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Text: English, French (translation)
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Icarus Ascending,
By Jeff O. (Southcentral Alaska) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Flight of Icarus (New Directions Books) (Paperback)
Hubert, a writer, has lost the main character to the novel he is, well was, writing. After viciously accusing friends and fellow writers of stealing Icarus, he hires the detective Morcol, "who has appeared in many novels under different names," to find him. Soon we meet Icarus, who is only 15 pages old and on his own in 1890 Paris, and begin to see the formation from what Hubert designed, to a real character through his first experience with absinthe, his girlfriend LN, his love of automobiles and bicycles, and his love of flying machines. Barbara Wright has done nice work with the translation although the tone does change abruptly towards the end without apparent reason (some readers may know her translation of Alfred Jarry's, Ubu Roi). Queneau wrote this novel in the form of a play which adds to the borderline absurdist and fast-paced story. One almost believes that the story is really about the process of writing a novel as characters elude and morph and disappear. This is a very easy to read, yet highly irregular work that is highly recommended for its creativity and execution. Readers may also enjoy other works by Queneau and his writing group formed in the 1960's called the OULIPO.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
brilliant and funny,
By david gutkin (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Flight of Icarus (New Directions Books) (Paperback)
This is the first novel I have read by queneau and I certainly plan on reading more by him. "The flight of Icarus" is a hysterical novel in the form of a play, consciously parodying pirandello. It follows a young man, Icarus, the main character of a novelists new book, who escapes its pages and enters late 19th century paris. It is an amusing easy read, full of intentionally awful puns. I recommend it :).
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
On the papers no sign of Icarus: between them - ditto. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
silent chaperon, cycling bloomers, automobile carriages Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Café Anglais, Dicky Ruscombe, Monsieur Lubert, Bois de Boulogne, Doctor Lajoie, Monsieur Maîtretout, Hubert Lubert, Avenue de la Grande-Armée, Monsieur Icarus, Cotentin Durendal, Monsieur Surget Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
On the papers no sign of Icarus: between them - ditto. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
silent chaperon, cycling bloomers, automobile carriages Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Café Anglais, Dicky Ruscombe, Monsieur Lubert, Bois de Boulogne, Doctor Lajoie, Monsieur Maîtretout, Hubert Lubert, Avenue de la Grande-Armée, Monsieur Icarus, Cotentin Durendal, Monsieur Surget Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
6
books
cite this book:
See all 6 books citing this book
- The Book of Absinthe: A Cultural History by Phil Baker on 4 pages
- Romain Gary: The Man Who Sold His Shadow (Critical Authors and Issues) by Ralph Schoolcraft in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Alexandre Kojeve: The Roots of Postmodern Politics by Prof. Shadia B. Drury on page 99, and Back Matter
- The Poetics of Myth (Theorists of Myth) by Eleazar M. Meletinsky on page 351, and Back Matter
- We Always Treat Women Too Well (New York Review Books Classics) by Raymond Queneau in Front Matter
See all 6 books citing this book
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