- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (13 Dec 1973)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140034838
- ISBN-13: 978-0140034837
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 10.7 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,302,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The second Jerry Cornelius novel (following on from 1965's The Final Programme) finds a now black Jerry setting off on another bizarre and outlandish adventure - but unfortunately this outing is less compelling than his first. It's appropriate enough that this novel should be rather chaotic in structure, but far too much of A Cure For Cancer is unfocused and rambling. The middle hundred-odd pages are particularly guilty of this - we never quite learn what Jerry is up to, in fact the motivation of all the main characters is obscure for much of the novel, and its hard to maintain interest when you never know why anything is happening or what the characters are striving towards. Instead we are left with a series of colourful but ultimately empty vignettes - Jerry gets thrown into a prison camp; Jerry joins a group of Red Indians, etc. Some of the war torn background described here is fascinating, but when the plot regarding the struggle for Jerry's invention finally kicks in it becomes clear that the travelogue through Europe and America that makes up the bulk of this novel hasn't actually advanced the plot one iota. On the plus side when Moorcock finally reveals what's going on, the last 50 pages make for a grand finale - it's just a pity he couldn't have either let us know earlier what the book was actually about, or have edited out some of the padding.
A bit of a let-down after The Final Programme - and if you're not already au fait with the concepts and characters of Moorcock's Multiverse I suspect you'll be even more lost than I was - but if you can stick with the meandering middle section you'll be rewarded with a decent ending.
Format:Paperback
Jerry C. at his most outrageous and complex. funny and entertaining absolutly nothing flippin' like it ... a masterpiece
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
6 reviews
Super Reader
30 Aug 2007
Format:Hardcover
There is a whole bunch more Jerry Cornelius weirdness here. He is still roaming around 1960s London, among other places, and in conflict with the villainous Bishop Beesley.
Some people are certainly going to find it too weird, or too impenetrable to enjoy, I think, as it is by no means straightforward, but this is part of JC's appeal.
Some people are certainly going to find it too weird, or too impenetrable to enjoy, I think, as it is by no means straightforward, but this is part of JC's appeal.
Unfortunately, the patient died
17 April 2003
Format:Paperback
Good artists may break the rules after proving they can create within them. We know Moorcock can write, so we can guess that he wrote "A Cure For Cancer" as an experiment in a chaotic, vague vein. Unfortunately, as with many experiments, wading through the results can be a chore.
Social satire? Sure. Interesting sci-fi vignettes? Absolutely. Incisive glances at the sounds, styles, and feel of a parallel world subjectively based on a late-1960s London? You bet. But be warned that if you're looking for more than the faintest shred of plot to capture your interest, look elsewhere in the Eternal Champion multiverse. Perhaps ACFC is Moorcock's idea of what happens to a novel dipped in the primordial Chaos described in his other works.
I can appreciate what Moorcock is trying to get across. I even get a kick out of the *idea* of the novel's structure, in theory, anyway. However, it's difficult to actually enjoy a work in which a) every stitch of dialogue is so vague that, if you had no grasp of Moorcock's other works, the book would seem a nearly interminable string of highly stylish non sequiturs, and b) characters that live and (suddenly) die so guided by random chance and urges from the id that the joke pales early on. The chapter headlines culled from sensational tabloids did give me a chuckle, though.
It's certainly possible that you may find great enjoyment and provocative thoughts aplenty in ACFC. You certainly will in other Moorcock novels. And if you're looking for the pinnacle of social satire in an "unconventional" novel, check out the far superior "Catch-22" by Joe Heller. But unless you're the type who relishes flipping through TV channels for hours on end in an altered state of consciousness, or tends to convince yourself after reading a work such as ACFC that your time was well spent and the emperor is indeed wearing clothes, don't waste your time. This patient is terminal.
...BURN OUT THE CANCER BURN OUT THE CANCER BURN OUT THE C...
17 Feb 2000
Format:Paperback
Quite an astonishing book. Unlike the previous Jerry Cornelius book (The final programme), the plot is significant to the book. Thats not to say its any easier to understand. It concerns Jerrys hunt for a mysterious device of his, and the attempts of others, particularly the grotesque Bishop Beesly, to get hold of the device for their own ends.
This book, though often humourous, has a far more serious tone than its predecessor, and some very harsh satire. Targets include the irrelevence of the popular press and corruption within the Catholic Church.
The title refers to both a literal cure (as described in the section headings), and more importantly, to "Social Cancer" which is cured by Ethnic Cleansing. The image of hoardes of NATO helicopters napalming London, screaming "BURN OUT THE CANCER" will stay with you a long time.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
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?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
