What do you think?
Rate this book
Grasshopper
"The Grasshopper was our den. Our temple, church, parliament, brothel, heaven and hell. You could fit fifty people in the place if you put them standing side by side and take their entrails out to save space. But for us that place was as wide as the fucking world. It was where all our major decisions in life had been taken."
The self-styled Brotherhood of the Drinking Glasses convenes at The Grasshopper pub for long nights of banter, drink and women. Daniel Hart is a long-standing member of the Brotherhood. He is bored in his media job and aspires to be a novelist, but can only dedicate his life to the fanatic pursuit of pleasure.
A chance encounter with Sybil, a successful paperback writer in search of inspiration, is about to change all that — and for both begins a dark chaotic journey that will mark them and all those who cross their lives.
Grasshopper tells a story of decisions and consequences; of emotional and sexual connections; of raw and lyrical tragedy. But most of all it is a story of self-discovery.
The self-styled Brotherhood of the Drinking Glasses convenes at The Grasshopper pub for long nights of banter, drink and women. Daniel Hart is a long-standing member of the Brotherhood. He is bored in his media job and aspires to be a novelist, but can only dedicate his life to the fanatic pursuit of pleasure.
A chance encounter with Sybil, a successful paperback writer in search of inspiration, is about to change all that — and for both begins a dark chaotic journey that will mark them and all those who cross their lives.
Grasshopper tells a story of decisions and consequences; of emotional and sexual connections; of raw and lyrical tragedy. But most of all it is a story of self-discovery.
204 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2016
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 14, 2016
I sometimes felt that the story was a bit repetitive, and the characters were unoriginal and lacked interest for me. I felt that most of the time the women characters were portrayed as sexual objects and I also thought the language was a bit too foul and unnecessary at times.
A story about a lost man trying to find himself in all the wrong places. An 'okay' book if you're looking for a fast and easy read.
A story about a lost man trying to find himself in all the wrong places. An 'okay' book if you're looking for a fast and easy read.
June 6, 2026
i picked this book up because of the wonderful cover. i love grasshoppers! they're super cool alongside the praying mantis and dung beetle. the cover itself was dirty though, old and sticky, but well, the good the bad and the dirty, and so this was three in one.
good and dirty, because of the cover. good and bad, in terms of the content. well, i really didn't like the flow. it was too fast, there were little commas. me, i love commas, i think i know commas more than anyone, commas are great! oxford commas, and all the other commas, but this novel, did not have too many commas,,, so sometimes, i'd read faster than intended and it would sound off in my brain, especially during dialogues.
another thing, the raw language used, i had to double take. i re-read the same page a few times because i thought, wow, the absolute gall to think of something, probably tone it down a bit, put it into writing, amend it if need be, send it to editors and publishers, how courageous! let there be wine!
also the man is really dis-likeable. i got the impression that it was trying to be what bret ellis fears, so when it explicitly mentioned 'american psycho', i got the impression that at least, while he is reflecting and writing this fictional auto-biographical metafiction novel, he does indeed come to terms with the fact that he himself has a severe personality disorder! hopla!
i just didn't like it very much overall. i thought some passages were beautiful, but not for the majority of the novel. the pacing wasn't nice, the catastrophe which bewitches this man's exosphere is also not cool, i hate that bad things happen to those around him rather than him per se, evil author! unfortunately i think this happens in real life too. i think the word 'lest' was used at least 4 times in the story and it instantly reminded me of nietzsche, so when the ubermensch was mentioned, to overcome man, i was quite surprised. hitler thought the same though! also, i don't like it when women tolerate such an incomplete caricature of decadence.
i admit i finished reading it rather than not. for the love of the game - the novel itself wasn't good. 3 stars. (because i'm a kind reviewer)
good and dirty, because of the cover. good and bad, in terms of the content. well, i really didn't like the flow. it was too fast, there were little commas. me, i love commas, i think i know commas more than anyone, commas are great! oxford commas, and all the other commas, but this novel, did not have too many commas,,, so sometimes, i'd read faster than intended and it would sound off in my brain, especially during dialogues.
another thing, the raw language used, i had to double take. i re-read the same page a few times because i thought, wow, the absolute gall to think of something, probably tone it down a bit, put it into writing, amend it if need be, send it to editors and publishers, how courageous! let there be wine!
also the man is really dis-likeable. i got the impression that it was trying to be what bret ellis fears, so when it explicitly mentioned 'american psycho', i got the impression that at least, while he is reflecting and writing this fictional auto-biographical metafiction novel, he does indeed come to terms with the fact that he himself has a severe personality disorder! hopla!
i just didn't like it very much overall. i thought some passages were beautiful, but not for the majority of the novel. the pacing wasn't nice, the catastrophe which bewitches this man's exosphere is also not cool, i hate that bad things happen to those around him rather than him per se, evil author! unfortunately i think this happens in real life too. i think the word 'lest' was used at least 4 times in the story and it instantly reminded me of nietzsche, so when the ubermensch was mentioned, to overcome man, i was quite surprised. hitler thought the same though! also, i don't like it when women tolerate such an incomplete caricature of decadence.
i admit i finished reading it rather than not. for the love of the game - the novel itself wasn't good. 3 stars. (because i'm a kind reviewer)
February 13, 2021
I love the feel, design and cover of this book. It's what made me pick it up off the bookshop shelf in the first place. It's also a quick, easy read, which I managed in two days.
Unfortunately, the content itself is quite terrible. Nothing which happens makes much sense, or is believable, especially the sex, which is laughable. It's like the view of a teenage boy, imagining what adults do, based on what he saw on TV. I was determined to finish it, hoping that that hateful 'hero' would redeem himself in the end, but the character arc is also very weak, and like everything else, unrealistic.
I have heard a lot of positive things about the author's short story anthology 'Ghall-Glorja tal-Patrija!', but I decided to try his debut novel first. I hated it overall, but I still look forward to reading the anthology, which I imagine will be much better.
Unfortunately, the content itself is quite terrible. Nothing which happens makes much sense, or is believable, especially the sex, which is laughable. It's like the view of a teenage boy, imagining what adults do, based on what he saw on TV. I was determined to finish it, hoping that that hateful 'hero' would redeem himself in the end, but the character arc is also very weak, and like everything else, unrealistic.
I have heard a lot of positive things about the author's short story anthology 'Ghall-Glorja tal-Patrija!', but I decided to try his debut novel first. I hated it overall, but I still look forward to reading the anthology, which I imagine will be much better.
December 6, 2020
Enjoyed reading it. An easy read
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews