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Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
For decades I"ve wanted to read this book. I am now a little over 1/2 through it. Honestly, I don't like it. Maybe if I had been reading it 20 or 30 years ago I would have liked it more. I don't think the author likes ant\y of his characters. Who could like the principal one. MAYBE the last 1/2 will change my mind. Physically, the book arrived in great shape & I'm grateful to have it to read.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I can understand why this book is so loved. Ignatius Reilly is definitely a larger than life character with great rambling soliloquies and sharp banter--if you are a fan of Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons you will love him, but therein lies my problem. When Ignatius is out of the frame the novel sags, as the other characters are not well drawn enough to act as counterweight to his larger-than-life presence. Also, other than Ignatius' oddities there is also not much of a story arc to speak of...the novel kind of putts along from semi-chaotic scene to semi-chaotic scene, never rising to high drama, plus at times I found writing itself to be a little awkward and inelegant. I never felt like I was reading a *great* novel, but I did feel like I was reading something by a writer with considerable talent and promise, but overall the novel felt unrealized...though there were some very great parts. I would have been interested to see what O'Toole would have developed into had he not met such a tragic end. I wish I could be more enthusiastic. I found "Confederacy" very readable and at time enjoyable. I just wasn't wowed by it.Read full review
My two favorite books, for different reasons, are this one and "To Kill A Mockingbird." While "Mockingbird" gives us alot to think about, including the meaning of heroism, racism, and more, "A Confederacy Of Dunces" is simply an all-out laugh riot. I re-read it at least once a year and I've highlighted certain passages in my copy that I especially love. It's the first and only time I've done this, and this is the only book that continues to make me laugh out loud years after I read it for the first time. The story is about Ignatius J. Reilly, who has made a career of being lazy, slovenly, gluttonous and unemployed until his long-suffering mother's automobile accident plunges him into the world of work. We follow him as he threatens to destroy every establishment he enters. Along the way he meets a 'macho' female bar owner, an exotic dancer wanna-be who just can't get her hilarious lines right, a foppish party boy who admires and buys his mother's hat, a bar helper who "sweeps young", an owner of a hot dog company who ultimately threatens to stab Ignatius in the neck with a rusty fork, the owner of a nearly defunct pants plant who has two daughters who may one day end up "selling roach tablets door to door", a friend of Ignatious' mother who has "gourmet grandchildren" and an office manager who almost falls victim to a group of employees who sing the funniest gospel song ever written. There has been a segment of the reading public who don't like the book but my best advice would be to get a copy, read it and decide for yourself. Different strokes for different folks. Personally, I love this book and I would recommend it to anyone but you should read it and make your own decision.Read full review
Very funny read, enjoyed the characters and how the author tied up the plots at the end.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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