List Books In Pursuance Of The Sot-Weed Factor
| Original Title: | The Sot-Weed Factor |
| ISBN: | 1903809509 (ISBN13: 9781903809501) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Ebenezer Cooke, Joan Toast, John McEvoy, Bertrand Burton, Charles Calvert, Captain Cairn |
John Barth
Paperback | Pages: 756 pages Rating: 4.09 | 6714 Users | 389 Reviews
Mention Regarding Books The Sot-Weed Factor
| Title | : | The Sot-Weed Factor |
| Author | : | John Barth |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 756 pages |
| Published | : | March 1st 2005 by Atlantic Books (UK) (first published 1960) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction. Classics. Literature. Novels |
Narrative As Books The Sot-Weed Factor
Considered by critics to be Barth's most distinguished masterpiece, The Sot-Weed Factor has acquired the status of a modern classic. Set in the late 1600s, it recounts the wildly chaotic odyssey of hapless, ungainly Ebenezer Cooke, sent to the New World to look after his father's tobacco business and to record the struggles of the Maryland colony in an epic poem.On his mission, Cooke experiences capture by pirates and Indians; the loss of his father's estate to roguish impostors; love for a farmer prostitute; stealthy efforts to rob him of his virginity, which he is (almost) determined to protect; and an extraordinary gallery of treacherous characters who continually switch identities. A hilarious, bawdy tribute to all the most insidious human vices, The Sot-Weed Factor has a lasting relevance for readers of all times.
Rating Regarding Books The Sot-Weed Factor
Ratings: 4.09 From 6714 Users | 389 ReviewsPiece Regarding Books The Sot-Weed Factor
My third or fourth read of this -- Im not sure, but really, who the hell can keep track of things like that anymore? The important thing is, I still dearly love this book, its still sheer pleasure, a perfect delight, from page 1 to page 756. (OK,there was a tiny span where Lord Baltimore is talking about Maryland's history that got a bit boring, a handful of pages, but other than that, perfect. Really.)In the last years of the Seventeenth Century there was to be found among the fops and fools of the London coffee-houses one rangy, gangling flitch called Ebenezer CookeThe Sot-Weed Factor hooked me from the first sentence.John Barth's novel was inspired by a poem of the same name written by Ebenezer Cooke in 1708. The novel itself draws on official archives of Maryland, but its historical account is animated by a whirlpool of imagination. The plot pivots and twirls with intrigue,
This thoroughly enthralling tale set mostly in the British colony of 17th century Maryland - a telling of fledgling willy-nilly poet Laureate of same and his "Marylaniad" one Ebeneezer Cooke who with his vast cast of characters (some who often as not act impersonator to EC) including his twin sister and a blithering plot of vicissitude and philosophical turnabout would mystify a Merlin. Methinks this ye yea nay tale o' yore style an allegory on karma withal existential precepts. A fair look to
What a fun book. I'd like to compare it to Bob Dylans 115th Dream, but alas it's already been done. The song's plot is not all that far from what John Barth is up to in The Sot-Weed Factor, but Barth is far more (dare I say it) exhausting. This is a mock history of the real life poet Ebenezer Cooke, who wrote the Hudibrastic poem "The sot-weed factor: or, A voyage to Maryland. A satyr. In which is describ'd the laws, government, courts and constitutions of the country, and also the buildings,
This true American masterpiece is written like a 17th century literary novel. The style could well be Fielding, except that Barth is even more hilarious.At a time when minimalist novelists seem to be in vogue, I revelled in the intelligent richness of the elaborate quixotic tale woven by Barth. When a novelist can write as well as peers like Saul Bellow or V.S. Naipaul, then a maximalist style like Barth's is to be savoured. Poor chaste poet laureate, Ebenezer Cooke, encounters harsh reality at
Unlike many other reviewers, I did not have the experience of being pleasurably catapulted headlong into the world of Ebenezer Cooke and his associates. In fact, I struggled with this novel for hundreds of pages before I started to enjoy it. I dislike the particular style the book parodies and resembles, and found the plot and characters to be overtly silly, the adventures unbelievable. It took a long time for me to suspend my cynicism and allow myself just to roll with the punches. While the
This book is a sheer marvel. Set in the 1600s, it's awash in lyrical excess, bawdy humor, historical satire, human vice, roguish fools, epic intent, and pirates and Indians and prostitutes and poets, oh my! The sheer life force of this novel is amazing, the prose is masterful and wickedly funny, and the journey is like nothing I've ever been on before. Now I'll shut up and let the far more eloquent Mr. Barth take over. Here's the opening line:"In the last years of the Seventeenth Century there
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