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| Document Type: | Book |
|---|---|
| All Authors / Contributors: |
Barbara Tepa Lupack |
| ISBN: | 0813013313 9780813013312 |
| OCLC Number: | 30891473 |
| Description: | 246 p. ; 24 cm. |
| Contents: | Inmates running the asylum: the individual versus the institution -- Seeking a sane asylum: Catch-22 -- Hail to the chief: One flew over the cuckoo's nest -- Pilgrim's regress: Slaughterhouse-five -- Happening by chance: Being there -- When dark gods prey: Sophie's choice. |
| Responsibility: | Barbara Tepa Lupack. |
| More information: |
Reviews
WorldCat User Reviews (1)
Brief Mention of Toole has flaws
I have not read all of this book, but the first two chapters are pretty good. I was, however, reading it because it made some reference to John Kennedy Toole and his novel A Confederacy of Dunces. It only mentions the author and the novel a few times, but those observations are flawed. From...
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I have not read all of this book, but the first two chapters are pretty good. I was, however, reading it because it made some reference to John Kennedy Toole and his novel A Confederacy of Dunces. It only mentions the author and the novel a few times, but those observations are flawed. From the little that was given, it is evident that Lupack did not read Confederacy very closely.
For example, on page 23, Lupack gives instances of organizations that create insane social environments. In the list, she off-handedly tosses out Toole's dunce-filled confederacy. But there is no organization in A Confederacy of Dunces. Ignatius Reilly thinks everyone around him is a dunce, even when they are evidently reasonable people. He can be seen as a caricature of a wise fool or a crazy who is saner than the authorities. Her references to the book indicate that she put him in the same category as Heller's Yossarian, which a close reading would reject.
So while I basically agree with and respect her ideas in chapter one and her observations about Catch-22 in chapter 2, her understanding of Confederacy is superficial and flawed.
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