The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom (The Von Igelfeld Trilogy) [Paperback]

Alexander McCall Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 11, 2004

Alexander McCall Smith, best-selling author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, has turned his hand to humour. The delightful result is a creation of comic genius. For in the unnaturally tall form of Professor Doctor Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, we are invited to meet a memorable character whose sublime insouciance is a blend of the cultivated pomposity of Frasier Crane and of Inspecteur Clouseau's hapless gaucherie. Von Igelfeld inhabits the rarefied world of the Institute of Romance Philology at Regensburg, a world he shares with his equally tall and equally ridiculous colleagues, Professors Florianus Prinzel and Detlev Amadeus Unterholzer. Their unlikely adventures are described in three deliciously funny instalments: Portuguese Irregular Verbs, The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs and At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'There is something almost divinely appealing about the way Alexander McCall Smith writes about daily life in Botswana ... it is hard to think of a contemporary writer more genuinely engaging ... his novels are also extremely funny: I find it impossible to think about them without smiling' Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday

About the Author

Alexander McCall Smith is a Professor of Medical Law as well as an author who has written over 50 books on a wide range of subjects. His extraordinary fan base now ranges from Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chilli Peppers lead singer) to Martina Navratilova and Alex James (from Blur).

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Abacus (November 11, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0349118507
• ISBN-13: 978-0349118505
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #517,624 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.