Customer Reviews

Haiku U: From Aristotle to Zola, 100 Great Books in 17 Syllables

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

 

 

It seems absurd to try to summarize massive, difficult books in 17-syllables, but that's part of what makes Bader's attempt so hilarious. Some of the haiku are are silly, some are witty, and some really do capture the style and import of the books on which they're based. Almost all made me smile or laugh. It's fun to see how the author tackles each "great book" and there are some nice insights amidst the punch lines. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys books.

Definitly on the "fluff reading" side, this book did make me laugh - and while some of the entries are pretty crude and/or punny, many do poke fun at more subtle aspects of the author's style or the book's reputation. [Others are just going for the laugh, but hey, it's a humor book.] One of my favorites is the entry on Alcott's Little Women; it's pithy, a tad mean-spirited, and very, very funny!

I'm a list-lover. Show me a list of must-read books or must-see movies and I've got a pen out forthwith. So when I saw David M. Bader's selection of 100 great books, that was enough to "hook" me and I had to flip the pages.

What a great idea: "Condensed into haiku, the 'great books' are now within the reach of even the shortest attention spans." It's the next best thing to a Kindle, and in the case of some of these books, better. The selections are weighty overall, or at least the originals are; reducing them to haiku cuts their weight drastically.

Allow me to share some of the delights of this little book.

Bader gives us St. Augustine's TRUE CONFESSIONS: This is just to say / I screwed around. Forgive me. / I enjoyed it so.

Many truly important works of philosophy are represented, such as Adam Smith's THE WEALTH OF NATIONS: Supply meets demand. / The invisible hand claps. / Capitalist Zen.

... and PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPIRIT by Georg W.H. Hegel: Thesis: A whole pig. / Antithesis: Butcher shop. / Synthesis: Schnitzel.

...and BEING AND NOTHINGNESS by Jean-Paul Sartre: Gentle Left Bank sun-- / bluebirds chirp their empty song. / We are all condemned.

Any list of 100 Great Books must include some drama and classic fiction; this list is no exception. We have WAITING FOR GODOT by Samuel Beckett: Act I. "It's hopeless. / My boots don't fit. Where is God?" / Act II. The same thing.

...and Hawthorne's THE SCARLET LETTER: Grim, gray New England-- / all adulterers receive / free monogramming.

Bader shows a pithy grasp of C.G. Jung's pioneering work THE ARCHETYPES AND THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS: A patient says he / sees the phallus of the sun. / But then, who doesn't?

Living as I do in the Maine woods, my personal favorite of Bader's great books is undoubtedly WALDEN, OR, LIFE IN THE WOODS by Henry David Thoreau: Morning: Pond-gazing. / Afternoon: Berry-picking. / What a hectic day.

Don't let your days be too hectic this month, National Poetry Month. Take time to enjoy some great reading.

Linda Bulger, 2008

The book is delightful which is why I ordered three copies of it. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys whimsey and an unusual approach to literary summaries.

As for my experience with the delivery of the three copies: they were sent by three separate vendors (coordinated by BordeeBook - Amazon Marketplace). Two of the copies were quite satisfactory. I notified Bordee when the third copy was not in the promised condition, and they handled the situation promptly and to my complete satisfaction.

Haiku review
How very clever in synthesizing a large piece of literature to a few words, AND in prescribed Haiku format. I laughed, jumped ahead, jumped back--fun, fun, fun. If you have read even half of the Great Books, you will enjoy this take on them--or if you haven't read any, you might want to after these 17 syllable synopses.

The problem with this book is the fact that most of the pieces they have Haikus for are obscure. You truly need to be an English major and a History major just to recognize the titles. Sure, I laughed, but they got old quick. Guess it's just the nature of the Haiku. And again, not recognizing half of them (as I'm an English major only) made it hard to "get the joke."

This is a fantastic book.

The work is delightful----very, very good---
hard work well done