So the month of May is over, and even though you have till the first Monday of June to finish (6th), if you aren't pretty far along by now, you probably won't be finished in the next 5 days.
So what did you think of the book? It was Jake's book that was voted on, so congratulate / blame him if you loved it / hated it.
Post a comment below with what you thought of the book.
*There could be spoilers in the comments*
Alright... I really didn't like the book very much. The characters all seemed quite generic, and there wasn't anything about them that made me want to care for what was happening to them.
ReplyDeleteAll the "twists" could be seen coming a mile away. From the first time he mentioned some fringe religious group on the news, it was obvious they were going to play a part with Elixir. The only thing that caught me a little off guard was his sister giving elixir to her daughter to keep her six years old. Too bad that didn't impact the story at all.
I guess the big things were the characters for me. He killed of a few, the CEO, the sister, the researcher chick. They were supposed to be twists, or were supposed to have some weight in the story. But they were already useless and lifeless characters! Their death didn't have any impact on the story. Their characters could have been removed, and the book wouldn't have been any different.
Really this book could have been a 50 page short story debating the moral and social consequences of an Elixir of youth. That would have been fine, it would have been interesting. But add 300 pages of generic characters in a generic setting, it was just kind of a waste.
Thats what I think about it at least :P
Im going to have to agree with Daniel on most of the points above, I think the idea was the best part of the book and the execution failed it. I almsot felt like there were some big disconnects with the story as well, jumping years at a time with no clear direction in sight. Leaving you feel like you hadn't finished the first story and there was already another one taking off.
ReplyDeleteA few things that left me thinking "are you serious?"
-The navy bombs a Caribbean island to destroy some drugs
-Radical group infiltrates high security compound to murder CEO
-The whole world seems to accept the idea of Fountain of Youth Drug as viable fact overnight and thus implies a pending Armageddon
I was glad that the writing style made for a fast read and definitely enjoyed parts of the book, but over all I thought the story could have been much more entertaining. I was also waiting for Iwati to make an entrance the whole book, bummed he didn't play a bigger role like coming to Roger/Chris because he exploited his secret. I enjoyed how the ethical dilemma that made me toy with the idea of what I would do if in Roger's shoes.Definitely didn't hate it. Defiantly didn't love it.
Yeah, Iwati. Seriously he never came back to the book? So many of his "questions" that the book took so much time with, could have been answered in a few words from Iwati.
ReplyDeleteStill my favorite line from the book
"First, he’d need unlimited resources to reproduce Elixir. "
He went off and pulled something from The Core here...
Yeah, I agree with most everything. The author lost me pretty much right from the prologue. Nearly everything displays a total disconnect from anything approaching reality. Black mambas in New Guinea? Crocodiles in high mountain volcanic lakes that take hikers two weeks or more to reach? WTF? 10 seconds on wikipedia shows the author's careless attitude toward any sort of research. Some other goodies:
ReplyDeleteIwati: "Hey, here is this super secret flower. If you use it, you'll live forever. Just don't tell anyone." Are we really meant to believe that Chris carried it with him for two weeks tromping through the jungle without asking Iwati (his guide, companion, college buddy, and best friend) a single question more about it? Who would do that?
The whole fugitive arc made no sense at all. Chris cleaned out the lab. Every sample, every note, everything. He has all the cards. And he is scared because he is a murder suspect for a killing that has no direct evidence pointing to him. Any crap lawyer in the world would take on and destroy that case. His snorkel at the scene of the crime would hardly be enough for a hearing, let alone a conviction.
Why didn't he just turn himself into the FBI right at the start? He had all the lab evidence. Hello witness protection program. This guy is dumber than bricks.
The ingenious idea to hide at his wife's family cabin. And for some reason they live there for weeks without the FBI showing up? Seriously? He is #1 on the FBI's Most Wanted List, and apparently nobody in the entire bureau pulls his family's records to see that his wife's father owns a cabin? Even before computers this would be the first thing they do. The whole thing screams "NOT REAL."
And the drug cartel guys. WTF? That assassin would not have let Quinton off the hook with just the vague promise that they have some miracle compound and they could make a lot of money. I don't think a hitman would get very far in his career if he believed irrational stories from his victims with no demonstrable evidence. And then the hitman guy pays millions of dollars from his own pocket to cover Quinton's debt? All after a 5 minute infomercial-style selling speech by Quinton? If that is true, Quinton could be selling Sham-wow's and Snuggies, and making more money than God.
The bombing of the drug island by the Navy was actually the only believable thing in the book. Reagan, after all, did way worse things than that.
Next, they got their fake IDs from that deadbeat husband of Jennifer or whoever Chris' wife's sister is. (I forget, because the characters are SO memorable...) And then a few years later, he gets picked up for something and gets another prison sentence. Do you mean to tell me he wouldn't sell out? Trade in information about the FBI's most wanted man in exchange for immunity and freedom. After all, at that time he was already divorced, so what would hold him back?
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... (4000 character limit can suck my balls)
ReplyDeleteBack to the drug cartel guys. So, they lost all the samples and notes to making Elixir. (except for the stuff they yoinked and used on the elderly Haitians for their own infomercial. And apparently enough to squander on turning that hot chick old. But they didn't have just 1 more drop? Nice planning twatwaffles. Sucks to be them I guess.) But they knew Chris got it from New Guinea. You mean to tell me they couldn't drop a few million bucks to coerce, bribe, and buy information from the natives? The flower, or concept of it, was known to at least a few tribes. Spread the word: $1 million bucks to anyone that shows them where it is. Bam. Inside of 6 months you got yourself the original flower again. Nearly guaranteed. I cannot believe they would not at least attempt it. Who wouldn't?
Also, the drug guys at the end. Wow. Didn't see that coming a mile away. But I digress. So the kid holds them at gunpoint, and forces them to "confess" in front of some TV cameras. And magically, somehow, that clears Chris of any wrongdoing, and they are convicted and sentenced to prison or some such. What a crock. Pretty sure Mr. Drug Lord is going to have a kickass legal team. Also pretty sure forced confessions are inadmissible in a court.
There is a lot more. Some has already been mentioned earlier. This is just off the top of my head.
So, in conclusion, I feel the author is living in his own fantasy land, totally not based on reality. That made it really hard to have any sort of connection or emotional investment in the characters or story. Dan had it right. Should have been a 50 page (quite generous) short story, or even treatise, on the moral and ethical implications of an Elixir-like drug.
The book felt to me like a very early rough draft or something. I didn't care about any of the characters. Didn't care about anything that happened. It was so linear you knew exactly what was going to happen way before anything did. It felt like the author was trying to hold your hand and try his best to point out the blatantly obvious (heaven forbid the reader might actually have to THINK), but only succeeded in suffocating the reader.
Oh, and another thing. WTF was Iwati thinking? He gives Chris a single flower. Or maybe it was a vine w/ multiple flowers. Whatever. He knows a person has to keep taking it forever, or else they die a horrible death. And yet he gives a very limited supply to his bestest friend in the whole wide world. With no instructions. No warnings.
ReplyDeleteWow. Some friend. What if Chris had been all, "Hell yeah, light that up! Puff, puff, give... puff, puff, GIVE!!" What, pray tell, was Iwati's plan? "Yeah... now that you've smoked it, I'm gonna need you to come back every month so you don't die. If you could do that, that would be greaaaaaat. Thaaaaanks!" And since it takes at least 2 weeks just to hike up to the damn flower in the first place, that means Chris would pretty much be stuck living in New Guinea for the rest of his very long life. That is some messed up idea of friendship.
Or baring that, he knew Chris took it with him back home. Isn't that a little reckless? He had to assume that Chris, at some undetermined point in the future, would eventually use it. What then? Iwati is chilling in the rainforest jungles of New freakin Guinea. Not like Chris can just call him up and order more. He isn't a CVS Pharmacy.
Seriously, what was going on?