Rating: 
Summary: Overrated Tripe
Review: I have read many books about nothing and enjoyed the majority of them. However, this rambling opus has a poorer center of gravity than its protagonist. The humor is pedestrian at best and the characters, sparsely drawn, wilt in the New Orleans heat. This is just another fine example of how book awards in general are misguided endorsements of sub-par work. There is a very good reason why this book was rejected by various publishers...it isn't very good. Toole casts a very large net, but catches very few fish in his attempt to capture an incendiary and convoluted period in American life. It appears that Toole is making an attempt at clever historical fiction, but shrouds the work in ludicrousness in order to hide its short comings and general failings.
Rating: 
Summary: An absolute comic masterpiece!!!!
Review: If you love satire, larger than life characters, and need a good laugh--- this book is definitely for you. Ignatius Reilly is an overweight, lazy, super-smart 30 year old who still lives with his mother. His adventures in the world of work are what drives this novel along with his philosophies of life (what he refers to as his "world view") which are nothing short of hilarious! To say that he is one of funniest characters in all of modern literature would be a gross understatement. Part Don Quixote and part Falstaff, the fun never stops as he makes his way through New Orleans low society. This book won the author a posthumous pultizer prize for literature in 1981. Sadly, the author committed suicide in 1969 after failing to get it published during his lifetime. Thankfully, his mother discovered the manuscript and as they say the rest is history. I've read an awful lot of books in my time and this one remains my far and away favorite. Discover for yourself what makes 'A Confederacy of Dunces' so off-the-wall good. You'll be really happy you did!
Rating:
Summary: One of a kind
Review: This classic piece of comedy/socail satire ranks as one of my all-time favorite books. John Kennedy Toole has created one of the best characters of modern fiction in Ignatius Reilly, a highly edjucated, but socailly maladjusted buffoon who still lives with his mother at the age of thirty. A comic series of events forces him out of his womb-like existance to seek work in a world that fails to meet his "worldview". Great characters and outrageous dialog fill this highly readable book with numerous laughs. That the author comitted suicide is a tragedy for the lovers of fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: Helpful tip
Review: In lieu of adding to the myriad of opinions and analysis over this particular book, I want to offer a suggestion for the reader who wants to get through this, but is reluctant.. the key that finally unlocked this work was, for me, imagining Ignatius as the comic book store owner from the Simpsons. See if it doesn't work for you!
Rating:
Summary: Dunces Unite!
Review: Apparently a college education doesn't count for much anymore. I really, really tried to get into this book. Finally, I just gave up. Sorry, I just don't get the appeal of this book. I am now a member of the confederacy of dunces that believed the hype about this silly book.
Rating:
Summary: A Confederacy of High School English Teachers
Review: This is a wonderful book, the discussion of which, up to this point, has been quite enjoyable. However, if you're the English teacher at a preppy New England boarding school, in the future please refrain from having your ENTIRE CLASS of trust-fund dolts post their endless, pointless, insipid, identical reviews on this site, okay? While I'm certain they are VERY special and represent some of our nation's finest families, no one comes to here to be subjected to 25... book reports. Thanks.
Rating:
Summary: funniest book in the world
Review: this has to be the most humorous book on the face of the earth. john kennedy toole was one of the greatest writers this, or any other country has produced. it is only too bad that he had to kill himself the way that he did, when he did. this book justifies my philosophy that anyhting that can be laughed at should be laughed at.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!
Review: Ignatius T. Riely is rude. Ignatius T. Riely is fat. Ignatius T. Riely is a loud, obnoxious, over-educated, under-achieving boob of a man. Yet somehow, when it comes to life, he just gets it.Not only is this book funny as hell, it is deliciously thought-provoking wonderfully written. Worthy of as many stars as possible.
Rating: 
Summary: A lonely fence-sitter
Review: I've been struggling with this review for quite a while, trying very hard to take a stand on how I feel about this book. It's a book beloved by so many people (my husband among them), yet it's reviled by probably equally as many. I had a very hard time determining which side I was on. I think I may be one of the very few sitting on the fence. Toole's characterization of Ignatius is indeed a brilliant portrayal of a self-centered, lazy, cynical and repulsive man, but I had a hard time finding his exploits funny. I've met people like Ignatius, and quite frankly, I want to get away from them, not indulge them as they attempt to skew the rest of the world their way. I truly despised Ignatius, and couldn't wait to finish the book to be rid of him. But, how can I fault an author who managed to evoke such a strong feeling of disgust from me? That's obviously the result of some darn fine writing. The story flows smoothly, combining Ignatius' misadventures with those of the other characters in a climactic conclusion that brought them all together an effectively amusing little tangle. So here I sit on the fence - I don't want to meet Ignatius again any time soon, but I don't regret having spent a little time with him.
Rating:
Summary: don't understand all the stars
Review: I've gotten into arguments about whether this book is any good. OK, reasonable minds may differ, but I'm baffled by the 400-500 positive reviews of this novel. I don't know how it rates as Literature (O'Toole obviously put a lot of effort into it anyway), but the story is uninteresting and the humor is utterly sophomoric. Imagine someone inserting chopsticks up his nostrils for laughs--that's what this book is like, somehow. When I tried reading it in high school (when I would read just about anything), I lost interest quickly; it was only a couple years ago that--after hearing someone rave about it again--I managed to slog through to the end. Boring boring boring. I'm not going to change anyone's mind by writing a long critique of it--which would be nothing against the avalanche of praise hereabouts. All I'm going to do is try to list some books and other stuff I DO find funny, or not funny: --> Some books and stuff I DO find funny: Catch-22; The 776 Stupidest Things Ever Said; Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (esp. Restaurant at the End of the Universe); This is Spinal Tap; Wayne's World; Groundhog Day; The Darwin Awards; The Far Side; Seinfeld; Liar's Poker; The Onion (1/3 of the time); Letterman in the 80s-mid 90s; Saturday Nite Live when it was still any good; early Eddie Murphy standup routines; Mike Luckovich --> Some books and stuff I DON'T find funny: Austin Power II (didn't catch the first one); The Onion (2/3 of the time); SNL in the past 5-6 years (the lame jokes are not that different from O'Toole's); Steve Martin; recent Eddie Murphy movies; Art Buchwald. So that's me, and I DON'T find Confederacy funny at all. I know there are probably a lot of people who'd agree with me about all of the above picks--and yet still find Confederacy funny. There's no accounting for it. But I'll suggest that, if you just try reading the first 3 pages of the book, and you're not amused by it already, you never will be.
|
