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249th out of 334 books
—
459 voters
Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician
Alfred Jarry is best known as the author of the proto-Dada play "Ubu Roi," but this anarchic novel of absurdist philosophy is widely regarded as the central work to his oeuvre. Written in 1989 and refused for publication in the author's lifetime, "Exploits and Opinion of Dr. Faustroll" recounts the adventures of the inventor of "Pataphysics . . . the science of imaginary s...more
Paperback, 160 pages
Published
June 15th 1996
by Exact Change
(first published 1911)
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Since, by the laws of pataphysics, each thing defines and supersedes it's opposite thing, this worst of all novels--because lacking an acceptable narrative or believable characters of a coherent point--is, of course, the greatest of all novels for its scientific complexity, utterly trivial silliness, homage to so many friends, send up of Sir john Mandeville's travels, and the finest-drawn of all loquacious characters in the history of literature, Bosse-de-Nage, the butt-cheek-faced baboon cabin...more
The root of 'pataphysics and an unrelentingly weird novel by the master of such, Faustroll is really funny in an occluded way and has much to teach burgeoning lunatics.
Stars for the book's importance in influencing dada and surrealism; lack of stars for its tedium. "Exploits" often reminded me of Melville's "The Confidence-Man," which consisted of numerous set pieces that introduced type after type of person found traveling the Mississippi, just as "Exploits" encounters a variety of eccentric figures, often based on Jarry's friends. In both books, "encounters" is the operative verb--it's all "Hail, fellow! Well met!," then on to the next chapter. Books don't n...more
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This novel does not have much of a plot. It depicts a three-men-in-a-tub situation (to be exact, two men and a baboon). The three experience a series of adventures, some with mortal consequences, as they visit different fantastic islands. The novel includes a lecture by Faustroll on ’Pataphysics.
The writing, with sentences like “The place where the sun sets has the appearance, between the folds comprising the Town’s mesentery, of the vermiform appendix of a caecum” (59), will send some readers s...more
The writing, with sentences like “The place where the sun sets has the appearance, between the folds comprising the Town’s mesentery, of the vermiform appendix of a caecum” (59), will send some readers s...more
Feb 18, 2009
Mark
added it
It's a very Rabelais type book, but the changes in shift and tone are even more random. What's surprising to me, coming from the Ubu Plays, is just how beautiful Jarry's prose really is-- he wasn't some hack, he could really write. Anyway, this book is essentially just a beautiful and funny fable. Ha ha.
from the Introduction:
Doctor Faustroll puts Henri Rousseau in charge of a "painting machine" to "embellish" the academic canvases hanging in the Luxembourge Museum. While Faustroll has an erotic adventure, the painting machine under the Lucretian name of Clinamen executes thirteen paintings, each described in a short prose poem.
This one is called "Love":
The soul is wheedled by Love who looks exactly like an iridescent veil and assumes the masked face of a chrysalis. It walks upon inverted skull...more
Doctor Faustroll puts Henri Rousseau in charge of a "painting machine" to "embellish" the academic canvases hanging in the Luxembourge Museum. While Faustroll has an erotic adventure, the painting machine under the Lucretian name of Clinamen executes thirteen paintings, each described in a short prose poem.
This one is called "Love":
The soul is wheedled by Love who looks exactly like an iridescent veil and assumes the masked face of a chrysalis. It walks upon inverted skull...more
a sort of dada odyssey-- dr. faustroll sails in a sieve to a series of surreal islands in a "pataphysical" quest for knowledge with a talking baboon for a navigator (who, incidentally, can only say "ha ha"). "GOD IS THE TANGENTIAL POINT BETWEEN ZERO AND INFINITY."
Alfred Jarry started the movement called 'pataphysics which is a sort of extension of science, metaphysics, and religion. The principles of 'pataphysics are conspicuously given in this experimental book. The language is beautiful, always courting poetry. But it needs a ton of annotations to be understood. Well, maybe not a ton, but surely ample footnotes. The uninitiated (like me) will either appreciate the surreal prose poems which soar like kites, or blink helpless at the surreal passages zoom...more
Like the other Jarry, I'm not sure I liked it while I was reading it, and I definitely didn't understand, but there's something under the surface - the ideas, the worldview - which has stuck with me more than most books I read, and it's growing with time.
And here's the definition:
'pataphysics ... is the science of that which is superinduced upon metaphysic ... extending as far beyond metaphysics as the latter extends beyond physics. Ex: an epiphenomenon being often accidental, pataphysics will b...more
And here's the definition:
'pataphysics ... is the science of that which is superinduced upon metaphysic ... extending as far beyond metaphysics as the latter extends beyond physics. Ex: an epiphenomenon being often accidental, pataphysics will b...more
No wonder I hava a blog with a very similar title, you need to read it to find out the total surface of god, the real shape of the clocks or even all the exceptions.
Essential reading for entering Jarry's world.
ceramic
Mar 17, 2009
Steve Morrison
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
2009,
favorites,
2009-best,
surrealism,
very-very-favorites,
highly-recommended,
books-i-own,
inspiration
An amazing title. Concerns the surreal odyssey of one Dr. Faustroll who, among other things, sails in a sieve with his baboon and visits a series of bizarre and satirical islands (all apparently located within downtown Paris) before transforming into an astral body and attempting to calculate the surface of God. Along the way he invents "pataphysics," which is described as "the science of imaginary solutions." It's all very Rabelaisan and loads of fun.
One of the starngest books you'll ever read, Faustroll is a proto-surrealist novel written at the turn of the 20th century. A mock odyssey, it follows Faustroll the titular Pataphysician as he, a hydrocyphalic baboon and a bailiff travel through imaginary worlds that are also parts of Paris and a brief history of late 9th century art in a boat that is also a sieve.
I am very thankful that this book had annotations. Jarry was from a time when knowledge of classical work was the mark of education. He makes a lot of references that were lost on me. The story itself was fairly interesting, if a bit, I don't know, absurd...
objectively, one of the best books i've ever read.
why didn't anyone tell me about this book sooner?
why didn't anyone tell me about this book sooner?
Reading this is like having a gas enter your ear and float about just touching some neurons and just as quickly float back out. Maybe it leaves a molecule. The molecule is pronounced "HA HA".
Oct 20, 2007
Antiabecedarian
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
novice dictators
Shelves:
ha-ha,
best-friends-forever
Good times. Learn how to sail a green sea in a sieve. Any need or desire for the study of Shakespeare's foils is removed, it is the Source of Fools.
Nov 23, 2012
Nathan "N.R." Gaddis
marked it as the-value-of-a-dollar
Recommended to Nathan "N.R." by:
Chuck LoPresti
"'Pataphysics: A Useless Guide by Andrew Hugill":
http://www.bookforum.com/review/10464
http://www.bookforum.com/review/10464
Jan 13, 2008
Buck
added it
I know I read it but I can't remember a damn thing about it.
This book is a blissful bomb...
Don't fuck with Bosse-de-Nage.
Jun 17, 2013
A.
marked it as to-read
Jun 17, 2013
Graeme Skipper-horton
marked it as to-read
Jun 16, 2013
reem
marked it as to-read
Jun 15, 2013
Adel Mettawa
marked it as to-read
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Alfred Jarry was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France, not far from the border of Brittany; he was of Breton descent on his mother's side.
Best known for his play Ubu Roi (1896), which is often cited as a forerunner to the surrealist theatre of the 1920s and 1930s, Jarry wrote in a variety of genres and styles. He wrote plays, novels, poetry, essays and speculative journalism. His texts p...more
More about Alfred Jarry...
Best known for his play Ubu Roi (1896), which is often cited as a forerunner to the surrealist theatre of the 1920s and 1930s, Jarry wrote in a variety of genres and styles. He wrote plays, novels, poetry, essays and speculative journalism. His texts p...more
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