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A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, is a splendid and hilarious novel. I can think of few books that evoke the heart, and soul, and eccentricity, and absolute craziness that is New Orleans. Ignatius J. Reilly is an unforgettable character. I know exactly what he means when he says, as he's traveling to Baton Rouge on a Greyhound bus, "Leaving New Orleans also frightened me considerably. Outside of the city limits the heart of darkness, the true wasteland begins." I have been living in the wasteland for close to 50 years, and I have never grown accustomed to the place. It's true. I can't help it.
Don't misunderstand me. I've had a good life, a privileged life. I love my family and friends. I have not been sad for the close to 50 years I've lived away, but dammit, I have missed New Orleans. You see, for me, there really isn't any other place to live. Unlike Reilly, I love traveling to other places, but New Orleans is home.
Toole, the author of "Confederacy", committed suicide at the age of 31. His distress over not being able to get his novel published led to despondency over that and perhaps other things, and he took his own life.
After he died, his mother, Thelma Toole worked tirelessly to get the book published. In the end, she was able to convince the novelist, Walker Percy, to read the manuscript. Percy recognized the genius of the work and convinced Louisiana State University Press to publish it. I believe this was the first publication by LSU Press to make the best seller list. They raked in a load of money on the book.
En passant, a friend of mine went out with Toole a few times. She said he was very quiet and introverted. I met him a couple of times, but he went by the name of Ken Toole, and I did not make the connection between him and the author of the book until many years after the book was published, long after I read it.
If you haven't read the book, you could think about giving it a look.
UPDATE: Here is a link to Walker Percy's Foreword to A Confederacy of Dunces.
I will! thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my all-time favorite novels. I'm so glad to have you confirm its depiction of New Orleans. Ignatius is an unforgettable character. As is his poor mother, and indeed all the others.
ReplyDeleteGrandmère, I have always loved this book. Just from one year of residence in the area and the fifteen years of visiting Dad, I could hear that Toole had captured the voices of the different people one would meet in passing going about the daily business of living in New Orleans.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you mean about New Orleans. I was only there for one year, and it still calls to me. That was one of the reasons I volunteered with the ERD after Katrina--that calling back to those who have been under her spell.
one of my all time favorites.
ReplyDeletehow wild that you met him. how very wild.
Diane, you see. Lotsa folks like the book.
ReplyDeleteThe dialogue Toole wrote for Burma Jones, the janitor at the Night of Joy, is perfect and full of wit, even down to the "whoo-ee" that Burma periodically dropped into the conversation.
After my freshman year, I spent the summer in the home of a friend on Constantinople street, an old shotgun. I swear it's the same house Ignatius and his mom lived in. My friend's mother came home from work every evening and opened a bottle of Jax beer--as she said, "just a drop in the bucket."
ReplyDeleteI love this book. My husband LOVES this book. When we visited New Orleans for the first time back in 1998, we were so excited to find the statue of Ignatius on Canal Street that we took pictures with him like goofy tourists! Well, we were goofy tourists, weren't we.
ReplyDeleteWe spent two very romantic vacations in New Orleans, at the Lafitte Guest House, way out the quiet end of Bourbon Street. But we ventured out of the French Quarter to see as much of the city as we could. Sigh...
Oh and Dennis, we spent our honeymoon in Seattle! (I know, but was still the "grunge" era.) New Orleans wins, hands-down.
I have three copies of this book, none of them read by me, all given to me, over a 20-odd year period, by folks who said "You've got to read this"! Guess I need to sit down and start on one of them, don't I?
ReplyDeleteOrmonde, that's fascinating. Maybe Toole knew them, too.
ReplyDeletePJ, I'm glad you love my love, too. I like the area of French quarter a few blocks away from where the tourists gather, the quiet residential area, with a few good, but less well-known restaruants and small hotels and inns like the one where you stayed.
Lapin, all I can say to you is, "Shame on you." Your friends are right. You need to read the book.
Not only is "Confederacy of Dunces" a wonderful read, and a memorable love letter to New Orleans, I also credit it with motivating me to finally getting around to reading Boethius.
ReplyDeleteI think, in one of our very few visits to New Orleans, that my wife and I stayed at the Lafitte Guest House as well. A beautiful memory though now over twenty years....
Rick, I'm afraid that the quotes from Boethius in "Confederacy", had the opposite effect on me. I didn't think his work was something I wanted to read. I have read Augustine and Aquinas, and Rmj even got me to read Kierkegaard, but that's as far as I could go. But, then, I'm such a light-weight compared to you and Rmj - seriously. It's a good thing to be aware of one's limitations.
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased that you and your wife enjoyed your stay in my beloved New Orleans.
There are still a couple of Austen novels - Mansfield Park and Emma - that I've never got around to reading (so much easier to keep revisiting P & P, isn't it?) So which of the three should it be first?
ReplyDeleteLapin, that's mean. Of course, I must choose my favorite. Read Emma, then for a change of pace read Confederacy, and then on to Mansfield Park.
ReplyDeleteBut get started now.
I have a paperback Emma to hand. Hope it doesn't disintegrate - the pages are now brown and the bookmark is an unpaid August '72 $2.00 (those were the days!) parking ticket issued in Milton, MA. It's been longer in line than "Confederacy" and so deserves priority.
ReplyDeletePoor Emma. I hope that she doesn't fall apart before you finish.
ReplyDeleteTried to read it a long time ago and couldn't get into it - I think i was too young. I've had some other friends tell me the same thing you're saying though and should probably pick it up again. :)
ReplyDeleteLaura, I hope that you might give it another chance. I posted an update with a lind to Walker Percy's foreword to the novel.
ReplyDelete