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Reader's Paradise

Vernon God Little

19 years ago

We've just read DBC Pierre's Vernon God Little for my reading group, but unfortunately only four members turned up, one of whom had given up after 35 pages (and spent the ENTIRE discussion telling us how difficult she'd found the language and how amazed she was that I enjoyed the novel).

Anyone here read it? Apparently it is one of the most frequently bought & abandoned current reads.

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Comments (2)

martin_z
19 years ago
Doesn't surprise me.

It won the Booker a few years ago. I remember watching the TV for the award program; there were a bunch of experts discussing the short-list. It was noticeable that they were all quite kind when all the other books were mentioned, but the atmosphere became positively animated when they started to talk about Vernon God Little - it was clear that every one of them had really liked it. When they were asked which they wanted to win and which they expected to win, all of them gave another book which they expected to win, but they all said that VGL was their favourite. And the judges agreed with them.

So I went out and got it. Well, whatever it was that the judges had seen completely passed me by. I wouldn't have said that there was anything difficult in the language - I just thought it was all very forced and very unfunny. If it weren't for the fact that all these people had admired it, I probably would have abandoned it myself.

Obviously, Anyanka, you enjoyed it....
anyanka
Original Author
19 years ago
I assumed you'd read it, Martin - you read all the Booker winners, don't you? And yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it, couldn't put it down towards the end as I had to find out what they'd do to him [spoiler awareness in action]. I also loved the quality of the writing; in between all the swearing there were some beautiful passages, such as:

...his mind's clumsy too; the certainty of our kid logic got washed away, leaving pebbles of anger and doubt that crack together with each new wave of emotion.

I did not find the book laugh-out-loud funny, but while the satire is a bit heavy-handed in places, it certainly made me grin quite a lot.
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The reason I didn't send Vernon out to someone else is because he is doing so well. I had someone bring me a little squirrel just a little older than Vernon last summer, and the lady who found him had done a great job with him but she worked and it was a struggle to take him with her to the office every day. She was exhausted from lack of sleep. But she loved him very much and had even kept a little diary on his progress. She gave him to a rehabber I know, who was also very busy, so I offered to take him. He didn't like me. He didn't like the change, he didn't like the nipple, and he didn't want to nurse and was doing poorly. I sent him to a woman who does nothing but rehab squirrels, and he died. Since Vernon is so used to me, and the formula I am feeding him and his nipple, I didn't want anything to change that might upset him. Even tiny little creatures can be affected by small little differences. They have their own attachments, so I didn't want to even chance sending him out, altho I knew that if he died, I would feel very badly, thinking I should have sent him, but I have talked with yet anther squirrel rehabber and she tells me that raising pinkies are never a sure thing, and he could die no matter who is raising him.
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That was the nicest thing for them to do. What good friends they are. Your garden of innocents is wonderful, and you are a special person to take on all you do. I've done a lot for animals all my life , both domestic pets and wildlife but probably only 1/100th of all you do. There should be more people on this earth like you.
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The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy - Booker Prize winner 1997. Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre - Booker Prize winner 2003. Both first novels. I loved the first, and didn't think much of the second. Also Life of Pi by Yann Martel - Booker Prize winner 2002 - his first novel, but not his first book - he had a book of short stories published in, I think, 1999.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ But my favourite "first novel" has to be the magnificent book by Stan Barstow "A Kind of Loving".
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