Customer Reviews

4: Fantastic Novels

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If only all teens could read this book...there would be a whole lot less depressed teens in the world today! Like most teens, I have gone through depressing times in my life, but since I got this book, I certainly have had less of them! Just read "Borgel" and meet the great-great-great-great-grandfather you wish you had. Or open up to "The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror" and go to pieces as you read the escapade of the Snarkout Boys (one of whom is a girl) all through Baconburg and Hamfast. If you prefer 'classic literatur,' then read "Yobgorgle," a wonderful mix of the Loch Ness Monster and "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" and the legend of the Flying Dutchman. Seriously (not really, it is impossible to be serious where Pinkwater is concerned), this book can bring you out of depression in an instant. (Try some chocolate, too.) And as Stephanie said in her review, IGNORE THE AGE LIMIT! YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD FOR PINKWATER!

OK, first off I consider myself to have a decent (even above average) sense of humor. I'm always biting my lip to stifle giggles because my companions wouldn't get the joke. I love Lemony Snicket. I worship at the altar of Dave Barry. But, unlike a lot of readers here, I'm only mildly amused at most of Pinkwater's stuff. I enjoyed the "Borgel" story, but I was crushed at how lame [sorry] the "Snarkout Boys" sequel was. I loved the first, thought it was great. But I think it was the constantly switching viewpoint that sank the sequel. It also read like a first draft, particularly the werewolf monologues. That's what bugs me, how much better a lot of the stories could have been. Please, make them just a bit more accessible to new readers; sometimes the wackiness really goes into overload and it's too much to stay with the story.

Secondly, and this only really mattered in the "Snarkout" sequel, teenagers (at least the ones I know) don't talk like that! Even the biggest [nerd] at my old high school didn't sound like Scott Feldman, or really, Rat or Winston, for that matter. Though maybe they sounded like Pinkwater's high school peers. But if this doesn't matter to the majority of readers, maybe I shouldn't complain either.

Daniel Pinkwater's excellent formula of humor and imagination makes among the funniest but exciting books. I have found that in almost every book of Mr. Pinkwater's, his imagination can take you anywhere from halfway around the globe to a magical backyard. Here lollipops can dance and time is like a map of New Jersey. Humor dominates in the Kingdom of Pinkwater. Two books that I read were: The Worms of Kukumlima and The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror. In The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror: Winston Bongo and Walter Garr are two teenagers who snarkout. Snarking is when you sneak out of the house to go see a movie. At the Snarkout Theater, the two boys meet a girl named Rat. When something horrible happens and secrets starts to damage things around the city of Baconburg, it is up to the three friends to figure out what is happening. The strange thing is shredding things with what seems to be claws. Meeting odd characters and people who can help them makes a perfect plot and an exciting story. You never know what is lurking around the corner, and it's up to you to decide who is friend and who is foe.

Daniel Pinkwater is probably one of the four or five most brilliant people living on this or any other planet. His books combine humor with space travel, mystery, Yiddishisms,philosophy, and handy tips on dog rearing. You will treasure this and any other Pinkwater book you purchase! And not only is he brilliant, he is also friendly! I have communicated with him via the "Net several times, and he is alway helpful and engaging. It's just too bad he and I both married other people before we met (these are my feelings only, as far as I know!)

Along with the other collection, this book is a must own for teens, parents, teachers, librarians, and anyone who enjoys a good read (and laugh).
I can't say enough about how wonderful and humorous Pinkwater's work is. I can say that his characters have provided me with friends and confidants throughout my own youth (and young adulthood).
These are stand out books, and a great collection.

first i must say, there is nothing in this world as wonderful as Daniel Pinkwater's books. These were the first books of his i have ever read and i must say i was in sheer delight. While, I at first only bought them because the name Pinkwater was possibly the best i'd ever heard, I, now after reading them, would have bought them if his name was Joe Smith. And i must tell you i don't respond well to boring names, or anything for that matter, and pinkwater and his books are anything but boring. Giant Popsicles as a symbol for all thats good in the world, asian realitives of the adocovo, salami snaps, giant earthwarms thinking humans love gronala, giant pig submarines? who thinks of these things? obviously only Daniel Pinkwater. He's just plain goofy. And it's not in the slightest anoyying. Do i recommend this book? ABSOLUTLY! and the 9-12 thing, while just ignore that intirely because this book is for everybody!

Daniel Pinkwater is a fabulous author. His skewed take on life is not only funny and entertaining but reminds every reader that there's more to life than meets the eye. You'll discover something new each time you read (and re-read) Pinkwater's stories, making Pinkwater loved by kids and adults alike. If you buy this book, prepare to have your views on life broadened -- all while being wildly entertained.

Daniel Pinkwater is one of the funniest and most interesting authors today. I loved every book in this collection, especially Borgel. After all, how many authors can come up with things like grivnizoids and children who had peach pitts as pets? Daniel Pinkwater is great and I hope he comes out with another collection of stories soon.

4 Fantastic Novels is the second recent Pinkwater compendium. It contains . . . four fantastic novels by the master which he stole back from indolent publishers.

Borgel is really two stories-one a tale of how a young lad is educated by his eccentric uncle to understand some of the finer points of intellectual life, the other a fantasy yarn which is a kind of road story reminiscent of traveling the highways of an America long gone.

Yobgorgle is about The Mystery Monster of Lake Ontario, based in Rochester, and the adventure of finding it. It mentions a secret passage in the Rochester Public Library. When they moved the library to new digs, they made sure there was a secret passage there, too. A librarian told me they did that because it was mentioned in Yobgorgle.

The Worms of Kukumlima includes some of Mr. Pinkwater's real-life adventures in Africa. The on-safari sections bear careful attention, as they describe the change in being that occurs when you get out into the land where man (and woman) began.

The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror complete the republication of this series that began with 5 Novels, the earlier Pinkwater compendium. The "boys" (one is a girl) are starting to grow up, but their adventures continue.

There. Four fantastic novels resurrected from back-order limbo (how low can publishers go?), they are vintage Pinkwater-I love them all. More, the successful effort to bring good works back to the public is a message to us all about taking charge of our own destiny. Thank you, Daniel.

The Good Captain Pinkwater has done it again, with a carefully-chosen anthology of 4 classic novels. There's something simply magical about these 4, as well as other Pinkwater yarns. _Borgel_ is my all-time favorite, but each and every novel is special. They just reach out and appeal to your love for the inane, for your desire to be a kid with an 111+ year-old uncle who takes you on trips through time, space, and the other, for your love of adventure and beatnik poetry. If you haven't read anything by Daniel P. yet, there are many places to start, but reading 4FN should leave you hooked. (And I'm not just saying this because I'm quoted on the inside, as a good number of other Pinkwater readers are too. Isn't that a novel idea, printing praise from actual readers instead of stuffy reviewers who thrive on words like "convoluted" and "weird?")