Όταν ένα βιβλίο ξεκινάει με τη μεταφορά ενός γέρου παπαγάλου στην ζούγκλα ως επιθυμία μιας χάκερ γιαγιάς μπορεί να μη ξέρεις πού θα σε βγάλει αλλά ξέρεις ότι θα το απολαύσεις.

“There’s birth…there’s death, and in between there’s maintenance.”

As we follow CIA Agent Switters, our lead protagonist and renowned contrarian, across 4 continents, we witness him fall in love with both his 17 year old stepsister and a 46 year old nun, travel to South America to release a parrot named Sailor Boy, discover the Third Secret of Fatima, and recover from a deadly curse. Switters may be one hell of a contradiction, but he embraces his dichotomy with gusto.

When I first read the synopsis for Fierce Invalids, I read that Switters “didn’t merely pack a pistol, he is a pistol,” and I may or may not have taken that quite literally. If you’ve read Robbins’ novel, Skinny Legs and All, you may understand my reasoning. Needless to say, for the first 50 pages I kept thinking to myself, “When are they going to mention that Switters is in fact a walking, talking inanimate object?” Once I realized that Switters was in fact a human, I was able to fall into the book with a sharper focus and begin to enjoy the controlled chaos that ensued. I would not say this is even close to my favorite book by Robbins, but I did enjoy it at its core. The central focus is on opposition. Switters believes that the basis of human existence is essentially paradoxical because the light and darkness within must coexist at once. They cannot separate to form a singular expression or way of living. I didn’t agree with Switters on everything, but that is one idea I can always get down with.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

My favorite quote was, “B for Belief. B for Belonging. The B’s that lead to most of the killing in the world. If you don’t Belong among us, then you’re our inferior, or our enemy, or both; and you can’t Belong with us unless you Believe what we Believe. Maybe not even then, but it certainly helps. Our religion, our party, our tribe, our town, our school, our race, our nation. Believe. Belong. Behave. Or Be damned.”

I wrote a review of this on my website in 2001: http://www.beginningwithi.com/2001/07...

Pretty damn brilliant. I loved this book, and I'd still be hard-pressed to tell anyone what the plot might have been. It's the first Tom Robbins book I've read, and I'm kind of mad at the world for not cluing me in sooner.

After years of slogging through this, I finally finished it! The reason I kept up with it is because I LOVE the words that Tom Robbins writes. His descriptions are like icing on a cake. The story, however, was kind of like riding a soap bubble down a drain--exhilarating, but not that fulfilling.

Ο πρίγκιπας σε μεγάλα κέφια, ίσως στα τελευταία μεγάλα κεφια, και λογω ηλικίας και λόγω ιδεών. Νομίζω ότι τα χει πει, τα χει γράψει όλα, οπότε αυτό που μένει είναι να καθησει στο θρόνο του και να απολαύσει. Ο Σουίτερς έτσι κι αλλιώς θα μας συγχωρέσει.

I liked this book when I first read it in 2003, but on second reading, well...I still I liked it...but parts of the story didn't age well. But hey, Tom Robbins, Seattle at the dawn of the internet age, strange and cursed international travel. Not my favorite Tom Robbins Book, but I think it might be Sterling Archer's favorite Tom Robbins Book.

This was a reread, about 20 years after my first time.

Hugely influential on me as a young author. And even now, I would encourage anyone who likes to write to read at least one Tom Robbins book. Nobody can turn a metaphysical phrase with as much exuberance and exactitude as Robbins. From the plot to the characters to the prose, this was once again a small wonder.

3.5⭐️ Rounded up

Plot: Fantastic.

Sentence-level turn of phrase: MAGICAL.

Religious philosophizing: Just a HAIR beyond my threshold. But what can you expect from Tom Robbins? Witty, looney, impertinent, thought-provoking, highly creative, out-there humorous. As good as I remember with some secrets of the universe thrown into the mix.

Tom Robbins was on the bestseller list with two books that I remember. I may have read them, but it was long ago. I did NOT like this book for two reasons. First, it's obvious that the writer is in love with his own prose. There is much too much description with very little action to match it up.Tthe second is his main character, a vainglorious drug addict and government operative who has the hots for his underage stepsister. Plot summary:
operative goes to the Amazon, has a curse put on him which may or may not be valid, has affair with a nun....and there's a plot twist involving Our Lady of Fatima. Not credible, the hero disgusted me, and I found myself skimming the last 75 pages because it was just so much tripe. FEH.

One of the least imaginative versions of the same Tom Robbins novel that takes so many names.

The colorful and creative language carried no subtlety, and carried on long past the point where the point was absorbed. I felt like he was thinking for me, and writing only for an audience that agrees with him.

Ξεκαρδιστικό καί εμπνευσμένο.
Ο Ρομπινς είναι κάτι μεταξύ stand up κωμικού καί φιλοσόφου. Σάν νά κάνεις κλωνοποίηση το dna του Carlin με του Nobokov.
Αναλύει με ακρίβεια την παράλογη τραγικότητα καί την ρηχοτητα της εποχής μας, μόνο για νά μας αφήσεις διπλωμενους στο πάτωμα από τά γέλια.
Παρουσιάζει χαρακτήρες τόσο υπερβολικούς σέ όλα τους πού τούς λατρεύεις ταχύτατα.
Είναι εξαιρετικά δύσκολο αυτό που κάνει, καί έχοντας διαβάσει καί τόν "Τρυποκάρυδο"(αιώνες πρίν),μπορώ να πώ με σιγουριά ότι τό κάνει με συνέπεια καί επιτυχία.
Αυτή η σταθερότητα τον κάνει μεγάλο συγγραφέα.