1998; 360 pages. Book 2 in the “Completely Barking Mad Trilogy” series. New Author? : No. Genres : Humorous Absurdism; British Humour; Weird
Fantasy. Overall Rating : 7½*/10.
Lazlo Woodbine is in a bind. Literally.
He’s been committed to a mental institution and put in a straitjacket. The problem is that everybody knows that
“Lazlo Woodbine” is a fictional detective.
So the main aim of the nuthouse right now is to figure out who this guy
pretending to be Lazlo really is.
There are other issues, of course. Lazlo claims to have a “holy guardian sprout” named Barry living inside his
head. Lazlo and Barry have lots of conversations. One of their main topics is a quest that
Lazlo is currently working on—he’s searching for an artifact called the
“Voodoo Handbag”.
It’s going to be a challenging quest because, according to that well-known axiom “Hugo
Rune’s Law of Obviosity”, the artifact will be
hidden in the least likely place you’d expect it to be. Good luck with that, guys.
But Lazlo is determined to
find it, just as soon as he can get out of the straitjacket. Because snagging that handbag is of the
utmost importance.
The end of the world is at
stake.
What’s To Like...
The Dance of the
Voodoo Handbag is vintage Robert Rankin fiction. There are several storylines, some real,
others illusory, and no easy way to tell which is which. The author’s trademark literary
device—recurring gags—are here again, including Fangio’s Bar, talking the toot,
and of course, Barry the Sprout. Witty
dialogue and absurd antics are present in abundance.
The main task for Lazlo, and
for the reader, is to figure out what is going on. This is no small feat since there are
multiple dimensions and frequent time jumps to deal with. For both the reader and the protagonist, the
key is to keep applying Hugo Rune’s Law of Obviosity to whatever set of circumstances are being confronted.
There are several bad guys to
deal with along the way. One of them is
a guy named Henry Doors, which is a subtle take-off of … well, I’ll let you
work that one out. I loved the
explanation of Voodoo Theology given in Chapter 17, and the brief nod to the
Thirteenth Floor Elevators on page 153.
Mr. Rankin has excellent musical tastes.
The ending is over-the-top and
tense. It felt a bit forced, but that’s
okay; Lazlo Woodbine would heartily approve of it. The evil plans are thwarted and the world is
saved, but you knew that would happen. The
Dance of the Voodoo Handbag is part 2 of Robert Rankin’s “Completely Barking Mad” trilogy, which I
didn’t read in chronological order, and now wish I had.
Kewlest New Word ...
Tosspot (n.) : a foolish or contemptible person;
or a drunkard (British slang)
Others: Runcible Spoon (n.).
Ratings…
Amazon:
4.3/5
based on 68 ratings and 12 reviews.
Goodreads: 3.79/5 based on 879
ratings and 21 reviews.
Excerpts...
“Well, chief, there are some who might
suggest that you are nothing more than a paranoid schizophrenic with a multiple
personality disorder and persecution complex.”
“Outrageous! And who might suggest such a thing?”
“Well, there was the doctor at the mental
institution you’ve just escaped from.”
“Oh, him.”
“Him, chief.”
“And what about you, Barry? Do you think I’m mad?”
“Me, chief?
Absolutely not. But then, what
would I know? I’m only a voice in your
head.” (pg. 156)
Have you ever wondered about the kind of
noise the Big Bang made? And whether, in
fact, it was the first noise? If it was
the first noise, then it was undoubtedly the biggest and the loudest, and all
later noises are a terrible let down in comparison. But was it the first noise?
I remember being taught at school that
sound cannot travel through a vacuum.
And if that’s the case, then the Big Bang couldn’t make any sound at all
in the infinite vacuum of space. Which
would mean that it wasn’t really a Big Bang at all, was it?
It was more of a Big Poof! (pg. 229)
Kindle Details…
The Mass Market Paperback
edition (which is the format that I read this book in) of The Dance of the Voodoo Handbag is apparently not
available at Amazon right now. The
e-book edition is priced at $6.99. Robert Rankin offers several dozen other “weird fantasy” tales in e-book formats, most
of them in the price range of $0.99-$5.99, plus one autobiography
I, Robert, which costs $9.00.
“Everything that
can happen will happen, and everything that can’t happen will happen too, if
you’re prepared to wait.” (pg.
297)
The cussing in The Dance of the Voodoo Handbag is sparse; I
counted only eight instances in the first 25% of the book. Later on, there are a couple references to
“adult situations”, plus one to a part of a donkey’s anatomy. But overall, this is a pretty clean story. I didn’t notice any typos, which is a rare and noteworthy feat.
The story is told from both
the first-person POV (our protagonist’s),
and the third-person POV (the main bad guy’s),
but if anything, that helped clarify whose plot thread was being addressed. Each chapter starts off with a poem and a
quote, which were cute and witty, but generally without relevance.
My main quibble (is that an oxymoron?) is that, at
times the absurdism fogs up the storyline.
Yes, Robert Rankin is a top-tier author in Absurdist Literature, and the
Law of Obviosity predicts a plethora of unforeseeable plot tangents will arise. But at times, both Lazlo and I yearned for
just a bit more clarity.
Still, and as always, I enjoyed The Dance
of the Voodoo Handbag. When the
overarching plotline emerged in the second half of the book, it imparted a
welcome sense of direction to the tale.
7½ Stars. One last thing. The would-be evil world leader that emerges is eerily similar to several power-obsessed politicians making headlines nowadays. Did Robert Rankin have the gift of prophecy when he wrote The Dance of the Voodoo Handbag? Maybe Barry the Guardian Sprout resides in the author's head!
