Witch Grass

Strange and Hilarious. My new favorite book. Can't wait to read it again.

Queneau gives us an incisive and scathing picture of the external and internal lives of an assortment of shopkeepers, bank clerks, musicians, and petty criminals which earns the book its stars. However, the structure is scrambled and confusing, and his cynicism mars his understanding. It may be verismo but it is not fully convincing. I think the deconstructionists, had there been any back in his day, might have approved.

I can't begin to explain why this book is so delightful. There are plenty of places to start with Queneau--perhaps the lighter, more accessibly funny Zazie is the best introduction--but this is my favorite. As with all of Queneau, it's a mix of silliness, absurdity, surreality, and philosophicality. He's a former philosophy student in the Hegelian tradition, but by way of the Marx brothers rather than Karl.Like the Marx brothers, Queneau's storylines are trifles usually--but it's hard to care since his books still manage to be so uniquely humorous and thought-provoking. I won't try to explain it, but this book is such a perfect case of Queneau's marvellous ability to mix philosophy and comedy, fairy tales and tragedy, that it's a must read.

Raymond Queneau is a first class writer and it is very strange that is not famous. His translator also is very good and was able to retain the intentions of the writer. Queneau is a subrealist that has nothing to envy to the Latin American writers of the boom. He also is hilarious and there s always something else besides the first reading, that shows a French intelectual of first rate.