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S'està carregant… The Undertaker's Gone Bananas (1978)de Paul Zindel
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Apunta't a LibraryThing per saber si aquest llibre et pot agradar. No hi ha cap discussió a Converses sobre aquesta obra. It's hard to say which of Paul Zindel's many young adult books are the best. He may have a rare quality of making each book stand on it's own. Character studies of the finest quality. The Undertaker's Gone Bananas is about two young friends who discover strange goings on with their neighbor in the apartment complex they all share. What unravels is a possible murder mystery that sends the two on a hunt for who did it. Great relationship between the two main characters, lots of humor and action. Sense ressenyes | afegeix-hi una ressenya
Two teenagers believe a neighbor, an undertaker, has murdered his wife but can't convince anyone else. No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — S'està carregant… GèneresClassificació Decimal de Dewey (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LCC (Clas. Bibl. Congrés EUA)ValoracióMitjana:
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Mr Hulka seems slightly strange, an impression strengthened when the two teens gain access to the Hulka home, using the 'Welcome Wagon' ploy: bringing food and drink to welcome the residents, and satisfying their curiosity into the bargain. The Hulkas have dolls houses complete with figures and miniature furniture, apparently carved by Mr Hulka, and a lot of beautifully made wooden boxes that turn out to be antique dissection kits. To complete the impression, he explains that he is an undertaker.
Bobby's parents go away for a couple of weeks, leaving him at home. Not something that would be allowed these days, even for a 15-year old, but there's a big degree of trust between him and his parents, and he isn't interested in joining them on their climbing holiday. For the story's purposes they have to be got out of the way because as soon as he's alone he hears a violent argument next door and sees, from where the two apartments have an adjoining terrace, Mr Hulka apparently killing his wife.
He calls the police but Mrs Hulka arrives home from a shopping trip unscathed. Bobby and Lauri have often indulged in harmless pranks - wearing ape masks or dressing up as a nun and a monk to stroll around the cathedral grounds - and this has marked them out as troublemakers with the local police. The police view this as another prank, so when the argument next door appears to be re-staged later the same day, the police won't believe Bobby and threaten to lock him up while they call his parents back. And so begins the whistle-stop investigation and chase as he and Lauri try to get evidence and are drawn increasingly into danger.
The two teenage characters are well-drawn with Bobby's 100-miles-an-hour single-minded energy and Lauri's painful recovery from the trauma of witnessing the fatal fire which trapped and killed her neighbours at her previous address. Bobby is solicitous of her constant fear of death and she is slowly getting better, but the constant exposure to coffins, bodies and the idea of murder as they pursue Hulka become a kill-or-cure therapy. Hulka is a nicely over-the-top psycho, especially as the story escalates. The only flaw is that the final scene ends a bit too abruptly.
The book is of its time (1978) - no mobile phones to get the protagonists out of a fix, for example. They are both fans of TV: no internet etc then. However, it comes across as slightly more modern than the previous Zindel novel I've read (The Pigman), as a branch of Macdonalds makes a few appearances, and there are references to Star Trek which must be to the original series but could easily be to the modern reboots, whereas the earlier novel had details such as typewriters and a malt shop/soda shop, which would seem prehistoric to today's teens and young adults. The story can still be enjoyed as a gory crime romp. ( )