(So this is the first book review on the stack of drafts...the book was sold long ago, and this review didn't rate it worth restocking, so the only reason for posting it is that This Web Site Will Bring You A Book Review A Day, Come Flood Come Fire.)
Title: MF
Author: Anthony
Burgess
Date: 1971
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 0-394-43608-3
Length: 242
pages
Quote: “I’m
due tonight to be married by a circus clown to my own sister.”
In this
novel the author of A Clockwork Orange displays
his erudition by confecting one of the world’s most elaborate, sophisticated,
slip-it-past-the-folks-in-Rio-Linda dirty jokes. Before the Internet,
baby-boomers used to have a consensus of opinion that it was nicer to laugh at
dirty jokes than at mean ones, so books like MF were fashionable. Fashions change.
For those
of us who prefer clean jokes, Burgess thoughtfully made the central character a
bit of an expert on complicated jokes and riddles. So I found much to laugh at
in this book—his throwaway lines. Nevertheless I found the central joke, which
is about incest and not very cleverly plays on the double meaning of “MF,” a
bit of a downer.
If you
enjoy James Joyce, you’ll enjoy this simpler work that seems to be a tribute to
Ulysses. If you didn’t like Ulysses you probably won’t like MF either.
No comments:
Post a Comment