dimensional. Why Wittenborne set the story in 1978 is not apparent. He makes no effort to distinguish that era from the present, other than unfunny references like "some company that had the dopey idea of making machines that could show old movies on your TV set." Ironic, huh? (Actually, Betamaxes were pretty well established by 1978; we borrowed one at my brother's bachelor party in 1977 to show skin flicks.) The fifteen year old protagonist regrets a lapse of "homophobia" in 1978. I don't believe that word existed in 1978, and I can assure you that no 15 year old straight boy at the time would have had, and certainly wouldn't have expressed, any sympathy for homosexuals. There are frequent references to a philandering Vice President in 1978. Doesn't Wittenborne know the VP then was Walter Mondale, one of modern America's squarest politicians? And I don't think we talked about "substance abusers" "projecting" or "closure" in 1978 either. Finally, if Wittenborne can't spell Concord Academy properly (no "e" Dirk), it's plain he doesn't know much about WASP prep schools. If you want a passable beach read, this book might do. As literature or social commentary, it falls flat.

Rating:
Summary: Fierce Black Humour...but wronged and misplaced
Review: I think Mr Wittenborn has potential...he can write funnily and fiercely at the same time.But I think he should be better documented on an historical period (the late seventies) not exactly shrouded in the mists of time.And he should restrain his taste for the unpleasant: that is not funny, and there are some things I strongly feel we should not make fun about, like the abuse against minors and disabled people.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This book was billed as an insight into the very rich life style. I pulled almost zero insight from this book. Found it rather boring -- perhaps it was written for the 13-year-old range. I was embarrassed I read the whole book.

Rating:
Summary: Overall Disappointment
Review: Well, I wrote a scathing review of this book, but it didn't show up here. I gave it two stars because I finished it one sitting, now I'm giving it only one, because I don't want to have to write this whole thing over again.

Rating:
Summary: Fiercely Bizarre
Review: What a strange, yet at times, engrossing, ride "Fierce People" is. I'd really like to give it 3.5 stars, but I'm being nice. I give Wittenborn kudos for featuring the Yanomano of South America in his book, a tribe I had not thought of since my sophmore year of college. The book never allows you to become comfortable, which is good...although some of the twists are so bizarre (some might argue genuinely disturbing) that I often wondered where we were going next. And the big "surprise" ending, wasn't that much of surprise, but it was still quite interesting geting there. Wittenborn misspelled "Concord" in Concord Academy. And, was Diet Coke around in 1978? No. It hit the market in 1982. Fact checking might have helped a bit. There willing suspension of disbelief and then there is just careless editing. Still, our flawed hero is sympathic. This book tries to roast the rich and succeeds on that count. Still, was it too outlandish? Maybe, but then again when you have blurbs from Jay McInerney, Candance Bushnell, and Bret Easton Ellis...you should expect something besides a truly realistic story. Finn is a good guy and this is a good book. Probably a better buy in paper back than in hard coverhowever.

Rating:
Summary: Fiercely Bizarre
Review: What a strange, yet engrossing, ride "Fierce People" is. I give Wittenborn kudos for featuring the Yanomano of South America in his book, a tribe I had not thought of since my sophmore year of college. The book never allows you to become comfortable, which is good...although some of the twists are so bizarre (some might argue genuinely disturbing) that I often wondered where we were going next. And the big "surprise" ending, wasn't that much of surprise, but it was still quite interesting geting there. Wittenborn misspelled "Concord" in Concord Academy. And, was Diet Coke around in 1978? I can't remember it being that way, but perhaps I am wrong. Still, our flawed hero is sympathic. This book tries to roast the rich and succeeds on that count. Still, was it too outlandish? Maybe, but then again when you have blurbs from Jay McInerney, Candance Bushnell, and Bret Easton Ellis...you should expect something besides a truly realistic story. Finn is a good guy and this is a good book. Probably a better buy in hard cover than in paperback however.

Rating:
Summary: Fiercely Bizarre
Review: What a strange, yet engrossing, ride "Fierce People" is. I give Wittenborn kudos for featuring the Yanomano of South America in his book, a tribe I had not thought of since my sophmore year of college. The book never allows you to become comfortable, which is good...although some of the twists are so bizarre (some might argue genuinely disturbing) that I often wondered where we were going next. And the big "surprise" ending, wasn't that much of surprise, but it was still quite interesting geting there. Wittenborn misspelled "Concord" in Concord Academy. And, was Diet Coke around in 1978? I can't remember it being that way, but perhaps I am wrong. Still, our flawed hero is sympathic. This book tries to roast the rich and succeeds on that count. Still, was it too outlandish? Maybe, but then again when you have blurbs from Jay McInerney, Candance Bushnell, and Bret Easton Ellis...you should expect something besides a truly realistic story. Finn is a good guy and this is a good book. Probably a better buy in hard cover than in paperback however.