Going Bovine

I'm very disappointed to say that I was a bit disappointed with this book.

My favourite part of this book was the first chapter, which is possibly the funniest thing I ever read. If I was just rating the first chapter, I would give it five out of five stars, easily. The same goes for the acknowledgements section, which is also hilarious. They are my favourite parts, of the book, and, I am genuinely, genuinely unhappy to say this, the rest of the story just didn't measure up to the standard introduced in the first chapter.

That's not to say that Going Bovine didn't have some wonderful moments, both of the deep and meaningful variety, and of the hilarious and totally off the left field kind. There are some parts that come from nowhere and bite you on the nose, and they do save the story. The plot line of Going Bovine is literally impossible to predict, and the story seamlessly transitions frm one random situation to presenting something equally random and unexpected. There are also some beautiful aspects of the story, which somehow do not seem at all at odds with Cameron, the protagonist's, madcap journey.

All that said, I wasn't as happy with Going Bovine as I could have been. I had very high hopes for it, when I began reading it, and they weren't fulfilled. The humour vanished completely at some points, and the story just didn't work in the way I was hoping it would. It wasn't just any one, singular facet of the book which I didn't like, not exactly, but it did leave me slightly underwhelmed.

I would recommend reading Going Bovine, but not as wholeheartedly as I might have hoped. It is without a doubt one of a kind, and is quite insightful, but unfortunately, and I can't stress how much I hate to say this, not as good as I thought it would be.