March 6, 2009

Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins


What i found in this book is that it was a whole lot of filler to tell a story that probably could have been told in about 50 pages. True to his style, Robbins does manage to throw in some good comedic points, and he truly is the master of the metaphor, but this time I didn't feel it was enough. I had read this book once before, and didn't like it much then either. I was hoping that this go-round I would enjoy it more, as it's been a good 5 or 6 years. No, sadly.

This is not one of Robbins' better novels. While I do enjoy most of his work, "Skinny Legs and All" being one of my favourite books of all time, this one is just didn't do it for me. Robbins jumps around from past to present, and after reading 4 or 5 pages of dialogue that doesn't seem to fit into the whole package of the book, I found myself wondering if he just didn't meet his required amount of words and was padding.

Would I recommend the work of Tom Robbins to another person, yes. Would I recommend this book? probably not. It just didn't captivate me the way "Another Roadside Attraction" or "Jitterbug Perfume" did. In fact, I found myself, many a night, almost forcing myself to continue reading it.

I give this 2 stars. Well written, just not entertaining.

3 comments:

  1. I read Skinny Legs and All but don't remember it at the moment. I read Fierce Invalids From Hot Climates a few years ago because a good friend highly recommended it, but I found it to be one of those really overblown pompous obscene things that tend to be popular among the more vulgar set of the literary community.

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  2. lol, what are you saying?

    yeah, i totally agree. a have a very specific group of friend who all read Tom Robbins' and swear by him. Meh. i find his novels to be very hit or miss.

    Oh, and Skinny Legs and All involves the dance of the seven veils, a group of inanimate objects making their way to the Motherland, and an artist who paints murals and sleeps with a geriatric shoe fetishist.

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  3. Oh yeah, I remember now... I actually checked it out from the library and tried to read it but just couldn't read any further past the first 20 pages or so. LOL! It's very unusual that I don't finish a book, een if I'm not enjoying it, but that one I just couldn't continue. :P

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