I really like Rodman Philbrick's writing style. The narrative always flows along at a fast, highly readable pace, skating lightly above the troubled waters of the suspenseful stories that he tends to tell. REM World, in that respect, is like all of Rodman Philbrick's novels, and I doubt that many readers will claim to have been bored while reading it. Arthur Woodbury, the story's protagonist, is already substantially overweight at the age of ten. The cruel jeers of his insensitive classmates seem to linger in his ears even when he's not around them, and things aren't getting any better. That is, until the day that Arthur spots an ad for a special new technology called the REM Sleep Device, which promises to help anyone lose weight rapidly while they sleep. If the advertisement is truthful, then for a nominal fee of $9.99, all Arthur would have to do to shed his unwanted pounds is put the REM machine on his head before he sleeps, and then wake up with the fit body he has always wanted. For a kid without the self-discipline to engage in prolonged diet and exercise, what could be more of a revelation than that? Ah, but Arthur doesn't take the time to read all of the instructions before beginning the supposedly breakthrough REM Sleep Device program, and this oversight could come back to haunt not only himself, but the entire universe. The REM world that he enters upon going to sleep with the machine on to his head is a perilous existence of monsters and demons that could threaten his real life, but nothing about the place is more terrifying than the Nothing, a non-substance with the power to wipe out Everything that ever has been or will be, if Arthur can't summon the courage to set right what went wrong when he violated the natural rules of the REM world. I have to confess that I was a bit confused by this book. There's a lot about the plot that I didn't understand, which is an issue I've never had while reading any of Rodman Philbrick's other novels, and I can't say for sure that I comprehend the bigger theme that REM World is trying to convey. However, the little bits of wisdom sprinkled throughout the pages, coupled with the smooth writing style of Rodman Philbrick, gives me reason to round my one-and-a-half-star rating of REM World up rather than down. It is an unusual book with some interesting characters, and will make for an appealing story to many readers.
Rem World by Rodman Philbrick is a book that I really enjoy reading when there are days in which I am bored. This book talks about a boy named Arthur Woodbury that doesn't want to be fat anymore because every always teases him. One day he bought this Rem divice to lose weight he put the divice on his head and is instantly transported to another world. But when that happened he took off the helmet which causes Arthur to go on his journey to get out of Rem World. On the way he meets different beings and is off to beat the clock because the nothing are after his body. This is a suspenseful book that is calming to read. i recomend this book to anyone that just wants to read. Enjoy!
