- Audio Cassette
- Publisher: Hachette Audio (May 1 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1570424845
- ISBN-13: 978-1570424847
- Product Dimensions: 17.1 x 10.5 x 1.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 91 g
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Library Journal
The Aardvark, nicknamed for the gas mask that air combatants must wear, is a tactical jet crewman on an aircraft carrier bound for the Persian Gulf War. Aardvark begins his story in this black comedy from the time of his call-up. He details his days as he readies himself for combat and then as the carrier sails toward its destination. Aardvark is increasingly at odds with his shipmates and the civilian world that he experiences on shore leave, but he is forced to face the reality of his situation. While darkly humorous, this is a deeply troubling novel that leaves one feeling empty. Dorian Harewood's reading gives life to an otherwise depressing book. Unless libraries are looking for fiction on the Gulf War, they might want to pass on this one.?Germaine C. Linkins, SUNY at Potsdam Lib.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
An antic, abrasively obscene, and extremely noisy first novel that attempts to do for the Persian Gulf War what M.A.S.H. and Catch-22 did for (or, if you will, to) the Korean War and WW II. The narrator, identified only as ``Greg,'' is a Navy airman specializing in tracking submarines who adopts the code name Aardvark. His real interests lie in capturing the screwy vicissitudes of everyday military life with his ``camcorder,'' and saturating himself in the intricate technological shoptalk of a war whose reality seems contained in TV images. Blinn recounts his likable nonhero's picaresque adventures (mixing it up stateside with a married buddy, hunkering down in Hawaii with a female literature major who despises Dead White Males) with a rough, slangy vigor that's great fun whenever his paragraphs aren't clogged with wearying technical detail. The disparity between Aardvark's flip intimacy with the carnage he monitors (while aboard an aircraft carrier heading toward the Mideast) and the very real terror that overtakes him when he's about to be thrust headlong into military action, isn't especially original, except for his wired, frantic, funny voice. The best things here are the impudent mockery of military logic (``Why practice anti-submarine warfare when the bad guys don't have subs?'') and the fresh comic invention (a pair of old ladies overheard discussing their favorite serial killers; an imitation-American fast food joint that advertises ``Dessert Storm Combos--Patriot burgers and Smart Bomb fries''). The novel's worst features--which, unfortunately, predominate--are its numerous echoes of Catch-22, which include its protagonist's flustered efforts to avoid combat, a comrade's surprising descent into murder and madness, a ship's doctor who calls himself ``Daneeka,'' and a bloody, surreal climax. Joseph Heller may not want to sue, but he won't want to finish the book either. Though this debut has both style and energy, it lacks the savage originality of the predecessors Blinn so clearly admires. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.ca
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.6 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
entertaining and original, Mar 11 1999
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Aardvark Is Ready For War (Cloth) (Hardcover)
Linn has read a bit too much Jean Baudrillard (who he quotes up front) but that's okay, this book is ambitious as hell. At a time when most writers are retreating to small town fables or "historical" fiction, Linn wrestles with late 20th century weirdness and succeeds with a highly entertaining and original book. Don't pray for the movie--this book is way too internal to make it to the screen. It's too bad that Little and Brown didn't put a bit more marketing muscle behind this book. Maybe someone will get smart and put it out in paperback, but I'd act now and get yourself a nice, new first edition before they all run out.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A latter-day "Catch-22", May 13 2001
By TheIrrationalMan - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Aardvark Is Ready For War (Cloth) (Hardcover)
Though it is not as good as "Catch-22", this novel sparkles with sassy dialogue, military argot and flashy gadgets, becoming, in the process, an authentic account of the technologised conflict which was the Gulf War. It implies how, in the light of how life today is dominated by digital satellite technology, camcorders and computers, everyone has assumed the role of voyeur. The anonymous narrator is a recruit enlisted to fight in the "hyperral" Gulf War crisis, in which, by virtue of the hi-tech surveillance equipment employed, the perception of a thing becomes a way of "manipulating" it. The book is stuffed with borrowings from such postmodern epigones as Baudrillard, and is far more philosophically complex than one might expect, though redeemed also by its irreverent humour.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's Not about war, it's about Amerika. . . ., Jan 3 1999
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Aardvark Is Ready For War (Cloth) (Hardcover)
If you want a war book read Tom Clancy. This book is about everything crackpot Amerikan as difracted through the prism of the Gulf War. The publisher compares it to Joseph heller but really it's more Don Delillo meets Kurt Vonnegut through a wormhole on the backside of the looking glass. Toss in some Celine and the bastard son of William Burroughs and Jean Baudrillard. Stir well and take in one gulp. The funniest, most sarcastic parody I've read since 'Infinite Jest'. The first fun ontological novel. Must be read to be believed. AND, {added benefit) reading it will make you smarter. Pray for a movie. That's all I say, just pray for a movie.
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
