starrwriter
11-14-2005, 05:07 PM
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a234/starrwriter/ginger2.jpg
High praise indeed from the likes of Mrs. Parker.
There is a scene in J. P. Donleavy's novel that sets the tone for the whole story and makes me chuckle every time I think of it.
The protagonist and his wife live in a God-awful ghetto flat without a bath tub, shower or hot water. The toilet is on the second floor and one day he flushes it after taking a dump and immediately hears his wife scream.
She is washing dishes in the kitchen sink on the first floor when the toilet pipe bursts and showers her in raw effluent. The protagonist rushes downstairs to find his wife babbling and he remarks in a rather droll manner that she seems to have gone insane.
The first time I read that scene I went into a fit of laughing and I couldn't stop for the longest time. The rest of the book was a rollercoaster ride of similar scenes. By the time I finished reading it, my stomach ached and my eyes watered from laughing so hard.
"The Ginger Man" is a work of bizarre comic genius. That sort of writing can't be taught or created directly from experience. It has to be invented mischievously by a warped imagination and Donleavy is a master of off-the-wall humor.
High praise indeed from the likes of Mrs. Parker.
There is a scene in J. P. Donleavy's novel that sets the tone for the whole story and makes me chuckle every time I think of it.
The protagonist and his wife live in a God-awful ghetto flat without a bath tub, shower or hot water. The toilet is on the second floor and one day he flushes it after taking a dump and immediately hears his wife scream.
She is washing dishes in the kitchen sink on the first floor when the toilet pipe bursts and showers her in raw effluent. The protagonist rushes downstairs to find his wife babbling and he remarks in a rather droll manner that she seems to have gone insane.
The first time I read that scene I went into a fit of laughing and I couldn't stop for the longest time. The rest of the book was a rollercoaster ride of similar scenes. By the time I finished reading it, my stomach ached and my eyes watered from laughing so hard.
"The Ginger Man" is a work of bizarre comic genius. That sort of writing can't be taught or created directly from experience. It has to be invented mischievously by a warped imagination and Donleavy is a master of off-the-wall humor.