I'll start with the "aside", this is the first real book that I've read, for pleasure, in over a year. That in itself reflects my state of mind, as it's something that I've been unable to do. I'm starting back to work tomorrow, and feeling good enough to do that, even looking forward to it.
On to the review. I heard this author interviewed on the radio one day when I was driving by myself. The interview ended about 30 seconds before I drove past my local Borders, and I was in an impulse-buy mood that day, so ran on in. It's a comedy by Christopher Moore (never heard of him before), a bastardization of King Lear. He reflected that the Bard wrote for the common man, with common comedy, emotion, and vulgarity. And that's what he was going for here.
So he changed the story, added several hundred curse words and jokes about shagging, and turned a most tragic story into a comedy. And it's funny. It's sort of Shakespeare meets Princess Bride, but written for adults.
I have never read or seen King Lear (gasp), but you don't really need to in order to enjoy the book. If you're after a light read, something to make you laugh, and you're not easily offended, you just might like it.
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9 comments:
Christopher Moore is fantastic. I highly recommend
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
and
The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
if you want some more fun
reading :-)
Jen, planning on Biff next. Thanks for the recommendations!
Smak
...
Moore has a whole bookshelf full of similarly silly/humor books. They are all highly rated over at Epinions, where I write, and also at Amazon. Heck, your readers can check out the first chapter of Fool at Amazon.
Fun post.
...tom...
' who was going to mention the 'Biff' one also ... '
.
When i read your header... I read "Book review, Fool"... like you were talking slang... he he. I don't know why I love that word. Makes me chuckle.
Thanks for the recommendation. I just downloaded a sample chapeter to my Kindle!
My teenage son freely and easily calls people he likes 'fool.' My son-in-law's brother pulled my daughter aside and asked anxiously "Why does your brother think I'm a fool?"
Both the cover and the reviews of this book on Amazon are quite appealing. Why have I never heard of this fellow? Am I a literary fool?
OK, so I'm clueless about Christopher Moore and his books....I'm just glad to hear your voice via your blog. take care
k3p3
I might try it. Jame Smiley's version of King Lear was, interesting, but (in my opinion, uneducated peasant though i may be) not hugely readable.
I absolutely love Christopher Moore.
Witty, great writing with the perfect little bizarre twists.
A joy to read.
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