Rating: 
Summary: Rollercoaster of a ride
Review: Having avoided this book for years (I tend not to buy into hype, whether from the media or my friends) I finally picked up this "classic" novel and started in. Prepared to hate it every step of the way, I instead found myself mesmerized by John Kennedy Toole's marvelous writing, and especially the main character of Ignatius. At once loveable and yet heinously repulsive, this Falstaffian oddity is one of a handful of most-memorable characters to ever grace the written pages of American, and more importantly, southern literature. Why this book isn't required reading in school, along with Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," McCrae's "Bark of the Dogwood," and Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath," is beyond me. Not only is this book funny, but the construction, the pacing, the tone, the overall effectiveness of the writing, is truly one of a kind. Forget the fact that Toole did himself in by not being able to get this masterwork published. Forget the fact that this novel won the Pulitzer Prize. Forget the reviews, both good and bad, and simply read this novel for what it is: a great, funny, rollicking journey through the land of insanity, mixed up with the great city of New Orleans and the fleeting beauty of life. Just a great read.
Rating:
Summary: There aren't enough stars in the heavens
Review: There simply aren't enough stars in the heavens for this great book. Laugh out loud funny with a dark underlying and warped underbelly, this rollicking and twisted tale is now a southern classic. The main character of Ignatius has got to be the funniest and most disturbed individual ever to grace the written page. Why this book wasn't made into a movie long ago is beyond me. Would also recommend another great book, similar to this one in its scope, humor, and insight: Bark of the Dogwood by Jackson McCrae.
Rating:
Summary: Ha Ha He He Ha Ha!!.
Review: This book made me laugh.Rather a lot actually. Ignatius Reilly is disgusting in just about every way imaginable, and man is it funny. His extraordinary opinions (about everything), plots, mannerisms, size, hygiene, and friends bring him and the people around him into the most absurd situations imaginable, and it's all you can do to keep from getting a stomach ache laughing at them so hard (the ab exercise this novel offers is truly remarkable). Each of the characters, Jones (my favorite), Ignatius's mother, Trixi (my other favorite), Mr. and Mrs. Levy, Patrolman Mancuso, strikes me as a literary comic marvel. The whirlwind plot ensnaring all of these lives is so brilliant. You can feel the comic tensions building and building until a final explosion hits that is as large as Ignatius himself. The book is also sad. Walker Percy (my favorite author) mentions in the introduction the suicide of the author, and that is part of the sadness. But there's more. The humor in the novel springs from the latent despair in each characters lives and their (for the most part) stuggle to change something. It feels as though the fates are in control of the novel, and they are out to offer a bit of sorrow and a bit of hope. Confederacy of Dunces is a book that can be taken a lot of ways. As entertainment, this is one of the most funny books I've read, but there is a sense of gravity here making this one of the most remarkable novels I've read. It's quite a masterpiece that I'll read again and again.
Rating:
Summary: Ignatius Lives
Review: Down deep in south Louisiana, is a small univesity employing a professor who is rumored to be Ignatius. Rumor has it he and Toole were roommates at LSU, and Toole consistently flustered/bemused by his roommate, immortalized him in the Confederacy of Dunces. Now, I've read the book, and I also took a class taught by said professor, who arrived to class via bicycle (think slow and lumbering) with dried shaving cream around his hairy ears, and mustard stains on his shirt. He frequently lost our 'blue book' exams, and then accused the class of not turning them in. The smell of the hallway containing his office can best be descibed as gamey. Class was dismissed early to go and catch stray dogs. How is he a teacher? He got himself appointed trustee of a multi-million dollar endowment to the University which dictates his professorship for life. He is so flawed and bumbling and completely clueless you really cannot but help like this man. He is utterly brilliant in literature, and always amusing. I don't think Toole created Ignatius so much as illustrated and portrayed a real person from his short life. I often think, as unfortunate as it is that his life was shortened, it was at least colorful.
Rating:
Summary: Has you SNORTING with laughter
Review: A book of comedic genius. Too bad the author wasn't recognized in his brief lifetime. The main character in this book is so vividly portrayed in words that you feel you know him intimately -- from the tufts of hair in his ears to his bumbling careen through life in New Orleans...how many other books portray as well those funny weiner carts pushed by hot dog vendors in New Orleans? Ignatius Reilly will make you double up in laughter, snort, guffaw, and will also imprint himself on your mind forever. The descriptions of Ignatius performing his job duties after somehow being hired into positions way above his ability kinda reminds me of a recent US President...
Rating:
Summary: Whoa! Best Book I've Ever Read!!!
Review: Where to start?! I've read thousands of books in my lifetime and have never enjoyed a book more. This book is, indeed, a comic masterpiece as several other reviewers mentioned. I should get a commission from Amazon because I've recommended it to so many of my friends. I can't remember when I laughed so much (or so hard) reading a book. I was in the bathtub reading one night and my husband thought I had gone bonkers because he kept hearing me laughing out loud. I was reading the part where Ignatius came back from yet another day of hot dog vending with no receipts and had to explain about trying to put the stray cat in the bun compartment of his cart. You just have to read it for yourself to get the full flavor of the scene. Ignatius's mother is a literary marvel and their conversations and interactions are out of this world funny. His many comments about her hiding her wine in the oven were hilarious. I fell in love with Jones (Whoa! LOL!), the unfortunate black man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and ends up working for minimal wage for a 'ho in the French Quarter. Jones almost steals the book from Ignatius.... Mr. Toole captured the flavor and essence of New Orleans like no other author I've ever read. It's a tragedy that he didn't live to see the success of this wonderful novel. If you need a good laugh, or just cheering up, then read this book. It shook me right out of my Winter doldrums and put me back on my reading path to enlightenment...
Rating:
Summary: Ignatius J Reilly Rules
Review: I am outraged that anyone of discerning taste would give this book less than 5 stars! If you have read this book and feel that it deserves less than 5 stars, you deserve a sound lashing with a lute string.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Bother
Review: This book was one of the worst books I have read reciently. The book could have been two sentences...There is a fat guy who suffers from dillustions of grandure. Go read Don Quito if you want a funny version of this story... An all around bad book with only one plot device, and a main character that I could neithor love nor hate because he was a completely flat character. It is a good thing that this author only wrote one book because this way less people will waste money on his flat characters in his boring stories.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: Like a cross between Jackson McCrae's THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD and the best Vonnegut book, A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES takes the prize as far as great, funny, and well-written southern literature goes. Okay, the book wasn't written yesterday, so it does have its limitations, but besides that it's still one of the funniest things ever written. A must for anyone interested in a classic. Would also recommend: Bark of the Dogwood-A Tour of Southern Homes and Gardens
Rating:
Summary: Best book Ever Written
Review: It's just a shame that he only wrote two books before committing suicide.
|
