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08-16-2020, 12:41 PM | #16 |
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Given that we live in a time that is itself but a caricature, I should think you would find it quite apt, Jon. But let's not go too far down that particular road, lest we all end up in P&R.
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08-16-2020, 01:01 PM | #17 |
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08-16-2020, 02:09 PM | #18 | |
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I think it’s more of a “laugh at yourself” type of making fun. The gentle satire rather than biting helps to make the tone more affectionate. Also one should consider the time period in which it was written. I found this interesting article written by a professor at the University oh Toronto.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts...ticle15074242/ Quote:
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08-16-2020, 02:16 PM | #19 |
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Perhaps the small-town foibles, questionable actions, and rampant stupidity might have been more amusing were it not for the unfunny times we live in.
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08-16-2020, 02:35 PM | #20 | ||
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I thought it impossible to escape this, especially as the book was bracketed by an intro and epilogue in which Leacock somehow felt it necessary to parade his academic achievements and make it clear he got out and didn’t go back. I can’t blame him, of course, especially as it’s impossible to deny how stultifying such a town would have been to those with ambition and ability; the upshot, however, is that there’s a sneer in that affection. So this didn’t work for me as pure humor, and as satire it didn’t have enough point. Unlike the judge’s son, he pulled his punches. Still I did laugh and the understated humor was the best part. One of many funny bits as an example: Quote:
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08-16-2020, 02:43 PM | #21 | ||
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08-16-2020, 05:05 PM | #22 |
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The passage quoted is both cute and nasty. It's cute in the was Bagshaw said his piece and it's nasty in the way the author makes everyone else seem stupid. The author has a nasty streak that shows in this book and when it shows, it's not nice at all even if the words are meant to be cute. He is making fun of people who may have some difficulties. It's very rude and not nice.
Last edited by JSWolf; 08-16-2020 at 05:09 PM. |
08-16-2020, 09:51 PM | #23 | |
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The farewell/l'envoy was interesting, I thought, in that at first it offered a sense of anticipation, as if the narrator wants, and expects to be able, to return to that time and place. And then in the closing paragraph the awakening to the reality that the memory or dream is all they have. |
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08-17-2020, 09:01 AM | #24 |
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I agree with Jon. The book seemed like it had 400 pages. Very poor pacing.
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08-17-2020, 12:19 PM | #25 | |
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08-17-2020, 04:16 PM | #26 | ||
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In terms of humour, my favourite lines were: “Mr. Smith, by the way, encouraged the use of the French language in the caff. He viewed it, of course, solely in its relation to the hotel business, and I think, regarded it as a recent invention.” That’s a perfect observation about an Ontario town, next door to Quebec, and the two solitudes of Canada. Last edited by Victoria; 08-17-2020 at 04:19 PM. |
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08-19-2020, 01:14 PM | #27 |
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I got a bad taste from this just reading the Author's preface. As a former academic, he got under my skin almost immediately.
I had a really hard time enjoying the book because I kept comparing it in my mind to Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio. Winesburg is not funny, nor is it meant to be, and it is one of my favorite books. Winesburg is able to show honest sketches of a small town without bluster or the need to entertain. The first story in the cycle, "Hands," has stuck with me ever since the first time I read it. By comparison, I found Sketches to be tongue in cheek just for the sake of being so. It hurt the story and the reading experience for me so much that I had to put it down. When Twain uses humor, he is using it proactively. His humor is almost one of his characters. Leacock's humor, which was not very funny, was just clunky and in the way. |
08-19-2020, 05:18 PM | #28 | |
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08-19-2020, 11:37 PM | #29 | ||
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So I've just checked what I highlighted when I was reading in this book and got reminded that I had a few questions...
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08-19-2020, 11:46 PM | #30 | |
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Under the Ontario Temperance Act, local townships or municipalities could opt to prohibit ALL sales, manufacture, or importation of alcohol. Even after the act was repealed:
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