Ludmila's Broken English
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Review
Pierre's sensuous, often vitriolic language suits a story that, while not for the fainthearted, is viciously funny and sad.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
On a Tuesday in terror-struck London, Blair and Bunny Heath became the first adult conjoined twins ever successfully separated. On a Tuesday in the war-torn Caucasus, Ludmila Derev killed her grandfather. By the 11th of December, they had something very much in common. Enter a snakes-and-ladders world of liberal and conservative high jinks in this dark tale of desire, bullets, globalisation, and the full English breakfast.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Very hit and miss....caution advised.,
By
This review is from: Ludmila's Broken English (Paperback)
It's a poor follow-up to Vernon God Little, and the majority of it's readers will be drawn to it on the basis of that debut novel.
I concur with most of the other reviewers here. DBCP creates two seperate vignettes - one centred around a peasant family in a former Soviet Republic, the other around two UK twins born cojoined and since separated. Both vignettes show early promise, with the relentless bickering of the Heath siblings in particular rousing one or two belly-laughs. Unfortunately DBCP pretty much runs out of steam on both strands before a third of the novel has passed. The middle third of the novel is a tired rehash of what's gone before, with neither vignette going anywhere fast. This leads to a contrived and rushed final third where DBCP tries (and fails) to tie the whole lot together in a satisfactory and credible manner. It ain't really worthy of 3 stars, though i was reluctant to give it a mere 2. Some of the early dialogue will amuse many, while DBCP's sharp use of the similie remains often inspired, though at times overcooked. The Heath twins provide most of the smiles, with the peasant family vignette providing some early Borat-esque laughs before rapidly outstaying it's welcome. Coming 3 years after the inspired Vernon God Little we could've expected better. Here's hoping DBCP's future releases offer us more.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
An unconvincing mismash of undeveloped ideas,
By
This review is from: Ludmila's Broken English (Hardcover)
Anyone thinking of buying this on the strength of "Vernon God Little" should be prepared to be disappointed. The book does display some of the author's undeniable talents: originality of thought, punchy writing style (especially in dialogue) and some elements of fabulous characterisation. The problem is the book just doesn't "hang together" as a whole.
The story telling flits between two main plotlines: one (and by far the more developed, despite the book's title) concerns separated siamese twins Blair and Bunny in the UK; the other concerns Ludmilla and her family in a former Soviet backwater. One of the big problems with the book is that it is not clear what, if anything, is the relationship between these two plotlines until perilously late on in the book. By the time they do have a meeting of sorts it all seems terribly contrived and rushed and, I'm afraid, entirely unconvincing. The overall impression is of a "first draft" which the author has not quite had time to tidy up. All of which is a great shame, because, as mentioned above, the book does have its moments. In particular DBC does not disappoint in providing moments of laugh-out-loud humour and his caustic allegories in particular on New Labour, the media, the NHS and modern "culture" all hit home, sometimes painfully so. This is why its so sad that the vehicle for these messages - the plotline - has unfortunately "lost the plot". All in all, it might be a book worth taking on holiday for a bit of light relief from time to time, so long as you are aware that Vernon God Little is in a completely different league.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Very dissapointing second novel,
By
This review is from: Ludmila's Broken English (Paperback)
I loved "Vernon God Little". Smart, original, cunning, sharp. I liked it almost as much as I really hated this. Contrived, ill-thought through, self indulgent, weak. I found myself hoping that DBC never gets a deal for another book. I am stunned amazon could make this a best book of 2006. Very very poor.
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