The ending was shocking and almost kind of eerie considering how seemingly lighthearted most of the book leading up to it was. Maybe knowing what happened to John Kennedy Toole made me feel the ending in a different way than it was intended. It’s the saddest book I’ve ever read.
I’m also now kind of wanting to read Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy, but I don’t know if that’s stupid. I don’t have any background whatsoever in medieval literature. Apart from gilgamesh, chaucer some shakespeare and the standard greek stuff in high school, the oldest thing I’ve read on my own and enjoyed was Pride and Prejudice. Has anyone read Boethius? If so what version you all recommend?
by quantcompandthings
5 Comments
I love this book. It’s my favorite and I always tell a new reader if you enjoy the first 50 pages you’ll love the rest as to what else to read I really enjoyed this bio on the author:
Butterfly in the Typewriter: The Short, Tragic Life of John Kennedy Toole and the Remarkable Story of A Confederacy of Dunces by Cory MacLauchlin
When I read A Confederacy of Dunces, the ending seemed pretty inevitable. It’s my favorite example of creating a main character who seems awful and then surrounding him with so many worse people that he just seems like an innocent in comparison.
A book I really enjoyed that strongly reminded me of A Confederacy of Dunces was The Sotweed Factor.
I had to read this book recently for a book club, and I don’t think I’ve ever hated a book quite so much. I had to force myself into finishing it, couldn’t read more than ten pages or so at a time.
I thought it ended on an optimistic note.