The Slim Princess

by George Ade, 1stworld Library (Editor)

Morovenia is a state in which both the mosque and the motor-car now occur in the same landscape. It started out to be Turkish and later decided to be European. The Mohammedan sanctuaries with their hideous stencil decorations and bulbous domes are jostled by many new shops with blinking fronts and German merchandise. The orthodox turn their faces toward Mecca while the enlightened dream of a journey to Paris. Men of title lately have made the pleasing discovery that they may drink champagne and still be good Mussulmans. The red slipper has been succeeded by the tan gaiter. The voluminous breeches now acknowledge the superior graces of intimate English trousers. Frock-coats are more conventional than beaded jackets. The fez remains as a part of the insignia of the old faith and hereditary devotion to the Sick Man.

Genres: Fiction

108 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

George Ade (February 9, 1866 – May 16, 1944) was an American writer, newspaper columnist, and playwright.

Ade's literary reputation rests upon his achievements as a great humorist of American character during an important era in American history: the first large wave of migration from the countryside to burgeoning cities like Chicago, where, in fact, Ade produced his best fiction. He was a practicing realist during the Age of (William Dean) Howells and a local colorist of Chicago and the Midwest. His work constitutes a vast comedy of Midwestern manners and, indeed, a comedy of late 19th-century American manners. In 1915, Sir Walter Raleigh, Oxford professor and man of letters, while on a lecture tour in America, called George Ade "the greatest living American writer."

(wikipedia)

Reviews

[Jacinta Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

RTC

[Kimberley Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

An adorable little bonbon of a story. Dated? Well, yes. Fun? Definitely.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems to be a Fable stretched to novella length, with a plot like an early-20th-century musical comedy (appropriately enough; he made a fortune writing those). The more Ade I read, the more striking his resemblance to Wodehouse is. The resemblance is clear in the Fables, and in the dialogue here. But the straight narrative portions of "The Slim Princess" just push the plot along; Ade doesn't use his gift for getting a joke or funny turn of phrase into every other sentence.

[Jennifer Booth · Rating 1 out of 5]

This falls flat

I do like George ade. I have read Gus stuff before, but I felt spinning my wheels with this one.

[Cognatious Thunk · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the beginning and the end, but the middle was quite a bit less pleasurable.