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Cuentos sin plumas (Spanish Edition)
by
Woody Allen
The title of Woody Allen's 2nd collection of New Yorker-style sprint humor is a sly comment on Emily Dickinson's famous quote, "Hope is the thing with feathers." Without Feathers delivers his hopeless schlub persona--you remember, what he used to be before he was either a lecher or an auteur, depending on your politics. In addition to being as funny as anything p...more
Paperback, 464 pages
Published
February 1st 2009
by Tusquets
(first published 1975)
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Mariel
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Woody Allen fans
Recommended to Mariel by:
providence
I found this at one of the Friends of the Library book sales. I was quite happy about that (it feels even better to find a book you really wanted, or a special favorite, at the book sale for cheap (it was ten cent day, too!). Like getting something past someone. "Aha they don't even know they are selling this rare Star Wars action figure in their garage sale! George Lucas didn't even make up a name for this one! *madly gleeful laugh*).
The plays 'Death' and 'God' are the popular...more
The plays 'Death' and 'God' are the popular...more
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Erik Graff
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everyone
Recommended to Erik by:
Lin Illwitzer
Shelves:
literature
I believe this was read just after graduation from Union Theological Seminary in New York, during the first visit back to the Michigan cottage in four years. At that time Dad was on his second marriage. Her name was Lin, she was right between his age and mine and, so, easy to relate to. She was also a Scott Foresman and freelance editor, the author of a successful Spanish textbook and polylingual--quite an impressive person! In any case, I think the book was hers and I read it with much enjo...more
I first read this in high school and I've been re-reading this for years--and I must say the humor is still effective. It doesn't sound dated at all. If I were stranded on an island with a choice of one book: I'd probably choose this or Groucho Marx's. Lines that still make me laugh after all these years:
"Scholars will recall tht several years ago a shepherd, wandering in the Gulf of Aqaba, stumbled upon a cave containing several large clay jars and also two tickets to the ice ...more
"Scholars will recall tht several years ago a shepherd, wandering in the Gulf of Aqaba, stumbled upon a cave containing several large clay jars and also two tickets to the ice ...more
Nicholas
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone.
Recommended to Nicholas by:
A friend.
"I ran into my brother today at a funeral. We had not seen one another for fifteen years, but as usual he produced a pig bladder from his pocket and began hitting me on the head with it. Time has helped me understand him better. I finally realized his remark that I am "some loathsome vermin fit only for extermination" was said more out of compassion than anger. Let's face it: he was always much brighter than me--wittier, more cultured, better educated. Why he is still working...more
I was disappointed by Without Feathers. I am a big Woody Allen fan -- I've seen all of his movies from the last 20 years or so (oy, that makes me feel old). But maybe it's because I am familiar with his more darker material that I couldn't quite get into this book, which harkens more to his earlier style of flat out comedy and one liners. Also, the audiobook format didn't quite work for this book, because I would miss the one liners, which rely to some extent on nuance and need closer examinatio...more
I first read Allen’s short pieces about thirty years ago. They’re still hilarious, and you’re in for a treat if you know him only from his movies. He’s unmatched at rendering familiar styles absurd. In “The Scrolls” he mimics a biblical voice: “And soon Job’s pastures dried up and his tongue cleaved to the roof of his mouth so he could not pronounce the word ‘frankincense’ without getting big laughs.” In “The Whore of Mensa” he imagines a tough private-eye narrating a noir story about crack...more
'Hope is the thing with feathers...' - Emily Dickinson
'Without Feathers' was the first Woody Allen book I read. A random pick from the college library, I remember reading through the first page in growing amazement - was I reading wrong or did this stuff not make any sense? Well, I was reading right!
The book opens with excerpts from Allen's diary, to be published posthumously or after his death, whichever comes first:
'Without Feathers' was the first Woody Allen book I read. A random pick from the college library, I remember reading through the first page in growing amazement - was I reading wrong or did this stuff not make any sense? Well, I was reading right!
The book opens with excerpts from Allen's diary, to be published posthumously or after his death, whichever comes first:
Getting through the night is becoming harder and hard...more
De repente lo amaba, de repente ya no soportaba la lectura.
Los relatos de Cuentos sin Plumas son tan aleatorios que no sabes en que momento te encontrarás con una joya. Leí muchos comentarios que me hicieron esperar muchas risas pero en lo personal no me sacó demasiadas, sólo algunas esporádicas. El humor de Woody Allen es inteligente y certero pero tiene tantas referencias Americanas que apenas y lo captaba.
Adoré cuando hacia mención de escritores a quienes admiro o libros ...more
Los relatos de Cuentos sin Plumas son tan aleatorios que no sabes en que momento te encontrarás con una joya. Leí muchos comentarios que me hicieron esperar muchas risas pero en lo personal no me sacó demasiadas, sólo algunas esporádicas. El humor de Woody Allen es inteligente y certero pero tiene tantas referencias Americanas que apenas y lo captaba.
Adoré cuando hacia mención de escritores a quienes admiro o libros ...more
A collection of Allen’s comedic writings. This is for the most part solid, laugh-out-loud Allen parodies and absurdity. Allen is at his best when parodying, say, the great Russians writers (“Should I marry W.? Not if she won’t tell me the other letters in her last name.”) or Ibsen, as in “Lovborg’s Women Considered,” or just being plain absurd, as in the superbly useless “Slang Origins.”
Throughout, the neurotic Allen themes resonate --- fear of death and intimacy, etc. There are a c...more
Throughout, the neurotic Allen themes resonate --- fear of death and intimacy, etc. There are a c...more
Loved the title! (a take on "hope is the thing with feathers" from Emily Dickinson). Disliked pretty much the rest of the book. I disliked it for apparently the same reasons that someone else liked it... the book is self-indulgent and weird.
I didn't quite know what everything meant, but I remember sitting in the back of the room at school when I first bought this book and laughing maniacally at each and every page.
KNOT my cup of tea? Free book read partly because of exterior wow ratings,
partly to see how it compared with the movies, Curse of the Jade Scorpion,
and Scoop (similar in ways, the movies far better), partly all the way to the
end to see if there was anything of value that I might miss (nada).
For me, no humor at all, and instantly forgettable, line by line.
I assume that that perhaps I am not familiar with this style of haha.
Not at all difficult a read, something li...more
partly to see how it compared with the movies, Curse of the Jade Scorpion,
and Scoop (similar in ways, the movies far better), partly all the way to the
end to see if there was anything of value that I might miss (nada).
For me, no humor at all, and instantly forgettable, line by line.
I assume that that perhaps I am not familiar with this style of haha.
Not at all difficult a read, something li...more
This book is hilarious. If you like Woody Allen's humour I would highly recommend it. It's totally ridiculous, but brilliant at the same time — which sums up Woody Allen as a comedian. This is a book to make you laugh out loud. It's a collection of short essays, short plays and other strange observations. I was lucky enough to find it outside someone's house in a box of books they were throwing away. It's quite an old book, written back in the '70s, so some of the references are out of dat...more
Woody Allen's Without Feathers was the second book from Allen that I've read. The first was Side Effects which is probably one of my favorite comedy book of all time. Without Feathers was still brilliant at times in its own right. I think my favorite aspect of W.F. was the short play in the middle of the book. I've never seen a play in written form before, I found it pretty interesting. Allen is clearly a master of comedy, being a huge fan of his movies I thought reading his books would be a an ...more
There is a moment around mid 1990s in which I discovered Woody Allen and at the same time lost track of everything else he subsequently did as a director (he worked quite a lot with Scarlett Johansson, didn't he?). It happened just after the release of "Bullets over Broadway".
It was 1994 and I remember how I was having Easter vacations in Rome with my parents. We were caught in a rainy Easter in typical Roman fashion and one evening we decided that it was pointless strolling...more
It was 1994 and I remember how I was having Easter vacations in Rome with my parents. We were caught in a rainy Easter in typical Roman fashion and one evening we decided that it was pointless strolling...more
This was actually a Spanish translation of three of Woody Allen's books: "Getting Even", "Without Feathers", and "Side Effects". The Paul Auster boom which was prevalent in Madrid when I was here two years ago seems to have been replaced with Allenmania - in VIPS, the ubiquitous kind-of-upscale-7-11 chain, there is a seemingly eternal promotion of all his books and movies - you can take home a DVD of any of his movies for only 6.95€ (and I mean, ANY of then - they a...more
Allen, Woody. WITHOUT FEATHERS. (1975). *****. I’m a big fan of Woody, and was glad I read this one again. The plan is to reread all of his writings. It’s been a long time. Being a fan, I can’t help but give this one a five-star rating. Where else will you find essays on such diverse subjects as the Dead Sea Scrolls,
“Scholars will recall that several years ago a shepherd, wandering in the Gulf of Aqaba, stumbled upon a cave containing several large clay jars and also two tickets ...more
“Scholars will recall that several years ago a shepherd, wandering in the Gulf of Aqaba, stumbled upon a cave containing several large clay jars and also two tickets ...more
“Sem Penas” é um excerto das discorrências cerebrais de Woody Allen. Uma miscelânia de narrativa, frases soltas, pequenas peças de teatro e outras histórias. Todas são caracterizadas por um non-sense muito ao estilo britânico, o que não surpreende, vindas do autor em questão.
No entanto, o hilariante coabita com o incompreensível. Algumas histórias levam-nos às lágrimas de tanto rir, fruto de uma comédia muito robustamente construída; enquanto outras (infelizmente, a maioria do livro) são ...more
No entanto, o hilariante coabita com o incompreensível. Algumas histórias levam-nos às lágrimas de tanto rir, fruto de uma comédia muito robustamente construída; enquanto outras (infelizmente, a maioria do livro) são ...more
I am a big fan of Woody Allen and this book seemed his masterpiece of sort for me. Classic Woody Allen style humor !! This book literally makes you laugh out loud while reading ! It is a collection of hilarious essays and plays. The plays Death and God are filled with insanely funny dialogues. Examining Psychic Phenomena, A Brief Yet Helpful Guide to Civil Disobedience, The Early Essays, No Kaddish for Weinstein, If the Impressionists Had Been Dentists, are short essays written in typical Woody...more
Barely even 2 stars. I read this short book of short bits at night, while I can't sleep. Woody's humor is predictably irreverent and off-beat, often almost formulaic. But the play about Death alone makes it worth a read... but the rest is actually quite forgettable. It's hard for me to imagine this fluff was a NY Times best-seller. Yeah, it's funny, but not ROTFLMAO funny. Nope. Maybe I've lost my sense of humor. Well, not the greatest loss for me for sure...
Michael
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
fans
Recommended to Michael by:
serendipity
I picked this book up for free when I was working at Powell's bookstore, mostly out of curiosity. I must have read it six or seven years ago, and now I don't remember a thing about it. I think it demonstrates what I always say about written humor: without timing, humor is nothing. Allen is quite an accomplished comedian, and was certainly funny enough at the beginning of his career, but looking at his humor written on a page turns it into - well - nothing.
While recently perusing through my boxes I found this book by the wood man and I have the original hardcover. Even in print mr. allen is a genius, he is a true comedian in the real sense and the way he writes is like listening to him read the words to you on stage. I love this book and his stories, I can never get enough woody allen, love him or hate him, I love the man, problems and all, hell we're all human.
I was at a disadvantage when I read this book; I was in traction. It hurt to laugh. My sister gave it to me to read. It was a painful experience because there was no way not to laugh out loud. Worse still, I would remember images and expressions and laugh when I wasn't reading. Only give this book to a person who can laugh without pain. I have since forgiven my sister.
OMG !! He is surely genius & l really liked Allen's writing style.. It's quite an old book & written back in the 70s but you don't feel that it's old book because it's still relevant today.. There are short stories and the best one is "The Whore of Mensa" for me. l enjoyed it so much while l was reading :)) And also l liked the play "God". It was also very funny. l recommend this book to all my friends who like Woody Allen or want to giggle :-)
This is one of Woody Allen's first books, and it shows. The material - arranged into small essays or short plays - don't translate into text well. When I stopped to try to "hear" them in Allen's spoken style, the stuff was much funnier. As text, though... well, it was interesting to see, but not what I was expecting or looking for at all.
"Today I saw a red-and-yellow sunset and thought, How insignificant I am! Of course, I thought that yesterday, too, and it rained . . . "
Should I marry W.? Not if she won't tell me the other letters in her name . . .
How wrong Emily Dickinson was! Hope is not "the thing with feathers". The thing with feathers has turned out to be my nephew. I must take him to a specialist in Zurich . . .
Welcome to Woody Allen's world . . . and I will dare an...more
Should I marry W.? Not if she won't tell me the other letters in her name . . .
How wrong Emily Dickinson was! Hope is not "the thing with feathers". The thing with feathers has turned out to be my nephew. I must take him to a specialist in Zurich . . .
Welcome to Woody Allen's world . . . and I will dare an...more
Qué decir de este libro. Para mí, el humor de Woody Allen es, cómo decirlo, hit-or-miss. En algunos momentos, como en "The Whore of Mensa", es muy gracioso, y en otros, como en "God", me desespera bastante. De cualquier forma, cuando es bueno, es extremadamente bueno, así que vale la pena leerlo.
I have a unconditional affinity with woody allen, the book is good in general, but nothing special, just the usual Woody humor and wittiness. This said, the play named GOD in the bood is a master piece. It is so funny and at the same time touching the issues like God and life that makes is a must read.
I'm a fan of Woody Allen's films, so I picked this book up from the bookstore, to see if his prose was as good as his screenplays. I think I read the whole thing that night, doubling over with laughter. I couldn't stop reading. Almost every sentence contains a punch line. Most of the jokes make no sense at all, but that's what makes this book so funny. You just can't take it too seriously. Most of the pieces are short, so they're perfect for revisiting time and time again whenever you need ...more
This is one of the funniest books I've ever read. There wasn't a second of it that I was bored. Allen throws away all the bullshit and hands you a real gem. He has a keane eye for how people operate and the funny flaws that make up us all. I especially enjoyed the two plays that are contained in this book one titled 'Death' and the other one 'God'. Woody has an intelligence that he uses to sell you deep spiritual views in a very entertaining way.
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Woody Allen (born Allen Stewart Königsberg) is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director, writer, actor, jazz musician, comedian and playwright. His large body of work and cerebral film style, mixing satire, wit and humor, have made him one of the most respected and prolific filmmakers in the modern era. Allen writes and directs his movies and has also acted in the majority of them...more
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“The wicked at heart probably know something.”
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“Gauguin flew into a frenzy! He held my head under the X-ray machine for ten straight minutes and for several hours after I could not blink my eyes in unison." — "If The Impressionists Had Been Dentists”
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