Customer Reviews

Losers

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Sure- I bought this only because Eddings wrote it, I never expected it to be so good however. Not fantasy- I actually expected this book to be the start of a new path for the author. Eddings style leaves you feeling that you actually know the characters and I feel I could identify the building Raphe lived in if I ever was in Spokane. Little, unimportant details are left scattered about and really bring the story to life without slowing it down. I read this one in one setting!

Occasionally depressing, but reality can be like that.

I must admit I bought this book because it had the David Edding's name on it. A huge fan of his fantasy novels, I believed anything by Eddings had to be good. But, as I started the novel, I realized there was no Belgarath here! The first pass got me about a third of the way through and disappointed; I wanted another Belgariad. I put the book down with a sigh and went on with my life. About six months later I picked it up (because I had nothing else) and never put it down again. (I did the same thing with Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand twelve years ago, but that's another review). I realized this book was not a fantasy nor even a battle between good and evil - it was a view from the inside of todays welfare system! This engrossing story of a young man who looses his leg in an accident and his ensuing fight to not get sucked into the grips of social workers in Spokane, WA speaks volumes of what todays "caring" social programs and welfare does to people in need. The sub-story of good and evil - as portrayed by the main character Raphael and his best friend/destroyer Damon is interesting, but can lose the reader in the beginning. The reader can easily read too much between the lines and get frustrated by it never playing out (hence my first impression), but if you stick with it, you will stop trying to make too much out of that aspect and become swept up in the main plot. This book works on many levels and will not disappoint

I read this book because I like Eddings' style of writing. It's a little different than his fantasy series, but still provacative, insightful, and heartwarming.

It's not the Belgariad or Elenium, but for a change of pace, read this and think/ponder on it for a week, then you'll appreciate it.

Yes, it seems simplistic and trite in spots because of repetition but when you think about it, some of the actual ideas behind the "losers" and those who come in contact with them are creatively original (creatively presented?) and I ended the book glad of the repetition so I was sure I understood the points.

My BA's in sociology so I know the story's situations or "case studies" weren't as black and white as presented, most social workers aren't "evil," but the starkness of the presentation helped backlight all the author's main points and left one free to apply the points to other situations which might be closer to one's own life.

Any "problem" in one's life, habit or desire or lack of desire for change by self or other can be helped, I think, by applying Eddings' points about the "losers" and/or their helpers.

I liked that it was a story within a story too; the sociological points were made in little case studies within a larger story of two characters with a hint of mystery as one didn't know what the complete story was until the end and which boy was going to "win" and what "winning" would mean. I liked the play on words with winner/loser and didn't mind the corny angel/devil names, especially since an unknown "angel" (who wasn't) was part of the mystery and not understood until the end.

I'm not a social worker, but I worked for a number of years within that system and I applaud Eddings clear vision of this industry and its efforts to keep people within it. I don't know any social workers who I would allow to muck around in my head since so many of them wind up with degrees while pursuing the answers to their own problems (which they rarely manage to solve.) Hurray for Eddings for defining the difference between a cripple and someone who must live with a physical challenge.

I remember reading this and wondering if Raphael was an angel and Damon the demon sent to temp him and destroy him (the names are a giveway). In other words this was heaven and hell fighting in the bodies of men. This seemed to be the trancendental level of the book while on the more mundane level we watch the hedonism, disinegration and rebuilding of Raphael and the 'programs' of assistance that feed his dependency on them.

I like the multilevel interpretation that is possible here. It suggests you can get as much as you'd like or as little as you'd like from this book. I would disagree that this is a vehicle for Eddings to moralize on the ills of social welfare. Personally I think he is probably just a little left of center anyway, so no, while it may be an indictment of the system there and then (Washington STate, 1993), I don't think this is moralizing about it (some people like to layer on or transfer their agenda on to the words of others, such as one reviewer here). I think it is more like demonstrating the hypercycle of need-dependence-despair that welfare can create (as well as helping many people as well - which is it's purpose!). The message I think is that help is both a blessing and a curse, because too much help becomes a hand that presses you down, not lifts you up. Ultimately you have to do it on your own.

The drama in this book is driven by characters that are richly realized, multilayered and take eddings out of his comfort zone. And this is a good thing. I think the humanity of the story is truly accessible. WHile the 'angel'-'demon' motif only emphasizes the battle that contiually rages within us: desire and lust, selfishness and egocentricity versus right and morality and selflessness. Personally, it can be said as such: We fall to temptation and we suffer for it. When we transcend our baser nature then we become what's best in humanity: we are reborn. Sometimes when we pick ourselves up, we need help...but sometimes we have to let go of the helping hand (given often for motives that aren't strickly altruistic) and walk our own two feet. The angel falls to earth and learns to be again.

A good story...a great read. It's not fantasy per se. More a tale of reality with deeper spiritual underpinnings and an allegory of self-inflicted good and evil, in the hedonistic sense. And as always the choice to fall to temptation is ours...

Like most, I came into this book without any idea of what to expect. In some ways, that might have lessened my enjoyment of this one, as this might be one of those rare books for which it would be better to read some reviews BEFORE the book, so that you would know what you're getting into. Instead of the expected fantasy or urban adventure novel, THE LOSERS turns out to be a sharp social commentary full of Eddings' philosophical views about life and society. No magic and not much action, this book has disappointed many fans of the Belgariad and Malloreon, and that is too bad, because taken for what it is, this book is actually quite good. The biting condemnation of the welfare system and those who become dependent on it will ring true to most readers, even as neither Eddings nor the reader will likely come up with great alternatives. The lessons within THE LOSERS about living with what life throws your way, and not turning into just another number, are powerful. While many have criticized Eddings' condemnation of social programs as being overly negative, verging on unfeeling and bigoted, his overall point here is a positive one. Society should realize the dangers of our fellow human beings falling into the trap of living from one welfare check to the next, which really cannot be considered much of a life, but which may be extremely hard to escape from once ensnared. Eddings' character Raphael is not as much disdainful of his "Loser" neighbors as that he feels sorry for them, and feels drawn to prevent others from becoming "Losers". In all, its not the people on welfare Eddings is condemning here, but the system as a whole. A system that treats people as numbers, or as helpless to help themselves, or as if simply being able to afford the next loaf of bread and the next pack of cigarettes could enable someone to live a meaningful life.

In some ways reminiscent of Ayn Rand's powerful fiction in Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead, this is a book about the ugly aspects of our society that, while unpleasant, should not be ignored. Also like Ayn Rand, Eddings' strong Individualist philosophy has been misinterpreted as uncaring and cold by some readers. Actually, I'm sure Eddings believes that a greater emphasis on Individualism would lead to the best life for the most people, and is therefore the most compassionate social philosophy.

In the end, this is an enjoyable book when approached with the right expectations. It may also challenge some people's beliefs about what a compassionate and caring society should do to help the less fortunate, and what the end results of that help might really look like. Recommended.

I liked this book, though the style was quite different from the formula fantasy I was half expecting from a David Eddings book. The writing here has a lot of heart to it, managing to portray with just enough detail the perspectives, insights and motives of some fairly unusual people. The book reminds me a little of the short urban-fantasy stories of Charles de Lint, in that it contains a little bit of real depth and color that stays with you after reading it. I wonder how much of his characterization was based on observation in his home town (where the story was set). The portrayal of social workers as bright-eyed, calculating young women out to make people do "what's good for them" was fairly viscous, and the description of the welfare state was depressing as hell. How much is accurate insight and how much is amusing cynicism I couldn't say.

This was a good book - depth, color and an acknowledgment of the little joys in life. I'd guess that if you take the time to let this story sink in it'll be worth a read ... if you aren't able to do so you'll probably be disappointed.

*Strongly* allegorical. Shows Eddings's usual skill at deft characterization. Thought-provoking, and also manages to stir emotions--I was in tears at the ending. Worth a read, even if it isn't fantasy.

I read this book in one night. My girlfriend at the time had picked it up in a store before our trip to Washington. Amazingly enough, the book had in a VERY surreal way outlined our trip thru Oregon, thru Portland, around Seattle, over to Sequim, and Port Angeles. Little did we know that the book contained a story about these places. Apart from the strange coincidence of the story and relevance to my personal life, the book added a new dimension for me in what it means to survive hardship, and keep continuing on. Life is good, even when it's bad. I would recommend this book to anyone. I've never read a book until dawn but I've also never read a book quite like this, with such striking similarities between my own life and the character in the story.