Journal Entry 1 by tijgetje from Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands on Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Journal Entry 2 by tijgetje from Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands on Monday, September 20, 2004

Very, very good...

The english was quite hard for me. A lot of slang from the southern States and a lot of words I was not used to. That meant I had to read a bit slower than I normally would and that I probably missed some of the jokes. I read the last two chapters two times for example; I had the feeling I missed to much. But it is never bad to read something a bit dificult; you might even learn some new words, right? And DBC Pierre uses the english language in a very interesting and I think very good way, so I was willing to make some extra effort for that.

The story was very gripping. I won't get into detail too much. That would really spoil it for the rest of you who still have to read it... The book is very funny. Vernon is a very cynical guy (and has every right to be) and I quite like that. Furthermore, it is a very critical account of american society, and that usually works quite well on me.

I will send it along as soon as I get an adress. Hope y'all enjoy it as much as I did... 

Journal Entry 3 by lot12 from Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Thursday, September 23, 2004

Ha1 Een pakje uit Denemarken! Leuk, dat geeft meteen een vakantiegevoel.

Ben stiekem al begonnen, maar dat mag nog niet, want er moet eerst een ander ringboek uit. Maar goed, het begint goed! 

Journal Entry 4 by lot12 from Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Saturday, October 16, 2004

This is obviously not the right time for the book and me to meet. I've read slowly slowly till I was halfway. I liked it. The language, the atmosphere. Nothing wrong with it so far. It is not a plot I really like (everything going wrong en getting even worse), but it is well written and funny.

But, unfortunately, right now it just can't keep me interested. I have to force myself to read it, because I can't concentrate on it. It's probably me, can't read much at the moment. Someday, when some time has passed, I might try again.

I'll send captkoenig a pm for his address.

*19 oktober* sent the book to captkoenig today. 

Journal Entry 5 by captkoenig from Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant Netherlands on Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Zat vandaag bij de post. Ik ben benieuwd! 

Journal Entry 6 by captkoenig from Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant Netherlands on Friday, November 05, 2004

'Even before he says it, I feel departments in the office of my life start to close up shop; files are shredded, sensitivities are folded into neatly marked boxes, lights and alarms are switched off. As the husk of my body is guided from the court, I sense a single little man sat at the bottom of my soul. He hunches over a card table under a nakes low-watt bulb, sipping flat beer from a plastic cup. I figure he must be my janitor. I figure he must be me.'

Vernon Very-sad-story Little. Very good book.

Me ves y sufres 

Journal Entry 7 by captkoenig at on Friday, November 05, 2004

Released on Friday, November 05, 2004 at about 4:00:00 PM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at Sent to Fellow BookCrosser in Book Ring!, n/a Controlled Releases.

RELEASE NOTES:

Opgestuurd naar Twinfather. 

Journal Entry 8 by Twinfather from Gouda, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Monday, November 08, 2004

Vandaag aangekomen per post en ik ga er vanavond gelijk aan beginnen. Ben zeer benieuwd. 

Journal Entry 9 by Twinfather from Gouda, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Vernon God Little is a weird book, but in the end very enjoyable. Take that literally. The base of the book is the famous Schrödinger's cat theory although it is only mentioned aside. So are you sure something is there when you can't see it? Or in this case happening? Very interesting question. The characters are pretty one dimensional and some are very enjoyable. Especially the lawyer who looks like Brian Dennehy according to VGL. The second part of the book is a satire on the American judicial system and how far commercialization can go. It looks fun, but, I think, is very grim. Pity that DBC Pierre's style is not very smooth otherwise the book would have been 8+. Conclusion: VGL is an above average book with one chapter too many.

It will now go to Suzy26 in Delft. 

Journal Entry 10 by Suzy26 from Delft, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Friday, November 26, 2004

Found this book in the mailbox today. Thanks for the beautiful postcard, Twinfather! I will start on this book within a few days and will let you know what I think of it. It sure looks interesting. Thank you for sharing this book with us, tijgetje! 

Journal Entry 11 by Suzy26 from Delft, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Wednesday, December 08, 2004

I liked this book very much. You would think that the subject at hand would make for a grim and somber story, but there is just so much humor in it and Vernon is such a likeable character even though he says 'fucken' in every sentence. His mom and her friends are simply hilarious and the way the American society, its judicial system and its media coverage of events like this is depicted is simply brilliant. Satire at its best. At the end of the story, the son of one of Vernon's mom's best friends proudly shows Vernon his birthday present: a gun! I mean, how stupid can you be, giving a gun to a 14-year-old after everything that happened! 

Journal Entry 12 by yvonnep from Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Oh dear, the moment Suzy asked my adress I found a copy of this book in Wordwizz' Mount TBR. But Suzy is fast like you know what and already send me the book. I'll pass it on to Maaike en read our own copy. As a matter of fact, I started and I liked it so far. 

Journal Entry 13 by MaaikeB from Zeist, Utrecht Netherlands on Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Surprise! Another bookring, oops. They come in herds, again... Still, I'm looking forward to this one and hope to be able to read it soon. Thanks to yvonnep for sending it and thanks to tijgetje for sharing! 

Journal Entry 14 by MaaikeB from Zeist, Utrecht Netherlands on Saturday, January 01, 2005

Wow! I really enjoyed this one. This DBC Pierre is a real surprise, writing a first novel like this one. Heartbreaking (every time something important happens in Vernon's life: 'Mom couldn't make it today'), funny and moving. Thanks for starting this ring, tijgetje! I'm off to the (internet)bookstore now to order my own copy! 

Journal Entry 15 by Olifant from Porthmadog, Wales United Kingdom on Saturday, January 08, 2005

And another book to read... 

Journal Entry 16 by Olifant from Porthmadog, Wales United Kingdom on Friday, January 14, 2005

Dit boekje gaat ongelezen door naar PetraO. Ik heb te veel te lezen en juist dit boek spreekt me aan en wil ik er niet door heen jassen. Hoogstwaarschijnlijk koop ik hem zelf nog wel. 

Journal Entry 17 by Hellehond from Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands on Sunday, January 23, 2005

Ringboek, waarvan ik was vergeten dat ik me ervoor had opgegeven. Werd me overhandigd door Olifant tijdens de BC-meeting in Utrecht. 

Journal Entry 18 by Hellehond from Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands on Monday, February 21, 2005

Very enjoyable indeed. Though the plot-line may be sad (the slaughter of an entire schoolclass) it is written in a humorous way. 

Journal Entry 19 by gerbie7 from Goor, Overijssel Netherlands on Thursday, February 24, 2005

Gisteren in de bus gekregen. Wist niet meer dat ik me hier voor had ingeschreven, maar het lijkt me een leuk boek. Bovenop Mount TBR, dus als eerste aan de beurt zodra mijn huidige boek uit is. 

Journal Entry 20 by gerbie7 from Goor, Overijssel Netherlands on Thursday, April 07, 2005

DBC Pierre – Vernon God Little (05-009)

Several times I considered throwing the book away. I just couldn’t get into the story. The story was dull, illogical and nearly humourless. Yet winning the Booker Prize means that it must be a good book, so I gave it the benefit of the doubt.

After two thirds of the book for the first I felt curious what would happen next. The story finally started going somewhere. Even literary, from the little town he lives in, Vernon decides to leave for Mexico.

Spoilers:

The idea behind the end is funny. Live executions, Big Brother style, yet to me it is not enough to save the book. It seems that the author is afraid of being called a sensationalist, as he refuses to do something with the idea. He mentions it, yet is embarrassed to develop the idea. All in all, I still rushed to the end. At first because this is a book ring, so there is someone waiting, secondly because I actually enjoyed reading it and wanted to know how it ends. Again disappointment. As if the author hopes that someday the book will be turned into a movie, hence the book has to have a happy end.

So it is probably me, I don’t get the fuzz about this book. I do not understand why so many people think this is a classic. To me, it was just another book, nothing worth remembering. Ask me again at Christmas and I probably will have lost most of my memory.

Number: 05-009
Title: Vernon God Little
Author: DBC Pierre
Language: English (UK)
Year: 2003
# Pages: 279 (1663)
Category: Fiction
ISBN: 0-571-21517-3 

Journal Entry 21 by gerbie7 at Bookring in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Released 7 yrs ago (4/19/2005 UTC) at Bookring in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

In de post naar Willy-Wonka. 

Journal Entry 22 by Willy-Wonka from Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Got the book in the mail today, when I got back from vacation. Thanks gerbie7!
Looking forward to reading it and let you know what I think. 

Journal Entry 23 by Willy-Wonka from Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Friday, May 06, 2005

Just finished the book this morning. I find it a very amusing and catching story, although I don't see why so many people (e.g. on the cover) find it so funny. 99% Of the story is pretty fucken sad if you ask me. Maybe I'm just too sensitive....

All in all, it's not a book that you are not allowed to miss; but I would gladly recommend it to anyone. 

Journal Entry 24 by granuaile from Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Thursday, May 12, 2005

dank dank! ik vond het gisteren op de vloer. TBR dan maar. maar gelukkig zie ik dat ik de laatste ben.... er zit deze keer dus wat minder druk achter.... (euh ja tijgetje? ;) ) 

Journal Entry 25 by granuaile from Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Sunday, September 11, 2005

eindelijk.... eindelijk het boek uit. volgens mij heb ik er wel 3 maanden over gedaan. (shame shame, i know...) ik kon dus niet echt goed in het verhaal komen. een echte mening kan ik dan ook niet vormen over het boek. ik vond het wel een vernieuwend verhaal. zoiets had ik nog niet gelezen. het taalgebruik vond ik eigenlijk grappig. omdat ik amerikanen "denk te kennen" (enkelen, een beetje dan; ik heb er een tijdje gewoond) vond ik sommige situaties eigenlijk herkenbaar omdat ik ze me kan voorstellen met de amerikanen die ik ken.
het einde vond ik minder leuk. ook wat minder "geloofwaardig" als ik dat woord mag gebruiken over dit boek....

*ooh sorry it's all in Dutch* i just got home from my vacation. i am not very willing to translate all of this due to my lack of a good night sleep. :)

het boek mag door naar de volgende. ik zal een PM sturen voor een adres. thanks to tijgetje! 

Journal Entry 26 by savourypastie from Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Saturday, September 24, 2005

I recieved this book from granuaile this week. Thankyou. Looking forward to reading it. 

Journal Entry 27 by savourypastie from Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Thursday, November 10, 2005

This was a challenging book for me to read to begin with. It is a very very dark comedy and so well written that it was difficult not to get completely caught up in the injustice of the whole situation. However, it is also a hysterically funny satire and that is what took me through. This book has a lot of things to say, and is deserved of winning the Booker Prize. 

Journal Entry 28 by savourypastie from Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Friday, November 18, 2005

Returned to (partner of) Tijgetje. Thanks once again for starting this bookring.
 

Journal Entry 29 by tijgetje from Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands on Monday, December 05, 2005

Well, the book is home again. I'm glad the overall opinion on the book is very positive. Always nice to hear that a book you enjoyed reading is appreciated by other readers too.

The book looks quite tired after such a long journey. I'll grant it some free time on my bookshelf and maybe re-read it.