Tuesday July 5, 2011
Review: Going Bovine by Libba Bray
Going Bovine by Libba Bray
Random House, Hardcover,
Random House, Hardcover,
Coming out Sept. 22, 2009
Summary from Goodreads:
Can Cameron find what he’s looking for?
Annotation
Annotation
The narrator Cameron, a self- proclaimed slacker's main goal in life is to get through high school. He is 16-year-old who wants to get through high school and life in general with a minimum of effort. It’s not a lot to ask. But that’s before he’s given some bad news: he’s sick and he’s going to die. Which totally sucks.After the news of sickness, Cameron start to give up on trying, He begin having hard time connecting with his parents, classmates, and even the music called Great Tremelo. The kind of disease was a madcow disease. He had diagnosed with mad cow disease and his life really begin tearing apart. However, the author of Going Bovine, Libba Bray, manage to turn a hopeless situation into a hilarious and hallucinatory quest, by suggesting a winged form Dulcie, a loopy punk angel/possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She told Cameron that there is a cure—if he’s willing to go in search of it. With the help of a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf and a yard gnome, Cameron sets
off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America into the heart of what matters most.
Justification for nomination:off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America into the heart of what matters most.
Going Bovine is completely different than Libba's other books. It's realistic, fantasy, sci-fi, and a whole lot of mumbo jumbo mixed together. However, they all have one thing in common - humor. Going Bovine is weird mix od string theory, classic literary referrences, and teenage sarcasm, irony and humor. Cameron's voice is smart, disilusioned, and priceless; we can take his thoughts on high school English class, for example.The plot is very unique - Cameron finds himself in a dire situation where he will die soon and he goes off to look for a cure from the mysterious Dr. X. However, as he travels around the country, he learns and experiences life. He finds friends, laughter, loses his virginity, gets chased and kicked out, and a bunch of other experiences.
However, I have to admit, after a while, the hallucinations that Cameron gets and reality becomes really warped. I got confused towards the end because I couldn't figure out what was real and what wasn't. Things that I had assumed was real came back to bite me on the butt because questions were asked and answers were not given Cameron was an interesting character. He's a typical stoner, badass kid who is typically ignored or picked on by the "cool' kids. However, when he finds himself on the verge of death, he begins to become real. He was wonderfully written and gave off a unique personality.Gonza and Balder are basically characters for comic-relief. I always thought it was funny how Gonza being a dwarf didn't really let people get taken back because, hello, he's a DWARF. If it was me and I found that someone was a freaking dwarf, I would totally be surprised. Overall, Going Bovine is an entertaining novel that will definitely bring laughter to your ears. It is thought-provoking and will allow you to rethink of our purpose here on earth. You can read this novel in two ways, either Cameron is lying in a hospital bed, hallucinating as the disease eats away at his brain, or Cameron really was battling the forces of good and evil while seriously crushing on a candy addicted punk angel. Either way you see it, I have to reiterate that Goving Bovine can help you laugh out loud, folding down pages that have some of the best quotes you have read in years. You will live your life to the fullest as the old lady in the hospital tells Cameron, "I don't think you should die before you are ready. Untill you have wrung out last bit of living. The book has great stories, everything from near death experience at Disney World, potty mouth dwarfs prone to panic attacks, mad cow disease, evil snowglobes, really good jaszz, a punk rock angel with a sweet tooth, a serious run-in with a happiness cult and so much, much more. I recommend it to those who have not see the book yet and have a glimpse, give it a short hurry look friends.
Untill next time
Lul Gatluak
However, I have to admit, after a while, the hallucinations that Cameron gets and reality becomes really warped. I got confused towards the end because I couldn't figure out what was real and what wasn't. Things that I had assumed was real came back to bite me on the butt because questions were asked and answers were not given Cameron was an interesting character. He's a typical stoner, badass kid who is typically ignored or picked on by the "cool' kids. However, when he finds himself on the verge of death, he begins to become real. He was wonderfully written and gave off a unique personality.Gonza and Balder are basically characters for comic-relief. I always thought it was funny how Gonza being a dwarf didn't really let people get taken back because, hello, he's a DWARF. If it was me and I found that someone was a freaking dwarf, I would totally be surprised. Overall, Going Bovine is an entertaining novel that will definitely bring laughter to your ears. It is thought-provoking and will allow you to rethink of our purpose here on earth. You can read this novel in two ways, either Cameron is lying in a hospital bed, hallucinating as the disease eats away at his brain, or Cameron really was battling the forces of good and evil while seriously crushing on a candy addicted punk angel. Either way you see it, I have to reiterate that Goving Bovine can help you laugh out loud, folding down pages that have some of the best quotes you have read in years. You will live your life to the fullest as the old lady in the hospital tells Cameron, "I don't think you should die before you are ready. Untill you have wrung out last bit of living. The book has great stories, everything from near death experience at Disney World, potty mouth dwarfs prone to panic attacks, mad cow disease, evil snowglobes, really good jaszz, a punk rock angel with a sweet tooth, a serious run-in with a happiness cult and so much, much more. I recommend it to those who have not see the book yet and have a glimpse, give it a short hurry look friends.
Untill next time
Lul Gatluak
No comments:
Post a Comment