Sabbatical [Hardcover]

John Barth (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Putnam Pub Group (T); Dlx Ltd edition (May 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399127232
• ISBN-13: 978-0399127236
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,501,336 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant but only marginally interesting, January 7, 2003

By 

Carper (Europe) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sabbatical (Hardcover)

This is an example of Barth in his "too smart for us readers" mode. Instead of telling a poignant and interesting and perhaps moving story about a complicated family wrapped up in cold-war intrigue and general late-twentieth century angst and insanity, this is a book about books, and about writing. If you go in for that sort of thing you will love it. Far from being straightforward, the plotting is circuitous and completely unsatisfying; the shifting point of view is so consciously experimental that it is almost a joke on the reader. There is no doubt that John Barth is a lot smarter than most of us, and is a really brilliant writer and thinker. But his brilliance keeps this from being a fun or entertaining novel. If you like your reading experimental and self-conscious, by all means, pick it up!