The 21/2 Pillars of Wisdom

I found this book a very different read to McCall Smith's other novels. It trundles along and has some wonderful comic moments but overall failed to hit the spot in the same way that his other stories have done. My impression is that a book format for this story is not the right media - it would have been better as, for example, a play on Radio 4. Interestingly I saw McCall Smith at a literature event where he read extracts from the book and added comments - this brought the characters to life and lifted them off the page into a bizarre world of academia that suddenly seemed tragically realistic, and thus quite hilarious.

Laugh out loud funny (1/1 people found this helpful)

This book is a real revelation. It reminds me of other books like 'Diary of a Nobody' or 'Augustus Carp' in which the protagonist unwittingly reveals their flaws and the banality of their existence. McCall Smith has caught the authentic flavour of modern academia. Anyone who can make people laugh out loud just from the written word is a genius in my opinion. He must write more!

Wonderful humour - engaging hero (10/10 people found this helpful)

While this comic trilogy is unlikely to raise belly laughs it is a lovely picaresque exercise in social comedy and mild farce featuring the rather woolly minded and gauche Professor von Iglefeld. McCall Smith's deadpan style enable us to accept the Prof's amazing misguided adventures where he gets into all kind of Meldrew-like scrapes with south-american revolutionaries, irish farmers, acadmic rivals and colleagues. As previous reviewers have mentioned, this is understated satire and gentle bathos, more akin to bygone times eg Ealing Films - there's no bad language or graphic violence and minimal innuendo. It's also quite different from his Detective Agency / 44 Scotland Street stuff. I hope Prof Iglefeld has many more adventures.

For me, curiously memorable...... (12/14 people found this helpful)

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....although not that enjoyable a read. After greatly enjoying The "Ladies' Detective Agency" books, this came as a bit of a let-down for me. Very different. But my wife liked it!
The protagonist, an unlikeable German academic is totally unable to see his own serious social blunders. Comedy of embarassment, I suppose, but mostly cringe-makng for me.
Somehow, the odd incident does linger in the mind, months later.
By all means read it, a very clever and well written book, but one that may not entertain you in the same way as other books by this excellent author.

Gently amusing - instantly forgettable (9/12 people found this helpful)

This is the sort of book that makes a train journey pass very nicely - though you probably won't remember what it was about by the time you make it through the ticket barrier! Mcall Smith writes about an innocent world where people are rarely nasty to each other, and where integrity and politeness usually win through. This in itself is restful and pleasing, though it also means that his plots are never truly engaging at anything other than a fairly superficial level. That said, there are some really charming moments in this book, and some lovely wry humour: the moment when the group of German academics agree that the English have no sense of humour is wonderful! So enjoy the book - just don't expect to remember much of it for long.

Alexander McCall Smith

Reader Reviews:

Different, definitely different (3/3 people found this helpful)

Laugh out loud funny (1/1 people found this helpful)

Wonderful humour - engaging hero (10/10 people found this helpful)

For me, curiously memorable...... (12/14 people found this helpful)

Gently amusing - instantly forgettable (9/12 people found this helpful)

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