Location : Cleveland, OH
Finally, after much indecision, I actually read Fool, by Christopher Moore. After finishing it, I had to wonder what took me so long to get around to reading it. It is a hilarious, ribald, and thoroughly entertaining take on Shakespeare's King Lear.
If you don't remember that story, King Lear, in his old age, decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters. However, they must first profess their love for him. Lear's oldest daughters, Regan and Goneril, flatter their father and are handsomely rewarded. The youngest daughter, Cordelia, refuses to flatter Lear, explaining that she only loves him as much as daughter ought. This enrages the old king, and he disinherits her, leaving her without any land. Cordelia leaves with the King of France, Lear's friend, Earl of Kent, tries to reason with him and is banished for his trouble.After all is said and done, King Lear roams his old kingdom with a small force, living, in turn, with his eldest daughters. However, Moore tells the story through the eyes of Pocket, King Lear's court fool. Pocket is in a unique position in that he is able to tell the truth through the use of satire and comedy. Also, he knows the inner workings of the court and is privy to quite a few secrets. While he may play a fool, Pocket is no fool.Those secrets come in handy for Pocket throughout the novel and are used in interesting, depressing, and completely hilarious ways.
If you are a student of Shakespeare, you may not find this novel even a little bit amusing. Moore thinks nothing of using bathroom humor and sexual references to move his story along. After all, you have a Fool telling it. However, it is one of the most entertaining novels I have read. Some of the best laughs come from the most simple things - like trying to sneak around a castle when you have bells on your shoes. Or a ghost that talks in rhyme but refuses to elaborate, infuriating Pocket. And then there are the witches (of course). Full of the usual court intrigue, back stabbings (literal and figurative), assassinations, and wars, this is an excellent novel, with enough twists and turns to keep your interest while containing many laugh-out-loud moments. And quite a few of those moments come from the footnotes. This is an excellent book and a wonderful take on King Lear (and some other Shakespeare plays).
Technorati tag: book review Christopher Moore Fool
Comment posted by CindytheLibrarian06/06/2009 10:33:15 AM
Homepage: http://avonlake.wordpress.com/
Gregg,
I think it must be a while since you've read Shakespeare. He's full of ribald humor, including bathroom humor and sexual references. Some of it isn't obvious because of language changes and sixteenth century cultural references, but any student of Shakespeare has to thoroughly enjoy that sort of thing - or else turn to Jan Karon or some such thing!
Powered By : Domino
BlogSphere V1.3.1
Join The WebLog Revolution at BlogSphere.net