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Retter Der Welt (2009)

by John Wray(Favorite Author)

3.16 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

3498073621 (ISBN13: 9783498073626)

languge

English

genre

Young Adult Fiction

publisher

Rowohlt

review 1: A couple of people whose opinions I really respect recommended Lowboy to me, saying it was in a similar vein to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I think that one really has to be a fan of the recent trend to write in a flat, unemotional, almost neurasthenic manner in order to like this book. I am not a fan of it. This book's tone reminded me a lot of Steve Rasnic Tem's Deadfall Hotel. Both books deal with extraordinary situations involving deep emotion yet felt very similar to reading the back of a cereal box. By the time I was 2/3 finished, I was near desperate with frustration for the book to end already.Will Heller is a schizophrenic who escaped from psych lockdown in order to complete a mission to save the world. His mission is never made clear ... morein any manner and it's not because of the frenetic, changeable manner of some forms of schizophrenia. It's because Will is an unclear cypher. His interactions with others ring false, especially his interaction with another mentally ill person who lives in the subway system. His mother, Violet, is trying to find him before the worst happens and she is helped by Ali Lateef, who is a "missing persons specialist." Neither character has any meat to them. Violet has a DUN DUN DUN big secret that spurs her on to help find her son and you will know what that secret is very quickly.The whole book hinges on people doing inexplicable, stupid things. You expect it from Will/Lowboy. He's mentally ill and unmedicated. But Violet behaves inexplicably and in a manner that does not make even the most basic level of sense. For example, she sees two kids walking along the sidewalk and more or less tackles them before she realizes the kids are not her missing son and his ex-girlfriend. The characterization is so shaky and the writing so predictable that it's not even a spoiler to reveal that the two kids are not who Violet thinks they are.In the most inexplicable part of this book, Ali falls for Violet and I have no idea why. No clue as to what any man could find attractive about Violet. No idea what was going on with that. None.Interestingly, Emily, Lowboy's ex-girlfriend, was the character who got the fewest lines but was the most realized character in the book. She's a clever teenager, full of bravada, who follows the ill but attractive Will into danger. But when danger comes, she recognizes it. Wray should write a book about Emily. She was awesome. He may have, in fact, written a book about Emily. I don't know. He has other books out but I don't think I will be reading them any time soon. I just don't like this manner of story-telling. I need more oomph. I need emotions that play out in a tangible manner. I need to understand the decisions of the sane characters. I need more catharsis than this book could offer. Two stars because I felt a glimmer of excellent story-telling when Emily was on the page.
review 2: Ich wollte dieses Buch wirklich mögen. Die Inhaltsbeschreibung klang interessant und vielversprechend. Mit dem nüchternen Stil des Autors bin ich nicht wirklich warm geworden. Darüber hinaus ist der Protagonist ein Schizophrener, der seine Tabletten nicht mehr nimmt - und daher schwer zugänglich. Es war definitiv keine Freude, über ihn zu lesen, sondern nervig. Man wird als Leser nicht wirklich ans Thema herangeführt, sondern hat sich augenblicklich mit einem Krankheitsbild abzufinden. Das hat nicht funktioniert.Nachdem ich nun knapp über 100 Seiten gelesen habe, breche ich das Buch ab. Das Gefühl beim Lesen konnte sich von Genervtheit leider nicht in Genuss wandeln. Das Ende ist schnell zu erahnen und nach ein wenig Recherche tritt es dann auch so ein, wie ich es erwartet habe. Insofern kein Must-read für mich. less

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