Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
Sep. 2nd, 2014 11:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
In the small town of Ealing, Iowa, Austin and his best friend Robby have accidentally unleashed an unstoppable army. An army of horny, hungry, six-foot-tall praying mantises that only want two things.
This is the truth. This is history.
It’s the end of the world.
And nobody knows anything about it.
16-year-old Austin Szerba lives in Ealing, a small town in Iowa where nothing much happens. When not attending the local Lutheran school, he passes the time either by hanging out on a piece of waste ground nicknamed the Grasshopper Jungle with his best friend, Robby (who’s gay and in love with Austin) or by trying to persuade his girlfriend Shann to have sex.
When the local bullies beat up Robby and Austin and pitch their trousers on the roof of a thrift store owned by Shann’s stepfather, neither guesses that it will trigger the end of the world. Through a series of incredible events, a group of sexually rapacious, hungry, six-foot-tall armoured praying mantises are unleashed on the town. And only Austin and Robby know about them …
Andrew Smith’s YA comedy horror should have been a slam-dunk for me as it combines sex comedy with apocalyptic fiction and they’re two of my favourite genres. Unfortunately, I didn’t connect with the narrative voice – Austin’s first person style was too distant for me (which, to be fair, does fit the story because he’s writing it as a history) and although the epilogue throws in a brief explanation for how he knows what’s happening in scenes he isn’t in, it wasn’t enough to convince me given the level of detail and insight he gives. In addition there’s a recurrent joke about how different things make Austin feel horny, which I found too repetitive and threatened to reduce him to a stereotype and while Austin and Robby’s friendship is well depicted, Austin’s relationship with Shann is one-dimensional and I was a little depressed at how under-written she is. That said there were things that I enjoyed – there’s a Kurt Vonnegut vibe to the writing at times (especially in the sections relating to Austin’s family history), the safety silo has a great 70s kitsch vibe to it and the giant insects are frightening for their realism. Best of all though is the depiction of Austin’s sexual confusion, which I thought was very believable and really humanised him – I particularly liked the way Smith shows how bad he is at dealing with it and while Robby is a little too saintly in putting up with Austin’s poor treatment, it struck true notes. Ultimately, although this book didn’t quite come good for me there’s enough here to ensure that I’ll check out Smith’s other work.
The Verdict:
Andrew Smith’s YA comedy horror should have been a slam-dunk for me as it combines sex comedy with apocalyptic fiction and they’re two of my favourite genres. Unfortunately, I didn’t connect with the narrative voice – Austin’s first person style was too distant for me (which, to be fair, does fit the story because he’s writing it as a history) and although the epilogue throws in a brief explanation for how he knows what’s happening in scenes he isn’t in, it wasn’t enough to convince me given the level of detail and insight he gives. In addition there’s a recurrent joke about how different things make Austin feel horny, which I found too repetitive and threatened to reduce him to a stereotype and while Austin and Robby’s friendship is well depicted, Austin’s relationship with Shann is one-dimensional and I was a little depressed at how under-written she is. That said there were things that I enjoyed – there’s a Kurt Vonnegut vibe to the writing at times (especially in the sections relating to Austin’s family history), the safety silo has a great 70s kitsch vibe to it and the giant insects are frightening for their realism. Best of all though is the depiction of Austin’s sexual confusion, which I thought was very believable and really humanised him – I particularly liked the way Smith shows how bad he is at dealing with it and while Robby is a little too saintly in putting up with Austin’s poor treatment, it struck true notes. Ultimately, although this book didn’t quite come good for me there’s enough here to ensure that I’ll check out Smith’s other work.
In the small town of Ealing, Iowa, Austin and his best friend Robby have accidentally unleashed an unstoppable army. An army of horny, hungry, six-foot-tall praying mantises that only want two things.
This is the truth. This is history.
It’s the end of the world.
And nobody knows anything about it.
16-year-old Austin Szerba lives in Ealing, a small town in Iowa where nothing much happens. When not attending the local Lutheran school, he passes the time either by hanging out on a piece of waste ground nicknamed the Grasshopper Jungle with his best friend, Robby (who’s gay and in love with Austin) or by trying to persuade his girlfriend Shann to have sex.
When the local bullies beat up Robby and Austin and pitch their trousers on the roof of a thrift store owned by Shann’s stepfather, neither guesses that it will trigger the end of the world. Through a series of incredible events, a group of sexually rapacious, hungry, six-foot-tall armoured praying mantises are unleashed on the town. And only Austin and Robby know about them …
Andrew Smith’s YA comedy horror should have been a slam-dunk for me as it combines sex comedy with apocalyptic fiction and they’re two of my favourite genres. Unfortunately, I didn’t connect with the narrative voice – Austin’s first person style was too distant for me (which, to be fair, does fit the story because he’s writing it as a history) and although the epilogue throws in a brief explanation for how he knows what’s happening in scenes he isn’t in, it wasn’t enough to convince me given the level of detail and insight he gives. In addition there’s a recurrent joke about how different things make Austin feel horny, which I found too repetitive and threatened to reduce him to a stereotype and while Austin and Robby’s friendship is well depicted, Austin’s relationship with Shann is one-dimensional and I was a little depressed at how under-written she is. That said there were things that I enjoyed – there’s a Kurt Vonnegut vibe to the writing at times (especially in the sections relating to Austin’s family history), the safety silo has a great 70s kitsch vibe to it and the giant insects are frightening for their realism. Best of all though is the depiction of Austin’s sexual confusion, which I thought was very believable and really humanised him – I particularly liked the way Smith shows how bad he is at dealing with it and while Robby is a little too saintly in putting up with Austin’s poor treatment, it struck true notes. Ultimately, although this book didn’t quite come good for me there’s enough here to ensure that I’ll check out Smith’s other work.
The Verdict:
Andrew Smith’s YA comedy horror should have been a slam-dunk for me as it combines sex comedy with apocalyptic fiction and they’re two of my favourite genres. Unfortunately, I didn’t connect with the narrative voice – Austin’s first person style was too distant for me (which, to be fair, does fit the story because he’s writing it as a history) and although the epilogue throws in a brief explanation for how he knows what’s happening in scenes he isn’t in, it wasn’t enough to convince me given the level of detail and insight he gives. In addition there’s a recurrent joke about how different things make Austin feel horny, which I found too repetitive and threatened to reduce him to a stereotype and while Austin and Robby’s friendship is well depicted, Austin’s relationship with Shann is one-dimensional and I was a little depressed at how under-written she is. That said there were things that I enjoyed – there’s a Kurt Vonnegut vibe to the writing at times (especially in the sections relating to Austin’s family history), the safety silo has a great 70s kitsch vibe to it and the giant insects are frightening for their realism. Best of all though is the depiction of Austin’s sexual confusion, which I thought was very believable and really humanised him – I particularly liked the way Smith shows how bad he is at dealing with it and while Robby is a little too saintly in putting up with Austin’s poor treatment, it struck true notes. Ultimately, although this book didn’t quite come good for me there’s enough here to ensure that I’ll check out Smith’s other work.
