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Title: The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie ISBN: 0-671-02082-X Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.17 (47 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Wonderful, if sometimes cute, first novel from Laurie!
Comment: Hugh Laurie's engaging meta-spy novel THE GUN SELLER is a great piece of fast, incredibly readable fun. I read the book in two days. The book stands in between the hyphens of many different genres and, oddly enough, it is probably its place as a humor novel that is most frustrating. While the cynical, witty spy novel aspect of this book is compelling, as is its political tretises, I found myself wishing that Laurie could, every now and then, set his comedy aside. While, for the most part, the comedy of the book is incredibly well crafted, it occasionally borders on the cute. One passage in which he writes, for example "Outside, it was snowing; well, of course it was snowing outside," comes to mind as an example. Despite this, Hugh Laurie's "The Gun Seller" is a great achievement and an excellent first novel, if not quite so great as his comedy partner, Stephen Fry's THE LIAR. Pick them both up, and enjoy them both as separate meta-novels bent on turning thrillers upside down.
Rating: 5
Summary: Heartily recommended!
Comment: I initially picked up this book only out of curiosity after noting that Hugh Laurie was listed as the author. I've read a number of novels written by other performers whose stage/screen/musical work I greatly enjoy, only to find that my literary tastes don't match with theirs. Imagine my surprise when I opened up _Seller_ and fell completely for it from the first paragraph on! The plot is sharp, the characters engaging; the twists keep you guessing, and Thomas Lang's witty and refreshing narrative (hardly any sentences in the novel could be labeled "pedestrian") invites you to continue turning pages. It's one thing to create a solid story; it's quite another thing to creatively deliver that story: Laurie accomplishes both here.
Rating: 4
Summary: Summary and Review for SF
Comment: Hugh Laurie sets his novel, "The Gun Seller," as a spy genre in contemporary England. The main character is Thomas Lang, a somewhat anti-hero gun for hire nice guy. The writer immediately introduces Mr. Lang who is already in trouble with his arm about to be broken and a quick decision to be made on how to break away from a dangerous situation. Also, in the beginning of the story, Mr. Lang meets and is somewhat attracted to Sara Woolf, and he has to use his wits and quick thinking to explain a combination of circumstances to prevent her from calling the police. Sara Woolf is the daughter of Alexander Woolf, and to make matters more complicated, Mr. Woolf happens to be the person who gets Mr. Lang into all kinds of trouble in the first place. As the book continues, we see that Mr. Lang gets involved in a lot more than just being a hit man even though he is a gun for hire. Each time Mr. Lang attends meetings in coffee shops and a bar about the job Mr. Woolf wants him to perform, he becomes just as confused and reluctant as the previous time. In addition, the explanations behind the characters' backgrounds and the people whom Mr. Lang knows, seem to make his adventure all the more dangerous. The nature of his work is made that much worse by being a story about arms dealing with a top-secret helicopter. Along the way, Mr. Lang encounters some more people like Murdah and others who don't make the situation any better by forcing him to do the wrong thing and threatening to kill him and Sara Woolf if he doesn't comply with them. Finally, Mr. Lang meets up with Ricky and Francisco, and they all end up in a sticky situation together while trying to prevent a lot of fatalities. "Lang's out to save the leggy lady he has come to love...and prevent an international bloodbath to boot".
"The Gun Seller" is Hugh Laurie's first novel, and I would recommend reading it. Although Laurie's book is generally good, it does have a couple of flaws. The author could have shortened his book from 339 pages and limited his lengthy number of characters. The main characters include Thomas Lang, Sara Wolf, Mr. Woolf, Benjamin, Francisco, Murdah, Ricky, and a couple of others. There are too many characters to follow in the way this book is written because the characters seem to interact at least two at a time with Mr. Lang which adds to some confusion as the plot thickens. However, the book is definitely good; it's a refreshing new take on the spy genre because it doesn't take itself too seriously even in times of danger. Laurie's sense of humor is observational, similar to what one finds on "Seinfeld," and the reader finds this right from the get-go. "His name was Rayner. First name unknown. By me, at any rate, and therefore, by you too." Laurie's humor reveals itself, "I have good, warm, non-arm-breaking relationships with plenty of people who are ten years older than me." This almost comic book style spy novel takes place in England, and "The Gun Seller" seems to be written during the present war/terrorist time although Laurie wrote the book in 1996, prior to 9/11. The novel provides some perception into what it would be like if the U.S. were the supposed terrorist, the bad guys. Even though Laurie could have limited his book from 339 pages, it is still original enough because of his writing style, and he makes it entertaining so you won't have a hard time reading it. The writing is narrative and comes from an everyman type of style. "In fact I took several deep breathes, because what I now wanted to do to Russell Barns might result in me not breathing again for quite a while." Laurie continues, "He was still watching me, testing me for some reaction, some weakness." The main character, Thomas Lang, is an anti-hero because he is a gun for hire or hit man but if he didn't say what he did, the reader would think that he was a teacher. Lang might not be the best teacher, but he would be a decent one because of his reasoning skills.
This novel jumps out of the gates in the thick of a dangerous situation for Mr. Lang, "Imagine that you have to break someone's arm. Right or left it doesn't matter." This grabs the reader from the beginning, and it encourages one to continue reading. Even though "The Gun Seller" starts off great for this first time novelist, Laurie kind of drags it on too long around the middle of the story, so it gets slightly boring as the characters spend a lot of time sitting around and talking to each other. Things pick up again when Mr. Lang crashes his motorcycle. Finally, the action picks up when Mr. Lang, Francisco and Rick try to prevent casualties in a very dangerous scene. With action, comedy, arms dealing, some rogue CIA agents and wannabe terrorists, this book isn't a must read but it definitely wouldn't hurt.
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Title: The Hippopotamus by Stephen Fry ISBN: 1569470545 Publisher: Soho Press, Inc. Pub. Date: June, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Liar by Stephen Fry ISBN: 156947012X Publisher: Soho Press, Inc. Pub. Date: June, 1994 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Moab Is My Washpot: An Autobiography by Stephen Fry ISBN: 1569472025 Publisher: Soho Press, Inc. Pub. Date: May, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Syrup by Maxx Barry, Max Barry ISBN: 0140291873 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 03 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Making History: A Novel by Stephen Fry ISBN: 1569471509 Publisher: Soho Press, Inc. Pub. Date: May, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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