h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What did you think? I rather enjoyed it actually.

I loved this book- it was really quirky; both the story and the language. I found myself falling a bit in love with each of the brothers and listening to the Black Keys a lot....
I have a tortured mind
and my blade is sharp
not a good combination in the dark
(Sinister Kid)

I couldn't quite understand why they were so tortured by the killings; surely they would become immune?

My favourite so far.

I agree, this was my favourite so far as well. I still haven't finished Snowdrops, and Half Blood Blues though.

I thought that it was mainly the story of Charlie Sisters, the protagonist, and the only reason that he was going along with the killings was because his brother was under threat. He said at one stage that he couldn't count the number of times that he had killed someone because his brother, his flesh and blood was under threat.

I found it interesting that he had an intense relationship with his horse, because he wasn't able to have an intense relationship with a person. He was only allowed to be compassionate for animals.

I hadn't noticed the relationship with the horse (too much Malory Towers; they just won't learn to practice their lacrose will they?). It's interesting. He also fell in love with every women he met; and of course they were 'different' (i.e. not whores) in his eyes.

I thought Eli was the protagonist? But the other brother was supposed to be tortured too with nightmares and stuff. I suppose that coould come from killing his father- aren't we all supposed to want to kill our fathers?

Fortunately none of the irresponsible people I know read many books so they won't inadvertently encounter the idea that morphine could be used as a hangover cure.

I saw Patrick De Witt talking about his novel at Hay festival. He was on with a Welsh boy who who had written about Russia.  He was a tall Californian whose limbs seemed to long for his clothes; he'd grown up with the landscapes he'd written in the book but he said thy didn't feel like the landscapes in the book because you can't novice yourself it is the past. 

He read from the start of the book, his voice was as I imagined it from the book; very steady with no change of pace, rain was falling on the tent as he read that the horse thought to himself 'sad life, sad life'. 

I was reminded of the great use of language in this book. It was concise, tightly written but gave wonderful pen portraits of the characters. Very descriptive. The idea of the book (contract killers) sounds like it's going to be all action but it's much slower than that- more like a road movie. 

He had written the book to make a marked departure from his first novel and had been intending to subvert the western form. He thought there was a void in these books that they didn't give the characters an inner-life. He said though that he thought he was wrong, that this inner life and poetic nature wasn't what contract killers had but that there was a certain liberation in knowing you were wrong. He said also he'd done very little research.

People ask him if it's an allegory for the current economic crises but he says no, he wanted to write about something small, the relationship between two men who were brothers, they may not want to be but they were. 

He said of the book that he wanted us to believe it all the way but that he only half did so he didn't blame us if we didn't.