Book Review: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
I did not care much for this book. It’s a shame because it had been recommended to me by several people and indeed it has a great setup. Confederacy is the story of a modern day Don Quixote — an overweight eccentric “genius” named Ignatius. His story takes place in New Orleans in the 1960’s. Ignatius, a conservative romantic, a lover of classics and Catholicism, and perpetually unemployed and living with his long suffering mother, is very much a man out of step with the world around him. The problem is that he is contemptible to no meaningful end.
The unlikable genius is a well-worn trope in media (Sherlock Holmes, Dr. House, etc.) but usually they have some redeeming qualities. They do some good that makes it worth putting up with them. Not so with Ignatius. Ignatius does nothing but condemn everyone and everything. He makes everyone’s lives worse and is himself endlessly disgusting physically (I won’t go into details) and sanctimonious. He is a classic “Secret King,” — a man whose self-appraisal and objective social value are galaxies apart. We cannot take seriously his condemnation of modernity because only in decadent modernity could such a vile character come into existence. So perhaps it isn’t serious — it’s all just to be played for laughs. The book is often described as a ‘comedy’. If this is the case then all I can add is that the humor is not to my taste. Ignatius is funny at times but in a depressing way. If you enjoy laughing at graphic, detailed portraits of human ugliness, then Confederacy is right up your alley.
The mystique around the book’s publication I think has insulated it from criticism.The author committed suicide after drafting the story and only many years later thanks to his mother’s tenacity did the book end up getting published. When people call Confederacy a brilliant work it seems evident they are not judging it purely by the text but rather by some other elusive quality. At best you can give Toole credit for his evocative prose. He does a good job of taking you into New Orleans at a particular moment in history. It works as a kind of slice of life story. Unfortunately the actual narrative isn’t really worth your time. Just read Don Quixote instead.
Grade: C-
