Portuguese Irregular Verbs

The Premise

Now before you balk, Portuguese Irregular Verbs isn’t a text book. Well, it is, but not in real life. It is the opus of Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld – a very pompous, very German, philogist. The novel Portuguese Irregular Verbs, by Alexander McCall Smith, is a collection of misadventures staring Igelfeld supported by his equally square colleagues Professor Dr. Detlev Amadeus Unterholzer and Professor Dr. Dr. (hc) Florianus Prinzel.

I must say it’s very cute. It’s different and very creative – almost borderline absurdism with a dry sense of humor.

Portuguese Irregular Verbs is a very light read despite McCall Smith’s wide vocabulary… you may have to crack open a dictionary. There is no mind bending plot, just short vignettes that provide a chuckle or two as von Igelfeld’s ego gets him into trouble – be it at the dentist, attempting tennis or a duel at Heidleberg.

However, hidden within the stories and McCall Smith’s descriptions is a European’s view of Europe that most American could use and may cause wanderlust. You get a sense of small towns and different cultures that aren’t always touched upon by the mainstream.

You also get a sense (albeit satirical) of what it’s like to be an intellectual for a living – delivering academic paper after academic paper all the while putting up with academic paper after academic paper.

The Verdict

If Basil Fawlty had brains he’d probably be Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, and that’s good enough for me. Like I said, nothing cerebral here even though it deals with the everyday lives of scholars.

McCall Smith has gained my interest with this one. He has a slew of other books that I may just pick up. He has a good sense of narrative, description and all that other good stuff that makes a good author good, with the wit to match.

Go get the book, if not for the reasons stated then for the fact its only 10 bucks.

Posted in

Around the Otter

Therrarium, the Elvish Tea Machine by Samuel Goldoin

Artificer Creates An Elvish Tea Machine

scottish-insult-wordseach-ftimg

The Scottish Insults Wordsearch

2022-Advent-header

2022 NWOt Christmas Craftdown

Screenshot from Amberian Dawn's Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! video

Metal ABBA Cover: Amberian Dawn – Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!

2018-07-05searchfbtimg

Post 4th of July Finger Checklist

Previously in Word Search...

Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different search.

Advertising

Written by

Ryan Livingston

Ryan Livingston

Advertising

Advertising