Literary Lapses


Lu par TriciaG

(4.1 stars; 11 reviews)

Short sketches relating the humourous side of life in 1910. "Professor Leacock has made more people laugh with the written word than any other living author. One may say he is one of the greatest jesters, the greatest humorist of the age." – A. P. Herbert (Summary by TriciaG and Wikipedia) (4 hr 40 min)

Chapitres

01 - My Financial Career 6:04 Lu par TriciaG
02 - Lord Oxhead's Secret 13:46 Lu par TriciaG
03 - Boarding-house Geometry 2:21 Lu par TriciaG
04 - The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones 6:13 Lu par TriciaG
05 - A Christmas Letter 2:39 Lu par TriciaG
06 - How to Make a Million Dollars 8:56 Lu par TriciaG
07 - How to Live to Be 200 7:49 Lu par TriciaG
08 - How to Avoid Getting Married 7:23 Lu par TriciaG
09 - How to Be a Doctor 9:10 Lu par TriciaG
10 - The New Food 2:54 Lu par TriciaG
11 - A New Pathology 8:28 Lu par TriciaG
12 - The Poet Answered 2:24 Lu par TriciaG
13 - The Force of Statistics 3:02 Lu par TriciaG
14 - Men Who Have Shaved Me 9:24 Lu par TriciaG
15 - Getting the Thread of It 7:17 Lu par TriciaG
16 - Telling His Faults 2:50 Lu par TriciaG
17 - Winter Pastimes 8:36 Lu par TriciaG
18 - Number Fifty-Six 14:48 Lu par TriciaG
19 - Aristocratic Education 4:49 Lu par TriciaG
20 - The Conjurer's Revenge 5:02 Lu par TriciaG
21 - Hints to Travellers 5:51 Lu par TriciaG
22 - A Manual of Education 5:07 Lu par TriciaG
23 - Hoodoo McFiggin's Christmas 6:48 Lu par TriciaG
24 - The Life of John Smith 8:38 Lu par TriciaG
25 - On Collecting Things 6:04 Lu par TriciaG
26 - Society Chit-Chat 6:54 Lu par TriciaG
27 - Insurance Up to Date 3:26 Lu par TriciaG
28 - Borrowing a Match 3:11 Lu par TriciaG
29 - A Lesson in Fiction 7:55 Lu par TriciaG
30 - Helping the Armenians 2:46 Lu par TriciaG
31 - A Study in Still Life: The Country Hotel 3:51 Lu par TriciaG
32 - An Experiment with Policeman Hogan 12:16 Lu par TriciaG
33 - The Passing of the Poet 12:13 Lu par TriciaG
34 - Self-Made Men 6:44 Lu par TriciaG
35 - A Model Dialogue 3:13 Lu par TriciaG
36 - Back to the Bush 11:03 Lu par TriciaG
37 - Reflections on Riding 4:26 Lu par TriciaG
38 - Saloonio 6:44 Lu par TriciaG
39 - Half-Hours with the Poets 15:43 Lu par TriciaG
40 - A, B, and C 11:35 Lu par TriciaG
41 - Acknowledgments 1:53 Lu par TriciaG

Critiques

Can't Take It.


(2 stars)

The reader has a hypnotizing way of intoning all of her sentences the same way. She weirdly extends the last word of each phrase and raises her pitch a bit, in a way no one would do in natural speech. Pretty soon I'm listening to that pattern and can't focus on the words of the story.

Laugh out loud funny, on a regular basis


(5 stars)

The book didn't click for me, until about chapter 4. Not so much because of the readin, which is good or excellent depending on the reader, but because...well I don't know. It took me a little while to "get" the author. I mention this only to suggest to you that if you are listening to this and just don't get it, give it a little time. It really is excellent once you click to it. (His politics regarding the Armenians are abominable, though.)

So Relevant


(4.5 stars)

Stephen Leacock should be enshrined alongside, but slightly to the right and 1/4", lower, as Twain. He beats Twain out for sheer ridiculousness, and laughably mean insanity. His writings are fresh and modern. If Twain is The epitome of American humor, Mtr. Leacock is certainly Canada's

TricaG is great!


(5 stars)

For the first couple of stories, TriciaG didn't impress me. Then I 'got' her. Her reading is a wonderful combination of innocence and irony. Perfectly suited to Leacock's work. Hope she reads more of his stories. I've listened to her reading of Lapses many times.

Raycyst


(5 stars)

These stories, read by a great narrator, are whimsical and funny. Therein lays the problem. Whimsey is now out of favor. All the math jokes need to be replaced with observation on how Texans hate black folks.

Excellent


(4 stars)

Great humour! The reading is steady and competently, with a curious intonation well suited to the book.