
Grasshopper Jungle
Grasshopper Jungle Series, Book 1
فرمت کتاب
audiobook
تاریخ انتشار
2014
Lexile Score
910
Reading Level
4-5
نویسنده
Philip Churchشابک
9780698146723
کتاب های مرتبط
- اطلاعات
- نقد و بررسی
- دیدگاه کاربران
نقد و بررسی

Starred review from November 4, 2013
Assuming the role of a historian (a wildly obscene historian), 16-year-old Austin Szerba chronicles the end of the world as it begins in his small Iowa town. Austin is in love with two people—his girlfriend, Shann, and his best friend Robby; neither of them is okay with it but, as Austin frequently repeats, “I was so confused.” This confusion worsens when a series of missteps results in the propagation of six-foot tall, superstrong, mantislike Unstoppable Soldiers that portend a new world order on Earth. Sex is everywhere in this novel (only some of it involving humans), but Smith (Winger) describes it in purposefully clinical and utterly unromantic terms, making connections between the Unstoppable Soldiers—who “wanted only to fuck and eat”—and human beings, whose preoccupations aren’t, perhaps, so different. Filled with gonzo black humor, Smith’s outrageous tale makes serious points about scientific research done in the name of patriotism and profit, the intersections between the personal and the global, the weight of history on the present, and the often out-of-control sexuality of 16-year-old boys. Ages 14–up. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

Oh, the complications of being a teenager! Falling in love with your two best friends, one female, one male, then accidentally unleashing a plague that causes the end of the world. Philip Church narrates Smith's novel with blunt tones, presenting a Vonnegut-like tale with straightforward prose. It works perfectly. The outlandishness of people turning into giant, murderous praying mantises is somehow perfectly balanced by the painful honesty of the teenage heart. Church takes the short, declarative sentences and, by simply performing them with a rapid, matter-of-fact delivery, captures the quick wit and sly thoughtfulness of the novel. Although Church has great energy and charm, be warned: The story's narrator swears like a sailor. G.D. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
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