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Timothy Truckle #1 + 2
Wer stiehlt schon Unterschenkel / Der Samenbankraub: Die unglaublichen Kriminalfälle des Timothy Truckle
752 pages, Paperback
Published August 20, 2020
About the author
Gert Prokop
32 books3 followersGert Prokop was a German writer of science fiction and crime fiction.
He spent much of his life in East Germany. In crime fiction one of his best known works is Detective Pinky. His science fiction made use of social criticism and dystopian forms, often involving elements of the crime genre. In 1990, he won the German Science Fiction Award for best short story. Facing an incurable illness, he committed suicide in 1994.
He spent much of his life in East Germany. In crime fiction one of his best known works is Detective Pinky. His science fiction made use of social criticism and dystopian forms, often involving elements of the crime genre. In 1990, he won the German Science Fiction Award for best short story. Facing an incurable illness, he committed suicide in 1994.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 20, 2024
The writing style feels totally bumpy. I often had problems following along. This is mainly due to the fact that the overall thrill is very limited, but I'll come to that in a moment.
I also found it difficult to determine who was speaking, as many of the characters are very similar and a lot of characters appear, albeit often only briefly.
Here and there you realize that the stories are old. For example, people who are not white are called racist names. That is unpleasant and unacceptable today. Back then, unfortunately, it was still commonplace.
I can't offer a perfect solution for how this kind of language should be handled in books.One possibility would be to include a reference to the outdated language at the beginning of the book to avoid unpleasant surprises.
Overall, however, this is a larger social discourse.
The solutions often follow a similar pattern: Timothy draws conclusions from information that only he knows and then explains how he came up with the solution to the case. He usually either already has the solution at hand or comes up with the saving thought. However, there is often a lack of logical comprehensibility and clues.
I would rather hear a story in which you are there when the detective finds a mysterious coin with a coat of arms at the crime scene, for example, and then researches it in the library or on the internet to find out the secret, instead of just being told at the big reveal about the coin.
This trope of the detective figuring out the solution to a case alone in private can lead to a certain alienation between the detective and the reader. If the reader doesn't have the same information as the detective, this can reduce the suspense and interest in the story.
Here, I noticed this in a really negative way precisely because of the superfluous scenes. Instead of hearing for the tenth time how Timothy cooks, I would rather hear for the first time how he researches. Most of the time he lets his computer do the work and just evaluates the results.
Some of the stories are entertaining, but there is a lack of suspense and logical comprehensibility, and for my taste there are too many unnecessary scenes. In principle, you can really only read one or two of the stories and then you've practically read everything.
I also found it difficult to determine who was speaking, as many of the characters are very similar and a lot of characters appear, albeit often only briefly.
Here and there you realize that the stories are old. For example, people who are not white are called racist names. That is unpleasant and unacceptable today. Back then, unfortunately, it was still commonplace.
I can't offer a perfect solution for how this kind of language should be handled in books.One possibility would be to include a reference to the outdated language at the beginning of the book to avoid unpleasant surprises.
Overall, however, this is a larger social discourse.
The solutions often follow a similar pattern: Timothy draws conclusions from information that only he knows and then explains how he came up with the solution to the case. He usually either already has the solution at hand or comes up with the saving thought. However, there is often a lack of logical comprehensibility and clues.
I would rather hear a story in which you are there when the detective finds a mysterious coin with a coat of arms at the crime scene, for example, and then researches it in the library or on the internet to find out the secret, instead of just being told at the big reveal about the coin.
This trope of the detective figuring out the solution to a case alone in private can lead to a certain alienation between the detective and the reader. If the reader doesn't have the same information as the detective, this can reduce the suspense and interest in the story.
Here, I noticed this in a really negative way precisely because of the superfluous scenes. Instead of hearing for the tenth time how Timothy cooks, I would rather hear for the first time how he researches. Most of the time he lets his computer do the work and just evaluates the results.
Some of the stories are entertaining, but there is a lack of suspense and logical comprehensibility, and for my taste there are too many unnecessary scenes. In principle, you can really only read one or two of the stories and then you've practically read everything.
August 4, 2025
Ich hab dieses Buch eigentlich nur gelesen, weil meine Mutter mir seit Jahren sagt, dass ich es mal lesen solle... und gut... ich hab mich breitschlagen lassen.
Und was soll ich sagen? Ich mochte es.
Ja, es werden Begrifflichkeiten verwendet, die wir heute so nicht mehr nutzen. Die Geschichten in diesem Buch wurden in den 70er und 80er Jahren geschrieben und da waren einige dieser Worte noch im regulären Sprachgebrauch. Wir können jetzt nicht alle Bücher "umschreiben" oder zensieren... ich habs zur Kenntnis genommen und gut war.
Einige Geschichten sind, rückblickend, ziemlich nah an der Wirklichkeit der "Jetzt-Zeit" im Jahr 2025. Große Konzerne (vor allem die Pharma Industrie) geben den Ton an und bestimmen. Die Menschen werden mit gezielter Desinformation klein gehalten und "Macht ist Wissen".
Hier wurde in einer anderen Rezension bemängelt, dass man gar nicht selbst auf die Lösung der Fälle kommen könnte. Ich möchte dazu anmerken, dass man das bei etlichen Romanen nicht kann, weil man nicht die Infos der Charaktere hat und auch Sherlock Holmes Geschichten waren oft nur durch Holmes Erklärung zu lösen, nicht durch das Lesen der Story...
Ich mochte in diesem Buch die ca. ersten 500 Seiten... dann wurde es doch recht düster, auch wonn Tiny's Stimmung her und vieles hat mich an "1984" erinnert (ich glaube das war beabsichtigt).
Das Buch war aber gut genug, dass ein "Film" vor meinem inneren Auge ablief und Timothy "Tiny" Truckle war dabei in meiner Phantasie von Peter Dinklage gespielt worden. Er wäre wirklich super in der Rolle des grummigen, kleinwüchsigen Detektivs.
Und was soll ich sagen? Ich mochte es.
Ja, es werden Begrifflichkeiten verwendet, die wir heute so nicht mehr nutzen. Die Geschichten in diesem Buch wurden in den 70er und 80er Jahren geschrieben und da waren einige dieser Worte noch im regulären Sprachgebrauch. Wir können jetzt nicht alle Bücher "umschreiben" oder zensieren... ich habs zur Kenntnis genommen und gut war.
Einige Geschichten sind, rückblickend, ziemlich nah an der Wirklichkeit der "Jetzt-Zeit" im Jahr 2025. Große Konzerne (vor allem die Pharma Industrie) geben den Ton an und bestimmen. Die Menschen werden mit gezielter Desinformation klein gehalten und "Macht ist Wissen".
Hier wurde in einer anderen Rezension bemängelt, dass man gar nicht selbst auf die Lösung der Fälle kommen könnte. Ich möchte dazu anmerken, dass man das bei etlichen Romanen nicht kann, weil man nicht die Infos der Charaktere hat und auch Sherlock Holmes Geschichten waren oft nur durch Holmes Erklärung zu lösen, nicht durch das Lesen der Story...
Ich mochte in diesem Buch die ca. ersten 500 Seiten... dann wurde es doch recht düster, auch wonn Tiny's Stimmung her und vieles hat mich an "1984" erinnert (ich glaube das war beabsichtigt).
Das Buch war aber gut genug, dass ein "Film" vor meinem inneren Auge ablief und Timothy "Tiny" Truckle war dabei in meiner Phantasie von Peter Dinklage gespielt worden. Er wäre wirklich super in der Rolle des grummigen, kleinwüchsigen Detektivs.
May 5, 2024
Sehr unterhaltsames Buch. Ab ca. Hälfte des ersten Buches baut sich eine Geschichten-übergreifende Story auf, die sich dann auch über das zweite Buch zieht.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews