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Ludmila's Broken English (Hardcover)

by DBC Pierre (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
Price: £12.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 318 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber (2 Mar 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0571215181
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571215188
  • Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 16.2 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 361,981 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description

DBC Pierre's second novel charts the unlikely meeting between East and West that follows Ludmila Derev's appearance on a Russian brides website. Determined to save her family from starvation in the face of marauding Gnez troops, Ludmila's journey into the world and womanhood is an odyssey of sour wit, even sourer vodka, and a Soviet tractor probably running on goat's piss. Thousands of miles to the West, the Heath twins are separated after 33 years conjoined at the abdomen. Released for the first time from an institution rumoured to have been founded for an illegitimate child of Charles II, they are suddenly plunged into a round-the-clock world churning with opportunity, rowdy with the chatter of freedom, democracy, self-empowerment and sex. A wild and raucous picaresque dripping with flavours of British bacon and nasty Russian vodka, Ludmila's "Broken English" is a tale of tango-ing twins on a journey into the unknown. A ride so outrageously improbable it just may happen, DBC Pierre's second novel confirms his place in the ranks of today's most original storytellers.


About the Author

DBC Pierre won the MAN Booker Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Bolinger Everyman Wodehouse Award for Comic Writing in 2003. Ludmila's Broken English is his second novel. He lives in County Leitrim, Ireland.
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Customer Reviews

23 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (7)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (6)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.0 out of 5 stars (23 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars An unconvincing mismash of undeveloped ideas, 7 Jul 2006
By James Aitken (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Very dissapointing second novel, 16 Jan 2007
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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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Very hit and miss....caution advised., 11 Dec 2006
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.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Pierre, genius
Ludmilla's broken English.


Only the third book that I've read three times.
And in the power of three I present: Jonathan Swift, John Kennedy Toole and... Read more
Published 1 month ago by C. Lee

5.0 out of 5 stars farkin fantastic
some mixed reviews for this, but I thought it was thoroughly fun and wonderful. i lost patience with the alternating chapter format early on and switched to just reading the... Read more
Published 5 months ago by James Winter

3.0 out of 5 stars IamGaybeatmeUp
Vernon God Little, DBC Pierre's first novel, won the 2003 Man Booker Prize. The novel is an example of satire at its best, biting, witty and at times, just plain funny. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Brendan O. Clarke

4.0 out of 5 stars I mean to say
I didn't buy this on the strength of VGL so perhaps that's why i was not at all disappointed by this wonderfully zany tale of disparate people and worlds colliding. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Kiran Booker

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Bad, But Not Vernon.
At first I thought I'd missed the point of this story because I'd started it on a long-haul flight, and so was mentally not at 100%. Read more
Published 15 months ago by T. Watson

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Vernon GL but worth a read
My simple analysis for this read is :

Vernon GL = 10 (at least) irresitably genuine belly laugh moments
Ludmilla = 1 (the fart line :-)

The ending... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Si

2.0 out of 5 stars Do not purchase on strength of Vernon God Little
Captivating, Sharp and Hilarious. That was Vernon God Little - this is not Ludmila's Broken English. Read more
Published 20 months ago by K. Smythe

5.0 out of 5 stars Really enjoyable
This book was a surprise to me. I have not read the previous book. I ejoyed it and thought the author had a pretty good insight into the individuals. Read more
Published 24 months ago by F. M. Arthurs

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing
The storyline fails to hold any interest at all, but the worst aspect of this book is that every single character has the same personality. Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2007 by Gordon Eldridge

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible
What a let down - I really REALLY enjoyed Vernon Little God. Thought it was witty, insightful and clever. Read more
Published on 13 Jul 2007 by J. Jones

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