Customer Reviews

The Grasshopper King

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

 

 

I picked up this book based on a bookseller's recommendation and loved it so much that it moved me to write my very first Amazon review.

The writing is sharp; several passages had me laughing out loud (how many books do that?). The characters are quirky yet real. Despite their absurd situations, they are very human.

My favorite parts of the novel are when Ellenberg weaves Gravinic fairy tales, past history/legend, and (surprisingly) heated games of checkers into the plot. The twin questions of How do I know this is the person I want to marry? and What do I want to do with my life? are also part of the story, a bit more mundane but very real for most people.

This is one of those books where you enjoy the ride and don't want it to end.

This book was recommended to me by a friend and I absolutely loved it! I read it very quickly because it was so engaging. Ellenberg did such a fantastic job that I was convinced that Gravinic was a realy language (I had to Google to make sure!). I wonder how much of what Ellenberg writes is based on his own life since he is a Math professor? Highly recommended to all!

The Grasshopper King by Jordan Ellenberg is a deftly woven debut novel about a languishing small town and its university, and an infamous poet who is either a blip on the radar or a literary genius with the key to the shape of history itself. Populated with such memorable characters as Stanley Higgs and Samuel Grapearbor, The Grasshopper King is a quirky story which is warmly appealing in a rich tapestry of unfolding hidden secrets. The Grasshopper King is a unique narrative of distinction and very highly recommended reading and a novel which clearly documents Jordan Ellenberg as an author to keep track of!

As a fellow mathematician (even down to the same specialty), I suppose my tastes will naturally run towards those of Dr. Ellenberg's, but even objectively I think this novel was one of the more clever takes on campus life I have read in a long while. I found it a quite entertaining and enjoyable read.

The Grasshopper King is a highly original, enjoyable book. Though it moved somehwhat too slowly at times, I appreciated Ellenberg's creativity. I think he's really on to something with his created language, Gravinic. Often clever, and at times very funny, the Grasshopper King is an amusing read worth picking up.

I think Ethan Hawke would be great as Samuel Grapearbor. I'm not sure the structure of Mr. Ellenberg's book would work for Hollywood, but the indie scene did manage to get Shattered Glass made into a fine film. Here's hoping!

The Grasshopper king is a novel centered around a professor who decides not to speak again because (in another character's words), 'There just isn't anything to say'.

The back cover of the book claims that the novel is 'a profoundly absurd campus satire about immortality, obsession, obscurity, and true love'. I beg to differ- I did not find it in the least profound, nor amusing. As a matter of fact, I found it dull. True, the concept is intriguing and the characters quite vivid, but Ellenberg's style lacks the certain zing necessary in distinguishing novels. To me, his writing is rather like listening to a bee droning in your ear for hours on end on a hot summer's day. As a character in the novel says, 'It's dull. But if you don't mind dull it's not bad." In short, this book is about as dull and ordinary as a freckle, not at all the enticing gem the back cover and the article in the newspaper promised it to be.

an engaging book. if you've spent any time in or around academia, you're sure to love it.