Adolf in Wonderland by Carlton Mellick III Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Adolf in Wonderland
Book Review: Is it Adolf? Is it Wonderland?
Summary: 5 Stars
When you're a fan of the bizarro genre, this is your cup of tea. Reading 'Adolf In Wonderland' was like taking an acid trip. Mellick's bizarre worlds and bizarre characters take over your mind and the journey is inevitable.
In a world where Hitler has won and perfection rules the world, two SS officers are dropped of at a deserted train station in search of a town that contains an imperfect being to be eradicated. All they find is a miniature, deserted doll town before both officers disappear.
The youngest wakes up as the sole resident of a local bar. The bartender calls him Adolf because the name Adolf Hitler is on his uniform. His briefcase is missing, along with most of his memories. Adolf is in Wonderland, or should I say Freako-Land. This is a world where Dakar spiders can shrink you down to eat you, where there's tiny buglike cockroach people, and Sadness Daemons who live in the walk-in mirrors. Adolf is in Wonderland, and he's going to go down the rabbit hole. In the Inn next to the bar, he meets the innkeeper who puts him up in a room with a whale-like sleeping fat man and a ghost who doesn't think she's a ghost. Adolf can't sleep, all he can remember is the he must find his briefcase to hunt down the Imperfect Man.
After finding The Perfect Woman, Adolf is shrunk by a Dakar spider and brought into an entirely different realm. There are imperfect beings everywhere, but where is the one he's looking for. All kinds of things will happen to Adolf, including being co-joined to a warthog-man while trying to get into the castle to talk to the Golden Eel. I don't want to give away the whole book, but it's a wild trip.
Yes, Alice In Wonderland does come to mind while reading this short book (only 166 pages) but it's Alice In Wonderland on some heavy drugs. Listening to Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" would enhance the experience.
My major problem was that the dialogue felt like it should have used contractions, but under thought I believe the author didn't use them on purpose, giving us a more "Dick and Jane" dialogue approach just to test if we're paying attention to his strange content. How can you top descriptions like "His odor was not unlike the diarrhea of a diseased ostrich"? How can you top little children that turn into hotdogs when they eat hotdogs?
If you're a fan of the Bizarro Genre, pick up this little rabbit hole treasure. If your not, this small book would be a good beginning to relax and let your mind go utterly blank to join into a world as wild as any Alice could have ever dreamed of, with a pinch of punk thrown in. Where else can you make fun of Adolf Hitler and Alice In Wonderland all contained in a slim volume? Enjoy!
Book Review: It Needed the Tea Party
Summary: 3 Stars
Lest I be branded an old fogy, let me explain the three stars. The premise of the search for perfection was good. The use of Adolph was good. The weird was expected and was fine.
Even in Bizarro there needs to be some connection among the story line, the characters, the locations and the interactions. In this, there was too much "let's walk over here and have something weird happen, then we'll walk over there and have something weird happen, then we'll ..., then we'll kind of wrap it up".
The final result, this was an interesting book, but not as good as others of both his and other writers in the genre.
Book Review: Meh
Summary: 3 Stars
The book was alright I guess, all the characters were very static, never changing, but then it was such a short book there couldn't be very much character development, the scenes were well described, it was a good book but not his best.Book Review: One Of My Favorites!
Summary: 5 Stars
Like Mr. Mellick, I also have a fascination with WWII and the whole Nazi uprising. This book tackles the subject expertly. Throwing a man loyal to Hitler into a ridiculous situation. Basically, as the title suggests, he is thrust into a bizarre realm where his supposed superiority is put to the test. Fantastic tale!Book Review: Pretty good for what it is
Summary: 4 Stars
This book has no point and I think that's the point. It has an interesting plot, about a Nazi from an alternate future who is trying to find and kill the last imperfect man on Earth only to find more and more imperfect people everywhere he looks. The book never really resolves, nor is it intended to. The world and its people just continue to get stranger and stranger for 200 pages... until the reader gets the point. And the point is that its pointless to strive for perfection.
There are many dark, creepy, imaginative things happening in this book. The imagery is the best part. It is like the strangest dream you've ever had. I would compare this book to Jan Svankmayer's Alice in Wonderland film. Both are nonsensical, but not anymore than Lewis Carroll's book. I'd give it three and a half stars. A worthy read that is in its own way brilliant, but it might be my least favorite by the author.