Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates by Tom Robbins

Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates Reviews

• 
  Mario the lone bookwolf

  Meet a pretty different James Bond type who is completely insecure about choosing between a teen or nun fetish that has nothing to do with the persons but what they stand for and symbolize, government or rebels, pacifism, or war, and having an obsession with purity and trying out religions.
  
  The introspections of this dude are amazing, the protagonist Switters is an ultra meh whatever style inner peace guy, the mind of a chilled, nihilist agnostic hybrid, stoner hippie in the body and function of an über government agent.
  
  Just as most of Robbins novels, this one is immensely complex, many depts and innuendos in the characters and the motivations of their actions, a journey through different settings, huge piles of connotations, satire, social criticism, biting sarcasm, and dark humor.
  
  There is definitely much in here that goes over my head, the logical mind vs the guru karma meditation enlightenment alternative thinking, madness of civilized city life vs indigenous people, the symbolism of all the characters, their obsessions, heck, possibly even the Chekhovs and McGuffins. Because I don´t really listen to music, I know nothing about the meaning of songs or tunes that are used to imply anything.
  
  There is a reason for why Robbins is a cult author and I a not sure which of his works could and should be called the best because of their mind penetrating potential and subjective preferences, although this one is very close, because it´s not that extremely anarchistic aggressive against any kind of institutionalized stupidity thing than his earlier works and combines the notorious coarse elements to a mixture of bizarre, even more sophisticated, postmodern destructions of human society.
  
  I did hope for some time that Robbins maybe will put out 1 or 2 more novels, because I´ve still found nothing that just comes close to his style and abilities, but I fear that this option is meanwhile sadly gone. But what he wrote definitively made him immortal.
  
  Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
  
  https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
• 
  °°°·.°·..·°¯°·._.· ʜᴇʟᴇɴ Ροζουλί Εωσφόρος ·._.·°¯°·.·° .·°°° ★·.·´¯`·.·★ Ⓥⓔⓡⓝⓤⓢ Ⓟⓞⓡⓣⓘⓣⓞⓡ Ⓐⓡⓒⓐⓝⓤⓢ Ταμετούρο Αμ

  "ΑΓΑΠΑΩ ΤΟΝ ΕΑΥΤΟ ΜΟΥ. ΑΛΛΑ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΑΓΑΠΗ ΧΩΡΙΣ ΑΝΤΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΗ".
  
  Σίγουρα,τεκμηριωμένα και εμπεριστατωμένα,οι ιδρωμένοι επαναστάτες που διαλογίζονται για να φτάσουν στην έσχατη πραγματικότητα του τίποτα,απεχθάνονται να αλυσοδένονται απο μονιμότητες και ιδιοκτησίες.
  
  Αυτοί οι δολιοφθορείς της εξτρεμιστικής έμπνευσης, που αποτελούν την αντανάκλαση του θεμελιώδους νόμου του σύμπαντος και επιταχύνουν την πραγματικότητα -την οποία παραδέχονται μόνο ως εικονική- είναι το ουρλιαχτό που προέρχεται απο μια παραδοχή:
  Οι αγριεμένοι ανάπηροι που επιστρέφουν απο καυτά κλίματα αγαπιούνται παράφορα απο τις γυναίκες....(προσωπική άποψη).
  
  Ο Τομ Ρόμπινς -στο εξής αγαπημένος και ξεχωριστός- ορμάει με γλυκιά και σεμνή χυδαιότητα πάνω στον αναγνώστη και τον εκμαυλίζει συνειδησιακά οδηγώντας τον στην παραμεθόριο γνώση του κόσμου.
  Ο τρόπος γραφής του είναι σοκαριστικός.
  Παραπαίει ανάμεσα σε συμπαντικά δίπολα και υπερχειλίσεις φιλοσοφίας,ευφυΐας,έμπνευσης,
  ενόρασης, ενσυναίσθησης και αρχέγονων κρυμμένων νοημάτων.
  
  «Χιούμορ, φαντασία, Ερωτισμός- σε αντιδιαστολή με το άλογο ενστικτώδες ζευγάρωμα των σκουληκιών ή των ρακούν- η Πνευματικότητα, η Επαναστατικότητα και η Αισθητική, η εκτίμηση της ομορφιάς για χάρη της ομορφιάς και μόνο… Αυτά είναι τα χαρακτηριστικά που ορίζουν τον άνθρωπο… »
  
  Καταφέρνει με πλήρη άνεση, χιούμορ,ερωτισμό,ευαισθησία,
  λαγνεία ποιητική και πολιτική,πρόστυχη ψυχεδελική ονείρωξη και άπειρες γνωστικές μεταμφιέσεις να σε κάνει θιασώτη αγγέλων και δαιμόνων.
  
  «Είσαι πολύπλοκος άνθρωπος, αλλά ευτυχισμένα πολύπλοκος. Έχεις βρει έναν τρόπο να συμφιλιωθείς με τη σύγχυση του κόσμου, έναν τρόπο για να αγκαλιάσεις το χάος αντί να παλεύεις να το μειώσεις ή να πέσεις θύμα του. Για σένα είναι όλα μέρος του παιχνιδιού και σ’αρέσει να παίζεις».
  
  Στο προκείμενο, ο Σουίτερς (ένας απο τους πιο χαρισματικούς και αξιολάτρευτους λογοτεχνικούς ήρωες) πράκτορας της CIA,είναι έτοιμος για μια αποστολή στη Νότιο Αμερική.
  
  Η υπερήλικη γιαγιά του,διάνοια στον χειρισμό ηλεκτρονικών υπολογιστών και Μαέστρα της ζωής του, τον διατάζει να πάρει μαζί του τον ηλικιωμένο παπαγάλο της για να τον απελευθερώσει στο φυσικό του περιβάλλον.
  
  Στην Περουβιανή ζούγκλα ο Σουίτερς προσπαθώντας να κάνει το καθήκον του συναντάει έναν Σαμάνο ιερέα,μάγο,γιατρό και αρχηγό της εξωκοσμικής έκστασης.
  Μετά απο μια παραληρηματική νύχτα με τον ψυχοπομπό της ζούγκλας,ο Σουίτερς περνάει μια μεταβαλλόμενη κατάσταση συνείδησης καταραμένος να μείνει για όλη του τη ζωή σε αναπηρικό καρότσι.
  
  Απο εκεί και μετά αρχίζει η παράνοια της πραγματικότητας που δεν μπορούν να κατανοήσουν όσοι ζουν στο φυσικό κόσμο και διαθέτουν μόνο τη γήινη αντίληψη των πραγμάτων.
  
  Ο Τενεσί Ουίλιαμς έγραψε κάποτε :
  « Ζούμε όλοι μέσα σε ένα σπίτι που καίγεται και δεν υπάρχει πυροσβεστική για να καλέσουμε. Δεν υπάρχει ούτε έξοδος, μόνο ένα παράθυρο στον πάνω όροφο για να κοιτάζουμε έξω ενώ η φωτιά καίει το σπίτι με εμάς παγιδευμένους, κλειδωμένους μέσα»… Εκείνο που δεν είπε ο Τενεσί είναι ότι αν κοιτάζουμε από το παράθυρο αυτό με έντονη περιέργεια και παθιασμένο μάτι, με γενναιόδωρο πνεύμα και την ικανότητα της χαράς και, ναι, αν έχουμε τη γλώσσα με την οποία να στηρίζουμε και να εμπλουτίζουμε τα πράγματα που βλέπουμε, τότε ΔΕΝ ΕΧΕΙ ΣΗΜΑΣΙΑ που το σπίτι καίγεται γύρω μας. Δεν πειράζει. Άστο να καίγεται το γαμημένο»
  
  Διαβάστε το!
  
  Είναι ένα μεταστοιχειωμένο ταξίδι σε θάλασσες απίθανης ευστροφίας,τραγικής ζωντάνιας,ασυγκράτητου πάθους,προκλητικού λάθους,εσωτερικής φλυαρίας,απρόβλεπτης πτώσης,ιδιαίτερων νοημάτων,κλεμμένων ονείρων,ανατριχιαστικού κυνισμού και σπάνιες μείξεις έμπνευσης και αισθήσεων.
  
  
  "Αθρωποι όλου του κόθμου,χαλαρώθτε".
  
  Καλή ανάγνωση!
  Πολλούς ασπασμούς!
• 
  Leslie Gal

  Some people love this shit and find it oh so witty and creative, but to me the perfect phrase to describe this book (and all Tom Robbins) is "verbal masturbation." If you value the simple beauty of good prose, you will feel dirty after ol Robbins spews gratuitous, barely cogent metaphors willy-nilly all over your literary face line after nauseating line. Robbins is clearly getting off on his own cleverness; it's just too bad he didn't stop to think about your needs.
• 
  foteini_dl

  Καλοκαίρι=παγωτά, μπάνια (όσα και αν είναι αυτά), συναυλίες, μπίρες (και κοκτέιλ όταν είμαστε λαρτζ) και Robbins. Και ΚΑΥΣΩΝΑΣ .
  
  Συστατικά του βιβλίου: σάτιρα,ερωτισμός,ευαισθησία, ώρες-ώρες κυνισμός, μια ζούγκλα, ένας παπαγάλος, μια γιαγιά εξπέρ στους υπολογιστές και ο Switters, ένας απ' τους πιο ενδιαφέροντες χαρακτήρες του Robbins. Και αναφορά στον Tenessee Williams.
  
  Άνθρωποι όλου του κόθμου,χαλαρώθτε.
• 
  Zaphirenia

  Με λύπη (και λίγη νοσταλγία) συνειδητοποιώ ότι τα καλύτερα του αγαπημένου Τομ τα έχω ήδη διαβάσει. Και πάλι βέβαια ένα βιβλίο του Ρόμπινς αποτελεί μια ανάσα δροσιάς στον καύσωνα, το καλύτερο αντικαταθλιπτικό. Και μπορώ πάντα να ξαναδιαβάσω το Χορό των Επτά Πέπλων.
• 
  Danger

  Everytime I don't know what to buy people for Christmas or their birthday, I just get them a copy of this book. I give them two months and then ask what they thought of it. If they say they loved it, we continue to be friends. If they didn't like it, I challenge them to a gladiator-style death match. As you could surmise by the fact that I'm writing this right now, I've never lost a death match. That's how much I love this book.
• 
  Will C

  Probably my favorite Tom Robbins novel, one of the few with a male protagonist (some of his books focus on female leads, and a few have couples, but the narration generally focuses on the woman). Switters, the nymphet-chasing secret agent and self described "acquired taste," finds himself confined to a wheelchair. A shaman's curse (the price of a psychedelic revelation) condemns him to death if his feet ever touch the ground. He starts the novel in love with his underage step sister, working for the CIA, and fully ambulatory. His adventures take him around the world and through theological intrigue, but the main feature of this book is really Switters as a character. The plot, although clever and fun to follow, is mostly a way of putting him in various situations where he can discourse on the meaning of life, language, and pleasure. A friend of mine who also loves this author told me that Switters seemed to her to be the Tom Robbin's character who is the most like Tom Robbins, and this seems intuitively true. For one thing, the content of Switters' monologues, both inner and outer, echo themes that resonate throughout his other novels, and seem in this novel to be gathered in one voice. Also, the form of Switters' speeches echoes the author's style of wording and imagery. The greatest joy of reading Tom Robbins is the way he plays with language as something oral, something that we hear with our ears and make with our mouths. He does things with writing that can only be done in writing, but he never lets the reader forget that language is something sensual, and he invokes the sounds of words, the music of sentences, and even descriptions that vividly sexualize the mechanics of a character (female or male, but usually female) actually pronouncing a certain word.
  Except for Nabokov, who Robbins seems to be pretty obviously paying homage to (and perhaps lovingly mocking) with parallels and allusions to "Lolita," no other novelist I've read has captured the sensuality of language on this level. Languages, accents, and even speech impediments seem to be elevated to the highest objects of aesthetic appreciation in Robbins novels. Robbins can write a conversation, or a thought about a conversation, or even a thought about a word with as much guilty, indulgent enjoyment and libidinal gravity as anyone else can write a sex scene. An employee at an independent bookstore (Liftbridge books, Brockport NY, highly recommended) that Robbins is one of a few specific authors who they regularly argue over putting in "fiction" or "literature," and his work does have the same guilty-pleasure value of trashy novels, and always seems to end happily. Despite that, as someone who appreciates language as something that is at once abstract and intimately connected to us as bodies, I find great intellectual value in his work.
• 
  Roula

  "Ο διαλογισμός" του είχε πει ο δάσκαλος του, "δεν έχει καμία σχέση με οτιδήποτε, γιατι το μόνο με το οποίο έχει σχέση, είναι το τίποτα. Με την ανυπαρξία. Εντάξει? Δεν αναπτύσσει το νου, τον διαλύει. Αυτοβελτίωση? Ξέχνα το μωρό μου. Ο διαλογισμός σβήνει τον εαυτό. Πετάει το εγώ έξω με τις κλωτσιές. Και τι ωφελεί τότε? Δεν ωφελεί σε τίποτα. Στο τίποτα είναι φοβερός. Ναι, αλλά θεούλη μου, όταν φτάσεις στο τίποτα, φτάνεις στην έσχατη πραγματικότητα. Τότε και ακριβώς τότε αισθάνεσαι την αληθινη φυση του σύμπαντος, συνδέεσαι με το απολύτως Απόλυτο, αγόρι μου και εκτός κι αν είσαι από εκείνους τους μαλακες που τους αρκεί να μαλακιζονται σ'ολη τους τη ζωή, αυτό είναι το μόνο μέρος που μετράει. "
  
  Η τρέλα του Ρόμπινς σε ένα από τα πιο ωραία, κατά τη γνώμη μου, βιβλία του. Με πολλούς συμβολισμούς και όμορφα νοήματα μα πάνω απ όλα με μπόλικη παράνοια 😂🙏💙
• 
  Arax Miltiadous

  από που να ξεκινήσω...
  Εν αρχής ο Σουιτερς είναι ο πιο αγαπημένος μου φανταστικός ήρωας. η απολυτή αντίφαση, η λαγνεία, η εξυπνάδα, η επιρρέπεια σε όλων των ειδών τις απολαύσεις και τις πρωτόγνωρες εμπειρίες. Η γνωριμία μου μαζί του συντέλεσε στην αναδιαμόρφωση της κοσμοθεωρίας μου και της οπτικής που αντιμετωπίζω τη ζωή.
  
  Τι να ναι αυτό λοιπόν, που θα μπορούσε να ανάγει μια γνώση σε απαγορευμένη?
  Και πόσο μακριά διατίθεται κάποιος να φτάσει για να απαντήθει αυτό ερώτημα?
  
  Είναι η ζωή ένα σύνολο φυσικών φαινομένων και συμπτώσεων? Ή έστω, η ψευδαίσθηση τους?
  
  Είναι η ηθική άπλα θέμα του εκάστοτε πολιτισμικού περιβάλλοντος?
  
  Φωτισμένος είναι ο άνθρωπος, με διευρυμένη την συνείδηση και την Χρυσή Τομή του Χιούμορ?
  
  ΑΘΡΩΠΟΙ ΟΛΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΚΟΘΜΟΥ...ΧΑΛΑΡΩΘΤΕ ΕΠΙΤΕΛΟΥΘ!!!!!
  
  
  where to start by ...
  In the beginning Switers is my favorite fictional hero. The absolute contradiction, lust, intelligence, susceptibility to all kinds of pleasures and new experiences. My acquaintance with him was instrumental in the reshaping of my worldview and vision of life encounter.
  
  What this then, that could reduce a forbidden knowledge;
  and how far we can go in order to answer this question;
  
  Life is a set of natural phenomena and coincidences; the very least, the illusion of them;
  
  morality is simply a matter of individual cultural environment;
  
  Enlightened is the man with enlarged consciousness and the Golden Section of Humor;
• 
  Fedra

  Τι βιβλίο!
  Πρώτη μου επαφή με τον Τομ Ρόμπινς αλλά ήδη έχω αγοράσει κι επόμενο! Ευτυχώς υπάρχει το goodreads και μαθαίνουμε για συγγραφείς που διαφορετικά δεν θα έπεφταν στο ραντάρ μας.
  
  Μου πήρε αρκετό καιρό να το διαβάσω. Ίσως οι εξωτερικοί παράγοντες, ενδεχομένως πως είχα την προσκόλληση να αναζητήσω το "νόημα" και την ροή της ιστορίας. Κάποια στιγμή αποφάσισα απλώς να το απολαμβάνω. Και πράγματι έτσι έγινε. Είναι μια επιλογή ίσως η απόλαυση. (;)
  
  Θα το χαρακτήριζα φιλοσοφικό στον πυρήνα του, ευχάριστο σε αρκετά σημεία. Έχει χιούμορ, ασχολείται υπερβολικά με την θρησκεία, αλλά δεν πιστεύω πως θα θίγει κάποιον ο οποίος δεν είναι φανατισμένος.
  
  Ο συγγραφέας (Τομ Ρόμπινς) γίνεται από παντογνώστης, απλώς παρατηρητής, ακόμα και μέσα στην ίδια πρόταση. Αυτό το βρήκα ευφυέστατο.
  
  Τι δεν μου άρεσε; Πως οι περισσότεροι χαρακτήρες (αν όχι όλοι) εκφράζονται με τον ίδιο ακριβώς τρόπο. Αφαιρεί την ψευδαίσθηση του πραγματικού, νιώθεις δηλαδή πως είναι όλοι δημιουργήματα ενός μόνο ανθρώπου.
  
  "Τι είναι αυτό", είχε ρωτήσει εντελώς ρητορικά η Μαέστρα, "που διαχωρίζει τον άνθρωπο από τα επιλεγόμενα κατώτερα ζώα; Έτσι όπως τα βλέπω εγώ τα πράγματα, είναι μισή ακριβώς ντουζίνα σημαντικά πράγματα: Χιούμορ, Φαντασία, Ερωτισμός - [...] - η Πνευματικότητα, η Επαναστατικότητα και η Αισθητική, η εκτίμηση της ομορφιάς για χάρη της ομορφιάς και μόνο."
  
  "Υπάρχουν φορές που νιώθουμε τη μοίρα να κλείνει γύρω μας σαν χέρι γύρω από πόμολο πόρτας. Ναι, μπορούμε να αντισταθούμε. Αλλά ένα πόμολο που δεν γυρίζει, μια πόρτα που κολλάει και δεν ανοίγει, είναι ενοχλητική για τους θεούς. Και οι θεοί μπορεί να αποφασίσουν να την ανοίξουν με μια κλοτσιά. Ή, ακόμη χειρότερο, μπορεί να απομακρυνθούν αηδιασμένοι, αφήνοντάς μας να κρεμόμαστε βουβοί από τους σφιχτούς μεντεσέδες μας, έχοντας χάσει τη μοναδική ευκαιρία στη ζωή μας να ανοιχτούμε στον περιττό κίνδυνο, και επομένως και στη γοητεία της ζωής."
• 
  Robin

  Sometimes you find a book at the wrong time in your life, and you think how much you would have liked it if you had read it 10 years ago. This is one of those books for me.
  
  I kept reading anyways, probably because there are enough funny/interesting parts to propel you through the annoying parts.
  
  Someone recommended it to me when I was a college freshman, but I only recently got around to reading it. He told me something along the lines of "you're sex positive, so you would enjoy this sexy romp of a book." I don't remember exactly how he described it, but something like that. I probably would have like it back then as an eighteen year old, because it is raunchy and seemingly philosophical. I say seemingly, because if you let yourself be whipped around by Robbins' wordplay, it seems clever, but if you really pay attention, it's fairly routine sort of philosophizing. And a lot of trying waaaaay too hard to point out some truth or theory about humanity. WAAAAAY too hard. I kept thinking, "Um, is that it? Am I suposed to be in suspense?" Nope.
  
  But really why this book is wrong for the 28 year old me is the disappointing extent to which women are discussed and portrayed. The unbelievably standard view of teenage virgins as the ultimate in sexiness is presented as a risky taboo in the book. Oh! The shocking desires of the main character! (/sarcasm) Is there any sexual desire LESS predictable??? I think not. Not to mention all the descriptions of sex scenes that are so not what get women all hot and bothered--even though he implies that aaaaall the women in the book want it, and they want it from Switters soooo bad. I don't know why so many guys think that girls love it when you twist and pinch our nipples, but we don't. Really. We don't. Stop that.
  
  I'm pretty sure this book is who the author wishes he was--super clever CIA agent that all the girls are after, having crazy adventures and saying any random thing he thinks, all of which come out sounding clever and deep. Good for you, Robbins, I'm glad you have dreams.
• 
  E

  Top 5.
  Switters is my hero. An absurd and rollicking good time. If you enjoy philosophy, drugs, booze, sex and laughing...you should be into this.
• 
  Takisx

  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.
• 
  Lindsay

  i've well acquainted with the pantheon of tom robbins (except for
  wild ducks flying backward- saving that for a rainy day), but i have to count myself among the many who consider this a favorite of the bunch. well written, fast, and full of shamanic/monastic greatness. i would even say a tour de force if that wasn't the shittiest, most hackneyed phrase in book reviewdom.
• 
  Tim

  I am embarassed to admit that this is the first thing I have read by Robbins! Of course, I heard of him long ago, and saw the movie version of "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" (which may have turned me off), but why has it taken me so long to sit down and spend some time with him? I plan to correct that error. Robbins is one heckofa writer! His stuff is loony, thought-provoking, hysterically funny, highly creative, lively, impertinent, stylized - I could go on for a while here - all at the same time. Whatever you want to call it, it is not subtle or stupid or dull. This is one of the most enjoyable and entertaining novels I have ever read. (I listened to an audiobook of this, btw, very well performed by Keith Szarabajka).
  
  Robbins's genius is that he borrows techniques from poetry and literary fiction and employs them in his goofy, satirical stories. There are soaring similes and brilliant descriptions aplenty here, but they are applied to everyday or wacky situations. This is not everyday humor though. Included are elements of mysticism, social and political comedy, sex and romance, and international intrigue.
  
  The zany, picaresque story follows a character named Switters, a CIA agent who lusts after stepsister and spends time with his grand dame grandma, a lady known as Maestra. He is sent to rural Peru on some mission or other, where a native shaman with a pyramid-shaped head (due to some old head shaping techniques used on infants) places a curse on him - his feet can never touch the ground again or he will immediately die. So he spends the rest of the novel, first in a wheelchair, and eventually on a pair of stilts. After getting discharged from the CIA (portrayed here as a network of rogues with no particular political goals), he ends up trying to fulfill his infatuation with his teenaged stepsister. (Don't worry, none of this is meant to be taken seriously). From there he is on his way to Iraq and Syria to engage in some sort of espionage, and ends up under the protection of a small convent of radical Christian nuns, who are sitting on a secret prophecy that the Catholic Church is trying to suppress.
  
  The framework provides an excuse for Switters to deal with a bunch of kooky characters (like his CIA buddy Bobby, a macho Texas good ol' boy, and Domino, the abbess of the convent), and for him to get trashed and throw around zingers and cockeyed comments. It is all in good fun, but Robbins can surprise by throwing in the occasional serious observation or thoughtful aside, such as critical comments on consumer culture. His discussion of the Hermetic tradition got me researching it online - there is nothing like a little wisdom mixed in with some fun. To use the cliche, it was hard to put this one down - I wanted the laughs and clever writing to go on and on. It has been a while since I have fallen this hard for a writer, but this book hit the sweet spot for me.
• 
  Natalie Thomas

  What to call my favorite scene... let's call it: in the bathroom on hands and knees eating salad. Probably the funniest laugh-out-loud scene I have ever read.
• 
  Georgia

  Ιδιαίτερο, όπως κάθε βιβλίο του Ρόμπινς. Αστείο, ενδιαφέρον, λίγη φιλοσοφία από δω, λίγη περιπέτεια από κει... το σίγουρο είναι ότι μ' έχει πείσει να διαβάσω όλα του τα βιβλία!
• 
  Steve

  HEADLINE: I do not care much for John Foster Dulles either.
  
  
  Tim Robbins makes my smile muscles hurt. The man's work in the form of this novel is completely over the top. The protagonist is Switters, a CIA operative. CIA operatives from Switters's own point of view come in two flavors, cowboys and angels. Switters of course sees himself in the latter category.
  
  The plot is of the wildly improbable sort. It takes Switters from Seattle, to Peru, into a wheelchair, to Central Syria and Damascus, onto stilts, then to the Vatican, off the stilts and out of the wheelchair. However, the plot is not the point. The plot is merely a pretext for Switters's pontifications on subjects ranging from sex to philosophy to politics to popular culture. And Switters never met a metaphor or simile that he did not like.
  
  I had a serious problem with Switters's carrying his Beretta in his waistband and his drawing down on his antagonist with the intention of shooting the pistol out of that antagonist's hand. But nobody is perfect, and if there was ever a less than perfect hero, Switters is it. He is a seriously comprised hero with a penchant for illegally young girls, the vintner's product to excess, the odd mind-altering substance here and there, anal sex with nuns, and Finnegan's Wake. Yet it never crosses our mind—at least it never crossed my mind that he must be forgiven for anything. He is a man child with access to adult pleasures.
  
  Perhaps I have too much of an affinity with his opinions. When I first encountered his phrase “South too-goddamn-vivid America,” for the first time very early in this novel, I was with him. I am living in Central pretty-goddamn-vivid America myself right now. And with material like this, I stayed with him:
  
  

  Exactement! Marketing. Merchandising. Increasingly sophisticated, increasingly seductive. And sure, it's just a flashy modern version of the age-old bread-and-circuses brand of bondage—except today the bakery's a multinational and the circus follows us home. Well, culture has always been driven to some degree by the marketplace. Always. It's just that nowadays the marketplace, having invaded every nook and cranny of our private lives, is completely supplanting culture, the marketplace has become our culture. Nevertheless. . .

  
  
  The villain of the novel is John Foster Dulles, and you cannot do much better than that for a villain. Switters spits after every mention of the man's name. Consider this exchange found toward the end of this novel with a copyright of 2000:
  
  

  ”What is wrong with your great country?” Toufic lamented. “Why must it do these terrible things?”
  
  Switters held a cloud of candied smoke in his lungs. “Because the cowboys wiped out the buffalo,” Switters said.
  
  “Everywhere a buffalo fell,” said Switters, “a monster sprang up in its place.”
  
  Switters was going to list some of the monsters, but his mouth was dry, and he feared he couldn't expectorate.
  
  “There's a direct link between the buffalo hunts and Vietnam,” said Switters.
  
  Straining to comprehend, Toufic sighed with his eyes.
  
  “When Lee surrendered at Appomattox,” said Switters, “it sealed once and for all Wall Street's power over the American people.”
  
  Switters said, “There's a direct link between Appomattox and genuine imitation leather.”
  
  “But,” Toufic lamented, “your country has so much.”
  
  “Well,” said Switters, “it has bounce. It has snap. It has flux”
  
  “Americans are generous and funny, the ones I have met,” Toufic lamented, “but I am compelled to oppose them.”
  
  “It's only natural,” said Switters, “American foreign policy invites opposition. It invites terrorism.”
  
  Switters said, “Terrorism is the only imaginable logical response to America's foreign policy, just as street crime is the only imaginable logical response to American's drug policy.”

  
  
  Whatever one thinks of that, one has to admire the courage of Switters's smoke-fueled convictions.
  
  
• 
  Macropsalis

  "Αθρώποι ολου του κόθμου, χαλαρώθτε!"
• 
  Lisa

  
  
  Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates
  Current mood: disappointed
  
  "Could you pull off there? " she immediately asked, pointing ... to a gas station. "I really have to use the bathroom."
  
  "Say toilet, would you darling. I don't believe bathing is one of the services Texaco provides."
  
  "Whatever."
  
  "No, it's not unimportant. Intelligent speech is under pressure in our fair land and needs all the support it can get."
  
  above is my favorite part of this book, which i would NOT recommend to others.
  
  not being a huge reader of robbins, i did like skinny legs, found this and decided to give it a try. about 3/4 of the way through i found myself not caring about this pompous, arrogant man who i found to be a walking contradiction, too proud or blind to see it himself. but, i did want to see the book through, since i had given it a good 3 weeks of my life. the ending, in my opinion was open, left to interpretation. i did NOT put this book down feeling satisified!
• 
  Sarah

  This was the only book I had to hand to read while I sat by my father's bedside for a few days this year. It was ghastly.
  
  I found this book disturbing and boring. (Strike that - it wasn't interesting enough to be disturbing). As mentioned previously the main protagonist and his male friend are paedophiles, and the author made out this was a bit of a joke. Which it isn't.
  
  He also seemed to love the sound of his own (narrative) voice, and, frankly, was tedious. He put flowery sentences in for the sake of it. The book wafted around like a drunken wasp. Annoying, going nowhere and ultimately you just want to slap it down.
  
  It took me ages to read - mainly because once I put it down I couldn't really be bothered to pick it up again - I really didn't care what happened to "Switters". Actually even his name annoyed me. What a stupid upper class twit that name describes - and it fitted.
  
  
  
  The idea that this man could be CIA agent is ridiculous.
  
  I don't recommend this to anyone. It was just annoying and I wasted time in my life reading it. BOO.
• 
  Rachel Moore

  I was told to read this book by a friend who is absolutely nuts over this author. Tom Robbins is obviously a very smart man and has extremely creative stories.
  
  He has massive vocabulary and I found myself looking up words throughout this novel. In the end I was extremely unsatisfied. Tom Robbins tends to ramble for pages upon pages within this book which is like trying to concentrate on listening to someone talking to you on acid.
  
  It can be boring, long and will relate to absolutely nothing in the overall plot. I've read a few of his other novels so i could fairly judge his books in my own opinion,but I found it all the same.
  
  Cut out half the rambling and I may have enjoyed it more. Robbins seems to be one of those authors that has caught on because people seem to find it "trendy" to have read.
  
  I may be alone in thinking this, but I will probably never willingly read another of his again. Like I said before, he is smart, witty and extremely creative, but its not enough to make me want to ever read a book this long of his again.
  
  The one thing I've ever really loved of his is a short essay called "Redheads". The key word here is SHORT. ;)
  
• 
  Patrick Brennan

  This was such a weird book and I enjoyed it immensely. Switters is a hilarious protagonist, with his nonsensical musings and never-ending fascinations with Finnegan's Wake and John Foster Dulles (and hey, as a DC guy myself, I'm always up for hating on Dulles).
  
  Plot-wise, the book presented to me as being very similar to Don Quixote, except layered with profanity and vulgarity, as well as a modern lens. And our protagonist, Switters, was no doubt quixotic in his adventures. Between Seattle, Sacramento, Peru, Syria, Rome, etc, Switters was nearly constantly on the move, always having one plan derailed by the next, or having to course correct as new obstacles were encountered. In this sense, it very much read as though it were a comedic epic.
  
  I cannot say enough positive words about Tom Robbins' writing. What a joy! Even in the moments where the plot was too outlandish or foolish for my liking, I never tired of Robbins' beautiful prose and commanding hold over the English language. I'd definitely be interested in reading more works by him.
  
  Overall, definitely recommend, and I'm glad my friend Sarah got me to pick this one up!
• 
  Kat

  Αυτό το βιβλίο με έκανε να γελάσω. Το γέλιο είναι καλό, οπότε μου άρεσε. Πολλές λεπτομέρειες που μου έφεραν νύστα σε κάτι φάσεις σουπερ ντάγκλας. Δεν αποκλείεται και το βιβλίο να έχει γραφτεί σε ανάλογες φάσεις (ψυχεδελικές).
  Ο Switters είναι ο καλύτερος αγριεμένος ανάπηρος από καυτά κλίματα που γνώρισα ποτέ και αυτό γιατί είναι αυθεντικός.
  Μη διαβάζετε άλλα βιβλία με δράμα και θλίψη και όλα τα κακά του κόσμου. Διαβάστε αυτό.
• 
  Θωμάς Καλοκύρης

  Ένα βιβλίο που διαβάζεται ξανά & ξανά. Ο Σουίτερς είναι ο πιο τολμηρός ήρωας του Τομ Ρόμπινς - κάτι που από μόνο του είναι υπερβολικά τολμηρό, ακόμη και για τους μυημένους.
• 
  Jonathan Kent

  I devoured Tom Robbins in my twenties. When I sat down to write my first novel I revisited two writers - Armistead Maupin for his command of dialogue and his ability to drive the plot forward through conversations that never burst the bubble of belief, Tom Robbins for his wildly joyous use and abuse of language, both of them for their ability to embrace the bizarre in a way that most writers fight shy of. People say truth is stranger than fiction because most writers of fiction are too timid and veer towards gritty 'realism' at the expense of the extraordinary.
  Fierce Invalids is the first of Robbins books I've read in fifteen years. I can't pretend I wasn't disappointed. I'm now wary of revisiting my favourites; Half Asleep..., Still Life... and above all Jitterbug Perfume, for fear that I'll find they haven't withstood two decades of my growing though reading and writing.
  So why was it a disappointment? Well it seemed to fail on all counts. Robbins' wonderful use of language, those car crash similies, those extended riffs on crazy thoughts seemed to have become almost formulaic. It's as though he stopped to think 'what is it that Tom Robbins does?' and rolled it out again rather than oit coming from a place of divine craziness as I felt it diid when I first read him. It's a little like sitcom producers who, finding they have an unexpected smash on their hands, set out to analyse what made it successful and then attempt to replicate it.
  Then there was the story; too long and the central conceit was too weak. There's iconoclastic and there's grubby. This was just slightly grubby. Anal-sex with a nun? Lusting after his 16 year old step sister? Fine but neither really quite worked - either there needs to be soul searching or it needs to be played for high comedy and this fell somewhere between the two.
  Lastly there's Switters. One reviewer on Goodreads reckoned Switters was the greatest literary invention he'd some across. Well yes... I'm glad he pleased someone. I found him daft. The notion of the rebel CIA guy, the countercultural infiltrator into the great security machine is a head-shop fantasy. I found him thoroughly two dimensional and slightly repellent.
  But there was one definite plus - having read Fierce Invalids it reminded me that I like writing about the absurd and gave me the feeling I could do better... well maybe I can and maybe I can't but if it persuades me to have a go that's not a dead loss, right?