Customer Reviews

The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was my introduction to J. P. Donleavey and I didn't know quite what to expect. Early on the book had me laughing out loud, yet throughout there is a strong undercurrent of sadness.

The portion devoted to Balthazar's time at Trinity reminded me of both "Lucky Jim" by Kingsley Amis, and "The Water Method Man" by John Irving. Donleavy uses the academic setting to create situations with a tremendous amount of humor and a profound sense of loneliness and alienation simultaneously.

This introduction led me to pick up four more by Donleavy. The emotion of the book stayed with me for a long time afterward.

Balthazar B. is an aristocrat bewildered at every turn by life. His picaresque journey from Paris to Trinity College Dublin and visitations to country estates and among women of high and dubious social standing is hilarious to behold. The randy foil figure of Beefy may stand as one of the greatest comic figures since Shakespeare's Fat Jack Falstaff. The literary style of Donleavy is itself richly laden with lyricism and poetry and comedy. It is a uniquely pointillistic style in which brush strokes are applied to the canvas with precision and clarity in truncated and non-traditonal but accessible syntax. Like most truly great writers Donleany evokes all of the reader's senses in his work. He also succeeds in arousing sympathy, hilarity, tenderness, grief -- a full range of sensibilities that engage the reader. Each character is roundly drawn and speaks with a unique voice and range of experience. Donleavy's Ginger Man is named among the Random House Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century. He is a supremely talented story teller with an enchanting narrative style that will leave you wanting to read more. Don't miss this novel, The Destinies of Darcy Dancer, Gentleman and the Singular Man -- they are all pleasant and richly satisfying literary treasures.

A splendid book about one Balthazar B, gentleman at large. Donleavy's writing sparkles with wit, humor and charm, and yet he never shies from the experiences that make Balthazar (and all of us) human: the pursuit of sex and the loss of true love. Balthazar is no cardboard hero for whom everything goes right.

Donleavy's BBBB can teach you a thing or two in romance and the sadness of real life. By temperament, if you are one of those people who are shy and intellectual, you will learn how to impress the opposite sex. The bitter-sweet humor of BBBB also warns you about the possible mishaps that can happen even when people are genuinely in love. For those of you, who might have had the pleasure of consorting with ladies of easy virtue, it is a sad reminder that in the 90s, you will never be able to emulate the hedonist 1960s and 1970s. A remarkable book on friendship, love, and how fluctuating fortunes can make or break one's life.

This is one of the few books I re-read every couple of years I enjoy it so much. I suppose it resonates so strongly because of my years at a Catholic prep school. Whatever the reason, I find Balthazar's misadventures hilarious and heart-breaking. And his sidekick, Beefy, is a real pip. Donleavy paints a vivid picture of a time gone by, one you will soon find yourself totally immersed in. There are lots of coming-of-age novels in print, but for me this one is at the top of the list. Bittersweet, sentimental, bawdy, quite enjoyable.

This is a gem of a book -- a bildungsroman, a sentimental baedekker for lovers of Dublin and London and Paris, a perfect tearjerker of a love story, layers of plot and subplot and hilarious vignette woven with the febrile third-person/first person staccato narrative style that Donleavy once told the Paris Review was his greatest original contribution to literature. I disagreed, then and now. Balthazar was his greatest contribution. Nearly 40 years after first reading this book I still find him inhabiting certain corners of my imagination.

Donleavy came on the scene with "The Ginger Man" followed by a few practice exercises like "Saddest Summer of Samuel S". Then after Balthazar B he wrote "Fairy Tale of New York" and then started repeating himself until it became apparent that he'd run out of gas. Donleavy isn't the great novelist that I thought he was when I was 17, but he wrote a couple of great novels. This was one of them. I wish I could read it again for the first time

JP Donleavy's gun-slinging humor and writing style is too much for most American-centric fans of bubble-gum literature. Balthazar B. is a truely classic character portrayed in a colorful and slattern universe. A must read for intelects.

I have read many of Donleavy's works, starting with the Ginger Man (very good), A Singular Man (great), Beastly (the best), through all the following (which I loved but which didn't match Beastly).

There is a part in Beastly that is the saddest chapter in literature. I tear up just remembering how I felt when I read it. Nothing in the Aeneid compares in pathos, little in Shakespeare is as poetic, and nothing in Aristophanes is as funny. It's not overwrought with the sucking friends who prey on so many of Donleavy's heroes, but he can't resist them. In Beastly, the guy is, at least, acceptable as well as being a force that brings Balthazar to the real world (I can't say "back to the real world" because I'm not sure he was ever there in the first place.)

Sit tight, read with an appreciation of beautiful wordsmithing, absorb the character in his story and his narrative, and emerge a better reader for the journey.

It's a fabulous book

I like books that revel in their own literary-ness, but this book went a bit overboard. Great vocabulary, but just a bit too "into itself".

Many years ago I started reading JP Donleavy's books and it became an instant addiction. Gut busting humour that bursts out and twists your nose after reading many pages of beautiful and tragic sadness. It catches you by complete surprise, totally unexpected, and can lead to much embarrassment if you are reading one of his books on crowded public transport!
This book is typical of the great man. Much sadness, tragedy, beauty and complete mayhem, enveloped in some of the funniest and truly subtle humour you will ever come across. Feminists stay well clear, you will be gently offended; the politically correct stay well clear, you will be gently offended. And Catholics, Protestants, and in this book even Muslims, stay well clear you will be gently offended. Nothing to be taken seriously, just enjoy the hilarious ride.
This book begins with a very young aristocrat Balthazar B and follows him along his decadent privileged life. His highs and mostly lows all have one thing in common, complete and utter disaster which he could easily prevent if it wasn't for his shyness and the manipulation of others. His dearest friend Beefy, produces some of the funniest lines you will ever read in literature. Gems!
I brought the Kindle version of this book and I must admit, it was the poorest quality eBook I have ever read. Words did not line up, in places there were big gaps in paragraphs with what looked like ink smeared on the page. Clearly, nobody has tidied up this book before making it available for sale on Amazon. That's the only reason I gave it four stars instead of five. Having said that, if more of Donleavy's books were made available for the Kindle, I would buy them all.
If you want to read a book that is beautifully written, extraodinarily funny and rude, this is the book for you.