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I bought this book because Neversink Library and Terry Gilliam. I haven't seen the movie yet, somehow, and thought it would be nice to read the book first. I knew almost nothing about it, and as it turns out, this is one of the rare books where I wish the afterword had been the foreword. It would have explained the differences in tone and provided a helpful context for the stories.
I did quite love many of the early stories, the ones, as it turns out, most likely to have been written by Raspe him ...more
I did quite love many of the early stories, the ones, as it turns out, most likely to have been written by Raspe him ...more
Not a solid four stars but, as explained in the Afterword, only Chapters 2-6 (about 34pp) in the edition reprinted by Melville House are the original Munchausen stories by Raspe. The rest are the work of hack writers expanding on the form of Voyages Imaginaires for profit. As such they're kind of terrible and a sad pastiche of Swift's satire.
But those original 34 pages are such wonderful tall tales that they're worth the rest of the book (as is the tale of Raspe's life). ...more
But those original 34 pages are such wonderful tall tales that they're worth the rest of the book (as is the tale of Raspe's life). ...more
