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A review by jimmylorunning
Zazie in the Metro by Raymond Queneau
2.0
Talk, talk, that's all you can do!
Seems like a fitting description of this novel which is just an excuse for slapstick language comedy. Some of the witty language was amusing and clever, but overall I don't see the point of this romp. It got sillier and sillier, but not in a way that was funnier and funnier. The thing kinda read like a writing exercise, actually. And the characters are like flashy cartoons. I never thought slapstick was possible in book form, but here it is. I've never enjoyed slapstick comedy (though I try at least a few times a year and am always disappointed... just not my thing), but I can see how someone can really love this book if it is their thing. I enjoyed the wordplay, to some degree, but it got old kinda fast. It is quite impressive, though, that this was a translation. I'm sure the word-jokes were entirely different in French.
Seems like a fitting description of this novel which is just an excuse for slapstick language comedy. Some of the witty language was amusing and clever, but overall I don't see the point of this romp. It got sillier and sillier, but not in a way that was funnier and funnier. The thing kinda read like a writing exercise, actually. And the characters are like flashy cartoons. I never thought slapstick was possible in book form, but here it is. I've never enjoyed slapstick comedy (though I try at least a few times a year and am always disappointed... just not my thing), but I can see how someone can really love this book if it is their thing. I enjoyed the wordplay, to some degree, but it got old kinda fast. It is quite impressive, though, that this was a translation. I'm sure the word-jokes were entirely different in French.