For a completely different take on “the end of the world”
try Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith. Here we have the end
of the world as brought about by six-foot, eternally hungry, grasshopper like
things. Our protagonists inadvertently
contribute to the rise of this new apex predator and seem to be, along with a
few allies, the only ones to survive their arrival. I found the book interesting for its style which was extreme
stream of consciousness mixed with a incredible willingness to let a tangent go
as far as possible before reeling it back in to make a new coincidence. The style was also INCREDIBLY repetitious,
the narrator would fuss over the same facts again and again. I almost suspect the author was trying to
create a book that readers would inadvertently memorize. While this is not a style I would revisit or
want to find elsewhere it was interesting as a one-time kind of thing.
We are a branch of the Los Angeles Public Library located in Highland Park. Keep yourself updated on our doings here...
Friday, June 13, 2014
Grasshopper Jungle
For a completely different take on “the end of the world”
try Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith. Here we have the end
of the world as brought about by six-foot, eternally hungry, grasshopper like
things. Our protagonists inadvertently
contribute to the rise of this new apex predator and seem to be, along with a
few allies, the only ones to survive their arrival. I found the book interesting for its style which was extreme
stream of consciousness mixed with a incredible willingness to let a tangent go
as far as possible before reeling it back in to make a new coincidence. The style was also INCREDIBLY repetitious,
the narrator would fuss over the same facts again and again. I almost suspect the author was trying to
create a book that readers would inadvertently memorize. While this is not a style I would revisit or
want to find elsewhere it was interesting as a one-time kind of thing.