Jane here. I'd have to agree with the Garcia hermanas, Tom Robbins manages to come up with themes that seem completely unrelated and and tie them all together in a nearly indescribable way. As I begin to tear into the last 30 pages, however, I realize more and more that, though Tommy has been shining a very bright light on the concept of immortality, the book as a whole seems to be more about the evolution of humans - sometimes even the evolution of the world. I think it was so important for him to have an "immortal" character (Alobar) so that he could depict human evolution over the past 1000 years in his robbins-esque way. Based on other books I've read of his, I've noticed that he loves to present very important, deep, insightful philosophical matters by following the lives of eccentric, nearly-magical, sexual, deviant characters. Making his books incredibly funny and entertaining yet important and slightly life changing.
As per Kimmy's comments on how he describes things - I couldn't agree more. "So out there and perfect at the same time" is exactly how I view his descriptions as well. I was cracking up when he described Alobar's finger as "water-logged" (after spending the night inside Kudra) or Alma "hiccuping the mushroom scent of his spurt." (May I add that this is the 2nd time we've read of a man's biznass smelling of mushrooms -- think Greek couple on a boat) I can't help but wonder if he has to think long and hard before coming up with such brilliance, or if these ideas just come pouring out of him one after the other.
Anyway, reading Tom Robbins always feels like a breath of fresh air for me, and I'll be sad when the book is over. Can't wait to talk about it over wine though!
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