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Summary: This is a novel of great humor.
Review: A Confederacy of Dunces written by John Kennedy Toole won the Pulitzer Prize and sold more than 1.5 million copies through more than 20 languages (Dunce). This book was published eleven years after the author's death by his mother and was the author's first book (Dunce). There is more than a humor in A Confederacy of Dunces. This book is typical American modern literature and contains many elements to be a good literature. Ignatius J. Reilly, a hero of this book, is a fool, but he thinks that other peoples except him are fools. As the title infers, it is the confederacy of dunces. Who's right? There is no answer. It is the way it is; an answer follows the numbers in modern society.
Ignatius J. Reilly lives with his mamma even though he's already in his age of thirty. He spends most of the day writing a book locked in his room. Ignatius is a fool in this book. Even though he has doctor's degree and graduated from college, he is a fool. What is the standard of stupid and genius? If one is not fit in the society, he can be regarded as a fool like Ignatius. The people who is unique or fools as people say, are the brave people who start something different before the ordinary men. The man who first asserted that the earth was spinning was called a fool. The man who first walked by two legs was considered to a fool. One who quitted one's business, who left school, who started a new business were all called fools and pointed with scorn. The author titled his book A Confederacy of Dunces not A Dunce of Confederacy. Who are the dunces? What if this book is read few decades later? Is Ignatius going to be still regarded as a fool? The author approaches to the readers with a very deep subject. A Confederacy of Dunces is a great novel. Even though there is not much happenings and exciting in it, it has humor and makes readers keep think.Ignatius is a unique character. He is a hero of this book, but he has too many handicaps to be a hero. He doesn't have any good side in a word. This book is a satire of this world. According to the introduction of this book in the backside, Ignatius is a later-day Don Quixote. My uncle has invited to read the Don Quixote to me, saying whenever he spent hard times and when he failed something, he read the Don Quixote and was encouraged by reading it. That is now understandable.
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Summary: A confederacy of Dunces review
Review: Many people have experiences in life where they find themselves in a situation where their opinion does not follow what a larger group may think. In the book A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy O'Toole, the main character Ignatius finds himself in this situation through out the whole story. The book does a great job displaying a situation where the reader can relate to certain sitations that the main character is in. At the same time, the author does a great job creating a character that evokes powerful emotions from the reader.The book is about a man, Ignatius, who finds himself to be living in a world where he is surrounded by people who are ignorant about what really matters in the world. His subliminal goal is to help people realize this and set them in a direction where they can continue living their life in a way that is more real and fulfilling. Ignatius seems also to be caught between his mother and her dimentia of thinking that the world, including her son, are against her. Ignatius ends up being forced through different jobs and he burns a scandalous past through every place that he becomes apart of. In the end, Ignatius loses his last job as hot dog vendor, sparks a 500 thousand dollar law suit, retires a woman who has wanted to have been retired for years, but someone was convinced that she wanted to work where she was, is sent to a mental hospital by his confused and mentally blocked mother, and elopes with his ex girlfriend who he keeps in touch with through mail through out the story. The book does a great job displaying the theme of ignorance through a variety of characters who the reader can watch lie and cheat their way into the hopeful dream of achieving the American Dream of being happy and making money easily. Although the book is written in a way that can be tiring and sluggish at times, once the reader completes the book, looking back on it leaves one with a feeling of accomplishment and a new knowledge and view on life and the people in it.
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Summary: things i believe in
Review: A Confederacy of Dunces, written by John Kennedy Toole is the only published work he created in his life. Unfortunately Toole did not live to see his work released or win a Pulitzer Prize. Toole writes a story which takes place in New Orleans during the nineteen sixties; the main character is an incompetent man named Ignatius Reilly. Ignatius is an unemployed man in his thirties who has a college education and due to a severe lack of motivation and extreme laziness he still lives with his mother who collects welfare checks. Eventually Ignatius strings together some small low paying jobs, which includes a janitor at a pants factory and a hot dog vendor. Ignatius never blames himself for his problems; he always looks at other people's problems to feel better about himself. Ignatius ends up in a tailspin of misery, embarrassment, and failure while he angers his mother and worsens his mental condition. Toole's humorous novel is full of laughs and surprises; it tells the on-going story about man's struggle with life.
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Summary: Confederacy of Dunces Review
Review: A Confederacy of Dunces. John Kennedy Toole. New York: Grove Press, 1980. 394 pages. It's unfortunate that John Kennedy Toole took his life before this Pulitzer Prized book was published. His unique perspectives could have been useful to better the mentality of contemporary culture. This fictional novel, valuable to any reader, focuses on the ridiculous tragedies of a hedonist society. Taking place in New Orleans, the focal point of the story is Ignatius J. Reilly, an absurdly irrational man. Throughout the whole book, Toole emphasizes the ironic connection between Ignatius' rash disgruntlement and his lack of productivity. Even though it's arduous to read at times, John Kennedy Toole's book, A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES, is of immense value.
Ignatius Reilly is a 33 year-old porcine slob who still lives with his mother. He is educated and has potential, but does little to better his withering life. When forced, Ignatius holds menial jobs, but ruins the continuance of the companies and coworkers. Mrs. Reilly, his mother, explains her son's damaging assessment as, "It's a good thing his poor poppas dead. He'd be breaking his poor father's heart with that weenie wagon."(p 202) Throughout the book, Ignatius' legendary presence is even enough to perturb the paltry existence of all the supporting characters: his mother, his employers, and several other random acquaintances. Virtually all of Ignatius' mishaps stem from his dissatisfaction with a society that won't tend to his every desire.
A parallel can be drawn with Toole's ultimate frustration with society and Ignatius' actions. The novel encompasses a vast irony that displays a pleasure seeking society that blames everything else, but neglects to mend internally. Ignatius, who is only one example of the bigger whole, lashes out and dissects every imperfection of others but refuses to work on his own varied faults. Ignatius and America are seemingly comparable: massive, manipulative, parochial, and reluctant to take negative responsibility. Toole illustrates this metaphor possibly to provoke some sort of realization, but ultimately it overwhelms him. He was a genius and Jonathan Swift in 'Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting' describes that burden best, "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
John Kennedy Toole's fictional novel, A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES, is one of merit. The 394 pages seem to drag on at times, but only to completely portray a valuable lesson; the need to focus inwardly, personally and entirely, is urgent. I recommend this book to anyone, for this kind of enlightenment must be spread in order for a revitalization of American way. I'm only sorry that Toole's perspective now only carries on through Ignatius, because it is vivid, original, and practical. A friend of Toole's, David Kubach, describes Toole's noble trouble in an autobiography, "He did not suffer fools gladly, and I think he was afraid of becoming one. He couldn't live with that."
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Summary: A Confederacy of Dunces : review
Review: Book Review: A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces is a story about a thirty year old guy (Ignatius Reilly) who lives with his mother in New Orleans. Ignatius is an over weight, unsanitary, selfish, couch potato, who increasingly clash's with his mother throughout the book.
Ignatius went to college and he also has a master's degree. But for some reason he is thirty and still lives with his mother. He either sits at home watching and criticizing the T. V., goes to the movies and criticizes the film out loud, eats, or locks himself in his room writing on scattered pieces of paper. He had been pampered by his mother which contributed to the way he is, but then their financial situation goes south and Ignatius has to get a job. He tries to weasel his way out of it but he ends up at a job at Levy Pant Company as a filer, but he just throws the files away because he is to lazy to actually file. He gets fired when he tries to get the factory workers to have an uprising, and then ends up as a hot dog vendor. As a vendor he just eats hot dogs al day and doesn't really try to sell the hot dogs. As the book caries on more tension grows between Ignatius and his mother because she can't bare how selfish and lazy he is, and she starts to think about having him committed. Ignatius then try's to start a gay political party and it just completely fails. Then his mother finally commits him but he escapes and the book comes to an abrupt ends. Ignatius finally ends leaving his mother but it is do to his lethargy.
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Summary: Being Overweight and Lazy Isn't Half Bad
Review: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole is a book with a type of humor not found in many other books and it will make you laugh unlike any other type of humor. The book is about the fashionably plump, main character Ignatius who creates problems for others because of his unusual view of the world and his dedication to change it to fit his views. Ignatius still lives with his mother even though he has graduated from college with a master's degree. His mother, Mrs. Reilly, forces him to get a job after an accident involving a building and her car, which both need to be repaired. Given they are a poor family with no father, the mother tells Ignatius to get a job. Ignatius first gets a job filing at a pant manufacturing company called Levy pants. Mr. Levy decides it is not a good idea to hire Ignatius after he forges a letter and sends it to a client of Levy pants who responds with a $500 thousand lawsuit. Once Ignatius is fired, he gets a second job as a hot dog street vendor in New Orleans where the book takes place. He eats most of his merchandise and becomes even heavier. Ignatius is fired from this job when he appears in the newspaper passed out from shock in front of The Night of Joy on Bourbon Street. This is a book that will keep you laughing given the dark humor with which it is written. Additionally, it will make you thankful that you are not as lazy as Ignatius Reilly.
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Summary: A Sloth of A Sophisticate
Review: Intelligence doesn't always provide you with a money making job. People have to be willing to work with their colleagues to get things done. John Kennedy Toole creates for us in his book A Confederacy of Dunces a character named Ignatius J. Reilly who has the opportunity to work but doesn't. The reason he doesn't is because he can't seem to get along with the people he works with. People come to dislike him because of his behavior and his physical attributes. As a person he belittles his friends and his colleagues, he will not listen to any one who challenges his word, and he is just down right lazy: a sloth of a sophisticate.
Ignatius J. Reilly distinguishes himself as a philosopher, a bourgeoisie, and a genius. He is none of the above. In reality he is just an overweight man who lives with his mother, and gets carried away in his imagination. As a person though, he believes that he is a figure of much importance. When he is let loose on the streets of New Orleans people ignore him and laugh at his ideas. Those who he comes to know, though, hate him because of his overly conservative view on life. He creates trouble for himself when he writes an obnoxious letter of complaint, gets fired for leading a mock strike, tries to create a political party, and upsets his mother.
He loves to express his own opinions much like this one, "I refuse to 'look up.' Optimism nauseates me. It is perverse. Since man's fall, his proper position in the universe has been one of misery" (59). It is because of these opinions he is disliked by people in general. In one passage of the book he compares himself with African Americans. "In a sense I have always felt something of a kinship with the colored race because its position is the same as mine: we both exist outside the inner realm of the American society" (122). They are both outcasts. African Americans are disliked because of their skin color, and he is disliked because of his radical opinions.
There are not many people who like him and want to help him. His mother and a friend from University are the only ones who seem to care for him. His friend from University had this to say to him in a letter she wrote: "Realize that life is surging around you. The valve closes because it thinks it is living in a dead organism. Open your heart Ignatius and you will open your valve" (215). Ignatius doesn't listen to most advice except for this piece given from an old friend. He decides to accomplish something for himself out in the big bad world, and this is when he tries to create a political party. Countless times Ignatius has tried to succeed at something and has failed miserably. His mother wishes he would seek out psychological help for his faults. Ignatius however, accepts his faults and lives with them, and having somebody try to change him as a person would kill his character. This is why he feels angered by his mother's solution to all his problems. "...Striving is ultimately meaningless...we must learn to accept" (298). Ignatius wants his mother to accept him as the person he already is. His mother is unwilling to accept the son that she gave birth to.
As an early twentieth century book A Confederacy of Dunces illustrates how people acted after the World Wars. People were beginning to criticize each other about their personal lives, religion and political view. African Americans were just starting to be accepted in society. One of the major out-lying themes in the book and the time period for that matter is acceptance. How did people accept each person's problem? John Kennedy Toole shows us with the characters of this book how each person dealt with another person's problem. The book itself may be heavy reading and somewhat confusing but it is well worth reading. It reminds us of how life has changed since the post World War Era, and it covers many themes of today that people in general can relate too.
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Summary: Society of Dunces
Review: Filled with satirical black humor concerning the usually overlooked "characters" of society, John Kennedy Toole's Pulitzer prize winning novel The Confederacy of Dunces , captures a reality of our society that we like to disregard.
In The Confederacy of Dunces the unique tempo and the slow pace of the overall development of the plot creates a feel of dreary, everyday life, while the immediate happenings tend to be absurd, ridiculous, or down right stupid. In many instances Toole will jump between a third person point of view subjective to different characters, or a objective point of view depicting the seen from many angles making the absurdity of the happenings or the actions and words of our hero Ignatius J. Riely painfully clear. Then the long tedious exchanges of letters between Myna Minkoff and Ignatius, or the journals of Ignatius, though still absurd, draws out the story and creates a weary response from the reader. Energetic, dreary, energetic, dreary.... The delicate mixture of excitement and dullness creates a parallel with life, a disturbing realization due to the fact that readers tend to think the actions of the characters in this novel "not normal".
There are many "characters" in this novel, to tell the truth all most all characters that appear in this novel are not what people would like to call "normal". Still, none can beat Ignatius J. Riely in uniqueness. "Huge, obese, fractious, fastidious, a latter-day Gargantuan, a Don Quixote of the French Quarter" (Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times), how did this complete slob of a man ever make it to the cover of a best seller? Through out the book he undergoes no mental growth (he does gain some pounds though), and his only reason for even considering moving is threats! What is the point of putting such a complete "character" in the main role? When this combined with the earlier idea of the book paralleling with life, one sees that Toole is saying that these people, this society, maybe not in this extent, but still does actually exist.
The Confederacy of Dunces captures vividly the society of "queers", "nerds", "social-outcasts", and the "sub-normal". Then through the book he shows the readers the desperate reality that this is not "sub-normal". It is a depressing realization, but an important one. Knowing of a failure is the best way to start fixing what ever it is that is failing. If you feel in any way revolted by anything in this novel, understand that it is real, then think of how you can change things for the better.
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Summary: my review
Review: After reading A Confederacy of Dunces I was really disappointed in the book. The novel was supposed to be humorous. However, as I started to read more into the book I felt really annoyed with the characters in the book, and with the book itself. A theme that the author, John Kennedy Toole, tries to display is that the characters are foolish and unhappy because people in society aren't helping one another and that is a major reason why they are unhappy.
The characters, especially Ignatius, annoyed me because they weren't unhappy just because no one was helping them, it was also the fact that they didn't try to do something for themselves and be happy. Few people today in society will help someone so they can make their lives happier. My opinion is that this is a book that I could not read over again. I do not recommend this book if you want to laugh all it did was irritate me.
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Summary: Kira's review
Review: As your begin to read a book you almost envision what you read. In A Confederacy of DUNCES, by Toole, it is hard to keep envisioning. The characters bounce about as obliterated fools do as they live their lives in the poor area of New Orleans. Your eyes begin to close dreamily as his first character, Ignatius, gets a job as a hotdog vendor, only to shoot back open for a moment as he and his mother fight once this is over they dreamily close once more. Now Toole's characters do have potential to be something more but they don't. For instance: Ignatius is a 30 year old obese man who lives with his mother while they both live off of his dead father's saved meager income. Ignatius is a smart man, or at least he has been to college, he could have had a job years and years ago yet he has never once had a single job. This 30-year-old man has been writing a book for 3 years. This 30 year old man acts like a 3 year old child, when he was asked to get a job to be able to pay for a drunken mistake he almost throws a hissy fit. The mistake was purely to blame for the two alcoholics driving, Ignatius and his mother Mrs. Riley. They had both gone out and got themselves trashed then preceded to drive home. They crashed into a building and that's how the story really began. Now everyone, it seems like, that the author mentions in the book he begins a little tangent about him or her that continues through out the entire book. They all sort of click in the end and even sometimes you see the connection in the middle of the book. For instance: Patrolman Mancuso is the officer who found Mrs. Riley and Ignatius's car in shambles combined with a lovely hole in a wall. He also asks Mrs. Riley out on a date involving bowling. We then meet his sister, Santa, who Mrs. Riley really quite enjoys. Or even before that when Mrs. Riley and Ignatius went to drink they met at the bar Lana Lee, the owner of the bar and Darlene her employee. Lana Lee then hires a black man trying to stay out of the police's way, Jones.
I mean it seems like the list could go on forever, and that's why I don't enjoy the book, it goes on and on and on. It has no point at all, this may be because Toole killed himself before finishing, and definitely does not stand out in my mind as being a book of merit. A novel of merit is a book that has deep meaning to you and will stay with you always. I have trouble remembering what I had just read in A Confederacy of DUNCES! The book showed me no deep and powerful meaning, however I believe it might be a different story if I were to read it in 20 years or so. I think that the book has too much to do with debt, families, and the lives of middle age persons that it is virtually impossible for us youngin's to truly enjoy it or even understand it.
So on that note I would suggest this book to only those who have a knack for reading and the persistence of a buffalo on steroids, or to those above the age of 35. This book couldn't grab me even if I was covered in glue. Hearing from others in my class and of my age group I have also found that they don't enjoy it either. There is one advantage to this horrifyingly boring book and that is that it is short, 394 pages!!!! This is why we read it. And well I don't believe it was worth it. I give it a half a star.
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