Dear Internet,
The second
and last day for "Starship Troopers" has concluded. Thanks to the fact that it was in audiobook
format, I was able to continue yard work while listening. With full confidence, I can admit that I was
happier with the yard work than listening to this book. Now I want to get something straight. I have no green thumb. The fanciest thing I have done with plants is
grow a grape vine in a room, which only amounted to creating a spot on the linoleum
floor beneath where the wet cardboard had cleaned off years of grime. On the other side are few plants that have slowly
died under my watch. I saw few because I
did not want to cause more plants to suffer so and wised up. So, I do not wish to make it sound like
gardening is the most awesome thing in the world for me. "Starship Troopers" is just plain
boring.
Now do
not get me wrong. The book has strong
moments, but they are few and far between.
There are about two or three actual combat missions by the end. I know there was one in the beginning and one
at the end. There might have been
another one, but it must have snuck in when it was busy attempting to make me
fall asleep. The majority of the book is
what I had said yesterday: political, social, and military commentary. A majority of it is bupkis, but some of it
can hold water, specifically the aspects that detail military regulations and
training. Whether or not the content of
such commentary is solid or full of fluff, it is constantly weighing down the
nearly non-existent plot. What I said
yesterday about how boot camp seemed to take an excessive amount of time to get
through continues with officer school. I
am reminded of certain infamous animated shows where every other story arc was
a training arc.
I am
not against the idea of having the main character trying to grow as an
individual through schooling and such. But
it is how the book treats such times that I find annoying. Every arc of the story has about six or so
new characters that all seem to get equal emphasis in their quick introductions
and equally quick deaths. When someone
dies in this novel, I found it difficult to feel anything over their demise
because I was too busy trying to figure out just who they were. The mother of the main character dies in an
attack by the enemy aliens, but the main character spends more time thinking
about his aunt's letter and what his father was doing than expressing loss over
her death. Even Carl, the main character's
best friend through high school, seems to be killed off unceremoniously by only
being mentioned matter of fact like that his research facility was destroyed. It was mentioned when a female character,
Carmen, reappears out of nowhere and asks for a date with the main character. I cannot emphasis how much that her
reappearance feels so out of place that it feels forced. Both Carmen and Carl were so vital in the
early chapters of the book that their long disappearance from the narrative
creates an awkward hole in importance of their part of the story in the first
place. Sure, if it was not for them,
then Rico would have not joined, but they were made only to fill a momentary
role and be quickly swept under the rug.
Another
thing that bothers me is the extreme over abundance of military jargon. While this is also stemming from the preachy
nature that the book is heavy with, the military terms are tossed around so
much at some points that it subtracts from the flow of the scene and can easily
bewilder the audience. Compound that
with the half a dozen characters with ranks being thrown around like dodgeballs,
it becomes even more confusing. Then there
is the fact that Rico has to numerous times fill a position that he is thrust
into and has certain limitations about what kind of orders he can issue because
of it. I am not saying that his is too
much for a reader/listener to keep in the back of their head, but it is
something that speed bumps the progress of the thin plot.
On the
small matter of what I did like about "Starship Troopers," on the
chance that you think I cannot find anything good about things I review, there
was the reunion scene of Rico and his father which is very touching. Also, the fight between Rico and Ace has some
special character development. And future space suits are cool. Umm, after that, there is, no wait. Beyond that and the actual battles with the
aliens which feature the most and only action in the novel, there is not much I
like. I found annoying about having to
slog through the bulk of the book just to get to plot progression.
"Starship
Troopers" is an average novel in my opinion, not bad, but only because of
how boring it feels. Maybe all that
philosophical talk went over my head, but I try not to pretend to be smart or be
a pseudo-intellectual and claim I understood it all. I do, however, admit that I did not care very
much for it, especially the aspects that dealt with the nature of man, or lack thereof
in some cases. Sometimes I felt like the
individuals in the book were wrong, but I always was wondering what any of this
had to do with anything else. None of
the endless discussion of the various topics touched upon ever influenced the
plot. Did Rico ever question his orders
or change his priorities because of these discussions? Nope, he acted in according to the situation.
If some giant bug is coming at you to
kill you, you do not question its government structure. You shoot the thing. All that talk is meant for the reader, which makes
this book a soapbox for the author. A
soapbox with a general lack of poetry that was unable to make me care.
Yours in digital,
BeepBoop
P.S. Tomorrow is "Son of Godzilla" (1967). I should have guessed.
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