Review: "Over The Top" Is An Understatement
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 08 9, 2013
I like Rigby Taylor. Completing "Jarek", I have now read every book he publishes for the Kindle. And most of them have been nothing less than wonderful.Unfortunately, as well-written as this book is, it sadly exposes some of Mr. Taylor's own biases - the very same kind of biases that he rails against in all of his writing.No matter how much he might protest it, Mr. Taylor must really, really dislike women. His villains in this story is not just a coterie of man-hating women, but entire generations of women whom he claims are feminizing the youth of the world.He sees most women as grasping, manipulative monsters whose only goal in life is to find a rich husband to denigrate while he provides the resources women need to consume conspicuously in order to impress other women.He must not know the women I know. Most of the women I know have jobs or careers, share home responsibilities with their boyfriends or husbands who, in turn, willingly work as partners in their marriages and child-rearing. Somehow, this book makes it seem that Mr. Taylor is stuck in 1952 - but that's not possible as Women's Liberation had not yet happened, and women had not yet become the murderous dominatrices, whipping their men and sons into endless submission, as Mr. Taylor would have us believe.His rants about the cruelty of religion (particularly against LGBT children), the indoctrination of people by those in power who earn their living by bilking the masses out of billions through the use of hate and guilt, and our ridiculous concept that bodies and sex are "dirty" are right on target.I give him huge credit for recognizing that all you have to do is postulate an "original sin" (involving the most basic and inescapable of human urges) to guarantee that the entire populace will be convinced of their eternal and unremitting guilt to get them shower untold riches and power upon you since you, and only you, hold the keys to redemption.But there are some terribly disturbing inconsistencies in Mr. Taylor's rants. At one point, he has Jarek say that it is natural to be hairy and wrong to shave it off. At several other points, he has Jarek, himself, shaving and trimming his own body hair.And there is a disturbing psychotic undertone to Jarek. Really disturbing. He kills at least three people, all of whom were certainly worthy of death, and lets one die of injuries incurred when his riding mower overturns and his hand is severed, because he was despoiling the environment. What is psychotic is that he leaves each of these scenes untouched and undisturbed. In the first three deaths, he was certainly justified. But who leaves the scenes of butchery without even a second thought or emotional reaction of any sort? A psychopath.And even worse, perhaps I'm reading it wrong, but in one of the most unsatisfying endings I've ever read, he hints that he might have "disappeared" the other, young protagonist if he thought he might leak the story and get him sent to prison - and that's after immediately comforting and cuddling the young man. In one of the very last lines, he basically states that, since he'll be one of his students at the new school he'll be teaching at, he'll be able to "keep a tight rein on him".Not good. Certainly not warm-and-fuzzy. Left me thinking that Jarek might belong in a mental institution. And perhaps Mr. Taylor, himself, might need some professional help.Mr. Taylor often states some of his stranger opinions as facts. In one scene, Jarek informs that gay men don't need to do "insertive" sex - that only a small percentage of gay men actually engage in anal intercourse.Perhaps in your world, Mr. Taylor. In mine, almost all of them do, and do so with joy and love and passion.Sorry, wish I could give the 5-stars many of his other books deserved. But, unfortunately, this one just left me disturbed rather than informed, moved or satisfied. I can't honestly recommend it.