A Bawdy but Thoughtful Fool

Fool by Christopher Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rude, irreverent, weird, and funny. Bawdy doesn't cover it--the mildest passages are bawdy. This is... ribald? Libidinous? Ooooh--salacious! No... Hmmmm....

Ah. Raunchy! That's it. In a good way.

Anyway, I thought it was entertaining and hilarious. I understand some readers might be put off. Such folks should check it out from the library, if they read it at all. I got it in hardcover. :)

I accidentally (long story) read the sequel first, and enjoyed it. Before I read this, I re-read King Lear, which it is largely based on, and that was a good idea. There are many threads in the original, and there are several additional threads here. I'll admit I lost track of what Pocket (the fool) was trying to do at all times, but I just rolled with it. Still fun.

A reimagining of old literature resonates with me, perhaps more than for others. I love seeing a fresh look on something that hasn't already been done a hundred times. (I'm looking at you, King Arthur.) This made King Lear relevant to me again, for the first time since 1979, so that's cool--and I enjoyed this romp (obligatory review word) through the old story.

Pocket is great character--almost entirely motivated by id, part loyal friend, part trickster, filled with ironic detachment, unafraid of annoying or enraging others and actually happy to do it (reminding me of, say, Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H or Patrick Jane in the Mentalist)--and it works making the novel centered on him. He is not a minor character here, as in the play, but drives the action, affecting events in a surprising way.

And taunting, mocking, annoying, insulting, and frustrating everyone around him almost the whole time, with sex or inappropriately sexy talk on pretty much every page. Raunchy. That's the word.

Light tone; medium heavy themes; tragic events; it's a strange mix. But I like it.

Recommended.

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Chaucer in prose is entirely adequate to the purpose

The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling by Peter Ackroyd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked reading this version of the Canterbury tales. I was looking for a prose translation, not just modern English, and this fit the bill. It is, of course, instantly comprehensible for a modern reader, and untangles some knots for me that I had left over from other versions, so I'm grateful the adapter went to the trouble.

I can't say it made me like the Canterbury Tales, which I thought it might. I had hoped that the language would sound more natural, maybe kinda funny, even, but it still sounds like rephrased poetry, coming at you in short, staccato sentences that retain too many of Chaucer's tics. (The phrases "What else is there to say?" and "There is nothing more to say" are used so often it becomes annoying.) I would have preferred if the author had taken more liberties with the text, maybe smooth it out, maybe give it more style. He did, at least, leave it pleasantly crude. F-bombs galore.

For readers who want to read Chaucer's stories without fighting the language or scowling through contrived modern rhyme, this is a nice choice, my disappointments notwithstanding. It's accessible and clear and non-sanitized, and Chaucer's dialogue and stories still offers nice insights into the lives of people in that time.

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