A Confederacy of Dunces
3 journalers for this copy...
Picked up less than half price (new) from Felixstowe market. Another book to cross off or my unofficial 'wish list'(18/12) Review to follow...
Journal Entry 2 by BookGroupMan from Chester, Cheshire United Kingdom on Saturday, December 18, 2004
I think this must be a ‘love it’ or ‘hate it’ sort of book. The case for the defence; it won the Pulitzer for best fiction in 1981, and the blurb says “Every reviewer has loved it. For once, everyone is right.”
On the opposite side of the fence, which is where I’m sitting, I wonder why it didn’t get published until more than 15 years after the author’s suicide? I found the whole thing very depressing. As well as the monstrous creation of Ignatius J. Reilly himself, most of the other characters in this satire are unpleasant, existing in some alternative universe of freaks, underachievers, criminals and the morally bankrupt. This is an American nightmare. Maybe I like my satire a bit less dark, my humour a bit…er…lighter, and the people I give headspace to a bit nicer.
The title comes from an interesting quote from Jonathan Swift, "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by his sign, that the dunces are all in a confederacy against him"
Reilly may be a genius in an academic sense, but ’a confederacy of dunces’, I don’t think so! He’s a fantasist, a social misfit, paranoid, lazy & egotistical. A complete horror!!
On the opposite side of the fence, which is where I’m sitting, I wonder why it didn’t get published until more than 15 years after the author’s suicide? I found the whole thing very depressing. As well as the monstrous creation of Ignatius J. Reilly himself, most of the other characters in this satire are unpleasant, existing in some alternative universe of freaks, underachievers, criminals and the morally bankrupt. This is an American nightmare. Maybe I like my satire a bit less dark, my humour a bit…er…lighter, and the people I give headspace to a bit nicer.
The title comes from an interesting quote from Jonathan Swift, "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by his sign, that the dunces are all in a confederacy against him"
Reilly may be a genius in an academic sense, but ’a confederacy of dunces’, I don’t think so! He’s a fantasist, a social misfit, paranoid, lazy & egotistical. A complete horror!!
Released on Thursday, December 23, 2004 at about 11:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at to another bookcrosser in n/a, n/a Controlled Releases.
RELEASE NOTES:
Sending to a fellow BCer wot asked for it. It comes highly recommended by Shylock, but then we've had different strong opinions about the relative merits of books in the past and are still friends ;)
RELEASE NOTES:
Sending to a fellow BCer wot asked for it. It comes highly recommended by Shylock, but then we've had different strong opinions about the relative merits of books in the past and are still friends ;)
Journal Entry 4 by Walter-Ego from Leeds, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Very kindly posted to me by Bookgroupman - my first by mail. I've already talked to someone in a bus queue about it, so perhaps it will alter my life. Haven't found it depressing so far, but neither is it brilliant...
Journal Entry 5 by Walter-Ego from Leeds, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Imagine the Bottom crossed with Tales of the City directed by Mike Leigh. It'll help pass the time if you have nothing better to do. The humour's a bit OTT for me. None of it made me laugh but I did find myself eager to know what happened in the end, or maybe just to get to the end. On the whole, I think I agree with BGM - it fails to live up to the hype, but there are worse books you could read.
Picked up at the Leeds meet up.
