|
Loading... One Big Damn Puzzler (P.S.)by John Harding
LibraryThing recommendationsMember recommendationsLoading...
won't like
will probably not like
will probably like
will like
will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Vulgar and tedious. (  ) jennieg | Nov 11, 2009 |  We all imagine a being on a tropical island, in the sun, the roaring ocean, with innocent and beautiful natives giving us everything we need. John Harding gives this to us with plenty of add-ons: Shakespeare, OCD, innocence and its loss, and the Western materialistic mentality. An American lawyer comes to this untouched island, meets the natives, and tries to obtain compensation for them from injuries as the result of left over land mines. The book turns into an allegory of American values running amok and attempts to give a world vision on today's events. Harding uses humor, literary license, and great imagination to accomplish this task. I thank him for great and thoughtful entertainment. (  ) captom | Mar 6, 2009 | What a fantastic read this was. I had thought it was going to be humorous book about books – and it is – but it’s so much more too. The story of how the islanders lose their innocence is full of originality and is witty, dramatic, deep, funny, sad, magical and at times also grotesque. All of this blends together into perfect mixture of a tale that will make you re-think your ideas about the meaning of life. It made me laugh out loud but at other times I was moved to tears. It’s also caused me to feel the need to read more Shakespeare, although it’s by no means necessary to do so in order to enjoy this book. I am going to be buying more copies of this book to give as gifts because I think everyone will take away something from reading this. ( ) kehs | Jun 1, 2008 | I picked this book up on a whim yesterday and I'm glad I did. I read it all day up to midnight becasue I had to know how it finished. Humour is mixed with the more serious messages about capitalism and war, as well as sadness. All the characters are well drwn and I grew attached to many, especially the she-boys and of course the Hamlet re-writer himself, Managua. ( )1  Rubbah | May 19, 2008 | This book made me laugh out loud, and it also made me reflect on the effect we have as people on other societies. You cannot describe this book. It is the story of a man with OCD trying to find his way on an island that challenges all the safety systems he has in place in his head to prevent anything bad from happening to him. It is also the story of an island, lost in its own time and traditions, and blissfully so, until the arrival of outsiders who create chaos and catastrophe then leave. Where else could you find an elderly tribesman (the only villager who can read) trying to translate Hamlet into a language the villagers can understand, or a society who regularly communes with their dead relatives. A brilliant original novel, although I found the ending a little disappointing. (  ) LibraryLou | Aug 6, 2007 |  no reviews | add a review
References to this work on external resources.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Book description |
|
On an island paradise somewhere in the South Pacific, Managua—the only native who can read or write—is busily translating Hamlet into pidgin English when a plane interrupts his noble work. Strapping on his false leg, he makes his way to the landing strip to greet the unexpected arrival: William Hardt, a young American lawyer driven by his misguided ambition to win reparations for the island's inhabitants.
Hardt is not the first white outsider to pay a visit; the British came earlier, bringing their language, the small pigs that run wild in the jungle, and Shakespeare . . . and the Americans followed with guns, land mines, and Coca-Cola. But in this place of riotously logical ritual, Hardt's determined quest to do good could make him the most devastating visitor of all.
Profoundly moving and achingly funny, One Big Damn Puzzler brilliantly explores the collision of the twenty-first century with unsullied pagan reality—and establishes John Harding as one of the most imaginative contemporary chroniclers of the human condition.
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:10 -0400)
The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details.
Quick Links |
Wikipedia in English
