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Message
Confederacy of Dunces
Posted on 7/18/17 at 1:48 pm
Posted on 7/18/17 at 1:48 pm
I decided to get away from fantasy novels for a bit and read this. I'm from the NOLA area, heard plenty of good things, and never read a comedy before. I just wanted to see what others on here thought of the book. I'm not really sure what I'm looking to get into with this thread.
Things I really liked:
- I was always looking forward to Ignatius being the focus of a chapter. His character was hysterical. I loved how he responded to the smallest of injuries.
- I enjoyed Irene Reilly. I thought Toole nailed the Yat accent. My mom has a slight Yat accent, but she was friends with plenty of women that talk just like Irene.
- Even though I was ready for Mr. Levy to murder his wife, I enjoyed their interactions.
Things that bugged me
- I could not stand Jones. While I liked how he contrasted Ignatius's educated moron by being an uneducated, competent character, his dialect bothered me. It just seemed off to me. I've never seen or met anyone that talked like that.
- I didn't really like Miss Trixie either with her constant screaming at characters to shut up.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. Ignatius quickly became one of my favorite characters in the (most likely very small number compared to y'all) books that I've read.
Things I really liked:
- I was always looking forward to Ignatius being the focus of a chapter. His character was hysterical. I loved how he responded to the smallest of injuries.
- I enjoyed Irene Reilly. I thought Toole nailed the Yat accent. My mom has a slight Yat accent, but she was friends with plenty of women that talk just like Irene.
- Even though I was ready for Mr. Levy to murder his wife, I enjoyed their interactions.
Things that bugged me
- I could not stand Jones. While I liked how he contrasted Ignatius's educated moron by being an uneducated, competent character, his dialect bothered me. It just seemed off to me. I've never seen or met anyone that talked like that.
- I didn't really like Miss Trixie either with her constant screaming at characters to shut up.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. Ignatius quickly became one of my favorite characters in the (most likely very small number compared to y'all) books that I've read.
4
Posted on 7/18/17 at 2:44 pm to DestrehanTiger
My favorite novel. I re-read it every two years or so. When I was at LSU, Swine Palace did a stage performance of the book with Spud as Ignatius. I was hooked.
The writer's backstory is tragic, yet fitting somehow.
All the things you noted are all good. I really enjoyed the back and forth between Ignatius and Myrna Minkoff (minx). Also, anytime Santa Battaglia is around. His story of his travels into the Heart of Darkness (Baton Rouge) was great.
Years ago I worked for a small time finance company in Mid-City, Gentilly, Lower 9th... I have met a lot of people who talk like Jones. The more behind they were on their payments, the more like Jones they spoke.
The writer's backstory is tragic, yet fitting somehow.
All the things you noted are all good. I really enjoyed the back and forth between Ignatius and Myrna Minkoff (minx). Also, anytime Santa Battaglia is around. His story of his travels into the Heart of Darkness (Baton Rouge) was great.
quote:
I've never seen or met anyone that talked like that.
Years ago I worked for a small time finance company in Mid-City, Gentilly, Lower 9th... I have met a lot of people who talk like Jones. The more behind they were on their payments, the more like Jones they spoke.
Posted on 7/18/17 at 2:51 pm to boxcarbarney
quote:
Years ago I worked for a small time finance company in Mid-City, Gentilly, Lower 9th... I have met a lot of people who talk like Jones. The more behind they were on their payments, the more like Jones they spoke.
That's interesting. I was just annoyed by the random "Woah!"s and "Hey!"s he would throw in there.
Posted on 7/18/17 at 2:56 pm to boxcarbarney
Dr. Nut
Posted on 7/18/17 at 3:19 pm to Paul Allen
quote:
Dr. Nut
I didn't realize until years later that this was a real drink.
Posted on 7/18/17 at 3:19 pm to DestrehanTiger
quote:
I was just annoyed by the random "Woah!"s and "Hey!"s he would throw in there.
Well, maybe they weren't that bad. But the rest of it was pretty spot on.
Posted on 7/18/17 at 3:27 pm to boxcarbarney
Yeah, I wanna say they tried to revive it in the 70's, but it didn't last long.
Posted on 7/18/17 at 8:58 pm to DestrehanTiger
Funniest book I ever read.
Posted on 7/18/17 at 9:39 pm to DestrehanTiger
It's been 20 years since I've read it and I'd probably appreciate it much more now than I did in high school. I like the book, but it seemed to be one of those things that New Orleanians love excessively, Bc it's local and they're expected to love it.
Posted on 7/19/17 at 12:05 am to DestrehanTiger
Very enjoyable read
Posted on 7/19/17 at 7:37 pm to Rockbrc
And this is where I'm in the dissenting minority as usual. I hated it in college and started it again recently and couldn't get through it. Ignatius was a pill and so incredibly hard to deal with. Way to dramatic and lazy. I just couldn't do it.
Posted on 7/21/17 at 10:40 am to TinyTigerPaws
quote:
And this is where I'm in the dissenting minority as usual. I hated it in college and started it again recently and couldn't get through it
You're not alone. I forced my way through half of it because of how well received it is, but I thought it was a meandering mess with a completely unsympathetic protagonist that was funny in a "how cute" or "how strange" kind of way, but not in a gut busting, that was hilarious kind of way.
Posted on 7/21/17 at 1:04 pm to LoveThatMoney
quote:
I thought it was a meandering mess with a completely
I won't argue with that, but for a comedy, I didn't really need a really coherent story. But, I didn't really find the Night of Joy parts to be funny at all, and there was a lot of time spent on that stuff.
quote:
with a completely unsympathetic protagonist
I don't think you were supposed to like or root for Ignatius. I was always hoping worse things would happen in his many interactions with other characters.
Posted on 7/21/17 at 5:00 pm to TinyTigerPaws
quote:Not sure if you are NOLA native-born or generations deep, but it is my notion as a native that it's a hard book for others to fully grasp or appreciate unless they are native-born. This is not intended to be a slam at anybody. Just that the characters may not "click" unless you are related to the types or grew up among them.
Ignatius was a pill and so incredibly hard to deal with.
Posted on 7/21/17 at 6:55 pm to JawjaTigah
I am not a native, but did live in the city for four years. I've read this book about five times. I saw Ignatius as the only protagonist upon my first few reads, now he is about the only one I root against. I've grown to despise him, and maybe, just maybe that is the point.
Catch-22 and ACOD are my two favorite novels. After many reads, they are the only books I can open to any page and start from anywhere, read a chapter, and have a few laughs.
Catch-22 and ACOD are my two favorite novels. After many reads, they are the only books I can open to any page and start from anywhere, read a chapter, and have a few laughs.
Posted on 7/21/17 at 9:28 pm to TinyTigerPaws
quote:
gnatius was a pill and so incredibly hard to deal with.
You're supposed to dislike Ignatius. Ken was lampooning both the insular New Orleans culture that refused to recognize the world at large and the intelligentsia. Xenophobic attitudes like Ignatius's (moreso perhaps the monied bluebloods) and derision of modernity are a big reason (along with taxes) that executives from big oil/gas concerns chose to consolidate their operations in Houston.
That level of insight is one reason why this novel remains a classic.
Plus declarations like "we shall not pay those usurers a cent!" only to renege shortly thereafter upon discovering said usurers had an attorney.
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