On the Southern Literary Trail discussion

Comments on this board should be written with the assumption that not all readers have finished the book. Please avoid revealing any spoilers.

This book has been read and discussed multiple times by the group. You can read other people’s thoughts on the book here.

My favorite book of all time. This will be my fifth indulgence.

Remains delish! Memory lane. Ignatius Reilly. New Orleans. The humor still makes me laugh. My second read of this book inspired a visit to New Orleans to trace Ignatius's steps. I savored the visit. I truly understand that folks (generally) either love this book or absolutely hate it. My husband gave it a try on our train ride to New Orleans. He hated it. Sigh.

My entire F2F book club hated this book. Not one single person had anything positive to say about it (except that Toole's mother was dedicated.)

I'm a hater.

I must chuckle. Very few "middle ground" opinions regarding this book.

I’m also a hater, but I did read it all the way through for this group awhile back.

How could anyone hate this book?

Came pretty easy to me, Jonathan.

I don’t have a horse in this race bc I’m still the lone reader who hasn’t read. I may attempt audio towards end of month. It is March Madness!!!

And Sara, I laughed out loud with your comment. Funny!

I'll say one thing about it. It certainly does inspire passion.

Hey, I'm a LOVER! But what can you say? I still. LOVE Forrest Gump that great AMERICAN tall tale. LAUGHING

I read this one for the first time last year (or maybe it was two years ago) on the advice of a friend who claimed it to be “The Greatest Book of All Time”... it wasn’t. Having said that, I don’t hate it, or love it. I guess that makes me a unicorn.

The characters are rich, texturally speaking, but often self absorbed. They aren’t easy to like, but is that what defines a great book? I found the book to be interesting and unique. It doesn’t live up to the hype for me, but it has value. It would have been interesting to see what would have been Mr. Toole’s follow up novel, had the stars aligned a little differently for him.

This is the first tome I’ve felt like I had something worth saying in this group, but I’ve followed along for a couple of years and appreciate the effort put in. Thanks!

Well, Roy, you are a unicorn! A Renaissance Man who can look at the pros and cons of Dunces and come down squarely in the middle. I've never met anyone else who didn't either love or hate it. Don't be a stranger with your comments in the future. We welcome all opinions, especially from unicorns.

Roy wrote: "I read this one for the first time last year (or maybe it was two years ago) on the advice of a friend who claimed it to be “The Greatest Book of All Time”... it wasn’t. Having said that, I don’t h..."
Like your balanced perspective Roy. I too only know of folks that either love it or hate it. Kudos.

Roy wrote: "I read this one for the first time last year (or maybe it was two years ago) on the advice of a friend who claimed it to be “The Greatest Book of All Time”... it wasn’t. Having said that, I don’t h..."

Thank you Roy! I'd really enjoy your thoughts on other reads. Your comments are always welcome. :-)

I started this on audio. I’m not sure I’ll finish before loan expires. I’m not very far into it so no strong feelings either way.

If you're not going to like it, it won't take you long to figure that out Laura. If you do, you'll be upset if the loan expires.

I’m having flashbacks to The Moviegoer and Forest Gump. Still riding fence.

Not getting the Forrest Gump connection.

Maybe it’s the mother/son relationship, the outlandish experiences and it seems more are to come/follow with no end in sight. It’s like I can take a few of these things and find them funny but over and over it becomes obnoxious. You know when your kiddo does something funny, they realize it brings a positive reaction but after the 10th time you are over it.

Throwing in the towel at 43% completed. All I can think about is reading something else. Time to move on.

I have read this book two or three times. It is a wonderful pastiche of American life, still relevant today. In recent writing, I’d say that The Sellout by Paul Beatty was the most similar and is also a magnificent read!

It made PBS Great American Read List, so many readers find it worthy. My brother said the other day, “if any of these book recommendations are like The Road, don’t send them to me.” Cormac McCarthy’s The Road is a favorite and my brother was bored out of his mind. Makes it interesting.

Book Concierge wrote: "My entire F2F book club hated this book. Not one single person had anything positive to say about it (except that Toole's mother was dedicated.)"

BTW ... it was recommended by a club member who had never read it but figured it must be worthy because of its award=winning status. The result is that we instituted a rule in our club: You MUST have READ the book before recommending it to the group.

It's interesting to consider negative reactions to this one. I imagine every book has its lovers and haters. I definitely
agree that literary critics' reviews, awards, or being chosen as The Great American Read does NOT mean it should be loved by all. My ultimate literary blasphemy is HATING Moby-Dick or, the Whale. The classic everyone is supposed to read and appreciate. I HAVE trudged through this "masterpiece" THREE TIMES. To top that The whale of a tale faded into total obscurity until the 1920s. God save me from required reading. Melville needed an editor. A good one. As I have said periodically since we began the Trail back in 2012, there is never any required reading here. Don't force yourself to finish a book you do not enjoy. Time is precious. Believe me, I truly know just how precious it is. Always I want our readers to share their responses to our reads, that includes loving or hating it. Peace On! Happy Reading.

Very well said Lawyer.

Laura wrote: "Very well said Lawyer."

Thankaverramuch, oh "Tall Woman!!!

The pre-1980 books I’ve been exposed to on the trail far outweigh the few bad ones. A few years back my Moderator choice was horrible. I even told the group do not read this. To this day I have more controversy over that review than any other review I’ve done.

Lawyer, I agree with you about not finishing books but I find it hard as I always feel guilty :) Bonfire of Vanities I did finish but did not really appreciate it oops also tried Moby Dick many times but never finished it and oh Joyce s Ulysses too.

Book Concierge wrote in part: "
BTW ... it was recommended by a club member who had never read it but figured it must be worthy because of its award=winning status. The result is that we instituted a rule in our club: You MUST have READ the book before recommending it to the group."

While I agree with you to a point, I have read many books nominated by Trail members I might never have read otherwise. As you know I do not nominate, nor do I vote on the polls. From day one I wanted this group to be member driven. I will say we have had a couple of real stinkers written by unknown authors who had buddies pile into the group and then vanish when that three day old fish took away a month of good reading. I will not name my "persons of interest," but if you were along for the ride on that relatively small list, I bet you could name the same titles. I respectfully feel a rule limited to only books finished by a reader is moving to the edge of exclusiveness I never wanted for the Trail.

Jane wrote: "Lawyer, I agree with you about not finishing books but I find it hard as I always feel guilty :) Bonfire of Vanities I did finish but did not really appreciate it oops also tried Moby Dick many tim..."

Lordy, Lordy! I'm a southern boy raised in my Grandparent's home. Bless her heart, I was raised on guilt. Heck I banged my head against the wall three times with Moby Dick. I got over my guilt. Scratch Ulysees. Scratch The Bonfire of the Vanities. No guilt. It takes a while to toss a book, but what a relief it can be! :-)

It appears that this book is going back in time. I just realized that when it was last discussed, we had assigned it to the Post-1980 category. There was a lively conversation back then so I thought I should provide the links here for your enjoyment.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...