The Da Da De Da Da Code

And Jonny shone the torch before him and found that little hatchway affair, switched off the torch and removed the hatchway affair. The hatchway affair lay behind a portrait of Sir Henry Crawford, many times great-granddaddy of the recently deceased James. This portrait hung over the fireplace in Princess Amelia's sitting room. And the little hatchway removed the eyes from the portrait, to be replaced by the eyes of Jonny Hooker. Just like in those old-fashioned movies, which sometimes starred Bob Hope. And didn't you always want to live in a house with a secret passage and a big portrait with the removable eyes that you could peer from behind, all secretive-like?
You didn't? Well, shame upon you.
Jonny Hooker always had, and he was show more loving this.

In this book is much concerning Robert Johnson, who met the devil at the crossroads and sold his soul in return for becoming the world's greatest guitarist, and also much concerning the Air Loom Gang and their influencing machine. But mainly it is the story of Jonny Hooker (guitarist in a local rock band, escaped mental patient , suspected murderer and fake park ranger) and the trouble he gets into when he decides to enter a competition to solve the Da-Da-De-Da-Da code.

The story is set in Brentford, in and around Gunnersbury Park, a local authority run public park that was once home to the Rothschilds, and the lady in the straw hat makes an appearance, along with Jonny's invisible friend Mr. Giggles, two park rangers called Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey (not that Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey), a police constable with a rocket launcher, and a very odd pub landlord.

One of Robert Rankin's best in my opinion.

'I've got Gunnersbury Park up on the screen now and, yep, looks clear of people, just some little heat signatures. Here, ah, yes. I can zoom in. Squirrels. Squirrels in the trees. How cool is this?'
Constable Rogers agreed that it was cool.
After all, squirrels are cool.
Everyone knows that.
They're not just rats with good PR. show less

What on earth made me think I'd like this book? The only reason I finished it was because it was my only choice of reading material on the train. I wish I thrown it out of the window.

The problem? This book is meant to be funny. And the author mistakes funny with full of quirks. FULL of quirks. He just can't stop himself. And they're not funny quirks. They're rubbish.

His biggest problem is the way he continually breaks the author/work contract (for want of a better term). He sets up running gags across multiple characters that never meet and are only doing the running gag because it's a running gag. And tell us that.

He uses the idea of one character doing something in one scene and then the start of a new scene mirroring it - in every show more scene transition. It can raise a giggle once. Maybe twice. But after the nineteen millionth time it starts to... grate.

Oh, and then he points out his plot holes and patch them with a completely stupid idea - in a footnote breaking you away from the world/story he's creating. Worse - he then has characters commenting on it.

A blurb on the back says he's "the master of silliness". No. See there's silly which is good and silly which is silly. Rankin is the latter - he's being silly purely for silliness sake. He needs to take a leaf from The Mighty Boosh or something.

I don't know what to do with the book now - to release it into the wild risks subjecting others to the atrocity which is this book. To keep it would be taking up valuable shelf space. show less

Would this book be more enjoyable had I come to it cold, knowing nothing of Rankins previous work to which he makes so many references herein? I suspect not because the mainstays of the comedy is the use of absurdly overwrought running gags and a kind of silliness that is independent of its subject. The mystery structure is the critical weakness however because the solution was clear to me by the middle of the novel and the repetitive silliness lost its appeal without the engine of the puzzle driving it along.

Rankin's oddball wit and humour occurs in droves in this wacky book about, no surprises, the forthcoming Armageddon. What it lacks is plot. The da-da-de-da-da Code is an amalgamation of old gags, renamed old characters and references to the plethora of Rankin books that paved the way to this one. It might even be suggested that Rankin just made this up as he went along, since that's how it reads. Yes, the trademark gags are here and there is some fresh material, however as a whole the book is tired and mostly redundant.

Great return to form for Mr Rankin. Packed to the brim with puns and humour that will have you busting a gut at every page.

Robert Rankin is an author you either get or you don't. I have read a few of his books with a couple being all time favorite books. This book had an interesting storyline and curious characters. Rankin injects lots silly comedy into the plot line which if you like that thing is fun but if you don't could be annoying. I didn't find this as rip snortingly funny as some of his previous books however it was a good read that was fun and entertaining.

Latest slice of lunacy from the master of madly humorous fantasy. Doesn't rely on catch phrases as much as some of his later works. Nice twist on the Sunset Boulevard theme of the hero floating dead at the start, then we backtrack.