Book 62 - Frederick C. Crews "The Pooh Perplex"

[jazzy_dave]

Frederick C. Crews "The Pooh Perplex : A Student Casebook" (Robin Clark Ltd.)




One that once i started reading, giggling , and so on, i could not put down till i finished it.

A dozen "critical essays" about the Pooh stories by as many literary "critics". I think this is one of the best, and definitely the funniest Pooh spin-off book (it was one of the first, too). The analysis of literature is to me a fascinating topic, and here we have an academic caricature of its various branches. I liked it. In addition to making me laugh, I think I learned some literary criticism from it.

The last essays are the funniest, my favourite ones being the Freudian analysis and the call for a rigorous foundation for criticism. The essay by "Woodbine Meadowlark" was almost touching with its end-of-childhood theme.

This book has a smattering of technical jargon in which the language was hard to follow, especially when Crews simulated the writing of the most over-the-top critics. Perhaps the funniness suffered somewhat from my frequent browsing of a dictionary.

Comments

[postingwhore.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I liked this book, but I also know that I would have liked it more if I had actually recognized all the academic theories being satirized.

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

I read that decades ago, when I was too young and uninformed to recognize all the schools of literary criticism being parodied, and I still found it funny, particularly the essay that interpreted Eeyore as the Christ figure. I ought to track down a copy and reread it.

[thespian15.livejournal.com]

Are they funny because they try to be so serious about a light hearted book?
Hugs, Jon

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

Yes Crews was actually satirizing the kind of critical crap that sometimes is over theorized on things that are just simply stories with no hidden meaning. It is so funny esp the one on Eeyore as being a Christ figure or a trodden down upon revolutionary prole.

[thespian15.livejournal.com]

I will have to check these books out. :)

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Mmmm...may need to investigate this one. Just find it odd that poor Pooh is dissected everywhere, lol!!

*HUGS*

[symian.livejournal.com]

LOL! Critics finding hidden meanings. Sometimes the story is just the story.

I recently got on IMDB to look up something about one of my favorite TV shows, As Time Goes By, with Judi Dench. I wandered into the community forums and was treated to deeper means about the characters and story. It was a sitcom for goodness sake! It did not have any deeper meanings, it was there to be enjoyed. Ah. Heh heh heh. People are funny.

; '

[pigshitpoet.livejournal.com]

the furthest i got was the tao of pooh. but that never served me very well..

[kabuldur.livejournal.com]

When I fist read this post I thought that I should just enjoy Pooh for Pooh, but maybe I'd like it. I'm not up an all the literary theory. Just a bit of it. It sounds hilarious. I might just learn even more literary theory!