He Died with a Felafel in His Hand
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- Publisher: Duffy & Snellgrove
- Since: 2000-05-15
- Media: Paperback
- ISBN-10: 1875989218
Users who read this book
1 books read
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akky 7 months ago |
He died with a felafel in his hand @ivread hilarious book *Tw* |
1 books read
Reviews on Amazon
(11people)- An amusing if not an horrific read about sharehousing Downunder.You'll be glad to stay living at home with Mum and Dad after reading this.A must read for anyone contemplating sharing a house even if it is only with one other person.
Note;if you've seen the film or play of the same name and think the book is the going to be like them,you would be wrong.I saw the film first when it previewed in BrizVegas and thought it was pretty so-so(sorry Noah),then I saw the play at the Arts Theatre in 2009 and loved it(I'll have to get tickets for 2010)and then I read a copy of the book(signed by John with his right hand-his left hand[writing hand] was in a sling-that's got to be worth something.-)and liked it probably a little bit less than the play,but way more than the film.
Anyway read it and make up your own mind. - Depends what your looking for. It's not a novel in the standard sense, each chapter is like a completely separate "incident". Sometimes they're thinly connected.
The "incidents" are fairly random, some are quite funny but mostly they're average.
If you're looking for some gross humor stories then you'll get a kick from it. Otherwise, pass on by. - This autobiography, produced like a collection of short stories, is an Australian classic. But if you're not an Aussie, you'll still enjoy its strong narrative and sharp humour. He Died With A Felafel In His Hand depicts the darker side of living in a share house - a living arrangement that often creates all kinds of unusual situations, merely because complete strangers choose to live with one another.
This book was originally given to me as a gift, and I was unsure if it would appeal to my particular literary tastes (I'm more into the romance/chick-lit genre), but I was pleasantly surprised. The story kept me occupied and laughing throughout my nine-hour flight from Australia to Japan (which was great because I couldn't see the cabin's movie-screen, anyway).
Although the book deals with some pretty dark subjects (death, drugs, abortion, and homosexuality), it addresses these topics in a light-hearted way. This is not to say John Birmingham is insensitive to these issues. Rather, he writes in such a way that you are reminded to show a little more compassion towards those living on the fringe of society, and to say a silent "thank you" for your own, less tumultuous, existence.
Zara Stevens (Author - Boy Meets Girl: A Pocketful of Wedding Stories)
Boy Meets Girl: A Pocketful of Wedding Stories - This book is incredible... the author makes something as mundane as an average students living in shared accomodation into a unforgettable narration with a serious grip over non serious language!! The humour in this book is not cut and dried to suit the taste of most people in this earth who have an interst in students lives, but neverthless its wackyness was refreshing for me due to its originality and innocent appeal of not desiring or trying to be funny, in the first place.
- Its been 10 years since this book was first written and for the people who read this book when it first come out (like myself) it feels like a very quick 10 years. To me I was flatting among the "chaos" documented in this book and while never anywhere near as bad, most of this book feels like it could have happened in a parallel universe somewhere.
The style is very easy to read and random in its structure - the laughs and the acute observations are on every page, making it the type of book you can flip into randomly and find a description or passage to make you laugh out loud.
There is no main plot as such and most characters are only around for a few pages. If anything you could say the book is about growing up and a celebration of that stage of peoples life where you only depend on your self and you are carefree enough to indulge in a dirty jeans wearing competition or throw parties which are spoken about for decades. But to put themes on a book like this is really over analysing what is really just a good read and full of laughs.
For fans of this book there is a 10 year anniversary illustrated by cartoonist Ryan Vella now available (not yet on Amazon) which is well worth a look. The imagery is dark, gross, amusing, gothic, disturbing - all taking nothing away from the original reading. Being a comic book it can't fit so much in, but he does get the best parts, be warned though that the sequence with the crazy flatmate "Nena" in the bath is especially unsettling.
The big question for me in this book is "How much of it is true ?". In interviews with the man himself he said that 99% of it was based at least partially factual. Whether this means it all happened to him or parts of it are based on storied of a friend of a friend and with a bit of artistic license added, I guess only the author and a few friends will ever know.
