Garfield as you've never seen him before! The main premise of the story is that each of Garfield's previous lives shaped something about his personaliGarfield as you've never seen him before! The main premise of the story is that each of Garfield's previous lives shaped something about his personality. This collection of Garfield tales re-interprets the well-loved feline and showcases a variety of styles, genres, and iterations. Consequently, Jim Davis and his team had more freedom to play with the character; things happen here that could not be done in a typical installment of Garfield's established timeline. See? Jim Davis was reimagining his characters before it was cool!
The storytelling AND artwork vary dramatically between the tales, one of which is even in prose and not comics; and this works well, as each of the nine lives stands apart from every other one. The tone changes, too, with some slapstick, some gentle fun, some horror, and even some noir. The stories can't even be said to take place in the typical Garfield universe, as one might be set on a more magical or even spiritual plane, and one takes place in a city run entirely by humanish cats who wear clothes and have humanoid forms. Since this book pushes the boundaries of Garfield's character, it involves some things that maybe are a bit . . . unorthodox. One of the stories involves a scantily-clad woman and a man who spanks Garfield with a paddle (a possible fraternity hazing?) while another tale implies some romance for Garfield involving a lady cat, alcohol, and a convenient couch. The tone is in many places darker than in other Garfield stories, and sometimes things even border on the macabre. There is, for example, a tale in which a homeless cat (not Garfield) asks for someone to bury him, and another story involving people experimenting on and then dissecting animals. Not for the faint of heart!
These stories are, on the whole, very well-crafted, and the creativity involved is just astounding. Shining through all of it, of course, is a love for Garfield and a desire to play with his character a little bit, to try him out in different circumstances and styles, and (as Jim Davis put it), to stretch him to the limits of the imagination....more
This was just okay for me. It's an interesting story, and Crichton does a good job of keeping the tension going all the way through. It's intense and This was just okay for me. It's an interesting story, and Crichton does a good job of keeping the tension going all the way through. It's intense and exciting. He also works hard for realism; the suspension of disbelief feels natural because the science fiction in the story is grounded so well in real science. It's hard to see where they're joined. Crichton really strives to make his readers believe (almost) that the dinosaurs have come back.
Despite its good points, I had a hard time enjoying this book. For one thing, I didn't like the characters. John Hammond is power-hungry and loves making money, no matter what. Arnold is completely blind to any danger, and Wu is in denial. Perhaps the nicest guy in the story is Gennaro, the lawyer who is trying to inspect the park and make sure it's safe. He is trying to stop Hammond, who is out of control. Gennaro wasn't involved in the making of the dinos, or the running of the park; he's not an outdoorsman or a hero. But time after time, he goes out to try to fix things, to keep everyone safe, to hunt the dangerous dinos. He is completely out of his depth and knows it, but he keeps at it. He gets attacked by a raptor, but he keeps going. He is surrounded by dino scavengers, but he makes it through. And after he has become wounded keeping others safe, after he has risked everything to restore power, Grant decides to blame him for the park's problems (and not Hammond, for some reason). Gennaro is at fault because of . . . what, exactly? Because he was a lawyer? Because he wasn't involved in the ins and outs of the park's design? He represented investors. That's his job. I know Grant's been under a lot of pressure, and he's scared, and he's reacting emotionally, but that doesn't make it any easier to read. And so Grant slams poor Gennaro (who's been wounded, remember?) into the wall and yells at him, and Muldoon (who has been the voice of reason up until now) forces Gennaro at gunpoint into an underground raptor nest. And these are the two jokers protecting the children? Sheesh!
And speaking of children, I found the kids in this story to be pretty unrealistic. I know Lex is a very young girl, but I have known young children who are capable of understanding that there's a crisis. Do you remember that scene in The Sound of Music when they're hiding from the Nazis, and the little girl is scared, and Maria tells her that she must be very quiet? This is like that, except that when they're hiding from the dinosaurs, and they ask Lex (very nicely) to be quiet, she yells about how she doesn't want to. Then the dinos attack, and Lex is crying about how sorry she is. Then, the next time the dinos come, Lex throws another hissy fit and the dinos give chase again. I didn't expect Lex to be the most mature person in the story—she IS a kid, and a young one at that—but I cannot believe that she'd that oblivious, that stubborn, that obtuse. I would expect a young kid to get scared. (And she does, when the narrative calls for it. And then it passes.) Can you imagine of the von Trapp child had started yelling that she didn't feel like hiding just then? Would we even have been able to take the story seriously? As I was reading this, all I could figure was that either Crichton doesn't know children or he doesn't like them (or maybe he just doesn't like girls—Timmy gets to be pretty heroic all the time). I could suspend my disbelief for the dinosaurs, but it was much tougher with the human. A nice story overall, and I'm glad I read it, but it just wasn't my cup of tea....more
This author is skilled with words, and he has a good sense of comedic timing. If he'd wanted to, he might have written a volume of dry humor that coulThis author is skilled with words, and he has a good sense of comedic timing. If he'd wanted to, he might have written a volume of dry humor that could rival Douglas Adams.
But he was trying for something very different.
This is a very well-written book, for what it is, but I really didn't care for it. I found the content to be too over-the-top for dry humor, and too uncomfortable for pleasure reading. I know that this is more a matter of personal likes and dislikes, and certainly there will be people out there who won't be troubled by the content and can just hang on and enjoy the ride. But I didn't like the characters, who were all incredibly promiscuous and just assumed that everyone was the same. I didn't care for the characters who would commit adultery and borderline-incest (with graphic descriptions), objectify sexy females as though they were a piece of meat to be devoured, and be dismissive of their families and even their own children. It just left me cold. It is not unlike the raucous sort of fabliau that Chaucer used, and I'm sure it's intentional, but it is not the kind of story that I could lose myself in. It was an uncomfortable world to visit.
Yes, the family is messed up, and yes, they are very much aware of their shortcomings. To its credit, the book handles the characterizations well: the main characters are introspective and show legitimate development. They change and grow. They are also interesting people, with strengths and weaknesses. No cliches, no boring flat characters--the author is very intelligent and has obviously put a lot of thought into fleshing out the story. This book also avoids the trap of having one self-righteous character judge the others. This family is trying to figure things out together, and that's a nice dynamic. But I still found it to be disturbing. It makes me wonder if people are really that cold and selfish in real life.
PS, All of the sex in the story is described, vividly, from the male's point of view. Maybe this was meant more for guys to read?...more
This was funny, and well worth reading. I liked the interesting characters and dry humor, and I appreciated what a quick read this was during a busy hThis was funny, and well worth reading. I liked the interesting characters and dry humor, and I appreciated what a quick read this was during a busy holiday season. It’s warm and fuzzy in places, with a healthy undercurrent of cynicism. Despite this, I was disappointed by Luther’s casual disregard for his wife. I think the film adaptation (so true to the book in other respects) was wise to soften Luther, making him a better husband, and making the Kranks a much more caring couple. All in all, a fun story....more
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