Review: Hilarious, insightful, and full of clever details.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 6, 2014
furtl is funny and insightful, a tightly wound tale with more pop references than I probably picked up. Its political commentary was scathing, and its humor made me laugh out loud more than once. This is what 1984 would have been if written in 2013 by a guy with a funnybone.furtl chronicles the unceremonious unseating of the founder of the book's namesake company, a timid and weaselly fellow who has been swept away by people more politically attuned and financially motivated than he. After being ousted, he heads off into the Bhutanian wilderness to sulk, only to be reawakened by the intrusion of technology into his isolated haven. He plunges back into the political reality of the 2030's America, where he works to overthrow the stranglehold his previous company has on the government.I can hardly do this book justice in this short review, but parodies and parallels abound. One group he runs into, the "Lefteas" plays off both the term "leftie," a derogatory term for a left-leaning idealist (and this sorry band of miscreants takes those beliefs to hilarious extremes) and the "Tea Party" grassroots movement currently underway. But the satire doesn't stop with the groups themselves. The entire culture of the country a short couple decades in the future is a logical progression from where we are today. I would go so far as to call this "a scathing but hilarious critique" of current Western society, if I were prone to sound bites in these reviews.Mr. Witherspoon has done his homework, binding the story together with details and nuances that struck me as apropos, sad, and silly all at once. I found it confusing to get into the book because with first chapter is actually a prologue (since the main character isn't in it). It took several scenes before I realized Manny was the protagonist. I enjoyed his hard-put-upon demeanor, though it didn't quite reach the hilarious extremes that, say, Arthur Dent in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy did.This book appeals to readers of satirical humor, conspiracy theorists who believe the government is tracking our every move (Hint: They are!), and anyone who appreciates a light-hearted look at the consequences of the choices we as a society are making.Also posted on my blog, Magic & Mayhem Book Reviews: [...]