| |||||||||||||||
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a famous & hilarious collection of tall stories,
By A Customer
This review is from: Baron Munchaunsen (Dedalus European Classics) (Paperback)
This book of tall stories was written two centuries ago, but has been famous for most of that time and went through numerous editions in Europe. The humour is not dated - this is 18th century Monty Python. In fact, the most recent film based on it was produced by an ex-Python! It is based in spirit on the real-life raconteur, the Baron von Munchausen. While tall stories are always with us, this collection is a 'classic' because of the whimsical element to its outrageous inventions, for example, the Baron's fur coat catches rabies from a mad dog which attacks the Baron, and the coat then savages the other items of his wardrobe. It deserves to be resurrected with the general public, along with other half-forgotten classics such as Pedro Carolino: English as she is spoke, and the various collections of Heath-Robinson cartoons.The Baron's tales were so well known that his name has been used in medicine (as 'Munchausen syndrome') to characterise patients who deliberately engineer multiple, unnecessary surgical operations on themselves, by telling tall stories to their doctors! This book is listed as out of print, but I doubt this is so, as I have just bought it (July 97) through the bookshop of the University of Melbourne (Australia) as a routine order. If difficult to find in the USA, there is the Hippocrene version, also listed by the Amazon Bookshop. I have not seen this cheap version and I would check whether it has the illustrations and the later tales (the "accretions"). Finally, one can get the flavour of the stories from a partial on-line version, placed on the Web by Dr. M. Feldman - see http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Marc_Feldman_2/#MSBP - but you need a copy of the Dedalus edition for your bookshelves
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
intensely fun,
By ribcage (Lantana, Florida United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Baron Munchaunsen (Dedalus European Classics) (Paperback)
This book tells the outrageous adventures of Baron Munchausen from fighting an alligator and a lion singlehandedly to building a gigantic bridge from Africa to England. The book comes in two parts, the first part being generally random shorts, while the second is a more focused account of the Baron's trip to Africa. I like the first part infinitely better than the second, which just got boring to me after a while. Both parts are definitely worth reading, and the book is definitely worth buying.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Raspe=good, the rest=bad,
This review is from: Baron Munchaunsen (Dedalus European Classics) (Paperback)
The first part of this book, which is attributed to Raspe, is modestly charming. It's narrative tone is original. And it is composed of equal parts boisterousness, bravado, and Germanisms. Of course, it is more incident than plot, but it still has a unique and enjoyable flavor. I would loosely compare it to AC Doyle's "The Adventures of Gerard", although the style here is simpler, more old-fashioned, and it is more of a tall tale.
Raspe has an endearing quality like O. Henry. Perhaps, it is because they were both lovable scoundrels. O. Henry committed bank fraud and took his pen name from one of his guards, while taking the story idea from his cellmate. Raspe was in charge of a museum. He sold the pieces with less artistic merit and escaped to England. The rest of the book is basically trash written by others capitalizing on the success of Raspe's story in a time when there was no copyright. The narrative tone looses all sense of quality. The plot is so senseless that it randomly involves Gog and Magog. Another scene with giant birds is basically stolen from Sinbad -- it was better in Sinbad. The only slightly funny part is Muchausen's introduction of fudge into an African kingdom. Borrow the book from your library and read the first part. If you want something more to read, return it and get another book.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
