Reba's review
Skinny Legs and All
by Tom Robbins
I'm pretty sure this is part of the reaction he was going for. If you're slightly offensive, you bring strong feelings to the surface. Shove it in their face and they'll pay more attention.
It's unfortunate that you read the book this way, maybe Robbins' writing just isn't your style. I love it.
I agree with Amy, and in the context of the many Tom Robbins books I've read, this one stands out for being more intentionally focused on cultural identification as a major character trait. I am confused about how it comes across as racist and would be interested to hear if you personally were offended.
I'm interested in your opinions of "strong female character" and unsure what popular opinion gave you ideas about there being such characters in these books. I think Robbins writes a lot about human weakness, and both his male and female characters display this.
I often am dismayed by the "Strong Female Character" idea, it sounds like a recipe for a bad book.
Is this the novel with the walking, talking utensils too? You're right on the money: Tom Robbins has never offered an original thought or gonged any aesthetic gongs in his entire career. Plus he's up there with David Foster Wallace in his taste for ridiculous author photos which herald an overdetermined (but ultimately quaint & lame) prose thicket within. Stick with Donald Goines and the world will be a better place.
Reba's review
Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins
Reba's review
rating:
After having been recommended this book, I was really surprised at how most everything contained within it boiled down to either a simile or a stereotype. I was disturbed by the racism, not so much in the characters (he uses the racism in his archtype of most of the Southerners) but in the narration. Each of the individuals were invariably described not in terms of their personality (or even their importance within the storyline), but were mentioned only as black, palestinian, jewboy, etc. Contrary to popular belief, the only strong female character I could find in the book was (again stereotypes as a Snobby Brit) the art critc/gallery manager who plays a minor role. For me, sexual liberation doesn't equal strength of character.
Robbins' writing style also makes use of simile to the point of distraction, many of the comparisons either too obscure to communicate the author's point, or end up being a way of name-dropping which does more to distance the reader than to draw them into th...more
Robbins' writing style also makes use of simile to the point of distraction, many of the comparisons either too obscure to communicate the author's point, or end up being a way of name-dropping which does more to distance the reader than to draw them into th...more
I'm pretty sure this is part of the reaction he was going for. If you're slightly offensive, you bring strong feelings to the surface. Shove it in their face and they'll pay more attention.
It's unfortunate that you read the book this way, maybe Robbins' writing just isn't your style. I love it.I agree with Amy, and in the context of the many Tom Robbins books I've read, this one stands out for being more intentionally focused on cultural identification as a major character trait. I am confused about how it comes across as racist and would be interested to hear if you personally were offended.
I'm interested in your opinions of "strong female character" and unsure what popular opinion gave you ideas about there being such characters in these books. I think Robbins writes a lot about human weakness, and both his male and female characters display this.
I often am dismayed by the "Strong Female Character" idea, it sounds like a recipe for a bad book.
Is this the novel with the walking, talking utensils too? You're right on the money: Tom Robbins has never offered an original thought or gonged any aesthetic gongs in his entire career. Plus he's up there with David Foster Wallace in his taste for ridiculous author photos which herald an overdetermined (but ultimately quaint & lame) prose thicket within. Stick with Donald Goines and the world will be a better place.