DBC PierreCríticas

Magnificent read! This book takes you down a brilliant path of self-destruction. Funny, bizarre and everything made possible. The self-loathing and self-idolizing main character takes you along on his trip into the most decadent of all worlds. This only because he has lost grip on his youthful idealism. When I was wondering if I would ever give a book five stars again I came upon this twisted, satirical narrative which showed me once again the apparatus of modern life.

A quirky but impactful volume on writing, definitely will be dipped into going forward. My favourite chapter was 'Punch' which took from martial arts the concept of not aiming at the target, but punching past it.

I'd forgotten that I'd really enjoyed DBC Pierre's Vernon God Little until I came across it in my list of books on LT, so I looked for some of his other work and this little red number appealed.

Unlike VGL, this is a non-fiction book full of writing advice from DBC Pierre, but it reminded me how unique and off the wall his voice was in VGL. Although there are plenty of books out there on how to go about writing a novel, somehow this worked for me a lot more. For starters, his own unique writing style throughout has you thinking about what makes writing talent, and he's also a bit like an overgrown teenage rule breaker, with plenty of swearing and the odd crazy / unnecessary chapter on oddball subjects such as the impact (good and bad) that different types of recreational drugs have on your writing creativity and output. BUT, he knows what he's talking about, and there are some really excellent writing tips and information about the writing process, warts and all.

DBC Pierre might not be to everyone's taste, but he's a very intelligent writer, and even if I never write a page of a novel in this lifetime, I think I'll dip in and out of this book plenty in the future as I enjoyed it and feel like a little more will stick with each subsequent visit.

4 stars - slightly batty (if you pardon the pun), but isn't there a little craziness in all the best writers?

This book is downright AMAZING! It was an entertaining journey of hilarity, sincerity and inspiration. This book was one of the main driving forces between helping me choose to stay home and get a big boy job or go out and explore the world.
The book starts with the story's narrator informing you the read that he is about to kill himself. Well, ok I am now hooked, tell me more!
It continues with his journey and making his final huzzah with friends and places around the world he wants to spend time with/in before he goes.
I can't recommend this enough... soooo much love I haz to give

I'm giving it 3 stars though I'm torn because in some regards, I wanted to give it more. And in other regards, I wanted to give it less. So now it has all averaged out into mediocrity.

I must say when the folks tagged this book "humor", I guess they were referring to black humor. Because this book was definitely black. It's the story of a 15 year old boy who is wrongly accused of gunning down 16 classmates and his trials and tribulations as he attempts to convince others of his innocence.

The entire book is written in the first person and uses sort of this uneducated slang that also is rife with the f bombs. At first, the voice was sort of off putting, but there are passages that are absolutely brilliant in it as well. Pierre's metaphors and analogies are very, very fresh - - and that makes the book more interesting. They are also very raw.

The main character, Vernon, is extremely well developed, and you keep hoping against hope that he'll get out of the bind that he in . . .and Pierre just does NOT let you off the hook . . .I was very emotionally caught up in the notion that this innocent kid was being railroaded.

There's also deep social commentary on the role of the media in our society. And in this book, the media is four plus scary and powerful and also leading society into the dark depths of immorality.

The humor is very dark, but there's some very clever stuff . . .but not haa haa funny. More like ironic or sarcastic wit. The book even had an "unput downable" quality, but that really didn't kick in for me full force until the last 50 pages or so of the book. Ok, even as I write this, I'm thinking maybe I should give the book 4 stars, but I just have trouble handing out that extra star when I had to work so hard to grasp the language of the book and to really comprehend what was going on. This book just wasn't an easy read at all. And then, the language and the crassness and the rawness sort of combined to turn me off.

It's just not for the faint of heart.

All in all, if you are a literary reader looking for something fresh (this did win the Booker prize after all), yet challenging, I'd say go for it. If you are the type of reader who just wants to be entertained, then I'm afraid this won't be high on your list.

Annoying to read for luddites

This has to be one of my new favourites. In my honest opinion it is a masterpiece.
I'm no literary scholar or anything so I don't really know what I'm talking about, but the one author I was reminded of in parts would have to be Irvine Welsh, with its mix of horror and hilarity and that same inevitable train wreck-y feeling his books tend to give you. My gut certainly feels like it's taken a similar number of vicious punches during the reading process.

Not sure why this book isn't better known, but then I'm sure there are any number of modern classics I am blissfully unaware of. This one is pretty damn special, though. Don't be put off by the conversational style of narration - that's the only reason I can think of for its surprisingly low rating on here, but anyone who gives up on it for that reason isn't just shooting themselves in the foot, they're blowing it clean off at the ankle.

In einer Amazon-Rezension habe ich einen Satz gefunden, der meine Gefühle für dieses Buch perfekt zusammenfasst: „Auch wenn hier auf amüsante Weise der Finger in die Wunde gelegt wird, ist dieser Roman eine von der Sprache her verstörende, auf Dauer nervige Lektüre.“ Vernon Little ist der beste Freund des Amokläufers Jesus gewesen. Obwohl er nicht einmal in der Nähe des Tatorts war, wird er in der Folge von den Medien und der Justiz zum Täter stilisiert. Das ist interessant und satirisch gut zu verwerten, aber ich konnte das Buch einfach nicht lesen, die Sprache hat mich wirklich abgestoßen½

Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre (2005)

I've been reading some of the many books I've accumulated over the years, and this one showed much promise. Back when I bought it, I'd read only good reviews for it, but when I browsed through LT's reviews for it last night, I saw many people weren't impressed by it. My feelings about it are somewhere in-between. I never read the author's earlier, award-winning Vernon God Little, so I have nothing to compare this one with. The plot is simple. On one side, an adult pair of conjoined twins are finally separated and released into the wild, aka London, after growing up in a care facility. To say they're naive would be an understatement. On the other side, specifically the Caucasus area of Russia where a war is being waged, a young woman sets out to find work to help her impoverished family. Throw in the twins discovering the joy of spiked cocktails and a Russian bride scam, and we get an intriguing farce that never fully gels.

The book was entertaining, thanks to the author's deft use of words and similies, but the ending, with the last chapter making a time jump of at least a few years, leaves too many questions needing answers for my taste. This is one book I really wish was better.

Enjoying this book, with a mixture of sadness and laughter.

I'm reading all the Booker Prize winners since its inception. Follow me at www.methodtohermadness.com.

This is a great book. A great f***en book, as our hero, Vern, would say. Vernon Gregory Little is a little guy accused of a big crime: the mass murder of over a dozen of his Texas classmates. But he didn’t do it. He just can’t prove it.

Poor Vernon is trapped in a web of loyalty: to a sad mother, who falls for the scumbag televising his case; to a girl who passed out at a party; to a father whose body can’t be found; to the bullied friend who actually did the shooting. He’s the sweetest kid you’d ever hope to meet on death row.

Vernon’s desperate attempt to escape his fate is both gritty and lyrical. And up until the last ten pages, I had literally no idea how it would end. Pierre brings all the pieces together masterfully, and Vernon recreates himself as (almost) a god. Poetic writing and a show-stopping plot, plus a quirky character you can’t help but love: it’s definitely worth the read to see how Pierre pulls it off.

The book was very well written. However it just never fully engaged my interest. None of the characters were likable. Every character was too flawed.

useful guide to the insanity of fiction writing. a bit annoying tonally but some home truths.

Ugh! There were some aspects of this novel I enjoyed. I enjoy experimentation as long as the end result can still be read and digested, and this novel was experimental with respect to plot and was readable. But for me there was nothing to enjoy or learn here. On the topic of mass murder at a school, if there was something to learn, some perspective or understanding to be gained of the individual or society, then there might have been value for me. Here there was none. Does the plot and the language reflect American society? Perhaps at some level, but without some possibility of expanded understanding then I would be better off just reading a newspaper account.

I like wine, and the more I try to understand what I am tasting, the more I learn about what I like and don't like. I am going to chalk this reading experience up to learning more about what I don't like in a novel.

Very strong start,

Deviously funny and fast-paced, the story of Vernon 'G' Little's adventures with small-town Texas following a mass shooting are joyfully silly with no air of pretension. Written by the outrageous DBC Pierre, whose own life should also make it into words some day.

Vernon God Little by Dbc Pierre presents itself as a comedy, but the subject matter is very dark as it takes a hard look at American society. We follow the experiences of Vernon Little, a Texas teenager whose best friend has just killed sixteen of their classmates and then himself. The townspeople seek both answers and vengeance and because Vernon was the killer’s closest friend, he becomes the focus of their fury. Vernon comes across as a deceptively simple boy, rather cynical and certainly unlucky and relying heavily on gross-out humor.

While this satire effectively captures a teenager’s self-absorption, it also manages to skewer mindless consumer culture, the media’s penchant for turning tragedy into entertainment, and the craving of fame by average citizens. While humor and mass murder are uneasy companions, the author does manage to pull off a story that, although bizarre, holds one’s attention, and while I personally found myself wincing more than smiling, this irreverent book was certainly highly readable.½

Verhaal over Ariel Panek die vanuit de VS naar een congres in Nederland vliegt. Vanwege dichte mist moet het vliegtuig noodgedwongen in Engeland landen. Ariel wordt ondergebracht in een afgelegen pension aan de kust. Er is geen telefoonbereik en geen internet. Contact met de buitenwereld is niet mogelijk. Zijn vriendin Zeva is ondertussen onderweg naar Amsterdam waar ze elkaar zouden treffen.
In het pension maakt Ariel kennis met een familie die iets lijkt te herdenken, maar wat precies?
Na een aantal bizarre gebeurtenissen besluit Ariel dat hij het pension moet zien te verlaten, maar dat is gemakkelijker gezegd dan gedaan.

Spannend boek van nog geen 200 pagina's, met schrikeffecten als keek je naar een film. Iedereen heeft vast wel eens zo'n droom gehad waar je probeert ergens naar toe te gaan of weg te komen en dat lukt maar niet. Datzelfde gevoel krijg je bij het lezen van dit verhaal. Bizar goed!½

I bought this from a bargain bin and felt ripped off. If you dig clichés and don't really value your own time, you'll like Vernon God Little.

Rubbish.

Amazing and creative language in a setting that reflects many of America's worst facets.

...cleverly characterises the claustrophobia suffered by those for the whom the American Dream is nothing short of a nightmare,

Pierre’s adventure tale of the pursuit of poor little Vern by virtually the entire machine of ‘Merica is a combustive mix of satire and suspense. The pace doesn’t let up. From the moment you meet the eponymous hero until his final homecoming, you feel as out of breath, as uncertain of your surroundings as he is. It’s a novel that very cleverly characterises the claustrophobia suffered by those for the whom the American Dream is nothing short of a nightmare.

Vernon is the product of a dysfunctional single-parent family in Couldbeanytown, Texas. His mother dreams of a limited edition refrigerator while Vernon dreams of simply being accepted. He attends a local high school where something has gone horribly wrong. What exactly took place, you piece together as the story unfolds. Exactly what role Vernon played in it is what everyone else wants to know.

Through the introduction of some of the most comic US-lit characters since Ignatius J. Reilly and Yossarian, we find the authority of law enforcement and the voice of mainstream media lampooned like never before. All the while, Vernon grows up faster than he needs to and is beset on all sides by enemies both real and imagined.

The strength of this novel comes not only from his biting satire but also from the style that Pierre has employed. The US has always been easy to mock, strewn as it is with stereotypes, laughable if not horrific foreign policy and, best of all, ever too sensitive to take it all with a pinch of salt. The satire should therefore come easily to even a modestly talented writer.

What makes Vernon special though is that the writing is constructed as a perfect embodiment of the very culture it sets out to critique. Vernon’s narrative is offensive, cynical, self-absorbed, angry, confused, paranoid and pessimistic. While he’s busy lambasting his mother’s dependence on her rotating door of lovers, he’s lusting after his own dependencies. At the same time he’s scathing of society’s incompetence, he’s unable to organise even the simplest tasks for his own welfare.

The result is a tirade that can be taken two ways at the same time. While it seriously questions the fundamental aspects of USAnian society, Pierre also seems to be asking whether you can in fact actually take the writing seriously. On the one hand Pierre’s novel seems to find absolutely nothing of cultural worth. On the other, the very fact that this culture is so delicious a farce makes it worth so very much to an art form that strives to help us understand the human condition. Fact.½

I honesty cannot see how "Vernon God Little" won the Man Booker Prize (or the Whitbread Best First Novel Award or the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Award for Comic Writing for that matter). It's not that it's poorly written, although I was tempted to stop reading throughout the earlier sections of the book, but it just didn't grab my attention like a good novel should. And considering I was living in South Korea at the time and was starved of English language literature, it's a big statement to claim I was tempted to stop reading.

Yes, "Vernon God Little" improves as it goes on and by the end I did care whether the narrator lived or died but I think it suffered from its huge reputation.

While I'm here, I'll take the opportunity to give a shout-out to Luling, Texas, name-checked in the book. I spent an evening in Luling more than twenty years ago but the place still seems to haunt me; not quite in a "Poltergeist" way, but close.½

'Me ves y sufres', 17 July 2012
By
sally tarbox

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This review is from: Vernon God Little (Paperback)
I really enjoyed this novel; there's no question that Pierre took inspiration from 'Catcher in the Rye' (one of my favorite books), but managed to create an entirely original work. Our teenage narrator is a 21st century kid, full of raging hormones, child of an inadequate mother. In the aftermath of a mass shooting at his school in Texas, carried out by his best friend, Vernon finds himself held accountable...
Holden Caulfield dreamed of paradise in a field of rye; Vernon aspires to a beach hut in Mexico (in the company of the gorgeous Taylor Figueroa). Holden derided the phoney adults around him; Vern is well aware of the corruption in the media, everyone out to make a buck. Both characters retain a touching naivety that keeps the reader rooting for them throughout. Brilliant.