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warrenl's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the beginning when the Baron was fighting wolves and bears with his bare hands, however things became increasingly ridiculous. It was more silly and less fun, and the prose became increasingly purple. You need a bit of staying power past the halfway mark. By the time Don Quixote turned up I'd really had enough but, like the Baron himself, I don't quit easily so I finished the book, however not without a sigh of relief.
aront's review against another edition
3.0
Fun read though lots of mediocre writing as well. The intro about the author is more fascinating than the book itself. Watch Terry Gilliam’s movie though. Far, far superior, although you can see where he drew inspiration and ideas from the book.
balletbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
Not a solid four stars but, as explained in the Afterword, only Chapters 2-6 (about 34pp) in the edition reprinted by Melville House are the original Munchausen stories by Raspe. The rest are the work of hack writers expanding on the form of Voyages Imaginaires for profit. As such they're kind of terrible and a sad pastiche of Swift's satire.
But those original 34 pages are such wonderful tall tales that they're worth the rest of the book (as is the tale of Raspe's life).
But those original 34 pages are such wonderful tall tales that they're worth the rest of the book (as is the tale of Raspe's life).
glowbird's review against another edition
3.0
Two stars for content, one for design. The illustrations are lovely but the writing is odd. The stories are very short, absurd vignettes. The material is dated...and things are holding up unevenly after 200-ish years. Having loved the movie it was nice to get a glimpse of the source material, but the Baron isn't a guy with whom I want to spend loads of time. The forward suggests reading these in random spirts and I agree. It would be perfect to have loaded on your phone to read when your bus is late.
kbcozy22's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
What a strange book! It jumped around and was sometimes hard to follow. But it had fun and crazy moments. This was more of a collection of crazy vignettes rather than a linear story. Definitely crazy.
deebster's review against another edition
3.0
The two halves were clearly different authors. The first half I quite enjoyed; the stories were short and ridiculous and the deeds boasted of were witty and entertaining.
The second half was quite tedious, both in its sesquipedalian writing style and its content, and the boasting was more about how everyone loved him and endless references to other works.
I'd definitely recommend reading just the first half and ignoring the fan faction second half.
The second half was quite tedious, both in its sesquipedalian writing style and its content, and the boasting was more about how everyone loved him and endless references to other works.
I'd definitely recommend reading just the first half and ignoring the fan faction second half.
ladulcinella's review against another edition
3.0
We all know the type: he is an expert in everything, experienced the most extraordinary things and goes on bragging aboutbit. A classic that is more than 200 years old, still the same people around:-) It is a nice quick read, more interesting for what he wrote about than for the excellence of the literary style, but it is one to read and reread on a rainy spring day.
greeniezona's review against another edition
3.0
I bought this book because Neversink Library and Terry Gilliam. I haven't seen the movie yet, somehow, and thought it would be nice to read the book first. I knew almost nothing about it, and as it turns out, this is one of the rare books where I wish the afterword had been the foreword. It would have explained the differences in tone and provided a helpful context for the stories.
I did quite love many of the early stories, the ones, as it turns out, most likely to have been written by Raspe himself. These are the stories with the most in common with tall tales more familiar to American audiences: Pecos Bill, Babe the big blue ox, etc. Grand stories of overstatement and humor. As the book goes on, the tone becomes more satirical, more political, less good-natured, and these stories were almost certainly written by imitators wanting to glom onto the Munchausen "brand."
I did laugh quite a bit, especially in the beginning, and the illustrations are fantastic. The afterword was also very interesting. Treatment of women and black people was poor, even if the most offensive bit was intended to be a satire of slavery.
Would give the first volume 4 stars, the second 3, if I could.
I did quite love many of the early stories, the ones, as it turns out, most likely to have been written by Raspe himself. These are the stories with the most in common with tall tales more familiar to American audiences: Pecos Bill, Babe the big blue ox, etc. Grand stories of overstatement and humor. As the book goes on, the tone becomes more satirical, more political, less good-natured, and these stories were almost certainly written by imitators wanting to glom onto the Munchausen "brand."
I did laugh quite a bit, especially in the beginning, and the illustrations are fantastic. The afterword was also very interesting. Treatment of women and black people was poor, even if the most offensive bit was intended to be a satire of slavery.
Would give the first volume 4 stars, the second 3, if I could.