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Jun 25, 2007

James rated it:

I really enjoy Tom Robbins very much, but this book just really fell flat with me. I'd read one or two other Robbins books just before this one, so perhaps it was partly just general Robbins-fatigue, but Villa Incognito really felt like a lazy mishmash of generic Robbins themes and humor. When I read this book most of the time my mind was going "Blah blah beautiful prose about drinking and drugs and sex and wacky characters blah blah." I was really just bored with it. I could see More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2008

Mason rated it:

His newest book (I think) takes place mostly in SE Asia (Laos and Thailand) and is centered around 3 former Vietnam POWs and the international opium ring they run. It is, however, written by Tom Robbins so there is plenty of sarcasm, beastiality, spiritual dialogue, biblical badmouthing, circuses and tanukis. As always he is fun to read, but this wasn’t as good as Skinny Legs and All. I did enjoy it though and would recommend it.
Good Quotes:

“Trees are a damn sight more useful t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

This book came to me because the recommender asked what that funny statue was in my living room. I replied, a tanuki. He looked at me strangely, so I spelled tanuki out for him. Then, much to my surprise, he said I read a book about tanukis and I thought they were made up by the author.

Well, Tom Robbins did not make up the story of the tanuki from scratch, but he did embellish on the Japanese legend. Robbins is one of those rare authors where I stop for a second and think, how the h More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 09, 2008

Michael added it

I am left with the same feeling I get whenever I read one of TR's books- I'm kind of confused. Some aspects and passages are among the best anywhere. But much of this makes no sense. I guess maybe it isn't supposed to, or that I'm missing the boat. Possible...

In this story I was especially left behind by the flower seed in the girl's mouth. Huh? What is that supposed to be?

I enjoyed the story of the animal that is a central character and symbol, the tanuki (a Japanese r More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 15, 2009

Matt rated it:

During my sophomore year of high school, each student in my Honors English class had been asked to write and submit a short story for a graded competition of sorts. The top five best short stories were to be posted for download from my English teacher's personal website. I had typed roughly 26 pages of what I considered to be slice-of-life dramedy, feeling optimistic the entire time. My short story did not reach the top five list, however, and I had felt a bit crushed. My teacher soon afterward More...

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Jan 01, 2009

Elona rated it:

i have not encountered Robbins' skill with words in a long long time.

IT IS WHAT IT IS
YOU ARE WHAT YOU IT
THERE ARE NO MISTAKES

some examples of cunning linguism :P.

"if coitus interruptus was a country, then Tanuki's tail would have been its flag."

not many hours later, after the moon had set, when the night was so black not even Michael Jackson's cosmetic surgeon could have lightened its hue."

"Eventually, th More...

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Dec 17, 2011

Christina (Reading Thru The Night) rated it:

Summary

Brace yourself because this summary might just sound all over the place. (And if it does, then I've done an accurate job portraying V.I.). Once upon a time a very long time ago there was a Tanuki, an Asian critter that resembles a raccoon, who loves sake and women. This Tanuki meets and mates with a beautiful Asian woman who eventually bares his child. Now. Let's leap forward. We are in the late 90's and two sisters have seen their brother on the news, dressed as a priest and ar More...

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Sep 01, 2010

Parksy rated it:

3.5

Typical Tom Robbins - always a joy to read. Very different characters and plot devices.

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From Publishers Weekly
Donald Barthelme once said, "Those who never attempt the absurd never achieve the impossible." Robbins (Still Life with Woodpecker; Jitterbug Perfume; etc.) has made a career of attempting and achieving both, and in this, his eighth novel, he pulls it off again. Here we have weirdness personified, a quirky, outrageou More...

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Jul 27, 2011

Debbie rated it:

After that dreary Allende memoir, I needed a palate cleanser, and this book certainly did the trick.

The only other book I'd read by Robbins was Cowgirls, and I read that back in the early 80s. My memory isn't too sharp here, but what I what I do recall fits in with my impressions of Villa Incognito - a wild ride, and the the asides and tangents are what make it all the more fun.

That said, Robbins' "70s-Think" is still all too evident here, and "Follow your blis More...

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Sep 08, 2009

Adam rated it:

Found it amongst the used fictions books in Itaewon's What the Book. Stashed it away behind some other books on the bottom shelf so no one would take it. Came back a few days later, sold some old books, found this again, untouched, and bought it! I enjoyed the last Tom Robbins that I read and having a feeling that I won't be let down by this piece. What better time to start reading about it then when headed for SEAsia where, according to the book jacket, part of the story takes place! 8/30/ More...

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Mar 16, 2011

Ted rated it:

At first I really had no idea what to expect of this book. I thought it would be a heavy hearted exploration into Japanese mythology. That might be half right, but it's definitely at least half wrong.

Robbins' writing style blends the Japanese mythos with modern day pop culture references and ties it up with a glimpse of real life. While it is at first disorientating and confusing, I found it to me more of a gimmick as the book went on.

Somewhere through act 3 though, I realize More...

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Jan 17, 2010

Longanlon rated it:

Още една книга, която е трябвало да прочета по-рано, за да ми хареса.

Може би във въздухарско-интелектуалния ми период (докато бях студент примерно) Вила Инкогнито щеше да ме впечатли, самоцелните философски монолози на героите да ме карат да се замислям над същността и смисъла им и може би даже да мечтая за лежерното битие там, наситено само с отвлечени псевдо мисловни дебати.

За съжаление обаче, в момента съм доста по-практически настроен и историята за трима небръснати н More...

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Mar 01, 2011

Jacky rated it:

As always, there are poignant lines of beauty throughout Robbins's story, but many times he gets carried away with his literati jive. I love the way he discusses big things like ancient magic and sexual encounters with the same energy and whimsy as a button on a collared shirt. Cutting the story with lines from his song "Villa Incognito" was an effective way to marry several characters to the story, since the characters seem to get away from Robbins.
In all, the plot was loopy, th More...

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Jul 04, 2010

Esteli rated it:

a really recent one, i thought it was going to be crap, and it was lighter than another roadside attraction, but also easier to get through and more fun. I think it's also about half the length. Definitely smacks of "later" robbins rather than "earlier", but on the whole I found it thoroughly entertaining, probably better than fierce invalids. I could have used a little more robbins style philosophy/pontification, though: there was nothing like his amazing grammatical romp fr More...

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Aug 05, 2011

John added it

Mr. Robbins let me down here. I have read some of his other work, including Jitterbug Perfume and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. I enjoyed their whimsy. Villa Incognito, however, has the whimsy but seems to lack direction. The clever wordplay is still there in force but the story rambles around from the world of tanuki’s (both with a capital “T” and a small “t” – one a semi god-like badger, the other his more terrestrial cousin) to drug running Vietnam vets. Robbins is trying to say somethin More...

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Jan 28, 2011

John rated it:

Despite the humor and enjoyable scenes of gratuitous sex, this book unveiled itself as a big dull. The jokes were tangents, as were most of the characters' speeches about the state of the union and aesthetics. A point is made by a character that the absurdity of an artistic endeavor (i.e., a tightrope walker needlessly risking her life when a ladder would do) is itself the point; however, Villa Incognito, for all its absurdities, was pointless. Stories don't need a reason to be told, but that do More...

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May 01, 2009

Robin rated it:

4/09- I only have about 1/3 left to read and I am liking it better than I thought I would. The characters backstories have been revealed and you can clearly see how they've grown entwined. Robbins uses many literary techniques and I do like the change ups he has, but the book has a too straightforward feel to it for what I expected from Tom Robbins, even acknowledging that as a reader you do not know what is going on when he switches from his mythology/beastiality based intro story to the Amer More...

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Dec 19, 2010

Jeanette rated it:

This has been on my Good Reads shelf for a long time with a two-star rating because I didn't care for the plot or the book as a whole. Today I'm adding a star to my rating because I ran across a whole mess of stuff I'd copied from the book. The story's not that great, but Robbins makes some powerful statements about a lot of issues the planet as a whole is facing, and America specifically.

"Why would they fell trees but leave men standing? Trees are a damn sight more useful than More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 28, 2008

Rachel rated it:

Loved it, of course. The first line:

"It has been reported that Tanuki fell from the sky using his scrotum as a parachute."

Ha. Nice story involving elements of Japan, Thailand, Laos, opium, heroin, beastiality, myth, gods/goddesses, the circus, animism, and much more. It can get a little annoying when Robbins' characters talk like him, but because that's just Tom Robbins, I forgive him.

"...the soul is not an overweight nightclub singer having an un More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Apr 23, 2008

Sarah rated it:

This could have been a very fun romp, but the author's political opinions, reflecting the baby-boomer sentiment shine through: Academic, peace nik and religiously agnostic (and holding those that feel differently in contempt). If I, the kid of someone who shares these opinions exactly noticed the bais, I wonder if others do and how accessible this book would be to someone who is not liberal and raised in the 1960s and 70s. The author's lack of respect for certain American instituions really ma More...

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Dec 26, 2007

Susie rated it:

addendum to both of the below: this is really a three star book (in my book), but i subtracted a star for how unmotivated i was to finish it. a true goodread should not make you want to give up! that said, i really liked a lot of the language and inventiveness of this book. maybe it wasn't the best intro to tom robbins; i look forward to reading something else by him.

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addendum to the below: tess loaned me her print copy (thanks, tess!) and it's about a billion ti More...

6 comments like

Feb 07, 2011

Sherri rated it:

I stopped reading Tom Robbins in the 90s. What had enraptured me about him in my teens and twenties seemed to have dried up and gone flakey, but I remembered with much love my time spent with Woodpecker and Sissy, among others. It was just chance someone loaned me this book (far too many months go) and at last I've read it.

What a lark! Oh, I'm sure some would talk about the depth and philosophy, the commentary and truth and whatnot, but that's not what I like. I like the fanciful sh More...

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Apr 22, 2009

William Thomas rated it:

oh tom robbins, maybe you should have stopped writing books after your seventh one, because this book was a bore. it seemed as if you traded in your old style for the more modern take on the novel, creating something like haruki murakami trying to write a tom clancy novel. it is somewhat disgusting because the wit is not there and is instead replaced by something that resembles john irving in his old age (i.e. the fourth hand), something tired and worn out and gasping for air and grasping for st More...

1 comment like

Mar 09, 2009

mikeyO rated it:

Overall I really enjoyed reading this and I can see myself reading it again from time to time. This novel was a bit "out there" even by Robbins standards and somehow blended together Japanese animal folklore with the a circus and three Americans who served together as Special Forces in Vietnam. Only Robbins could pull this off with such style and humor. The man is an infinite well of metaphors and wit, and he never ceases to amaze me with his cast of bizarre characters and storyline

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Mar 01, 2009

Regina rated it:

It is so outside of my normal reading style that it took me a bit to get into it. It's rediculous yet funny, genious yet far-fetched. It's so out there that I had to take a break and distract myself to think some of it threw, then go right back to it. The writing itself is fluid & unique to the point where I found myself drawn in by various thought processes he flows through (while at the same time wondering what drugs he was on during various points). An interesting and quick read.

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Dec 21, 2008

Heather rated it:

I'm a HUGE fan of Tom Robbins, but this was likely my least favorite of his books. I guess that the anticipation ended up killing the beast for me...it was his 1st new novel in some time, I was anxious for the new material, and the book was relatively short (more like an extended short story, than a full novel). I was ready to sink my teeth into something a bit more bulky. As usual, though, his characters are a riot and find themselves in always amusing, but precarious situations.

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Aug 28, 2009

Lara rated it:

I've been a big Tom Robbins fan since I was a teenager. I would eagerly await his latest release and devour it immediately. (At least when the paperback came out...) His last few books have not moved me, though. I never ended up reading "Fierce Invalids..." - it sits on my shelf mocking me. "Villa Incognito" was fun to read - Robbins is an amazing writer with a quick mind and sharp wit - but there was zero plot and the ending was very meh. I hope he does better next tim

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Sep 30, 2010

jim rated it:

All the standard Tom Robbins elements are present and the first two-thirds of the book kept me going, but then there are large sections of exposition (again not un-Robbins like) that do little to move the story along and just seem to wander into nowhere. Where many books start at the branches and crawl their way down to a solid trunk, Incognito travels in reverse. Funny and thought-provoking passages not withstanding, there is enough needless wandering to make the reader question making the ef More...

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Oct 08, 2009

Kara rated it:

This probably would have been two stars, but the story itself is what redeemed this book for me in the end. I liked the mythology entwined with modern story telling take on this story and the characters within, but I was very slow to warm up to the book. It took me forever to really get into, which is unusual for me, and I had to keep reminding myself to pick it up and finish it. About half-way through is when I really began to get involved. However I cannot say I am a big fan of Robbins' writin More...

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Apr 08, 2011

Matt rated it:

I'd recently finished "Still-Life with Woodpecker" and found it literally one of the best-written books of my lifetime. 'Incognito,' however, just wasn't my kind of book. It's also very well-written in Robbins' style of prose, but the setting, characters and basic plot aren't really my bag. Where I couldn't put 'Woodpecker' down for days, I struggled to read 'Incognito.' Gonna swing by the library and give another one of his novels another try.

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