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Flidderbugs (2000)

by Jonathan Gould(Favorite Author)

3.83 of 5 Votes: 4

languge

English

genre

review 1: This well-written, enjoyable book could either be read on the surface as a cute children’s story or a cheeky satire for adults. Either a tale of two tribes of beetles who just can't agree or a reflection of modern-day politics and power struggles, complete with some wheeling and dealing. Our hero, Kriffle, lives in the Krephiloff Tree and his father, Proggle, is the leader of the Triplifers. He has high hopes for his son in political debate in the aptly named Fleedenhall. The Triplifers live on one side of the tree. On the other live their long adversaries, the Quadrigons. The beliefs of the two are at loggerheads, poised on the question of how many points have the leaves on the tree. I don’t want to spoil the plot so I won't reveal any more, but I really loved this bo... moreok - and the cover too! The ideas behind the cute surface story are brilliant. It’s quirky, fun and interesting, full of cool characterisation and detail. The bug characters are great. I was rooting for Kriffle as he went on his search for the truth, meeting many other bugs along the way, including the daunting Fargeeta of the Quadrigons. At the end I was left wondering what happened next to Kriffle as he was a pretty neat little beetle hero. I’m not sure that I want to try the Klummerfly broth though!
review 2: Jonathan Gould's brilliant satire strikes again.As a big fan of Gould's work in his first satire, Doodling, I went into Flidderbugs with very high expectations. Once again, Gould subtly takes jabs at facets of society that are just so ridiculous that we need to see it through the eyes of this small colony of bugs to realize how inane humans can be.Gould's description of the political process of the Flidderbugs society is hilarious. However, when you compare it to the democratic processes in 'civilized' democracies around the world, you realize that it is actually quite sad... because that's how the party-based systems of democratic cultures operate.The endless bickering about useless details instead of resolving the core issues that threaten their people, the party-based disagreements without caring to learn facts, the complete cover-your-ears ignorance of the party-line discussions, and the influence of money/business in politics. Gould captures all of these elements with hilarious wit that makes you forget that we people do the same things.My favorite part of the story was Kriffle's visit to the Flooderversity. The absurdity of the scientists focusing on all facets of the leaves except the number of points including the philosophical discussion of what makes a leaf a leaf and the incomprehensible science-speak of Professor Skervvle were spot-on.I highly recommend this work to any fan of satire and anyone who is capable of laughing at themselves for falling into some of the same traps that plague the Flidderbugs. I also highly recommend this to politicians, hoping that they can learn from these little 'bugs that they are there to serve in the best interest of the people and not fight over inconsequential details. less

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