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Java Jack
by
Hardcover, 152 pages
Published
April 1st 1980
by Crowell
(first published 1980)
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Pinkwater wrote this novella with Luqman Keele and--let's cut to the chase--it's as whackadoodle as they come. Just the first few chapters bring a possible parental killing by headhunters and/or mysterious operatives, paragraphs of Indonesian vocabulary and lore, unlicensed aircraft piloting, forced assimilation into a revolutionary army, a mission to bomb tribal villagers (unwillingly), and a nearly-fatal strike by lightning. Pirates, a sultan, ancient magic, batik-making techniques, stabbings,
...more
Indonesian animation pioneer Luqman Keele co-wrote this deeply peculiar young adult novel with cult YA novelist Daniel Pinkwater. Pinkwater has disowned the book as incomprehensible trash, and has distanced himself from it, claiming to be "only a super-involved editor" and not a creative force.
I don't buy it.
Pinkwater's idiosyncratic touch is ALL over "Java Jack," only with Keele's background in Indonesian and Native American folklore and culture interwoven with the surrealist sci-fi silliness ...more
I don't buy it.
Pinkwater's idiosyncratic touch is ALL over "Java Jack," only with Keele's background in Indonesian and Native American folklore and culture interwoven with the surrealist sci-fi silliness ...more
I feel like I've uncovered a forgotten Pinkwater treasure that never saw much light of day. It's a wild ride, as always with Pinkwater. At some points I was scratching my head over the mention of the narrator getting high and guerilla rebels killing natives in the jungle (is this meant to be a middle reader book like most of his other books?), but these mostly just added to the zany appeal. I don't think the man could write a bad book if he tried to.
...more
A bizarre acid trip. Quirky. Something of an artifact of the late 70s, so...interesting on that level. Not particularly good.
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