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The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen
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204 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 16, 2012
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About the author
Rudolf Erich Raspe
95Ìýbooks39ÌýfollowersRudolf Erich Raspe was a German librarian, writer and scientist, called by his biographer John Carswell a "rogue". He is best known for his collection of tall tales, The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen, originally a satirical work with political aims.
Raspe was born in Hanover, studied law and jurisprudence at Göttingen and Leipzig and worked as a librarian for the university of Göttingen. In 1762, he became a clerk in the university library at Hanover, and in 1764 secretary to the university library at Göttingen. He had become known as a versatile scholar and a student of natural history and antiquities, and he published some original poems and also translations, among the latter of Leibnitz's philosophical works and of Ossian's poems. He also wrote a treatise on Thomas Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.
In 1767, he was appointed professor in Cassel, and subsequently librarian. He contributed in 1769 a zoological paper to the 59th volume of the Philosophical Transactions, which led to his being selected an honorary member of the Royal Society in London, and he wrote voluminously on all sorts of subjects. In 1774, he started a periodical called the Cassel Spectator. From 1767, he was responsible for some collections of Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel). He had to flee to England in 1775 after having gone to Italy in 1775 to buy curios for the Landgrave. He was found to have sold the Landgrave's valuables for his own profit.
In London, he employed his knowledge of English and his learning to secure a living by publishing books on various subjects, and English translations of German works, and there are allusions to him as "a Dutch savant" in 1780 in the writings of Horace Walpole, who gave him money and helped him to publish an Essay on the Origin of Oil-painting (1781). But Raspe remained poor, and the Royal Society expunged his name off its list.
From 1782 to 1788, he was employed by Matthew Boulton as assay-master and storekeeper in the Dolcoath mine in Cornwall. At the same time, he also authored books in geology and the history of art. The Trewhiddle Ingot, found in 2003, is a 150-year-old lump of tungsten found at Trewhiddle Farm. This may predate the earliest known smelting of the metal (which requires extremely high temperatures) and has led to speculation that it may have been produced during a visit by Raspe to Happy-Union mine (at nearby Pentewan) in the late eighteenth century. Raspe was also a chemist with a particular interest in tungsten. Memories of his ingenuity remained to the middle of the 19th century. While in Cornwall, he seems to have written the original version of ²Ñü²Ô³¦³ó²¹³Ü²õ±ð²Ô, which was subsequently elaborated by others.
He also worked for the famous publisher John Nichols in several projects, among which was a descriptive catalogue he compiled of James Tassie's collection of pastes and casts of gems, in two quarto volumes (1791) of laborious industry and bibliographical rarity. Raspe then went to Scotland, and in Caithness found a patron in Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster, whose mineralogical proclivities he proceeded to impose upon by pretending to discover valuable and workable veins on his estates. Raspe had "salted" the ground himself, and on the verge of exposure, he absconded. He finally moved to Ireland where he managed a copper mine on the Herbert Estate in Killarney. He died in Killarney, County Kerry, of typhoid, in November 1794.
The Baron ²Ñü²Ô³¦³ó²¹³Ü²õ±ð²Ô tales were made famous when they were "borrowed," translated into German, and embellished somewhat by Gottfried August Bürger in 1786 â€� and have been among the favourite reading of subsequent generations, as well as the basis of several films, including Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Today it is not known whether anyone during Raspe's lifetime was aware of his authorship of the Adventures, other than his friend
Raspe was born in Hanover, studied law and jurisprudence at Göttingen and Leipzig and worked as a librarian for the university of Göttingen. In 1762, he became a clerk in the university library at Hanover, and in 1764 secretary to the university library at Göttingen. He had become known as a versatile scholar and a student of natural history and antiquities, and he published some original poems and also translations, among the latter of Leibnitz's philosophical works and of Ossian's poems. He also wrote a treatise on Thomas Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.
In 1767, he was appointed professor in Cassel, and subsequently librarian. He contributed in 1769 a zoological paper to the 59th volume of the Philosophical Transactions, which led to his being selected an honorary member of the Royal Society in London, and he wrote voluminously on all sorts of subjects. In 1774, he started a periodical called the Cassel Spectator. From 1767, he was responsible for some collections of Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel). He had to flee to England in 1775 after having gone to Italy in 1775 to buy curios for the Landgrave. He was found to have sold the Landgrave's valuables for his own profit.
In London, he employed his knowledge of English and his learning to secure a living by publishing books on various subjects, and English translations of German works, and there are allusions to him as "a Dutch savant" in 1780 in the writings of Horace Walpole, who gave him money and helped him to publish an Essay on the Origin of Oil-painting (1781). But Raspe remained poor, and the Royal Society expunged his name off its list.
From 1782 to 1788, he was employed by Matthew Boulton as assay-master and storekeeper in the Dolcoath mine in Cornwall. At the same time, he also authored books in geology and the history of art. The Trewhiddle Ingot, found in 2003, is a 150-year-old lump of tungsten found at Trewhiddle Farm. This may predate the earliest known smelting of the metal (which requires extremely high temperatures) and has led to speculation that it may have been produced during a visit by Raspe to Happy-Union mine (at nearby Pentewan) in the late eighteenth century. Raspe was also a chemist with a particular interest in tungsten. Memories of his ingenuity remained to the middle of the 19th century. While in Cornwall, he seems to have written the original version of ²Ñü²Ô³¦³ó²¹³Ü²õ±ð²Ô, which was subsequently elaborated by others.
He also worked for the famous publisher John Nichols in several projects, among which was a descriptive catalogue he compiled of James Tassie's collection of pastes and casts of gems, in two quarto volumes (1791) of laborious industry and bibliographical rarity. Raspe then went to Scotland, and in Caithness found a patron in Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster, whose mineralogical proclivities he proceeded to impose upon by pretending to discover valuable and workable veins on his estates. Raspe had "salted" the ground himself, and on the verge of exposure, he absconded. He finally moved to Ireland where he managed a copper mine on the Herbert Estate in Killarney. He died in Killarney, County Kerry, of typhoid, in November 1794.
The Baron ²Ñü²Ô³¦³ó²¹³Ü²õ±ð²Ô tales were made famous when they were "borrowed," translated into German, and embellished somewhat by Gottfried August Bürger in 1786 â€� and have been among the favourite reading of subsequent generations, as well as the basis of several films, including Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Today it is not known whether anyone during Raspe's lifetime was aware of his authorship of the Adventures, other than his friend
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
July 13, 2015
�When we had reached within two days� journey of the ship, we observed three men hanging to a tall tree by their heel; upon inquiring the case of their punishment, I found they had all been travelers & upon their return home had deceived their friends by describing places they never saw, and reciting things that never happened: this gave me no concern, as I have ever confirmed myself to facts� - Baron Munchausen
�The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen� is an enjoyable & satirical account of the fictitious exploits and travels of the fictionalized ‘Baron Munchausen�. These tall-tales, which are narrated by the Baron to his listeners, are fabulous to read and are full of political, social and personal satire.
This is a book that was originally published in 1785 and has gone through a string of additions in the course of time by various publishers. Originally written by �Rudolph Erich Rapse� � who himself has donned many hats in his personal life by being a scholar, miner, expert on minerals and gems, authority on antiques and a swindler � the mendacious tales of ‘Baron Munchausen� and his impossible adventures are delightful & incredible creations of a very rich imaginative mind. The original tales written by Rapse were rather small in length but were later appended by various publishers during the late 1700s with sequels, supplements and additional chapters.
This book contains the original chapters written by Rapse � and the add-ons and supplements written until 1789 � and an additional "Volume Two of the Baron's Travels.", which was a sequel published in 1792. The first part of the book is pretty easy to read as they are small individual tales arranged as chapters which are only two three pages in length.
The book is written with the sole purpose of entertaining and entertaining it does! For me the innocent purposelessness of these lies makes them quite enjoyable; they are brilliant at the same time being with out any intent of malice.
The adventures of Baron Munchausen are tall-tales at its zenith and is a very light read which, can be enjoyed by all those who like to have a good laugh.
Note: I thank my friend Sidharth Vardhan for his really hilarious review of this book, which made me immediately pick up this book for reading.
�The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen� is an enjoyable & satirical account of the fictitious exploits and travels of the fictionalized ‘Baron Munchausen�. These tall-tales, which are narrated by the Baron to his listeners, are fabulous to read and are full of political, social and personal satire.
This is a book that was originally published in 1785 and has gone through a string of additions in the course of time by various publishers. Originally written by �Rudolph Erich Rapse� � who himself has donned many hats in his personal life by being a scholar, miner, expert on minerals and gems, authority on antiques and a swindler � the mendacious tales of ‘Baron Munchausen� and his impossible adventures are delightful & incredible creations of a very rich imaginative mind. The original tales written by Rapse were rather small in length but were later appended by various publishers during the late 1700s with sequels, supplements and additional chapters.
This book contains the original chapters written by Rapse � and the add-ons and supplements written until 1789 � and an additional "Volume Two of the Baron's Travels.", which was a sequel published in 1792. The first part of the book is pretty easy to read as they are small individual tales arranged as chapters which are only two three pages in length.
The book is written with the sole purpose of entertaining and entertaining it does! For me the innocent purposelessness of these lies makes them quite enjoyable; they are brilliant at the same time being with out any intent of malice.
The adventures of Baron Munchausen are tall-tales at its zenith and is a very light read which, can be enjoyed by all those who like to have a good laugh.
Note: I thank my friend Sidharth Vardhan for his really hilarious review of this book, which made me immediately pick up this book for reading.
October 30, 2016
It is, you see, difficult to stay connected with old friends that is why I once created this website where you could find and meet your old friends. I was in a good mood that day and since it hardly took me an hour to create it, so I gave it to this young boy � try as I may, I can’t recall his name Mark something, he was pissed off after his GF broke with him. I can’t recall his last name zuck � berger � bug�
Anyway I wouldn’t have mentioned it if this same website was not used by some of my enemies to exaggerate my little powers and thus ridicule them. If there is one thing I can’t tolerate � it is deviation, even slightest deviation from truth. One of them said that I once lifted an anaconda to save a child with a single hand to save a child in its grip and threw the beast away. It is such a stupid lie � How can people believe that? I could barely lift the animal with both my hands.
Anyway it spoiled my mood and I happened to be presiding this interplanetary conference that day. When representatives of Pluto (they are yellow-orange color, medium-sized, short-haired dogs with black ears having particular love for rats) were five minutes late.... I confess my anger was unjust but what happened is what happened � and now, Pluto is no longer a planet.
I could have cooled down but for a while the queen of England; she knows me from when I sold a lock of my hair to end the last economic depression; was pestering me over which president should her people chose next. People just can’t understand that I have more important things to do. In frustration, I told her to just go for the last one again. I think she did.
I have no time to follow the news in all my universe-saving endeavors. Just last week, my good friend Doctor Who (I once mended his toy machine TARDIS) visited me to ask my help in saving a planet in a galaxy, name of which can’t be pronounced in Earth’s atmosphere.
All this work makes one moody. Even now I was planning to give a speech which would have ended all the evil in the world and make Earth a heaven but I have changed my plan since my pizza was no good (I’m tired of you lesser mortals) and my date Jennifer Aniston is late.. She says she is twenty two but I highly doubt that. Women often hide their age around me. Anyway she was a big letdown after Marilyn Monroe and � Venus. And, don’t even ask me about Helen. Ah! those were the days - specially when Greeks fought with Troy believing she ran away with Paris!
---------------------
PART 2
I have discovered that a lot of people are taking what I have said as mere tall tales when, in fact, if ever I was guilty of lying then it was because I couldn't do away with my habit of modesty. For example, this once, back in very old days - it was just a week before I handed those commandments to Moses; I participated in this village wide game we were playing where you have to throw rocks, and person whose rocks hits the ground furthest would win. May be I just happened to pick up too big a rock but I lost the game. Now tell me, would I be a tall-tale teller when I say I was a distant last in among hundreds of players? My throw was, in fact, so terrible that rock never landed; it just stayed out there in sky � people call it moon. Funny name! isn’t it, for a rock?
Once I was on this ‘moon� � I often go there in search of solitude; when what I see is this vehicle lands near me and a man comes out of it in a clownish white silver dress and starts saying some stupid things like 'big step', 'small step' -I really didn't get it. He was still rambling when he saw me; his face turned red. "Aa! You kids!" I said watching him stop, "And your little games! Cute!". When they realized the truth, they started begging me to let them have the credit for being the first to be on moon. I let them, I was too modest to claim any credit for myself. I heard they had to destroy all those photographs taken there to keep the secret.
Anyway, I'm not much for publicity. This once upon a time, I was sleeping at an airport when this aeroplane suddenly got some technical problem in landing. People began panicking which is all you mortals seem good for, and there was a lot of noise -it waked me up. I was obviously angry at being woken up in this manner - and just to shut them up, I stretched my arm to take hold of aeroplane and put it on ground. My arm hurt for weeks after that. Someone not believing the evidence of his eyes shouted "but it is humanly impossible." "Yes,� I said not knowing what he meant, “What is your point?"
Yet, you won't see any account of this event in any of newspapers because I took special pains to make sure it won't get publihed. Although, censoring this news from newspapers was way too easier than censoring this photo of mine with that guy who happened to be at airport. Personally I’m not much about being photographed but he; I think I can recall his name ... Yes, Robert Downey Jr. he kept on insisting.
Yet another reason, I won't come out is because I'm just too lazy. Last time, your humble narrator felt like actually doing something was a long way back. It was so dark out in those days that I had to began by calling for light ('Let there be light') and so it went as I worked for six days straight (I signed my creations with pseudonyms like'God' in those days)
...but then I thought that I really do not want image of a hard-working person - specially someone who won't even take Saturdays off, it doesn't suit me. Also, my work from last day was terrible one - man (although I perfected it later in second attempt) And so I spread a rumor that it all started with a Big Bang. Yet, another cover up was the evidence of evolution (fake dinosaur homes) that I planted all over the planet. It all went well. Giant lizards! Really, people will believe anything.
I think it is just me people find it difficult to believe � maybe I just give the wrong kind of waves. If someone else was to say those things � you would believe him or her. I won’t know why. For example, I once wrote this document about the workings of the creation I just talked about; I remember I was with an Egyption queen that time. Another name I can’t recall, I have such a bad memory for names � anyway, I used to call her Leo. She was some woman, she cheated on three different guys with me (her brother, Ceasor and Anthony). Every time I went to her, she would be with a different man. I gifted her this lovely cross breed pet, she used to call it Sphinix � but I’m diverting, my point being, it was while coming back to present that I thought that this document would be useless because people never believe whatever I say and so I threw it away. Some one seems to have found it, Isaac was it? Now while no one believes anything I say, everybody believed him when he said that he got all this from falling of an apple!
__________
Part 3
I see people still seems to be thinking that I just tell tall-tales. Now if you visited my town, you would have known the fame I have for my honesty, they swear on it –if they want to praise someone’s honesty they will say he is as honest as our great lord Manchurian (since that the title they use for me) or if they want to assert truthiness of something, they will say ‘believe it as if our great lord M. has said it.� The Roman people were even better- they named a whole month after me � of course it later deteriorated from Munch to March but hey, it is the gesture that counts. And of course Johnny Depp, whom I was just talking with, could have told you - but he is won't be seen with me. He says he feels eclipsed by my presence.
I responded if it is any consolation DiCaprio feels the same.
Of course sometimes one have to lie, I mean if kids comes to me and say how much they like Arybhatta for inventing Zero or Vinci for his paintings or Mozart for music he created � I can’t help nodding while trying hard to suppress my smile. We can’t take away children’s heroes, can we?
Still I don’t like people who will take credit for work done by others. Edison was at least honest enough to never actively claim undue honor. He always talked about discovering 10,000 ways that won’t work, he never said anything about discovering that single way that did work, did he? Ever wondered why?
Ya. You are right.
Other people though aren’t as honest. Even now I have just received a phone call, they were from committee deciding who gets from Nobel prize for Economics. Of course, like every year, I told them to find someone else - and tell the committees for Physics, Chemistry and Physiology to do the same. It has become a habit with them, every year they are pestering me with phone calls. I tell you it gets on one’s nerves. I have often changed my number, but they always get it from CERN, where I happened to be the president. The peace prize ones are the worst of lot, given my peaceful attitude there is no stopping them, that is why I didn’t tell the economics guys to try.
And what about Literature? you ask. The thing is I no longer write anything. I wrote this long collection of stage-plays this once. I lost them all during my visit to a theatre on Queen Elizabeth’s invitation. If I'm right (and I'm hardly ever not) it was my horse-man, William something, who stole it.
Ever since I have lost the taste of it. And to be honest I judge people who will do nothing but read all day. I mean how lame is that! Get a life!
You know what else I don’t like? People pretending to be cleverer than they are. Just last week I was visited by this Baker street kid who thinks he is a detective and his Doctor friend; quickly the former launched into that case he need my help for “there is this murder� he was saying “there are no clues, no motives, nothing peculiar�.�
“Sherry! Sherry! Sherry!� I interrupted his monologue, shaking my head once for every ‘Sherry�, “The younger sister is the murderer. You can dig in the garden in the right hand side of her neighbor’s backyard, for the knife with her fingerprints on it.�
He and his friend were shocked for some reason. After taking his time to swallow his pride, he asked “How do you know? It is not even in newspapers.�
These kids I tell you! “Oh! It is obvious, Listen Sherry and try to understand and you, Hamish� I said looking at his friend, “You just listen, Okay! � In the beginning there was word.�
“And…� Sherry said, somehow, not finding the explanation sufficient.
“� and all the rest follows.� Can the chain of reasoning be more obvious? Well it wasn’t for those two, so I had to explain them in detail. Of course, I won’t insult your cleverness by going into explanations.
I have always found these geniuses to be more irritating than others. This another kid, supposed to be a genius, kept irritating me about his observations and about how he was sure that energy was somehow a curtain or something over matter or something until I lost my temperament and had to interrupt him telling “Not so clever Einstein, e equals m c square.�
I tell you it is difficult to be a genius in a world of mediocre people � fortunately though most of you will never know this feeling. There was actually this one time I lost my temperament and decided to destroy the whole planet. Start the whole thing all over again, you know! Of course in all my kindness I wanted to give humanity a chance to mend their ways. And so what I do is bring a couple of really big asteroids, put them in ocean, put some people on it and tell them that world is going to end on Decemeber 21,2012 (since that was the day I decided). And so they build their calendars and everything accordingly.� Next, I go and tell Columbus to look for India in the West.
Of course people didn’t change their ways and so I was all bent on destroying the World. I had everyting set in order but had to abandon the plan due to health reasons.
Damn You, common cold!
After that I was too lazy to go through it all over again. Anyway, it is more fun this way - Didn't I put Donald duck (or was it Trump) as contestant for US elections just for laughs of it!
Still,I wonder what it feels like to be stupid � sometimes I do have this really absurd dream, in which I’m just a stupid guy who reads some books, thinks himself clever for that, writes foolish reviews with lame jokes on a websire and is glad to get a few, what-can-only-be-called, pity likes. To imagine!
May 21, 2019
We all know the type: he is an expert in everything, experienced the most extraordinary things and goes on bragging aboutbit. A classic that is more than 200 years old, still the same people around:-) It is a nice quick read, more interesting for what he wrote about than for the excellence of the literary style, but it is one to read and reread on a rainy spring day.
May 10, 2020
This is one of those books I have known about and to be honest thought I knew about for some time - it was not till I finally caught up with my copy from the Everymans Childrens Library (I sent it to the wrong address and then could not get to it thanks to the lock down but there you go).
Anyway where was I - oh yes the book I thought I knew - now I have read many books that reference it, seen the film and the image which I now realise are in fact from the early editions which epitomised the story and the popular image of the Baron.
However I didnt know it all. The first surprise was the story itself - it was more a story of tall takes rather than a coherent story (I guess the TV and cinema have something to answer for that) although its not a bad thing and there are so many more aspects too.
The second thing that surprised me was that of the back ground to the author and the book - for example that it is based of a real person (though not the exploits) and as a result the book was published anynouyously and the author Rudolf Erich Raspe died penniless partly as a result of it even though it was a commercial success pretty much from when it was published.
The book I think has influenced a lot of other stories as well as images - I think the image of riding on a cannonball being the most famous (I know no spoilers but seriously who has not come across that image).
I think for me there is something to be said for reading the classics- for me its a case of what I thought I knew verses what is real.
Anyway where was I - oh yes the book I thought I knew - now I have read many books that reference it, seen the film and the image which I now realise are in fact from the early editions which epitomised the story and the popular image of the Baron.
However I didnt know it all. The first surprise was the story itself - it was more a story of tall takes rather than a coherent story (I guess the TV and cinema have something to answer for that) although its not a bad thing and there are so many more aspects too.
The second thing that surprised me was that of the back ground to the author and the book - for example that it is based of a real person (though not the exploits) and as a result the book was published anynouyously and the author Rudolf Erich Raspe died penniless partly as a result of it even though it was a commercial success pretty much from when it was published.
The book I think has influenced a lot of other stories as well as images - I think the image of riding on a cannonball being the most famous (I know no spoilers but seriously who has not come across that image).
I think for me there is something to be said for reading the classics- for me its a case of what I thought I knew verses what is real.
July 5, 2020
Charles van Buren
4.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2018
More tall tales and exaggerations than Gulliver.
This review is from the Open Road Media Sci-fi and Fantasy edition published October 28, 2014. The description on the Amazon site lists this book at 204 pages but the information at the bottom of my Kindle screen shows 194 pages. There is an introduction of 23 pages which discusses the authorship, printing history, the significance of the tales, etc. at some length.
The tales themselves begin with a reprint of the approximately two page preface to the first edition. This apparently being the 1785 or the 1786 London edition both of which were issued as 49 page pamphlets titled, Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvelous Travels and Campaigns in Russia." A note TO THE PUBLIC ostensibly by the Baron himself begins the book. This is followed by a statement attesting to the veracity of Baron Munchausen sworn in the "absence of the Lord Mayor" by Gulliver, Sinbad and Aladdin. These tall tales, exaggerations and out and out lies put American riverboat man Mike Fink's braggado to shame. According to the introduction to the Open Roads Media edition, only chapters ii., iii., iv., v., and vi (pp. 10 - 44,) of that edition are found in the 1785 edition. Some sources claim that the additional material is inferior, particularly the tales listed as THE SECOND VOLUME in the Open Roads edition. This material contains more satire and historical personages, requiring some historical knowledge on the part of the reader to fully appreciate them. It is as if topical satire and history were mixed into the tales of Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill.
I was first introduced to Baron Munchausen through the 1988 movie, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, directed by Terry Gilliam. This movie received generally positive reviews as well as some academy award nominations but was a box office failure. I liked the movie and, in fact, enjoyed it more than the book. A little of the book goes a long way and most would probably enjoy it more to read a tale or two then come back to it later.
4.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2018
More tall tales and exaggerations than Gulliver.
This review is from the Open Road Media Sci-fi and Fantasy edition published October 28, 2014. The description on the Amazon site lists this book at 204 pages but the information at the bottom of my Kindle screen shows 194 pages. There is an introduction of 23 pages which discusses the authorship, printing history, the significance of the tales, etc. at some length.
The tales themselves begin with a reprint of the approximately two page preface to the first edition. This apparently being the 1785 or the 1786 London edition both of which were issued as 49 page pamphlets titled, Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvelous Travels and Campaigns in Russia." A note TO THE PUBLIC ostensibly by the Baron himself begins the book. This is followed by a statement attesting to the veracity of Baron Munchausen sworn in the "absence of the Lord Mayor" by Gulliver, Sinbad and Aladdin. These tall tales, exaggerations and out and out lies put American riverboat man Mike Fink's braggado to shame. According to the introduction to the Open Roads Media edition, only chapters ii., iii., iv., v., and vi (pp. 10 - 44,) of that edition are found in the 1785 edition. Some sources claim that the additional material is inferior, particularly the tales listed as THE SECOND VOLUME in the Open Roads edition. This material contains more satire and historical personages, requiring some historical knowledge on the part of the reader to fully appreciate them. It is as if topical satire and history were mixed into the tales of Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill.
I was first introduced to Baron Munchausen through the 1988 movie, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, directed by Terry Gilliam. This movie received generally positive reviews as well as some academy award nominations but was a box office failure. I liked the movie and, in fact, enjoyed it more than the book. A little of the book goes a long way and most would probably enjoy it more to read a tale or two then come back to it later.
April 26, 2018
This review is from the Open Road Media Sci-fi and Fantasy edition published October 28, 2014. The description on the Amazon site lists this book at 204 pages but the information at the bottom of my Kindle screen shows 194 pages. There is an introduction of 23 pages which discusses, at some length, the authorship, printing history, the significance of the tales, etc.
The tales themselves begin with a reprint of the approximately two page preface to the first edition. This apparently being the 1785 or the 1786 London edition both of which were issued as 49 page pamphlets titled, Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvelous Travels and Campaigns in Russia." A note TO THE PUBLIC ostensibly by the Baron himself begins the book. This is followed by a statement attesting to the veracity of Baron Munchausen sworn in the "absence of the Lord Mayor" by Gulliver, Sinbad and Aladdin. These tall tales, exaggerations and out and out lies put American riverboat man Mike Fink's braggado to shame. According to the introduction to the Open Roads Media edition, only chapters ii., iii., iv., v., and vi (pp. 10 - 44,) of that edition are found in the 1785 edition. Some sources claim that the additional material is inferior, particularly the tales listed as THE SECOND VOLUME in the Open Roads edition. This material contains more satire and historical personages, requiring some historical knowledge on the part of the reader to fully appreciate them. It is as if topical satire and history were mixed into the tales of Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill.
I was first introduced to Baron Munchausen through the 1988 movie, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, directed by Terry Gilliam. This movie received generally positive reviews as well as some academy award nominations but was a box office failure. I liked the movie and, in fact, enjoyed it more than the book. A little of the book goes a long way and most would probably enjoy it more to read a tale or two then come back to it later.
The tales themselves begin with a reprint of the approximately two page preface to the first edition. This apparently being the 1785 or the 1786 London edition both of which were issued as 49 page pamphlets titled, Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvelous Travels and Campaigns in Russia." A note TO THE PUBLIC ostensibly by the Baron himself begins the book. This is followed by a statement attesting to the veracity of Baron Munchausen sworn in the "absence of the Lord Mayor" by Gulliver, Sinbad and Aladdin. These tall tales, exaggerations and out and out lies put American riverboat man Mike Fink's braggado to shame. According to the introduction to the Open Roads Media edition, only chapters ii., iii., iv., v., and vi (pp. 10 - 44,) of that edition are found in the 1785 edition. Some sources claim that the additional material is inferior, particularly the tales listed as THE SECOND VOLUME in the Open Roads edition. This material contains more satire and historical personages, requiring some historical knowledge on the part of the reader to fully appreciate them. It is as if topical satire and history were mixed into the tales of Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill.
I was first introduced to Baron Munchausen through the 1988 movie, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, directed by Terry Gilliam. This movie received generally positive reviews as well as some academy award nominations but was a box office failure. I liked the movie and, in fact, enjoyed it more than the book. A little of the book goes a long way and most would probably enjoy it more to read a tale or two then come back to it later.
July 21, 2018
Absolutely unbelievable tales. I found myself laughing while reading this.
One of my favorite parts takes place during the French Revolution. As the mob approaches, the Baron begins to knight people in the crowd. They start to run away in terror lest they become nobility!
One of my favorite parts takes place during the French Revolution. As the mob approaches, the Baron begins to knight people in the crowd. They start to run away in terror lest they become nobility!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 5, 2022
Wonderful
I have to say that I found this particular book a little difficult at points as it was written originally so long ago and the translation holds a few things that were at first hard to understand. I looked up a few items as I went and everything fell into place and made perfect sense. In the beginning of the book there is a long explanation about where the stories may have come from and who may have been the originator of them. They seem to have fairly well-nailed things down. More importantly the stories are fun to read and very entertaining. My previous experience like most was just the movie which I have enjoyed over the years with my children. The movie was a whole other thing that you inspiration from these stories. The stories themselves are wondrous as the Baron travels all over the world and to the moon. All are told in such a way as to be absolute truths but the reader knows they are for entertainment. I've always been a bit of a fan of some of the older literature but I do tend to lean mostly towards more entertaining fantasy or sci-fi. This would be a good read for anyone who has enjoyed the movie or just good old-fashioned entertainment. Much of what is contained within the stories would today be considered politically incorrect but still entertaining for its time if taken in context.
I have to say that I found this particular book a little difficult at points as it was written originally so long ago and the translation holds a few things that were at first hard to understand. I looked up a few items as I went and everything fell into place and made perfect sense. In the beginning of the book there is a long explanation about where the stories may have come from and who may have been the originator of them. They seem to have fairly well-nailed things down. More importantly the stories are fun to read and very entertaining. My previous experience like most was just the movie which I have enjoyed over the years with my children. The movie was a whole other thing that you inspiration from these stories. The stories themselves are wondrous as the Baron travels all over the world and to the moon. All are told in such a way as to be absolute truths but the reader knows they are for entertainment. I've always been a bit of a fan of some of the older literature but I do tend to lean mostly towards more entertaining fantasy or sci-fi. This would be a good read for anyone who has enjoyed the movie or just good old-fashioned entertainment. Much of what is contained within the stories would today be considered politically incorrect but still entertaining for its time if taken in context.
August 7, 2017
The first half of this story - most likely written by Raspe - is quite good. It's a sequence of outlandish tall tales that are quite entertaining. American readers are mostly unfamiliar with the Baron's adventures, other than through exposure to Terry Gilliam's 1988 film which is a relatively faithful adaptation. The second half - generally thought to have been written by an anonymous English bookseller and published in later editions - presents a different style and mostly loses the spirit of the original text. Taken as a whole, this would probably be better suited for adult readers, but younger readers might find parts enjoyable, too.
April 24, 2019
I'm not sure how to evaluate a late 18th century satire. I expect it would have been incredibly humorous to a contemporary reader but I had a hard time following the trail of humor. Its written in the 'just so' style of Rudyard Kipling, but it didn't quite have the same timeless feel to it. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable of that period of time would better appreciate the stories than I did.
July 29, 2015
many charming and funny stories.
Want to read
September 11, 2015Free download available at .
May 7, 2020
Really funny, but really extreme! Very Adventurous!
July 17, 2023
I just finished reading The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen, which includes 34 stories. I checked it out and this should be the second edition in English published in 1785. In the years that followed, many authors around the world patched up, deleted, and changed this book into many language versions, the most of which should be the French version with more than 100 stories. In the era when the book was written, such fantasy adventure novels were very popular. The only ones who could compete with this bragging Baron were Robinson Crusoe, the lord of the deserted island, and Gulliver, the protagonist of the Western Mirror Flower Margin. In that era, England was undergoing tremendous changes, of course, in a good direction. The first industrial revolution brought not only scientific and technological progress, but more importantly, the liberation of thinking. At the same time, in the overseas trade that England had been engaged in for many years, more and more people began to oppose the slave trade, and a sense of civilization awakened in the minds of the British. They began to distinguish between civilization and barbarism, but at the same time, they also had a high and mighty imperial perspective. They did not know that this world was not England’s world, but the world of all people.
Regarding the author, there is a detailed description at the beginning of the book, four words: notorious. He can be said to be a liar, he can be said to be a thief, but he cannot deny his professionalism in geology and his talent in writing. As for whether the first edition was written by the author in German or directly in English, it doesn’t seem to matter that much. At least we know that the second edition of the English version in my hand is mostly considered to be changed by the author himself.
The Chinese translation of this book is titled “The Adventures of Bragging King�. Is this a title that can successfully discourage adult readers? However, from the style and content of storytelling in the book. The young children who can be attracted may not understand the irony of specific eras and events in the book. Perhaps they will laugh out loud at the way Baron fights monsters, or they may use their little scientist’s logical thinking to criticize how absurd this book is. But they don’t know what the author’s intention is for writing these stories? In their eyes, the American continent may still be its current map, which is different from what the author saw at that time. They may also think that America was as big as it is now. They also don’t know what Europe looked like at that time? What was Baron shuttling through Europe for? I have many more questions to ask, so I’ll stop here. It’s nothing more than wanting to explain that I don’t think this is a book suitable for young people to read, and I also want to recommend it to adults who are familiar with European history.
Here is a very simple example. On his way through adventures, Baron encountered a slave ship, not a black slave ship we imagined, but a white slave ship. Black people transported white people to their plantations near Antarctica as slaves and maids. Baron said that because black people are not cold-resistant, they need white slaves to help them manage their business. Baron rescued those white slaves who were grateful and accused black people of giving them inhuman treatment. Such ironic writing can be seen in various stories in the book. In fact, you have to read the stories backwards and combine them with the background of that era to understand them.
If you read the English version like me, besides needing to supplement background knowledge in advance, you also need to pay attention to sentence patterns and word usage in this book which are too old. In that era, although it was no longer as cumbersome as Marigold and Tudor dynasties, it was not as concise as Victorian era. Therefore, there will be a lot of parentheticals that lengthen sentences and frequently use inverted expressions to distinguish them from daily colloquialisms. Modern readers may not be accustomed to this style of writing for a while. Please read patiently.
Finally I hope every novel reader will pay attention to changes and developments of world history during leisure time when reading novels. Every author writes words with a certain position and concept. We must not use current views and perspectives to understand past people’s thoughts. No matter how absurd and unruly their thoughts are they are all reasonable existences.
Regarding the author, there is a detailed description at the beginning of the book, four words: notorious. He can be said to be a liar, he can be said to be a thief, but he cannot deny his professionalism in geology and his talent in writing. As for whether the first edition was written by the author in German or directly in English, it doesn’t seem to matter that much. At least we know that the second edition of the English version in my hand is mostly considered to be changed by the author himself.
The Chinese translation of this book is titled “The Adventures of Bragging King�. Is this a title that can successfully discourage adult readers? However, from the style and content of storytelling in the book. The young children who can be attracted may not understand the irony of specific eras and events in the book. Perhaps they will laugh out loud at the way Baron fights monsters, or they may use their little scientist’s logical thinking to criticize how absurd this book is. But they don’t know what the author’s intention is for writing these stories? In their eyes, the American continent may still be its current map, which is different from what the author saw at that time. They may also think that America was as big as it is now. They also don’t know what Europe looked like at that time? What was Baron shuttling through Europe for? I have many more questions to ask, so I’ll stop here. It’s nothing more than wanting to explain that I don’t think this is a book suitable for young people to read, and I also want to recommend it to adults who are familiar with European history.
Here is a very simple example. On his way through adventures, Baron encountered a slave ship, not a black slave ship we imagined, but a white slave ship. Black people transported white people to their plantations near Antarctica as slaves and maids. Baron said that because black people are not cold-resistant, they need white slaves to help them manage their business. Baron rescued those white slaves who were grateful and accused black people of giving them inhuman treatment. Such ironic writing can be seen in various stories in the book. In fact, you have to read the stories backwards and combine them with the background of that era to understand them.
If you read the English version like me, besides needing to supplement background knowledge in advance, you also need to pay attention to sentence patterns and word usage in this book which are too old. In that era, although it was no longer as cumbersome as Marigold and Tudor dynasties, it was not as concise as Victorian era. Therefore, there will be a lot of parentheticals that lengthen sentences and frequently use inverted expressions to distinguish them from daily colloquialisms. Modern readers may not be accustomed to this style of writing for a while. Please read patiently.
Finally I hope every novel reader will pay attention to changes and developments of world history during leisure time when reading novels. Every author writes words with a certain position and concept. We must not use current views and perspectives to understand past people’s thoughts. No matter how absurd and unruly their thoughts are they are all reasonable existences.
December 24, 2024
"If any gentleman will say he doubts the truth of this story, I will fine him a gallon of brandy and make him drink it at one draught"
Charming nonsense. I think the baron might still be warmly remembered alongside Gulliver or Quixote if he hadn't brutally killed so many animals.
Baron Munchausen's kill list:
- decapitates a lion and chokes a crocodile to death with the severed head (this happens right off the bat, in chapter 1)
- grabs a wolf's tail through its mouth and pulls it inside out
- shoots and kills 'fifty brace of ducks, twenty widgeons, and three couple of teals'
- flays a black fox alive after pinning its tail to a tree
- shoots a stag (with cherry stones)
- blinds a bear with liquor so it falls off an ice floe
- tosses a pair of flints at a bear (one down the throat, one up the jaxy), which meet in the gut, exploding it
- wrestles a bear and holds it until it starves to death (the baron has a particular disdain for bears, case in point...)
- surreptitiously severs the spinal cords of 'many thousands' of polar bears for their skins and 'steaks'
- immolates 'over one thousand' lions
Bonus round: snaps a farmer's neck and slaughters 'dozens' of 'pagan' French revolutionary fishwomen
March 29, 2023
The reading challenge is a style from 250 years ago. Clever and impossible and similar to Paul Bunyon stories. It is fun, and in it's own way, educative of prior styles. IMAGINATIVE. I suggest one educates oneself,. and when you've had enough--stop
April 27, 2024
Baron Munchausen is a goober 🫶
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July 3, 20241785
August 13, 2024
It made for a very interesting story, a little wordy and the long sentences made it hard to follow at times, but it was an exciting read; very fantastical and engaging.
October 29, 2024
4.75 stars. One of the most imaginative, brilliant and unique books I've ever read. Loved the illustrations and the classic charming victorian writing style.
March 5, 2017
Eu li uma adaptação desse livro quando eu tinha uns 10 anos e adorei. Desde então, eu tinha vontade de ler o texto no mais original e menos adaptado possÃvel. Qual não foi a minha decepção quando peguei esse livro para ler. Os relatos são secos, o humor não tem graça, e a leitura não flui (eu demorei mais de dois meses para ler um livro de pouco mais de 100 páginas...) não existe desenvolvimento nem de personagens, nem de enredo. Eu resolvi não largar o livro pela metade, porque eu ainda tinha esperanças de ver o que eu vi nesse livro, tantos anos atrás.
Apesar disso, algumas citações no spoiler. Coincidentemente, só uma não é o Barão falando que o que ele conta é verdade.
Apesar disso, algumas citações no spoiler. Coincidentemente, só uma não é o Barão falando que o que ele conta é verdade.
November 20, 2019
I've put off seeing the Terry Gilliam movie for _years_ because I wanted to read the book first, so I could come to it unprejudiced. ("The book is still there on the shelf" doesn't work, for me, if I've already seen an intensely-visual movie: the first images stick in my mind.) I'm not so sure that I should have bothered. Some fantastical images in my mind might have helped the second part, particularly, along.
It appears that only about half a dozen chapters were in the original book, which rejoiced in the title _Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia. Humbly dedicated and recommended to Country Gentlemen; and, if they please, to be repeated as their own, after a Hunt, at Horse Races, in Watering Places, and other such polite Assemblies, round the bottle and fireside_. Five more chapters, from the second edition, _might_ be Raspe's; the vast majority is not. The titles, by the way, became longer and more ludicrous as edition followed edition with additional chapters by not-Raspe.
And indeed, those original chapters were not entirely original, as Baron von Munchhausen (note second aitch) was a real person, famous for his droll stories, and Raspe (a German living in England) may well have read some of those stories which had been published in Germany previously.The real Munchhausen was apparently much incensed by Raspe's book when it was translated (with additional, non-Raspe chapters, from the fifth edition) into German.
So. These are the tall tales of a lying nobleman, tales of war, exploration, and other things, all of them absurd. But there are different levels of absurdity. Raspe's original chapters (near the beginning of book one) and many of the other chapters in book one are charmingly absurd: like the famous tale of how he came into a city on horseback and rode to a fountain, where his horse drank prodigiously; only after a while did the Baron realize that the horse's inability to quench its thirst was because the portcullis had come down and cut the horse's hindquarters off. Obviously impossible, but with a certain charm, and what I would call the "possible impossible" - things you can't disprove by looking out your window or other simple experiments. But the later chapters, and especially book 2, are "impossible impossible," like the bridge he claims to have built from central Africa to London. Such a structure would be easily noticed, and the fancy falls flat.
But most of book 1 is really quite charming, and actually _funny_. It's available for free on Kindle and, I imagine, other devices. Book 1 is well worth your time to read, especially at the price; as for book 2 - well, your readage may vary.
It appears that only about half a dozen chapters were in the original book, which rejoiced in the title _Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia. Humbly dedicated and recommended to Country Gentlemen; and, if they please, to be repeated as their own, after a Hunt, at Horse Races, in Watering Places, and other such polite Assemblies, round the bottle and fireside_. Five more chapters, from the second edition, _might_ be Raspe's; the vast majority is not. The titles, by the way, became longer and more ludicrous as edition followed edition with additional chapters by not-Raspe.
And indeed, those original chapters were not entirely original, as Baron von Munchhausen (note second aitch) was a real person, famous for his droll stories, and Raspe (a German living in England) may well have read some of those stories which had been published in Germany previously.The real Munchhausen was apparently much incensed by Raspe's book when it was translated (with additional, non-Raspe chapters, from the fifth edition) into German.
So. These are the tall tales of a lying nobleman, tales of war, exploration, and other things, all of them absurd. But there are different levels of absurdity. Raspe's original chapters (near the beginning of book one) and many of the other chapters in book one are charmingly absurd: like the famous tale of how he came into a city on horseback and rode to a fountain, where his horse drank prodigiously; only after a while did the Baron realize that the horse's inability to quench its thirst was because the portcullis had come down and cut the horse's hindquarters off. Obviously impossible, but with a certain charm, and what I would call the "possible impossible" - things you can't disprove by looking out your window or other simple experiments. But the later chapters, and especially book 2, are "impossible impossible," like the bridge he claims to have built from central Africa to London. Such a structure would be easily noticed, and the fancy falls flat.
But most of book 1 is really quite charming, and actually _funny_. It's available for free on Kindle and, I imagine, other devices. Book 1 is well worth your time to read, especially at the price; as for book 2 - well, your readage may vary.
January 1, 2022
The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen a book with a complex character based on a real life baron, and an even more complex publication and authorship history. The creator is considered to be Rudolf Erich Raspe, a person of dubious moral, with a tendency for treachery not much unlike his protagonist, though very educated and versatile person. He had the opportunity to meet the real baron, Hieronymus Karl Friedrich, Freiherr von ²Ñü²Ô³¦³ó²¹³Ü²õ±ð²Ô, who participated in Russo-Turkish war and upon returning became popular among local aristocracy and respectable folk for retelling his war stories skillfully, earnestly and entertainingly in comical and exaggerating manner, and after he had robbed the University of its precious gems and fled to England, started to relate his stories in magazine in order to sustain himself, however concealing his authorship on the account that he may be accountable for defamation. Realizing how writing did not provide him with sufficient funds, he set on his older way and dedicated himself to further schemes with minerals, he was well acquainted with. The work later fell in hands of Gottfried August Bürger who either on his own accord, or with the help of some of his colleagues from the University or even the baron himself, translated the work into German and elaborated on the original story, chapters II through VI written by Raspe. The rest of the book, its sequels and additional volumes are considered to be written by anonymous English writer per request of the publisher whose m.o. obviously was load the mule and worry about the wagon later, in this case mule being his pockets and wagon the quality of the story that suffered consistently as it went on. Stories in the book rely mostly on classical works, among others Lucian’s Historia Vera, and the Baron is depicted as omnipotent, wise man, master strategist, brazen warrior, hunter, who experiences all the unbelievable events as the most regular occurrences. Some of the remarkable tall tales narrated by the baron and that stand out are his flight on a cannonball, trip to Sri Lanka in the middle of the storm that threw around trees bearing cucumbers, horse halved by a descending portcullis, trip to the moon, frozen horn through which words can’t pass etc.
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February 18, 2019I read the Project Gutenberg edition.
I gave up on this book about halfway through. In the introduction, which was written in 1895, it mentions that the original author of the stories only wrote about a half dozen of them. The rest of the stories were written by other random people over the years.
It is pretty obvious that that is the case. The original stories are the best ones, and the rest vary from mediocre to downright terrible. I was well past the original ones when I decided to stop.
Something has definitely been lost in the years from the late 1700s when the original stories were written to now. I can see how plenty of people have followed the template that the stories use, especially Looney Tunes shorts, but the stories themselves are just not that interesting anymore. They’ve been superseded by the copycats to the point that it is actually pretty boring to read these once-fantastical stories.
Part of me is glad to have read what I did in order to get the historical context, but I found nothing else to get from them other than that historical context.
I gave up on this book about halfway through. In the introduction, which was written in 1895, it mentions that the original author of the stories only wrote about a half dozen of them. The rest of the stories were written by other random people over the years.
It is pretty obvious that that is the case. The original stories are the best ones, and the rest vary from mediocre to downright terrible. I was well past the original ones when I decided to stop.
Something has definitely been lost in the years from the late 1700s when the original stories were written to now. I can see how plenty of people have followed the template that the stories use, especially Looney Tunes shorts, but the stories themselves are just not that interesting anymore. They’ve been superseded by the copycats to the point that it is actually pretty boring to read these once-fantastical stories.
Part of me is glad to have read what I did in order to get the historical context, but I found nothing else to get from them other than that historical context.
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August 3, 2022Good friends, I will tell you of this extraordinary book. It is a first hand account of the many exploits of the famed Baron Munchausen. I must admit, many adventures surprised me, and I felt that they may have been embellished. Usually, though, when these doubts were raised the Baron himself made vigorous claims to their veracity with-in the text. It was like he read my mind hundreds of years later.
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This book is split into 2 parts. The first part is a collection of somewhat related stories, the second is a larger tale of African government and wild goose chases. Part I is excellent. Part II did not hold my interest as much, but had its moments. If you are in a hurry a recommend reading just Part I-- but completionists won't be disappointed by the second half-- its just not as good as the first.
--
This book is split into 2 parts. The first part is a collection of somewhat related stories, the second is a larger tale of African government and wild goose chases. Part I is excellent. Part II did not hold my interest as much, but had its moments. If you are in a hurry a recommend reading just Part I-- but completionists won't be disappointed by the second half-- its just not as good as the first.
May 30, 2015
So that's how Table Mountain got its shape!
"The machine [his chariot drawn by gigantic oxen] went against it with such impetuosity as completely shivered the rock in a horizontal direction; so that the summit of the mountain, in the form of a semi-sphere, was knocked into the sea, and the steep mountain becoming thereby flattened at the top, has since received the name of the Table Mountain, from its similarity to that piece of furniture."
Fantastic, amazing stories of a well travelled, semi-real Baron during 18th century Europe. The tales are tall and defy belief and rational thought, yet the free-flowing and easy writing style inclines one to think that the Baron actually did these things. From flying on cannonballs, to climbing down from the moon, there is nothing the Baron cannot do! Little wonder there is a psychiatric condition named after him!
"The machine [his chariot drawn by gigantic oxen] went against it with such impetuosity as completely shivered the rock in a horizontal direction; so that the summit of the mountain, in the form of a semi-sphere, was knocked into the sea, and the steep mountain becoming thereby flattened at the top, has since received the name of the Table Mountain, from its similarity to that piece of furniture."
Fantastic, amazing stories of a well travelled, semi-real Baron during 18th century Europe. The tales are tall and defy belief and rational thought, yet the free-flowing and easy writing style inclines one to think that the Baron actually did these things. From flying on cannonballs, to climbing down from the moon, there is nothing the Baron cannot do! Little wonder there is a psychiatric condition named after him!
December 27, 2024
I always loved the Terry Gilliam movie The Adventures of Baron Munchausen when I was a kid. You've got flying Robin Williams head for a sense of whimsy, the old-timey underwear blimp for the goofiness of it all, tastefully nude Uma Thurman to bring on puberty, and That Fucking Skeleton� to haunt your restless dreams for the rest of your life. One of the best samples in the greatest of all cinematic genres, the Funky Eighties Fantasy Movie. So I always thought it would be kind of fun to read the book that inspired it all.
And it was. Picture a bunch of Paul Bunyan and/or Pecos Bill stories, but written in a a pretensious Old World style. And then imagine Gulliver's Travels if it was way less angry and if they were all HIGH high. And, you know what? It's not even two hundred pages. So, all in all, pretty good start to this year's summer reading.
And it was. Picture a bunch of Paul Bunyan and/or Pecos Bill stories, but written in a a pretensious Old World style. And then imagine Gulliver's Travels if it was way less angry and if they were all HIGH high. And, you know what? It's not even two hundred pages. So, all in all, pretty good start to this year's summer reading.
June 24, 2019
One of my favorite books, so why the low rating? Quite simply, this edition lacks the classic Gustave Doré illustrations. In fact, it has no illustrations at all, so I can spare little compassion for this insulting electronic binding. Still, the first volume of this classic is as delightful a set of tales as any, and recommended to all.
All modern editions (for the past 100 years at least) include both volumes of the Baron's adventures. I encourage first time readers to abandon the book after finishing the first, as the second is a disappointing pastiche concocted by hack writers who wrote in an awful style, laden with forced humor.
All modern editions (for the past 100 years at least) include both volumes of the Baron's adventures. I encourage first time readers to abandon the book after finishing the first, as the second is a disappointing pastiche concocted by hack writers who wrote in an awful style, laden with forced humor.
March 27, 2009
One of those books I had been meaning to read for ages. Finally got around to it, and it was rather enjoyable. At the same time, I had a weird feeling that I really might have enjoyed it more had I heard it read aloud, or had I read it when I was twelve or so. Had I read it then, it would probably be one of my favourite books, to be revisited often. Now, it's more something I've checked off a list. Good book, but something I probably won't come back to.
January 7, 2010
Better than the novelization of the movie and done in the style of the travelogues popular during the supposed Baron's time period. While I loved the travelogue style and it matched perfectly with the character and story, it was unnecessarily obtuse. The writing was stilted and bare and overly complicated. The adventures were great and unbelievable and I would have loved to have actually seen and felt those adventures, but instead, they were buried in the heavy style.
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