Doodling (The adventures of Neville Lansdowne) [Kindle Edition]

Jonathan Gould (Author)

Book Description

Semi-finalist in the 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards - Humor

Doodling by Jonathan Gould gives us a fantastically funny social satire that never takes itself too seriously.
- lastdraftediting.com

Neville Lansdowne fell off the world.

Actually, he did not so much fall off as let go. The world had been moving so quickly lately and Neville was finding it almost impossible to keep up.

Douglas Adams meets Lewis Carroll (with just a touch of Gulliver's Travels) as Neville wanders through an asteroid field, meeting a variety of eccentric characters and experiencing some most unexpected adventures.

I have to say, it was truly delightful!...Please don't deny yourself a little break from this hectic world with a bit of Doodling.
- journalstone.com

For more stories that stand out from the crowd, check out these other books by Jonathan Gould
*** Scribbling: More strange and unexpected adventures for Neville Lansdowne.
*** Magnus Opum: An epic fantasy that's slightly skewed - Tolkien with a twist.
*** Flidderbugs: A political satire, a fable, or maybe just a funny little story about a bunch of bugs with some very peculiar obsessions.

Product Details

• File Size: 146 KB
• Print Length: 63 pages
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004KSQVCO
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #382,044 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly engaging and fun piece of social commentary/satire August 6, 2011

By K. Sozaeva TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition

On its surface, "Doodling" is a surreal and rather silly story about a man named Neville who, upon losing his grip on the ever-more-rapidly spinning Earth, falls off and winds up in an asteroid field. After meeting several very strange people on different asteroids - and a failed attempt to set up his own country, which he calls Bolivia, on his own asteroid with the large rock 27 meters to his right as president - he stumbles across the lovely Helen. Helen has created a garden on her asteroid, which she tends constantly in order to maintain it against the effects of outer space. She also warns him that the Earth, which continues to increase its insane pace, is about to snap free of gravity and will go through the asteroid field like a bowling ball through pins - but with a much more serious effect, since the Earth will disintegrate everything in its path. Neville must come up with a way to stop this disaster.

I said "on its surface," because underneath, "Doodling" is anything but silly - there are deeper meanings here. There are messages about the dangers of the ever-increasing pace of life; about the need to cease the sort of divisiveness that currently has caused so many wars based upon ridiculous things like who has the better deity; about how the need to constantly win brings nothing but wheel-spinning; about the need for people to learn to put aside their differences, embrace the unique abilities of others, and work together for the common good. And Mr. Gould has squeezed all of these ideas into a very entertaining and well-written novella. My hat is off to this most talented writer, and I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone - if you like to read, you will love this book. BUY IT - NOW! You will not regret your decision.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightfully Quirky!!! June 3, 2011

By Cassie McCown

Format:Kindle Edition

Neville Lansdowne just could not keep up with the desperately spinning world any longer. He simply had to let go. He soon finds, however, that life in space is just another adventure. Wandering through an asteroid field, he runs into many remarkable characters. One asteroid is home to kitchen appliance devotees, while another is the territory of a couple of party animals. Life in outer space is as diverse, eccentric, and unpredictable as it is on Earth. There is one slight complication, however. The world is out of control and on a collision course with Neville's beloved asteroid family. It is up to Neville to figure out how to stop this horrific catastrophe from occurring and setting everything back to rights.

Doodling is something I most likely would not have read under normal circumstances. Since I was given a copy to review, I was happy to try it out. I have to say, it was truly delightful!

Doodling best falls under the category of comic fantasy. It rides the waves with A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with an inkling of Gulliver's Travels. The writing is creative and perfectly paced--quite comparable to Lewis Carroll. The book is chockfull of metaphors, if you care to notice them. Although, you might just want to sit back and enjoy the wit (think a rather G-rated Monty Python production).

At times it reminded me of one of my son's favorite Nickelodeon television shows, The Upside Down Show. The quirky humor and fun, inventive resolutions fall right in line with that show's aim at both comical entertainment and education. I think it is something that my kids would enjoy reading when their attention spans are slightly more extensive. I was able to zoom through this short read in just a couple reading sessions, but it certainly did not lack in amusement!

Bravo to Mr. Gould!

Right now you can snag a copy for a mere $0.99. Please don't deny yourself a little break from this hectic world with a bit of Doodling.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Overall a good book March 4, 2012

By Luke

Format:Kindle Edition

The book is very unique and funny. I loved it. One of the funniest parts was with the toaster and kitchen appliance people. The aimless girl was also very funny and random.

More About the Author

Jonathan Gould has lived in Melbourne, Australia all his life, except when he hasn't. He has written comedy sketches for both the theatre and radio, as well as several published children's books for the educational market.

He likes to refer to his stories as dag-lit because they don't easily fit into recognisable genres (dag is Australian slang for a person who is unfashionable and doesn't follow the crowd - but in an amusing and fun way). You might think of them as comic fantasies, or modern fairytales for the young and the young-at-heart.

Over the years, his writing has been compared to Douglas Adams, Monty Python, A.A. Milne, Lewis Carroll, the Goons, Dr Seuss, Terry Pratchett, and even Enid Blyton (in a good way).