≫ PDF Free Darconville Cat Alexander Theroux 9780805043655 Books

Darconville Cat Alexander Theroux 9780805043655 Books

Download As PDF : Darconville Cat Alexander Theroux 9780805043655 Books

Darconville Cat Alexander Theroux 9780805043655 Books

This is one of those works of genius one constantly reads reviews about lauding it as the best thing since Joyce, only to buy it, spend hours poring over it and meditating upon it, only to find that reports of its merit are greatly exaggerated---EXCEPT that, in this case, they are NOT. I read a good deal of this sort of thing, and I can unequivocally state that this is indeed a work of genius. The only thing in American letters since WWII that comes close to it in thematic magnificence and masterful vocabulary is Cormac McCarthy's Suttree.

I have to demur with some reviewers who posit that this is basically a love story. It's not that this statement is false, but it gives one the wrong idea. It could be equally said that Proust's magnum opus is basically a love story - But both works are so much more.

Do grab your unabridged OEDs as well as your unabridged Liddell & Scott Ancient Greek and Latin lexicons. You shall most certainly need them to fully appreciate all the terms employed herein. The only other work I've read where I had to use all three of these sources in spots was Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy. But please don't infer that this is a dull, word-logged wasteland. It is, rather, vibrant and teeming with delight in language. It's also uproariously funny. I haven't chortled aloud so many times over a book in years. ---Really, of course, you don't have to employ any reference work to enjoy this novel, but it helps...immensely.

Other reviewers have covered the plot, so I shan't rehash, but I will give prospective readers a sampling of why this is so much more than basically a love story:

"Darconville drew it all out to this paradox, that on the one hand there are temporary beings whom we love but who are ever changing, and beyond them is the eternal object of love itself which is incorruptible, permanent, and ideal. And yet it is not only through the former that we can take cognizance of the latter, we would, without the former, actually have no IDEA of the latter, the imperfect relative giving us our only idea of the perfect absolute, and we advance by the dangers of delay, shipwrecked by a boat to know the sea...." P.317

I truly envy those who are just discovering this work, but I fully concur with another reviewer who exhorts the potential reader to purchase the volume now and hold fast to it. The first time I ordered it, it never arrived, and I had to wait for a refund to reorder it. Yes, the price is steep for a used book, but you will never regret the purchase.


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Darconville Cat Alexander Theroux 9780805043655 Books Reviews

Book is marked with highlighter to indicate final sale.
Content of book itself is well elocuted, with great stylistic virtuosity appropriate for the book's plot and progression.
This is a rare type of writing. There are several interesting and
uncommon words on most pages and they relate well to the underlying plot.

The plot itself is fairly common thwarted love and revenge, but the style is engrossing.

If you are a linguaphile, read it.

Frank
A synthesis of the finest of art , prose, poetry, logic and sarcasim. A love story that isn't. The book is unintentionally self referntial when Theroux' character states something is like a Bosch painting--the meaning is in a small dot. Cunningly argumentative, pure literati. The ride turn's into the greatest turn since Alice goes to Wonderland. I read this book when I wa 16. I let my most intellectual freinds read it and it became their favorite book. You will never forget Dr. Crucifrer who will cause frissons as you read--the best character created in literature. A sesquipedalian's fix--beware, have your Oxford unabridged dictionary. Ride this moster literary wave.
Buy it read it and be swpt into a rainbow of experiences.
BUY THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...
a novel that should be read by every serious reader
i picked up this book because it was on anthony burgess' list of the best books ever written. if you are a fan of burgess you'll be a fan of theroux; their writing styles are very similar.

darconville's cat is clever, hilarious, tragic and sometimes even a little bit scary. there is an odd turn toward the end of the book that i was not expecting at all...brilliant.

some have said that the story is too melodramatic. i'll agree with this, but i think it may be another comic device theroux uses that you only notice in retrospect. the whole book is genius.
Darconville's Cat is a great novel, because of its moving narrative, beauty and thematic tapestery. There is also its complexity in style, language and allusion which make it considered a professsor's novel, but it may be enjoyed without full appreciation of all of these elements. Motivated by time constraints and a strong desire to continue the story, I read it without a dictionary by my side in spite of several warnings, skimming parts, including the extensive list of Dr. Crucifer's library and most of his lengthy monologues. The storyline is compelling, making this book difficult to put down for long, yet so rich in meaning as to tantelize the imagination.

Parts are satirical, especially of campus life and Virginia customs. The idealistic protagonist, whose point of view is often a vehicle for satire, is also satirized. For instance, the Virginians are shown as still reliving the loss of the Civil War and having excessive pride in their ancestry. Yet Darconville has records of his family back to the 1500's, and appears to be still fighting the ascension of Elizabeth I to the English throne. This ironic juxtaposition indicates our common humanity and perhaps our inability to see the faults in ourselves that are apparent in others.

The names often point to characteristics, sometimes in a satirical way the lonely Miss Trappe, the fickle, young Southern girl, Isabel, and Darconville, who degenerates into depression and illness. The most steadfast character, little Spellvexit, disappears at an inopportune time for his master, increasingly under onslaught by circumstances and the designs of the evil Crucifer.

A short review cannot do justice to this masterpiece, and a too lengthy one would spoil it for others. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!
This is one of those works of genius one constantly reads reviews about lauding it as the best thing since Joyce, only to buy it, spend hours poring over it and meditating upon it, only to find that reports of its merit are greatly exaggerated---EXCEPT that, in this case, they are NOT. I read a good deal of this sort of thing, and I can unequivocally state that this is indeed a work of genius. The only thing in American letters since WWII that comes close to it in thematic magnificence and masterful vocabulary is Cormac McCarthy's Suttree.

I have to demur with some reviewers who posit that this is basically a love story. It's not that this statement is false, but it gives one the wrong idea. It could be equally said that Proust's magnum opus is basically a love story - But both works are so much more.

Do grab your unabridged OEDs as well as your unabridged Liddell & Scott Ancient Greek and Latin lexicons. You shall most certainly need them to fully appreciate all the terms employed herein. The only other work I've read where I had to use all three of these sources in spots was Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy. But please don't infer that this is a dull, word-logged wasteland. It is, rather, vibrant and teeming with delight in language. It's also uproariously funny. I haven't chortled aloud so many times over a book in years. ---Really, of course, you don't have to employ any reference work to enjoy this novel, but it helps...immensely.

Other reviewers have covered the plot, so I shan't rehash, but I will give prospective readers a sampling of why this is so much more than basically a love story

"Darconville drew it all out to this paradox, that on the one hand there are temporary beings whom we love but who are ever changing, and beyond them is the eternal object of love itself which is incorruptible, permanent, and ideal. And yet it is not only through the former that we can take cognizance of the latter, we would, without the former, actually have no IDEA of the latter, the imperfect relative giving us our only idea of the perfect absolute, and we advance by the dangers of delay, shipwrecked by a boat to know the sea...." P.317

I truly envy those who are just discovering this work, but I fully concur with another reviewer who exhorts the potential reader to purchase the volume now and hold fast to it. The first time I ordered it, it never arrived, and I had to wait for a refund to reorder it. Yes, the price is steep for a used book, but you will never regret the purchase.