Review of 'Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Slow burner. Second half is amazing, but it felt like it ended without reaching it's potential..
Hardcover, 415 pages
English language
Published Dec. 13, 2000 by Bantam Books.
Fierce invalids home from hot climates
by Tom Robbins
3 stars
(13 reviews)
Switters is a contradiction for all seasons: an anarchist who works for the government; a pacifist who carries a gun; a vegetarian who sops up ham gravy; a cyberwhiz who hates computers; a man who, though obsessed with the preservation of innocence, is aching to deflower his high-school-age stepsister (only to become equally enamored of a nun ten years his senior). Yet there is nothing remotely wishy-washy about Switters. He doesn't merely pack a pistol. He is a pistol. And as we dog Switters's strangely elevated heels across four continents, in and out of love and danger, discovering in the process the "true" Third Secret of Fatima, we experience Tom Robbins--that fearless storyteller, spiritual renegade, and verbal break dancer--at the top of his game. On one level this is a fast-paced CIA adventure story with comic overtones; on another it's a serious novel of ideas that brings the Big Picture …
Switters is a contradiction for all seasons: an anarchist who works for the government; a pacifist who carries a gun; a vegetarian who sops up ham gravy; a cyberwhiz who hates computers; a man who, though obsessed with the preservation of innocence, is aching to deflower his high-school-age stepsister (only to become equally enamored of a nun ten years his senior). Yet there is nothing remotely wishy-washy about Switters. He doesn't merely pack a pistol. He is a pistol. And as we dog Switters's strangely elevated heels across four continents, in and out of love and danger, discovering in the process the "true" Third Secret of Fatima, we experience Tom Robbins--that fearless storyteller, spiritual renegade, and verbal break dancer--at the top of his game. On one level this is a fast-paced CIA adventure story with comic overtones; on another it's a serious novel of ideas that brings the Big Picture into unexpected focus; but perhaps more than anything else, Fierce Invalids is a sexy celebration of language and life.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Review of 'Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
I'm sure Mr. Robbins believes this novel is brilliant. In quieter moments, while staring into the bathroom mirror, I'm sure he must consider his allusions to Nabokov and Joyce as evidence of his great company of writers. Here's the thing though, while reading this novel, admittedly my first by this author, I couldn't shake the sinking feeling that I was reading a lot of self-congratulatory crap from a man who thinks he is smarter than he actually is and who has such a dedicated base of readers that he doesn't even have to try... or edit. I can forgive a novel for being loquacious, wandering, unfortunately conceived, and self-absorbed. I loved My Struggle, after all. I can't forgive a book that is all of these things and yet has no ideas to offer.
This book is like adult contemporary music, clearly popular but not for me.
