Customer Reviews

The Fandom of the Operator

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I borrowed this from the library as an audiobook before a roadtrip and loved it. I think though, being an American and prone to reading things with an American's timing, rather than a Brit's, that I would have missed the humor had I not heard it read by the author. This book is funny, but exponentially more funny read aloud by Rankin. Reading it to myself, I would have likely rated it much lower, as I think I'd have mistimed the delivery.

I agree with another reviewer... I listened to the audio version, his dry wit and sarcasm came across in a way that I'm not sure would have by reading it in print, especially since Rankin is the speaker as well. I highly recommend the audio version over print. I wish more of his books were available in audio, in fact!

Robert Rankin's books are kind of like a really good BBC television show. Superficially, they don't take a lot of brainpower to comprehend, they're hysterically funny, and there are really only like, six characters in the whole series.

Conversely, the real reason they're so funny is because there's a core of intelligence and education to them that one rarely sees in American media. I've actually learned quite a few interesting things in researching offhand jokes about obscure historical characters, for instance.

All in all, I'd never call any of his novels life-changing gems of intellectualism, but I'm always pretty glad that I've read them.

I read Fandom of the Operator because of ONE blurb on the back: Terry Prachett, author of the Discworld series, wrote "One of the rare guys who can always make me laugh." Well, that, and the fact that I picked it up cheap at a used booksale for charity. I won't go into the plot too much--suffice it to say that the ludicrous plot is the source of most of the humor, and alien mind control and raising the dead play a big part. It's a very silly book with more twists than an anaconda committing suicide, and nobody can rightly say they figured it out in advance. But for me it wasn't terribly satisfying. It's basically light entertainment, with a tiny touch of sex and a bit of disgusting stuff for fun. Discworld's much richer textured and funnier. I can't see it being worth the price asked here at Amazon--I think that's cause it's a UK book, and I'll bet you can get it in paperback from amazon.uk much cheaper. If you're someone who roars at the humor of the title, you'll go for it big. But the cover blurb, from the Daily Express, says it all for me, "Everybody should read at least one Robert Rankin book in their life." Well, now I have.