Rating: Summary: Not "Alice in Wonderland", but good. Review: Before you get this, please know that you will not be as entertained reading this as the first time you read (or saw) "Alice in Wonderland". It's a good book, and certainly fun to read, but it doesn't have the same brilliant wordplay of the original "Alice" (as few books do). But give Noon credit. He is a clever writer, and the book is bursting with puns and humor. And it is still incredibly imaginative, despite being the same basic book, with Jeff Noon's, almost his own language. He's a very original writer, and this book and every single one he's written is an example of what all writers should strive for: a style all their own. Jeff Noon has that, but it doesn't make this book perfect. It's not one you'll reread every other month, or even ever again. It's a one time, quick read that you won't regret picking up, but nothing more.
Rating: Summary: Written for a small but elite audience Review: Being a fan of Alice and Alice-like books ("Zazi dans le Metro", and more
loosely "Lolita") it was striking to see fused with brilliant execution many
of the ideas of Alice & Imagination with a thorough bite on the, uh, "organic".
I say for a small audience because there is simply too much going on, which for
adults I can imagine might deaden things if you don't absorb all the relationships,
and I think few will connect Hofstadter, SASL, Borges, LSD, Swift, Feynman, AIDS, etc.
thoroughly & completely, with relish (and strawberry jam).
He writes not as "Alice" updated, but like a Boris Vian updated.
Rating: Summary: pisspoor ghostwriting Review: Evidently Noon has a ghost writer. Vurt was good, wonderful, beautiful. Had Noon actually *written* Vurt, we would be gifted with a canonical author of science fiction in an era when syndicate ties can win one author dozens of hugos and nebulas, where sexual proclivity and race can close another author out of all but a very few.Sadly, Pollen was a struggle to read and probably just as damnably difficult to write without the assistance of the unseen scribbler of Vurt, very possibly the same ghost writer who handled the Dead Girls series purportedly by Calder. Automated Alice was hardly interesting in any avenue that Noon could have manuevered her. She is a dreadful bore: nothing in her sparkles with the wit of a creator of Vurt. It might become a truism that nothing fascinating shall again descend from our noonsong.
Rating: Summary: Can I give this no stars? Review: God bless Jeff Noon, the poor tike. Here he is stuck in a conundrum. Does he share with us the lucious pelethora of his twisted ideas while making us the READERS trudge through some of the worst dialogue and story telling of all time? Or should the poor tortured fool give up writing( if that is what you can call this) and go and work for the Manchester chapter of NASA dreaming up strange drug induced concepts? I hear NASA pay well, Jeff. Seriously it doesn't matter how clever Jeff is being or how many beautiful ideas he is imparting to us in Auotmated Alice. You just can't read it without wanting to gag. Where the hell did you learn to write,Jeff? I would love the imagery in this book if it wasn't so clouded in neurotic literary bumph. I found reading Auto. Alice like being subjected to a particularly cardboard performance of a school play. Save yer money and read Lewis Carrol while under the influence of leisure drugs. 'That I would imagine', said Alice, 'would be a far far better thing'.
Rating: Summary: Not like the original Review: I didn't like this book. Though it is undeinably clever,
it is so aware of it's own cleverness that it seems both
contrived and largely unfunny. In addition, unlike Carroll's
work, much of the humor is low, based on various body parts
and the secretions thereof. If you like that sort of thing, you'll undoubtedly find this book funnier than I did.
Rating: Summary: Not bad but thankful it's a quick read. Review: I had seen this book at stores many times, thought the cover looked cool but I didn't buy it because, you know, "never judge a book ..." Well, I later found it at a discount store for $1 so I got it. It's not bad but it reads real fast--I read it in 2 afternoons. I admit, I found some of the author's intrusions annoying and at times, outright stupid but ... Jeff Noon gets an "E" for effort and for thinking of the idea. I would recommend picking this book up on discount or from the library only.
Rating: Summary: Great wordplay but not a great plot Review: i loved this book for one reason..the words. Noon is an expert at wordplay and it is evident in this..he is able to make words more energetic and amusing and smooth as well then any other author i have ever read. The thing this book lacks is the plot i thought it was a little week. It might just be me though i only read this cause i am such a big fan of Noon and although i enjoyed reading it i didnt like the whole Alice in wonderland bit. All in all though i recomend it but read some of his other books if you really want a feel for Noon's writing capabilities
Rating: Summary: A nice break from the norm. Review: I really liked the story line, although some crucial parts seemed to be thrown together, almost as if there was little planning in the detailed plot. Much word play helped to liven the story, some too subtle to notice at first. Overall, an interesting tale with a famous main character
Rating: Summary: This Book Is Cool! Review: I wasn't at all disappointed with this book...it wasn't what I thought it would be...I had been looking for it for about a year and finally got a viable means of monitary transaction on the net...so I bought it.I really enjoyed the wordplay and the illustrations...this book is a children's book...or rather a "inner-children's book"... If you like riddles and the cool writing style of Jeff Noon then you are going to like it... Oh, yeah and if you like to use the ellipsis but don't really know how then you'll like the book too...
Rating: Summary: Carroll Rip-Off or Trbute? Review: If you've read any of Jeff Noon's other novels, you know that he's maniacally brilliant and quite off-the-wall. Automated Alice doesn't do anything to dissuade readers of that notion. Noon tries, rather successfully in my opinion, to write a third Alice story...one in which she finds herself in present day Manchester, England after climbing through a grandfather clock. Noon uses Carroll's fine use of language and wordplay to create this very entertaining story which does fit into the Manchester he created with Pollen and Vurt. This is a story written as only Noon could write it. Some will say it's a rip-off and a poor imitation of Carroll but I think it's a great tribute and a fun read.
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