Pulse en una miniatura para ir a Google Books.
Cargando... Murder in Mount Hollypor Paul Theroux
Ninguno Cargando...
Inscríbete en LibraryThing para averiguar si este libro te gustará. Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
During the time of Lyndon Johnson's presidency, Herbie Gneiss is forced to leave college to get a job. His income from the Kant-Brake toy factory, which manufactures military toys for children, keeps his chocolate-loving mother from starvation. Mr. Gibbon, a patriotic veteran of three wars, also works at Kant-Brake. When Herbie is drafted, Mr. Gibbon falls in love with Herbie's mother and they move in together at Miss Ball's rooming house. Since Herbie is fighting for his country, Mr. Gibbon feels that he, too, should do something for his country and convinces Miss Ball and Mrs. Gneiss to join him in the venture. In the name of patriotism, they decide to rob the Mount Holly Trust Company because it is managed by a small dark man who is probably a communist. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
Debates activosNingunoCubiertas populares
Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Clasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
¿Eres tú?Conviértete en un Autor de LibraryThing. |
Murder in Mount Holly is a dark comedy set during the turbulent years of American history during which the generations were largely split by angry debate over the rightness or wrongness of the Vietnam War. Theroux uses an assortment of characters thrown together by chance to illustrate how this unpopular war affected Americans of all ages and political beliefs. The over-the-top approach to storytelling he uses here, despite not always working well for Theroux, does make this short novel a hard one to forget.
College student Herbie Gneiss, at the insistence of his recently widowed mother, decides to leave school so that he can financially support her huge grocery consumption pace (this is one very large woman). This will prove to be an exceptionally poor decision when young Herbie is drafted just weeks after finding work at the Kant-Brake company, a firm that produces detailed and realistic war toys for America’s children. Rather unfortunately for his mother, as it will turn out, Herbie has already introduced her to the new love of her life, Mr. Gibbon, an older man he met at his new boarding house. When Herbie leaves for basic training, his mother moves into that boarding house to be near Mr. Gibbon- and the trouble begins.
The rest of this short novel involves the planning and execution of a farcical bank robbery by Mr. Gibbon, Herbie’s mother, and their landlady, Mrs. Ball. Despite the ensuing violence and tragedy that follows, the cartoonish nature of Theroux’s approach to the story makes it difficult, if not impossible, for his anti-Vietnam-War message to make much of an impact on the reader. Murder in Mount Holly is not Paul Theroux’s finest effort - far from it, in fact. It will, however, interest the type of reader that feels compelled to read every page written by a favorite author, if simply to understand better that author’s progression from mediocrity to excellence over the years.
Rated at: 2.0 ( )