When Guy Fletcher scoffs at a feeble joke he overhears in his local pub, he finds himself, in quick succession, head-butted and struck by an idea. Is it possible to trace a joke all the way back to its original source? Guyâ s meandering trail leads him to a Hungarian dentist, a hyperactive troop of Boy Scouts, a group of giggling grave-diggers, and a half-dozen undercover detectives. Heâ s also sure that heâ s being followed by a sinister Englishman, Irishman, and Scotsman. He has an unfortunate encounter with a banana peel. And thereâ s a fly in his soup. Guy is on the verge of discovering something very unpleasant. Making jokes is no laughing matter.
Anthony Horowitz, OBE is ranked alongside Enid Blyton and Mark A. Cooper as "The most original and best spy-kids authors of the century." (New York Times). Anthony has been writing since the age of eight, and professionally since the age of twenty. In addition to the highly successful Alex Rider books, he is also the writer and creator of award winning detective series Foyle’s War, and more recently event drama Collision, among his other television works he has written episodes for Poirot, Murder in Mind, Midsomer Murders and Murder Most Horrid. Anthony became patron to East Anglia Children’s Hospices in 2009.
On 19 January 2011, the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle announced that Horowitz was to be the writer of a new Sherlock Holmes novel, the first such effort to receive an official endorsement from them and to be entitled the House of Silk.
Actiunea cu adevarat incepe dupa.jumatatea cartii si ritmul devenind alert dupa ce este descoperit un cadavru in frigiderul lui Guy. Curios din fire Guy incearca sa afle de unde a pornit un banc de prost gust legat de o actrita cunoscuta pe care Guy o adora. Initial doream sa ma opresc dar ceva din curiozitatea lui Guy m-a atras sa continui.
Mereu mi-au placut glumele bune la fel cum ador si cartile bune, insa la bancuri recunosc ca nu ma prea pricep. Romanul de fata este o comedie neagra si mi-ar fi placut sa fie mai mult horror decat amuzant. Mi s-a parut o carte ciudata cu un subiect la care cred ca nimeni nu s-ar fi gandit, cu exceptia lui Anthony Horowitz desigur. Recunosc ca niciodata nu mi-am pus problema sa cercetez de unde vin bancurile sau cine le inventeaza. Personajul principal Guy Fletcher este un tip care se crede aratos si interesant, la 30 de ani, care actor fiind nu prea isi gaseste roluri si pe care prietena il paraseste pentru amicul sau cel mai bun care are bani si succes. Varsandu-si amarul intr-un bar amarat, ii aude pe unii clienti spunand un banc sinistru despre cea care a fost mama lui. Aceasta, o actrita celebra care l-a abandonat cand era mic si nu l-a recunoscut ulterior, tocmai murise intr-un accident aviatic, fapt ce a dat nastere la bancul respectiv. Acesta suna cam asa: "De ce se aseamana Selina Moore cu o bomboana Ferrero Rocher? Pentru ca amandoua parasesc Franta intr-o cutie". Romanul mai are asemenea glume morbide pe care unii cititori s-ar putea sa le gaseasca lipsite de gust ori discriminatoare. Guy hotaraste sa mearga pe urmele bancului si sa descopere de unde provine acesta. Drumul va fi unul intortocheat, periculos, presarat de oameni care incearca sa-l opreasca si chiar de cadavre. Finalul este hilar si bizar in acelasi timp, in stilul lui Horowitz, dar foarte interesant si inventiv. Mi-a placut pentru ca este o lectura nonconformista, indrazneata, sarcastica, directa si foarte inteligenta. Personajul principal este simpatic si are propria lui parere despre orice cum ar fi de exemplu bauturile ca : vinul, berea, cafeaua ori coca-cola cu visine care este groaznica. M-a amuzat patania lui cu o fata pe care dorea s-o cucereasca si care credea foarte mult in astrologie. Mintind-o ca este Taur pentru a se potrivi cu ea, a produs una dintre cele mai memorabile despartiri atunci cand ea i-a organizat petrecerea surpriza de ziua sa, cu 9 luni mai devreme. Un alt lucru care m-a amuzat este faptul ca in bransa actorilor, expresia "a face pe Agatha" inseamna atunci cand trebuie sa joci "piesele obositoare, aproape imposibil de jucat" ale lui Agatha Christie. Pana la urma este o carte foarte interesanta cu un subiect inedit, mai ales pentru ca ne invata care este diferenta dintre a zice un banc si a povesti un banc. P.S. Apropo de glume nesarate, Ferrero Rocher nu m-a platit pentru aceasta recenzie; cu toate acestea nu voi refuza niciodata bomboanele de ciocolata...
Hmmmm.... I so liked the idea of following where a joke came from and how it came to be, and for the first half of this book there was the odd amusing moment amongst all the other stuff that did that...those moments didn't last long and I felt a sigh of feeling escape me when I could skip several pages of "diddle Dee" or whatever just to get closer to the end. I would have given up on it altogether but it wasn't an overly long book so felt rude to.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
You don't need to read the bio to realise that Horowitz is trying his hand at a new genre. In fact, I'm pretty sure that The Killing Joke was originally pitched as one of those two-part, Sunday night comic dramas that amuse without taxing the imagination.
As a novel requiring you to invest more than two hours of your life, it doesn't cut it. Horowitz can write moderately well, but the characters are all predictable stereotypes. The neurotic actor, the brutish builders, the exasperated ex-girlfriend and her shallow-but-successful new boyfriend, etc. It's ironic that the hero finds himself pursued by stereotypes, but if the writer saw the irony then he failed to make anything of it.
The plot lurches awkwardly from event to event, and eventually from realism to surrealism, with very little rationale or cohesion. The surreal element is unexplained, but not really developed. Horowitz wants a surreal novel, but doesn't have the discipline to go beyond the unreal, which isn't the same thing.
It's hard to imagine that Horowitz wrote more than one draft, and the ending proves that he eventually got bored with the book. An unpublished author would have had the manuscript thrown back at him. It's amusing enough in places - hence the 3-star rating - but overall it's half-baked.
There are too many loose ends, despite the fact that Horowitz tries to tie a lot of them up on a rushed last page - one that reads like he scribbled it on the back of an envelope while the courier was standing in his doorway waiting to take the manuscript to a publisher who had run out of patience.
A friend brought the title to my attention - thinking "what a great name for a book" I started following up on it. The concept seemed brilliant and I was convinced it was something I wanted to read.
Unfortunately, from the start, it was a rather tedious read. Having experienced some of Anthony Horowitz's other works (The Alex Rider books and TV Shows such as Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War) I have to say that I was most disappointed in the delivery of the story. As a whole, it's not a bad book but reading it was like taking a stroll down the street: You may happen upon a few interesting people or events, but despite the build up and your expectations, nothing exciting actually happens.
Utter tosh. I like Horowitz generally but this book was ludicrous. I kept thinking it might pick up and make sense in the end, but it was both annoying and didn't go anywhere. Several hours of my life I wish I could have back.
I usually love Anthony Horowich's adult books and I tried with this one but had to give up halfway through. Life is too short and I've got plenty of other books to read
I enjoyed the journey but got impatient with the detail. By the time I was a third in I was skipping whole paragraphs, by the end whole pages, and the end was rather unsatisfying. But for a book as light as this the two main characters were well done and it was funny and quirky. Maybe not quite 3 stars.
Mahtava kirja! Päähenkilö Guy saa päähänsä lähteä selvittämään kuulemansa vitsin alkuperää, mutta saakin pian huomata, että vitsit alkavatkin vainota häntä. Alkaa upea jännitystrilleri, kun Guy yrittää saada selville, kuka tai mikä on häntä vainoavien vitsien takana. Tarina on tosi mielenkiintoinen ja loppua kohden tilanne muuttuu Horowitzin tyyliin henkeäsalpaavan jännittäväksi!
Alex Rider -nuortenkirjoistaan tunnustusta saanut brittiläinen kirjailija ja tv-käsikirjoittaja Anthony Horowitz on kirjoittanut myös aikuisille suunnattuja romaaneja: mm. kolme virallista James Bond -romaania (Trigger Mortis, 2015; Forever and a Day, 2018; With a Mind to Kill, 2022) ja kaksi Sherlock Holmes -romaania (The House of Silk, 2011 ja Moriarty, 2014). Muihin aikuisille suunnattuihin romaaneihin lukeutuu myös jännitysparodia Joka leikistä suuttuu, 2005 (The Killing Joke, 2004).
Romaani kertoo näyttelijä Guy Fletcherista, joka loukkaantuu pubissa kuulemastaan mauttomasta vitsistä ja päättää ottaa asiakseen selvittää, mistä vitsi on oikein peräisin. Fletcher etenee henkilö henkilöltä kaupungista toiseen jäljittäessään jääräpäisesti vitsin alkuperää: kuka voi keksiä noin mauttoman vitsin? Ensimmäisen sadan sivun aikana alkaa lukijana pohtia, että näinköhän koko 400-sivuinen romaani on vain yhden vitsin jahtaamista, mutta onneksi mukaan alkaa ensimmäisen neljänneksen jälkeen tulla myös kasvavia uhkakuvia, salaliittoja ja murhia.
Romaanissa on lähtökohtaisesti paljon potentiaalia, mutta se ei oikein onnistu lunastamaan odotuksia. Tyyliltään häilyvä teos ei tunnu osaavan päättää, onko se jännitysromaani, leikillistä draamaa vai täyttä parodiaa. Jännitys-/vakoiluromaanin Douglas Adams -tyylisenä verbaalisena parodiana teos olisi toiminut parhaiten. Kirjailijalla olisi pitänyt olla uskallusta vetää hölmöily överimmäksi, mutta nyt jäädään hieman hakoteille jonnekin tyylillisesti epävarmaan välimaastoon. Romaanissa on hetkensä ja paikoitellen ilmaisu on hauskaa ja nokkelaa, mutta sitten ei tunnu paukut riittävänkään. Juoni on kaikessa älyttömyydessään kuitenkin sen verran kiinnostava, että lukijana haluaa saada selville, mihin asetelma oikein johtaa. Kuten todettua: paljon potentiaalia, mutta ei kuitenkaan välineitä tai uskoa viedä pakettia kasassa maaliin asti. Harmi, että Horowitzin aikuisille suunnatusta tuotannosta on suomennettu vain muutama teos.
I loved this book but I have to mention this is my first Horrowitz. Other readers are a bit disappointed, apparently he usually writes better books than this one. Even better books :). Is this book not so very good or are the readers spoiled :) :) :) ? Anyway, I had a very good time reading this book and I'll certainly try his other books of which people say they are better.
Now for The Killing Joke Finding out where lies the source of a joke. Is this a joke? No. The main character of this book does it. Or tries to do it. The result is a very nice and original mystery with attaching (or less attaching) characters. I loved the feelgood aspect, the warmheartedness. And the feel not so good aspect, self reflection. Selfreflection with humour, that is English humour and I loved it. Almost every sentence was English humour. That felt really great to me. I thought there was really suspense. One couldn't really know what was happening. The only negative remark is that I would have preferred a more spectacular or original reason for the mystery at the end. But it is ok, and it is in fact essentially the game of following a joke to its source that is passionating. And finding out whether the possibility of winning or not winnig some sort of lotto is a complot of the government or can really happen. And by the way, I'll have to look up a lot of jokes that are mentionned but that I do not remember very well...
It's been over a year since I've read this book and I had thought that I had written a review on it but I haven't and I can't be bothered to reread it for the sake of this review. So here's my semi-reliable review:
I'm a big fan of Anthony Horowitz. I read the Alex rider and Diamond brother books when I was younger, alongside some of his short horrors. So I already had fond memories of his books. The Killing Joke is the first adult book of his that I have read and it's... alright. The premise was interesting, and the British setting and humour made it a lot more enjoyable. For the most part the characters were ok, nothing to memorable, apart from the three henchmen whom I thought stole the show with the limited time they were on page. The end reveal was a disappointing in regarding where the jokes originally come from. Also the actual ending just never arrived. I'm like 20 pages, 10 pages, 5 pages from finishing the book and they are still in danger! But to be fair I did laugh at the final page which did ultimately turn the tide in favour for this book.
I don't think I would've enjoyed this book as much if I wasn't British
I’ve read this book a few times over the years, and it’s always been a very unusual title in Horowitz’s long bibliography. There’s definitely a little influence of Monty Python and Douglas Adams in this book, which would certainly explain why the story ultimately unfolds as one colossal joke. Through Guy Fletcher, we learn about jokes, their origins, and their prevalence in society, while also exploring the darker side of jokes, and different levels of humour altogether, all wrapped up in a very ridiculous yet original idea. It’s not a book for everyone, but for those who are intrigued by the premise. I can guarantee that it’s a dry, clever, absurd and very witty tale.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I read the bad reviews of this book before I took it on, and I read the book anyway. It's not Horowitz's best by any means, but like all of his books, I enjoyed it. He's a good writer, smart and this book had a very fun idea, but it's more of a skit, a story idea, than a full novel. Horowitz is fun. Period. The book wasn't a slog for me but I finished it simply because it was an easy read, not that it was compelling. t did, however, bring up a bevy of ideas about the origin of jokes, especially those related to cruelty, but the "bad" guys in the novel are simply too silly, the romance too contrived. But, like all books by Horowitz, immensely readable.
This is so hard to rate and review. Parts of it were very funny, very witty and subtly included. I loved the word play on Mrs Connie Lingus' name (Latin for a rather risky phrase/pastime). However, I thought the violence a little overplayed as there seemed to be no real reason for it, and the ending was a let down. I got the impression Mr Horowitz was enjoying himself writing the book, thinking of all the puns he could include, doing some research, and then a proper job came his way and he had to move onto his next project.
Quite entertaining, I read it out of nostalgic feelings for Horrowitz; He was one of my absolute favourite writers during my childhood so I was curious to see how he would approach an adult thriller/comedie. All in all, I'm quite pleased: the plot was quite surprising, though the ending left me a bit dissatisfied I guess, I was somehow hoping for something more extraordinary :-)
A good read if you're into suspenseful and funny books and want to relax.
This was recommended to me as a light read after reading a couple of heavy books and for that it absolutely hit the spot. The premise of the book is very imaginative and Horowitz exploits in in clever ways getting lots of humour from it throughout the book. Although it's mainly a comic novel, it has a bit of everything: romance, crime, suspense. In a few places it's laugh out loud funny. Overall, if you aren't expecting high literature, it's a good read - very enjoyable.
it's not often I can't finish a book, but this was one of them. I liked the idea of the story line, but by page 20 was already bored. I did keep going but by the time I reached page 150 I realised the joke was on me and gave up.
Rather worryingly the book was recommended to me by my wife. Maybe it's time to reevaluate our relationship ;-)
Intriguing idea but I felt the ending was weak. Don't let this put you off trying his more recent books for adults e.g. The Magpie Murders, which are really good.
I enjoyed the first quarter of the book, but the story became a bit too farcical for me at that point. It was witty and had enjoyable moments, nevertheless.
Starts out like your basic fun story, turns into a bit of a thriller, evolves into something outrageously... outrageous and ends in a nutty way that could only be called good fun! 😂😂😂