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roxanamalinachirila's review against another edition
1.0
Aaaah, the 1920s! You just had to be there.
No, really, you need context for this book. I guess it's true of any satirical take on society, but somehow "Antic Hay" lacks anything else to make it interesting (at least as far as I'm concerned). No plot as such, no real characters, and some monologues that made my eyes glaze over. I had to flip a page back every now and then to go over the same paragraph again.
The lack of scene breaks doesn't help, either. Sometimes time passes, scenes change, and there's nothing to warn you about it except maybe a character having changed clothes in the mean time, or suddenly being elsewhere, doing something else.
"Antic Hay" is about nothing in particular. It's just a bunch of young people hanging around London, living in a world that is unfortunately cursed to be peppered with Latin, French, Italian and English words such as "rhodomontading".
Theodore Gumbril is the "main" character of this book in which not much happens. In the first chapter, he quits his job as a teacher. He decides he wants to create pneumatic underwear for the comfort of people sitting on hard surfaces everywhere, and to that purpose (at some point in the book, not immediately) contacts a sort of businessman and proposes a deal for them. He also acquires a fake beard and seduces a woman while wearing it, then tries to seduce another and only succeeds at winning her heart (but not any of her other organs) when he removes it (and claims he's shaved).
There's a guy who's obsessed by the workings of kidneys to the exclusion of all else, until he falls in love with a woman who's not his wife (and then decides to really have a relationship with his wife).
There's a guy who's an artist/poet/philosopher and bad at everything (and considers suicide).
There's a guy who's some sort of a critic.
There's a woman who's one love died in the war and now she's desired by all men (no causal relationship).
There's the kidney-dude's wife, who wants an affair and has it with the fake-beard, then looks for him from place to place in the city, has a second affair with a dude from Gumbril's circle, then gets raped by another dude from their social circle.
There's a pure of heart virgin girl who dates fake-beard (and from whom he loses the beard), but she vanishes when he stands her up.
And there are a lot of in-jokes, such as the "beaver" thing, which I assume are much funnier if you know what they refer to.
All in all, I see other people had fun with this book, but I found it to be one of the most boring experiences I've ever gone through. Alas, my book club decided to read "Brave New World" for its new meeting and even if I liked the book the first time I went through it, it might be too soon for me to see the word "pneumatic" again.
No, really, you need context for this book. I guess it's true of any satirical take on society, but somehow "Antic Hay" lacks anything else to make it interesting (at least as far as I'm concerned). No plot as such, no real characters, and some monologues that made my eyes glaze over. I had to flip a page back every now and then to go over the same paragraph again.
The lack of scene breaks doesn't help, either. Sometimes time passes, scenes change, and there's nothing to warn you about it except maybe a character having changed clothes in the mean time, or suddenly being elsewhere, doing something else.
"Antic Hay" is about nothing in particular. It's just a bunch of young people hanging around London, living in a world that is unfortunately cursed to be peppered with Latin, French, Italian and English words such as "rhodomontading".
Theodore Gumbril is the "main" character of this book in which not much happens. In the first chapter, he quits his job as a teacher. He decides he wants to create pneumatic underwear for the comfort of people sitting on hard surfaces everywhere, and to that purpose (at some point in the book, not immediately) contacts a sort of businessman and proposes a deal for them. He also acquires a fake beard and seduces a woman while wearing it, then tries to seduce another and only succeeds at winning her heart (but not any of her other organs) when he removes it (and claims he's shaved).
There's a guy who's obsessed by the workings of kidneys to the exclusion of all else, until he falls in love with a woman who's not his wife (and then decides to really have a relationship with his wife).
There's a guy who's an artist/poet/philosopher and bad at everything (and considers suicide).
There's a guy who's some sort of a critic.
There's a woman who's one love died in the war and now she's desired by all men (no causal relationship).
There's the kidney-dude's wife, who wants an affair and has it with the fake-beard, then looks for him from place to place in the city, has a second affair with a dude from Gumbril's circle, then gets raped by another dude from their social circle.
There's a pure of heart virgin girl who dates fake-beard (and from whom he loses the beard), but she vanishes when he stands her up.
And there are a lot of in-jokes, such as the "beaver" thing, which I assume are much funnier if you know what they refer to.
All in all, I see other people had fun with this book, but I found it to be one of the most boring experiences I've ever gone through. Alas, my book club decided to read "Brave New World" for its new meeting and even if I liked the book the first time I went through it, it might be too soon for me to see the word "pneumatic" again.
ptdrv's review against another edition
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
julien_alexander's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
amirahazhar's review against another edition
5.0
gumbril jr. created the concept of beard-fishing to get p*ssy. go off king
jzelman's review against another edition
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
andresreading's review against another edition
3.0
I couldn't find the plot interesting, and it goes around a lot, as if nothing is happening. The mini-play around the middle of the story is phenomenal though.
jgwc54e5's review against another edition
3.0
A comic novel about the useless classes in the early 1920s. The main character invents gumbrils patented small clothes! Pneumatic trousers for comfort. It seems quite modern particularly about sex and religion. 3* because I don’t read latin and there’s also references I don’t really get.
amyvrizzo's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0