A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy TooleMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
In my search for classics one of the books that kept coming up on many readers must read list was A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. The title derives from the epigraph by Jonathan Swift: "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
Honestly after looking at the cover of this book and reading a short review of it I kept putting it off because it seemed like it was to egocentrically driven for me but now I’m grateful I give it a try.
The main character Ignatius J. Reilly was a hilariously funny nut case who really believes he is a genius and that everyone is against him. He was a very interesting mix of a human being to say the least. He’s over educated; a confirmed Momma’s Boy, suffers from paranoia, depression and hates almost everybody and everything. But from his hatred comes some of the most witty, original and brilliantly conceived dialogue and sarcasm I think I’ve ever heard. He’s so incredibility insulting, negative and judgmental you wouldn’t think he would be an appealing character but soon enough you begin to empathize with him.
Burma Jones had some great lines too and may have been the only person in the book who really understood what everything was about. The narrator Barrett Whitener did an amazing job with his voice in a Cajun dialect but he was just over the top funny with his voice characterization of Ignatius. I laughed out loud many times; it was a great escape with what some might say is a pointless unbelievable story. Sadly I don’t think it’s unbelievable at all and I’m almost certain that every person and situation is actually quite plausible in the real world.
It’s one of the books that is so odd and entertaining that once you start it you can’t stop. It begins with some goofy hard to believe stories about the characters in the beginning that seem to make no sense but in the end it all comes together. It’s a brilliant piece of literature and you haven’t read it you must.
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