The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom [Import] [Paperback]

Alexander Mccall Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 2005

Welcome to the extraordinary world of Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, an unnaturally tall and memorable character whose sublime insouciance is a blend of the cultivated pomposity of Frasier Crane and Inspector Clouseau’s hapless gaucherie. The complete exploits of this unlikely adventurer are delightfully captured in The 21⁄2 Pillars of Wisdom.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“For a generation fed a narrow and cynical diet of celebrity, narcissism, miserabilism and sensationalism, McCall Smith offers a philosophical feast. In a sated world, he has identified a new kind of hunger.”
–The Scotsman

“Although McCall Smith’s narrative gifts and splendid voice are on fine display in almost all of his published fiction, they might be best suited to the entertainingly ridiculous tales contained in these three volumes. These are books meant to be read and reread, and appreciators of humour à la P. G. Wodehouse are advised to make the adventures of Prof. von Igelfeld a permanent part of their literary collection.”
–The Globe and Mail

“These collections of interconnected stories are gentle farces, somewhat similar in tone to E. F. Benson’s Lucia books (which happen to be great favourites of McCall Smith). The world of the institute, like Lucia’s English village of Riseholme, is a small and privileged one, and, as in those books, it is a place where much is made of nothing – to great comic effect. The humour is heightened, of course, by the lofty formality with which the professors address one another, even as they’re thinking the basest thoughts.”
–The New York Times Book Review

“McCall Smith happily pushes every scene to its Monty Python-esque limit.”
–The Georgia Straight

“Alexander McCall Smith possesses a seemingly limitless imagination.... McCall Smith finds plenty
to poke fun at in the halls of academe, a setting fraught with ego-driven battles for power and prestige.”
–Chicago Sun-Times

About the Author

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the international phenomenon The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series and of The Sunday Philosophy Club series. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and was a law professor at the University of Botswana and at Edinburgh University. He lives in Scotland. In his spare time he is a bassoonist in the RTO (Really Terrible Orchestra).

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Vintage Canada (October 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0676978045
• ISBN-13: 978-0676978049
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,175,434 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alexander McCall Smith was born in what is now Zimbabwe and taught law at the University of Botswana. He is now Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He has written more than fifty books, including a number of specialist titles, but is best known for The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, which has achieved bestseller status on four continents. In 2004 he was awarded British Book Awards Author of the Year and Booksellers Association Author of the Year. He lives in Scotland, where in his spare time he is a bassoonist in the RTO (Really Terrible Orchestra).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, with a lot of subtle (and not-so-subtle) humor, November 13, 2005

By 

Eileen Palsson (Sollentuna Sweden) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom (The Von Igelfeld Trilogy) (Paperback)

I read this book over a year ago, so I can't write all that I could have when I had just finished it. But I noticed there were no reviews of this book available, and that's a shame because this is a masterpiece of subtle (and not-so-subtle) humor about a stiff and pompous German professor and his colleagues, their interpersonal intrigues, and their various adventures. It's one of my few "keepers".

As with other books by this author, you can't judge this book by the description of the story, which I admit sounds dry. The same plot, implemented by another author, might have been a complete flop. But McCall Smith can take the most mundane or obscure story and bring it to life, adding twists of irony and color that entertain and charm the reader.

This book (which contains a trilogy, actually) is not the light and merry read that we're used to from McCall Smith's "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series, but every bit as entertaining.

Any experience or knowledge that readers may have of German culture and customs will make this book even more of a delight to read -- unless, of course, you're a German without the ability to laugh at your own culture.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, February 18, 2006

By 

ToniToes "Toni Beyer" (Stockton, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom (The Von Igelfeld Trilogy) (Paperback)

Contains three stories:
Portuguese Irregular Verbs
The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs
At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances

They are all funny, but The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs is absolutely hilarious.

Completely mad, and has a lot of in-jokes for academics, but enjoyable for anyone. Laugh 'til it hurts!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gloriously good fun, social comedy based around university, July 8, 2006

By 

A. Woodley "Patroness, Janeites, the Austen list" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom (The Von Igelfeld Trilogy) (Paperback)

Alexamder McCall Smith is probably best known now as the author of the wonderful series, the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, but proving his immensely fine writing and observation skills are not simply a fluke, he has also written some other series. This is one, there are three books in here, Portuguese Irregular Verbs, the Finer Points of Sausage Dogs and At the Villa of reduced circumstances.

This series follows the adventures of Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Iglefled, author of Portuguese Irregular Verbs, (which has sold over 200 copies) and his friends (and arch rivals) Unterholzen and Prinzel - as they attend philology conferences, or establish themselves in the finely details pecking order of academia - all done in the best of good manners with almost no open hostility.

Truly this is a marvellous peice of writing. The story where - as friends, von Iglefeld, Prinzel and Unterholzen read a book on tennis and its rules and then decide that they can play and indeed will play - all they need to know of tennis can be gained from books after all.

It has been reviewed as cultivated pomposity, but there is also a marvellous edge of appealingness about them. I think we can all relate to their battles, their own pride and firm assurance in their very rightness. I think there appeal is not that they are pompous and ridiculous, but rather - there but for the grace of god go I!

If you like this series I am sure you will enjoy another author - E E Benson who wrote the Lucia series, another very finely observed series of books where the small politics of a isolated community dominate the actions of everyone. They are glorious good fun to read!

Highly enjoyable good-natured, good-humoured and good reading.