The Ear, The Eye, And The Arm (1995) - Plot & Excerpts
Okay, I definitely expected more from this book. 1. Where was the mystery? I thought it would be some intense plot filled with true villains who wanted to overthrow the government, or a group of outsiders who want to take revenge against the general by kidnapping his kids. I have this thing called an imagination and I thought, judging from House of the Scorpions, Farmer would be throwing some twists and turns here. 2. As much as I liked the adventure, it was just too much. They encounter scenario one, escape, bump into scenario two, escape, learn a few life lessons or so, and step into scenario three without a moment’s hesitation. Granted, the transitions were good, but some of the events that took place simply didn’t need to happen. It took time away from the core of the novel. 3. The children’s adventure clashed with the detective’s storyline so much that I failed to see the connection except the highly stressed point that they were supposed to find the children. They only interact at the very end. It’s like reading two very messy stories intertwined into one where the plot is the same: they ALMOST run into each other, but the children are just one step further away. This cycle annoyed me to no end. I feel cheated somehow. I picked up this book with the idea that Ear, Eye, and Arm could do wonders with their messed up genetics, but the story didn’t even stress their powers. It was obvious who Ear and Eye was, but I thought, initially, Arm had super strength or could stretch. It was only halfway through the book that I finally understood that Arm’s powers were a mix of empathy and mind reading. 4. I really wanted a more in depth description about what had changed in the future: the gadgets, the genetically altered monkey, the robots, and the idea of “utopia” AKA a world without diseases and gang activity. Nonetheless, I still liked it.
This is like 4 books in one. The first is the story of three kids, living a sheltered and rather boring life, who set off on a series of adventures. The second is a sci-fi look at what life might be like in a future Africa, with robots and mutants and mile high buildings. The third is a mystery with three unusual detectives searching for some kidnapped children. And the last book is a examination of what happens when modern people try to return to a traditionally tribal way of life. How much you enjoy this book seems to depend on how much you like any or all of those kinds of stories.We read this for book club, and I enjoyed it more than anyone else. Some of the other readers admitted that they weren't fans of science fiction, or that they had a hard time imagining that kind of future world. But I guess I was caught up in the adventure of the story and didn't worry too much about how it all worked together. It just sort of worked, for me. I really liked Tendai, the oldest of the three kids whose trip to the city sets off the whole chain of events. I admit that it was a bit much to believe that they just continued from one set of adventures to the next, falling into the wrong hands at every turn, and somehow managing to escape. But I didn't care much. I liked it anyway. I liked that we got to see how Tendai grew from an insecure, serious boy who only wants to please his father into someone who cares about his brother and sister, who wants to protect them, and isn't afraid to save himself.I would recommend this one. Yes, there's a lot going on, but it seems like you either like it or you don't, and it's hard to predict which it's going to be. I wouldn't have picked it up at all if it hadn't been for book club, and I really enjoyed it. 4 stars
What do You think about The Ear, The Eye, And The Arm (1995)?
In The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, Farmer has a unique style. The first thing I noticed was the point of view. The book is narrated in the third person. The narrator knows all of the characters. However, the narrator is not constant- the point of view occasionally shifts to the viewpoint of ten year old Tendai, one of the Matsika children. Another interesting aspect of the author's style is the use of many themes. One of the most prominent of all would be the theme of discovering what the world is about for the first time. The children in the book are thrown into a world of crime and have to narrowly escape danger and survive- something they've never experienced before coming from a sheltered life as children of a powerful general. The author uses this theme to create a feeling of danger and tension throughout the high drama scenes. Because the main characters are the children and the narrator knows their thoughts, this style makes the reader see from a child's point of viewers easily. The style makes it obvious to see the big change the children face after they "disappear" from their sheltered life and everything they know changes.
—Manisha Gore
This is a sci-fi book set in Zimbabwe in the year 2194(ish). Three children of a famous general are kidnapped, and their father hires three mutant detectives with super-powers to find them. The children escape again and again, only to be kidnapped once more by a different party. All the time, the three detectives are right behind them. It sounds exciting, but really, you will enjoy this book better if you understand that THIS BOOK IS WRITTEN WITH AFRICAN CULTURE!!! So, the book is written in which the African gods are real, their rituals are authentic, medicine men are possessed by real spirits, there are masks which have evil spirits in them, and at one point in the story, the great god of the African people possesses two main characters to help end the adventure triumphantly. I am not fond of the culture myself, so I was not so crazy about this book. YOU might like it better.
—Tyler
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm is part science fiction, part detective story, and part fairy tale. General Matsika and his wife are classic over-protective parents. When their children, Tendai, Rita, and Kuda, trick their parents into signing a permission slip for a scout trip, the adventure begins. The children disappear, and Mrs. Matsika becomes so desperate she hires the detective agency of the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm. These detectives were born near a nuclear waste site and have special "powers" as a result. As the detectives search for the children, they experience their own adventures.Not nearly as bleak as House of the Scorpion. Highly entertaining.
—Alisa
