The 2½ Pillars of Wisdom: Book 1
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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “another great series my Alexander McCall Smith. The humor of academia is delicious.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Sadly, this book was a disappointment & rather boring. All that saved it from getting 1 star was that I found a few things humourous. I only finished it because it's short.” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“Funny and witty. Well written and well worth the read.”
Jacques van den Bergh wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“These stories are only faintly humorous to me, not enough that I will want to continue the series. ”
Kentucky Reader (Margaret H) wrote this review Friday, March 1, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“As someone who works in an institute (ILTEC Lisboa) where people do study Portuguese irregular (and regular) verbs, I had to read this. It is a comic mini-novel which pokes fun at the pretentiousness of a German professor of Romance philology whose major publication is an academic tome with the same title as McCall Smith's book. The author is himself a (Scottish) professor who turns out scores of amusing books in his spare time. What I noticed time and again is that the book, for all its lightness, is in fact very well researched. I wonder if AMS knows that, of the major Romance languages, Portuguese has the least irregularity among its verb forms; if so, that would be an added irony. A great read, especially for academics that can see the relativity of their endeavours.”
Lachlan wrote this review Saturday, January 26, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Sadly, this book was a disappointment & rather boring. All that saved it from getting 1 star was that I found a few things humourous. I only finished it because it's short.”
Karin wrote this review Wednesday, January 23, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“fun observations of the university life”
nota wrote this review Monday, November 26, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Curiousity got the best of me with the title. The main character is so full of himself and so lacking any form of wisdom despite his apparent intelligence. I bought the book when Borders was going out of business. I'm glad I didn't pay full price for it. Although I love other of Smith's quick reads, this is not a series of his that I plan to return to anytime soon.”
Helen B wrote this review Saturday, July 21, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“It took about half way through for me to care about the character and his adventures. He has his own quirks, but not as likable or charming as the author's other series. Not sure if I'll tackle the next in the series.”
Lynne S wrote this review Friday, May 25, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Funny!”
Amy Steely wrote this review Saturday, November 19, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This book is a short easy read, although not the laugh-out-loud funny that it was advertised to be. It's called an "entertainment" book, almost a series of short stories revolving around the ever-challenged Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld. The vignettes are amusing, some more than others, however I think it helps to be a bit older, and maybe a Brit at heart to appreciate them as written. From an heartbreaking infatuation to a nose-altering duel, he manages to muddle from one incident to the next. The issue for me is that it was not compelling and took me quite a while to settle in to the type of humor that McCall writes. Great for a short flight or to keep in the car and read while waiting here and there. ”
istop4books wrote this review Tuesday, August 30, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
