The Book John Dies @ the End is a novel about two best friends: John and Dave. Dave is re telling all his adventures with John to a man named Arnie. Arnie Blondestone is a journalist investigating paranormal affairs, Arnie Blondestone is referred to David by way of Amy. David's relating of his tale to Arnie acts as a farming device for the narrative. He is a highly skeptical individual, which proves to be a challenge for David given the absurd (and largely unfalsifiable) aspects of his account.This is my favorite passage but this passage not only sets the playful tone of this horror story, but it also early foreshadows the novel's powerful ending: In the course of solving the following riddle, you will either reveal the terrifying secret at the very core of existence, or go utterly mad in the attempt....Let's say you have an ax. The kind that you could use, in a pinch, to hack a man's head off. And let's say that very situation comes up and for some very solid reasons you behead a man. On the follow-through, though, the handle of the ax snaps in half in a spray of splinters. So the next day you take it to the ax store down the block and get a new handle, fabricating a story for the guy behind the counter and explaining away the reddish dark stains as barbeque sauce.Now, that next spring you find in your garage a creature that looks like a cross-bred badger and anaconda. A badgerconda. And so you grab your trusty ax and chop off one of the beast's heads, but in the process the blade of the ax strikes the concrete floor and shatters.This means another trip to McMillan & Sons Ax Mart. As soon as you get home with your newly-headed ax, though, you meet the reanimated body of the guy you beheaded last year. He's also got a new head attached and it's wearing that unique expression of "you're the man who killed me last Spring" resentment that one so rarely encounters in everyday life.You brandish your ax. He takes a long look at the weapon with his squishy, rotting eyes and in a gargly voice he screams, "that's the same ax that slayed me!"
Is he right?
For my monthly review i chose to answer questions 3,4, and 8. I ended up combining questions 4&8.
#3
I think this book in my opinion has weaknesses. There was an over amount of weaknesses because the book was overall good and interesting but it is easy to get lost. It can get pretty confusing and there is also a lot of things going on at one time and there are many things they talk about. It is packed to its slimy and otherworldly gills with a levitating, drug-dealing Jamaican, a Morgan Freeman-lookalike detective, a Mall of the Dead, a man made of roaches, crashing a Las Vegas séance, exploding body parts, Shadow People, other dimensions, portals to Hell, time travel, J.-Lo, a very odd dog and many, many hideous monsters. In other words, if you’re looking for something random, say, like a gigantic gorilla-arachnid hybrid, this book probably has it. There conversations may appear to be out of the ordinary. Another weakness that i would like to point out is that there are way too many characters. The story starts out as with a mind game that makes you think, then it goes to flashbacks to reality to flashbacks and then back to reality. Next it goes to where John and Dave go to a party and meet a man called Roger. He is on a drug called the "soy sauce". He also knows what Dave dreams about and he said " I interpret dreams for beer". Much to Dave's surprise Roger got his dream right, but had no beer to pay him and left. Later on in the story it gets me even more confused because at of no where Dave starts to talk to a man named Arnie and Dave is telling him his life story and all the adventures he's had with John. So i think that this book is basically is a flashback. Molly..who's Molly?? Amy..who's Amy?? Fred..who's Fred?? Dr.Marconi..who's Dr.Marconi?? I wish i knew who all these characters are but some of them come in at totally random spots in the story and sometimes i get so confused that i mix up characters names and I'm like " who's who??". These are small weaknesses. I can easily go back and re-read a section just to understand it better but then yet again i am a teenager and i do like to take the easy way out so i would probably go online and look at summary's of the book on the Internet.
#4 and #8
HeHeHeHe. How would i describe David Wong's style of writing much less where i would begin. I believe that his style of writing is will and should fall into it's own category. Sure the genre of the novel is Horror..but for me its more like paranormal..extraterrestrial type of writing.
David Wong talks about supernatural things happening. There are so many creatures in the book as well as characters. He talks about things like spiders, creepy -legged creatures, and from people turning into snakes to a man made out of meat trying to kill them. John and Dave also talk in a lot of wired codes like: "Your pimp says bring the heroin shipment tonight, or he'll be forced to stick you. Meet him where we buried the Korean whore. The one without the goatee." It meant "come to my place as soon as you can, its important." Also there was " Oh, and don't forget, tomorrow is the day we kill the president." Which meant "Stop and pick me up some cigarettes on the way.(pg.3) The drug that John and Dave are on is called the Soy sauce. John also never mentions the name of the place they are at it always usually it reads [undisclosed]. Another thing about his writing that I've been thinking about the title of the book: John Dies at the End. We know John doesn't really die, at least not in the physical sense. But maybe a part of John does die, at discovering Monster Dave has replaced his best friend. A possibility or something closer to the meaning of the title? Or maybe I'm trying to read too much into this.Actually, it's ironic, seeing as John's the only main character that HASN'T died in some form. Dave died, Monster Amy died, Falconer died, and Drake died. Except John died at the beginning, just after he took the soy sauce and he and Dave got arrested.He was clinically dead, meaning he appeared dead on the surface, but I personally wouldn't count it given the book's standards for death. However, "John Dies at the End" may have another meaning...?? John does appear to die after taking the Soy Sauce. Maybe that's what the title references. John Dies at the End (of the last point in his life that can be called normal.). Most of my friends that saw the cover of the book first read the title and said "John dies at the end....well that pretty much spoils the ending" and then they look at the back and see the amputated arm and say "what kind of book are you reading". The title just keeps you wondering if John really does die at the end.John is for sure oblivious mainly because he's on "the sauce". He is one of the novel's main protagonists and long-time best friend of Dave. John is shown as being somewhat eccentric and he has a tendency to exaggerate descriptions for dramatic effect, including boasts about his sexuality and embellishments of his personal achievements that border on and--in many cases--infringe on outright falsehood. Nevertheless, John is a loyal companion and, in spite of his idiosyncrasies, surprisingly moral and upstanding.
John Dies at the End is a hilariously frightening and frighteningly hilarious genre-bending book by author David Wong. It is a blend of comedy, horror and sci-fi that manages to mix alternate realities, creepy monsters and dick and fart jokes seamlessly!This book may be confusing but its not boring i can't stop turning the pages. Sure there is a lot of stuff going on at once but they are funny..its easily addictive and you want to see what other things they come up. with. I think this book in my opinion has weaknesses. There was an over amount of weaknesses because the book was overall good and interesting but it is easy to get lost. It can get pretty confusing and there is also a lot of things going on at one time and there are many things they talk about. It is packed to its slimy and otherworldly gills with a levitating, drug-dealing Jamaican, a Morgan Freeman-lookalike detective, a Mall of the Dead, a man made of roaches, crashing a Las Vegas séance, exploding body parts, Shadow People, other dimensions, portals to Hell, time travel, J.-Lo, a very odd dog and many, many hideous monsters. In other words, if you’re looking for something random, say, like a gigantic gorilla-arachnid hybrid, this book probably has it. There conversations may appear to be out of the ordinary. Another weakness that i would like to point out is that there are way too many characters. The story starts out as with a mind game that makes you think, then it goes to flashbacks to reality to flashbacks and then back to reality. Next it goes to where John and Dave go to a party and meet a man called Roger. He is on a drug called the "soy sauce". He also knows what Dave dreams about and he said " I interpret dreams for beer". Much to Dave's surprise Roger got his dream right, but had no beer to pay him and left. Later on in the story it gets me even more confused because at of no where Dave starts to talk to a man named Arnie and Dave is telling him his life story and all the adventures he's had with John. So i think that this book is basically is a flashback. Molly..who's Molly?? Amy..who's Amy?? Fred..who's Fred?? Dr.Marconi..who's Dr.Marconi?? I wish i knew who all these characters are but some of them come in at totally random spots in the story and sometimes i get so confused that i mix up characters names and I'm like " who's who??". These are small weaknesses. I can easily go back and re-read a section just to understand it better but then yet again i am a teenager and i do like to take the easy way out so i would probably go online and look at summary's of the book on the Internet.
#4 and #8
HeHeHeHe. How would i describe David Wong's style of writing much less where i would begin. I believe that his style of writing is will and should fall into it's own category. Sure the genre of the novel is Horror..but for me its more like paranormal..extraterrestrial type of writing.
David Wong talks about supernatural things happening. There are so many creatures in the book as well as characters. He talks about things like spiders, creepy -legged creatures, and from people turning into snakes to a man made out of meat trying to kill them. John and Dave also talk in a lot of wired codes like: "Your pimp says bring the heroin shipment tonight, or he'll be forced to stick you. Meet him where we buried the Korean whore. The one without the goatee." It meant "come to my place as soon as you can, its important." Also there was " Oh, and don't forget, tomorrow is the day we kill the president." Which meant "Stop and pick me up some cigarettes on the way.(pg.3) The drug that John and Dave are on is called the Soy sauce. John also never mentions the name of the place they are at it always usually it reads [undisclosed]. Another thing about his writing that I've been thinking about the title of the book: John Dies at the End. We know John doesn't really die, at least not in the physical sense. But maybe a part of John does die, at discovering Monster Dave has replaced his best friend. A possibility or something closer to the meaning of the title? Or maybe I'm trying to read too much into this.Actually, it's ironic, seeing as John's the only main character that HASN'T died in some form. Dave died, Monster Amy died, Falconer died, and Drake died. Except John died at the beginning, just after he took the soy sauce and he and Dave got arrested.He was clinically dead, meaning he appeared dead on the surface, but I personally wouldn't count it given the book's standards for death. However, "John Dies at the End" may have another meaning...?? John does appear to die after taking the Soy Sauce. Maybe that's what the title references. John Dies at the End (of the last point in his life that can be called normal.). Most of my friends that saw the cover of the book first read the title and said "John dies at the end....well that pretty much spoils the ending" and then they look at the back and see the amputated arm and say "what kind of book are you reading". The title just keeps you wondering if John really does die at the end.John is for sure oblivious mainly because he's on "the sauce". He is one of the novel's main protagonists and long-time best friend of Dave. John is shown as being somewhat eccentric and he has a tendency to exaggerate descriptions for dramatic effect, including boasts about his sexuality and embellishments of his personal achievements that border on and--in many cases--infringe on outright falsehood. Nevertheless, John is a loyal companion and, in spite of his idiosyncrasies, surprisingly moral and upstanding.
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