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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
Hilariously complex. It reminded me of The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret set in the 17th century.
Take Candide, multiply its length by 10, set it in Maryland, and include lots of dick jokes and rape and you've got this book.
An amazing piece of work, The Sot-Weed Factor is an hilarious satire set in the 17th century and written in a style that reflects that time. The many plot twists keep the reader going, and the colorful vocabulary is part of the fun. In one section, there are several pages devoted to a verbal name-calling battle between two women who come up with about a hundred synonyms for the word "prostitute." There are long conversations filled with double entendre, unbelievable boasts, and of course there's Ebenezer Cooke, one of the funniest characters one will ever encounter in a novel.
My only criticism of this tale is that it does have a couple overly long-winded parts. Thank you, Carol, for putting this author on my map. I should add Chimera someday soon.
My only criticism of this tale is that it does have a couple overly long-winded parts. Thank you, Carol, for putting this author on my map. I should add Chimera someday soon.
3.5 Stars
Tis a merry humored farce
More historical than most
Not too difficult to parce
Many praises it doth boast
Though I've read it once before
In a rarer form it shows
A man named pynchon penned the page
In more comic style and prose
Still, adventure far and wide
Pirates, floozies, sane and mad
Doth entertainment it provide
Reading this marylandiad
Tis a merry humored farce
More historical than most
Not too difficult to parce
Many praises it doth boast
Though I've read it once before
In a rarer form it shows
A man named pynchon penned the page
In more comic style and prose
Still, adventure far and wide
Pirates, floozies, sane and mad
Doth entertainment it provide
Reading this marylandiad
Otherworldly. It was unlike anything I've ever read and may be my new go-to for the question "Got any books you want to recommend?" in which I can rub my hands together devilishly and chortle with proclamation "Oh, yes, my unknowing chum! Oh yes, I do! Behold the telling of the fantastical Eben Cooke! Behold the mystery of the egg plant! Mwahahaha!!!!"
5 stars well deserved. I mean, there were a lot of slow, boring passages, but none rid of brilliance and utter awe. I thoroughly ENJOYED myself and LAUGHED OUT LOUD, a feat in itself.
5 stars well deserved. I mean, there were a lot of slow, boring passages, but none rid of brilliance and utter awe. I thoroughly ENJOYED myself and LAUGHED OUT LOUD, a feat in itself.
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Where to begin describing—let alone commenting on—this postmodern take on the 18th-century farce novel. It is, on its surface, an old-fashioned tale of an overeducated young man's travels and lessons in how the real world works, reminiscent of Voltaire's 'Candide' and, more recently, Toole's 'A Confederacy of Dunces'.
While the language, the plotting, and the characters fit this style quite well, this is clearly a modern novel; it winks at the reader throughout and it plays with form in unexpected ways. Don't be surprised when a simple argument between two prostitutes turns into a six-page list of insults, real and made up, in English and French.
The humor here is juvenile, as base as the lewdest of Shakespeare, and lewder. The plotting is outrageously artificial, full of convenient turns and coincidences and revelations. The characters are fluid, changing their motives, reactions, and even appearances every which way. This all fits the book's implied "age", but it's also thoroughly enjoyable to read.
Between all the gross-out jokes about breeches and members, there's a lot of clever (and even touching) insight into the human condition here. And on top of it, while Barth clearly wrote The Sot-Weed Factor as a tour-de-force exercise in jamming into a novel literally anything and everything he could possibly think of, he didn't forget to make each page fun to read.
While the language, the plotting, and the characters fit this style quite well, this is clearly a modern novel; it winks at the reader throughout and it plays with form in unexpected ways. Don't be surprised when a simple argument between two prostitutes turns into a six-page list of insults, real and made up, in English and French.
The humor here is juvenile, as base as the lewdest of Shakespeare, and lewder. The plotting is outrageously artificial, full of convenient turns and coincidences and revelations. The characters are fluid, changing their motives, reactions, and even appearances every which way. This all fits the book's implied "age", but it's also thoroughly enjoyable to read.
Between all the gross-out jokes about breeches and members, there's a lot of clever (and even touching) insight into the human condition here. And on top of it, while Barth clearly wrote The Sot-Weed Factor as a tour-de-force exercise in jamming into a novel literally anything and everything he could possibly think of, he didn't forget to make each page fun to read.
So! You like Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. Or you like The Pickwick Papers. Maybe you like both! Suffice to say you are pretty happy with a novel that romps. You like a book that meanders. You don't necessarily care what's going to happen at the end - you're just along for the ride.
&c., &c.
The Sot-Weed Factor is your book, in any and all of the above cases.
While I do like all of those things (in moderation), I can't give this one 4 stars (or more), because there were just too many times where I was reading without any kind of comprehension. There are several (dozens?) of passages here where if you don't care (and care deeply) about the history of Maryland, it's not going to mean much. (The chapter with Eben's conversation with Lord Baltimore is the one with which I had the most problems.)
There are plenty of hijinks, however. Lots of mistaken identity. Rape on the high seas. Rape not on the high seas. Whores. Court appearances and oyez! oyez! oyez!
It's a weird one. The ending's not so hot, but once you get to it, you really don't care (after all, you know the sacred egg-plant ritual at that point). It's an experience.
&c., &c.
The Sot-Weed Factor is your book, in any and all of the above cases.
While I do like all of those things (in moderation), I can't give this one 4 stars (or more), because there were just too many times where I was reading without any kind of comprehension. There are several (dozens?) of passages here where if you don't care (and care deeply) about the history of Maryland, it's not going to mean much. (The chapter with Eben's conversation with Lord Baltimore is the one with which I had the most problems.)
There are plenty of hijinks, however. Lots of mistaken identity. Rape on the high seas. Rape not on the high seas. Whores. Court appearances and oyez! oyez! oyez!
It's a weird one. The ending's not so hot, but once you get to it, you really don't care (after all, you know the sacred egg-plant ritual at that point). It's an experience.
challenging
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes