'The Two and a Half Pillars of Wisdom'
In the beginning, was the word, which is a very odd way of beginning, because thought always has to precede the word.
When I was passed a copy of 'The Two and a Half Pillars of Wisdom' by Alexander McCall Smith, my initial thought was that in the beginning, a word in the ear of the author might have been wise. So ludicrous seemed the German protagonists and their names; Professor Dr Moritz-Maria Von Igelfield, Professor Dr Detlev Amadeus Unterholzer, and Professor Dr Dr (honoris causa) Florianus Prinzel. So silly seemed the situations. The person who passed the book to me had had no luck with it, and I was quite prepared to bin it (recycling of course).
Looking curiously at Goodreads reviews the following day, they were good enough for me to doubt my first impression and persevere. Which was a good idea, because it became my
bedtime read. A non-threatening, amusing, and philologically enlightening experience.
In a way the little stories reminded me of 'The Pat Hobby Stories' by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a previous light bedtime read, set in the quite different world of a film studio.
By the end of the Pat Hobby stories, I'd had enough; and I'd had enough two thirds of the way through the 'Two and a Half Pillars of Wisdom.' This was likely because the book incorporates three novels; 'Portuguese Irregular Verbs', 'The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs', and 'At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances'. But what I did read, I enjoyed, and there are many pearls of wisdom to be garnered.
By the way, if anyone is squeamish about surgery, or a fan of sausage dogs, it would be best to avoid the chapter titled, 'A Leg to Stand On'.
When I was passed a copy of 'The Two and a Half Pillars of Wisdom' by Alexander McCall Smith, my initial thought was that in the beginning, a word in the ear of the author might have been wise. So ludicrous seemed the German protagonists and their names; Professor Dr Moritz-Maria Von Igelfield, Professor Dr Detlev Amadeus Unterholzer, and Professor Dr Dr (honoris causa) Florianus Prinzel. So silly seemed the situations. The person who passed the book to me had had no luck with it, and I was quite prepared to bin it (recycling of course).
Looking curiously at Goodreads reviews the following day, they were good enough for me to doubt my first impression and persevere. Which was a good idea, because it became my
bedtime read. A non-threatening, amusing, and philologically enlightening experience.
In a way the little stories reminded me of 'The Pat Hobby Stories' by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a previous light bedtime read, set in the quite different world of a film studio.
By the end of the Pat Hobby stories, I'd had enough; and I'd had enough two thirds of the way through the 'Two and a Half Pillars of Wisdom.' This was likely because the book incorporates three novels; 'Portuguese Irregular Verbs', 'The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs', and 'At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances'. But what I did read, I enjoyed, and there are many pearls of wisdom to be garnered.
By the way, if anyone is squeamish about surgery, or a fan of sausage dogs, it would be best to avoid the chapter titled, 'A Leg to Stand On'.
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