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At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances Alexander McCall Smith Iain McIntosh 9781400095094 Books

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At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances Alexander McCall Smith Iain McIntosh 9781400095094 Books

This, the third installment in the Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld series, is witty and sly like the predecessors, but I found it to be slightly weaker than the first two. The first volume "Portuguese Irregular Verbs" is my clear favorite, and is one of the best things written in the last ten years; likewise "The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs" never fails to entertain (I still laugh when I think about von Igelfeld practicing veterinary medicine without a license.) In the earlier books, von Igelfeld had more numerous (but briefer) adventures that allowed for a quick pacing; here the plotlines begin to drag a bit. Don't misunderstand me, I loved "At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances," I just liked the other two storylines more. Since this book makes reference to events and characters in the first two volumes, I do recommend reading (or listening to) them in order, though it isn't strictly mandatory.

This time, von Igelfeld absorbs himself in a faculty political intrigue (which is sly, yet at times candidly accurate in its absurdity) as he takes a visiting professorship at Cambridge. Not only does he get totally immersed in academic political struggles, he has major issues with English toilets. (These two parallels surely can't be coincidental.) In the end his dealings with the politics of Cambridge and English bathroom design leave a clear opinion of Germanic superiority in von Igelfeld's mind.

Soon after the return from Cambridge, von Igelfeld is invited to become a Distinguished Corresponding Fellow at the Colombian Academy of Letters. This eventually leads to political intrigue at a different level when von Igelfeld is held captive at the Villa of Reduced Circumstances and encounters a strange group of rebels and government loyalists. It all concludes with von Igelfeld becoming the President (yes, of the country, not the Academy) and thus a target for violent overthrow. His ability to extract himself gracefully from that situation is dealt with in a most ingenious and amusing manner.

This is another great volume by Alexander McCall Smith, and I recommend it everyone with a dry sense of humor and an inclination to mock the excesses of academia. I have read the book and listened to this reading by Hugh Laurie, and they provide different but complimentary experiences. Laurie is an excellent choice to read this book as he excels at accents and linguistic nuances. The four CD's are divided into numerous short tracks pausing at logical points in the plot, making it very user friendly for people listening in short sessions. I love to read, and I recommend reading the original highly, but also love this audiobook adaptation, which is perfect for those on the go.


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At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances Alexander McCall Smith Iain McIntosh 9781400095094 Books Reviews

I am a great fan of Alexander McCall Smith's kindly tales of Bostwana. This book is a horse of a different color...part of the semi-caustic series about a mediocre professor whose sole achievement has something to do with Portuguese verbs, this book takes out after the pomposity of academic political hierarchies AND the glories of banana republic revolutions all at the same time. A fast read...and one so caustic and so funny that you'll be bound to pass it along (preferably to a peace corps veteran of the new world who is currently a professor...of anything)
I adore Alexander McCall's many books (what a prolific writer!), but this series bored me tremendously. I didn't care about any of these characters and had to force myself to read each book, thinking maybe the characters would grow on me. (They didn't.) YAWN!

I think I've read every other book he's written and have loved the characters (or disliked them because I was supposed to!) and stories. I lived in South Africa for two years and Mc Call captures
Precious R. so well you'd think the book was written by a female from Botswana. Isobel Dalhousie is an interesting philosopher and I love that she's a woman philosopher. Bertie tries SO hard and his mother, albeit trying even harder, is the world's most irritating woman and you just want to bundle him up and take him off to live the life of a freer child. As for the other 44 Scotland Street characters, I got so involved in all their lives from book one that I couldn't wait for another book to come out.

I've felt that way about each series, except Portugese Irregular Verbs, Villa of Reduced Circumstances, etc. Didn't enjoy that series one whit! I'm sure there are people out there who enjoyed this series, but I wasn't one of them, sad to say. I was, in fact, shocked by just how much I did NOT like this series as I was expecting to be enchanted as I almost always am by McCall Smith's books. Mind you, I continue to look forward to books in his other series, but will never buy one about these professors again!
In this book, the latest of the Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, the Full Professor of Romance Philology, Smith reaches into the surreal. In the first instance, it should be pointed out that a German professor of Romance languages is almost surreal in itself. The Romance languages, the ones based on Latin such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Rumanian, etc. have no relationship to German at all. In fact, English is really the combination of German and Latin.

Nonetheless, the good Doctor still exists. And in this adventure, we see a story in 2 parts. The first part describes the Professor's 4 month visit to Cambridge. Smith focuses on the differences between manners, mannerisms, modes of speaking and other idiosyncrasies about England and Germany in relating his story of the Professor's stay at Cambridge.

The second part gets even more interesting as the Professor finally gets the recognition he feels he deserves. In fact perhaps he gets just a little more recognition than he bargained for when he is taken prisoner by Columbian Guerilla Fighters in the midst of a revolution. At this point, Smith moves into the dream state of a story unfolding without the protagonist having any control over the outcome. Yet the outcome is indeed a grand one.

The book is highly recommended to Alexander McCall Smith enthusiasts. It is also recommended to those who wish to see how academicians sometimes interact with the real world in a very strange manner.
This, the third installment in the Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld series, is witty and sly like the predecessors, but I found it to be slightly weaker than the first two. The first volume "Portuguese Irregular Verbs" is my clear favorite, and is one of the best things written in the last ten years; likewise "The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs" never fails to entertain (I still laugh when I think about von Igelfeld practicing veterinary medicine without a license.) In the earlier books, von Igelfeld had more numerous (but briefer) adventures that allowed for a quick pacing; here the plotlines begin to drag a bit. Don't misunderstand me, I loved "At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances," I just liked the other two storylines more. Since this book makes reference to events and characters in the first two volumes, I do recommend reading (or listening to) them in order, though it isn't strictly mandatory.

This time, von Igelfeld absorbs himself in a faculty political intrigue (which is sly, yet at times candidly accurate in its absurdity) as he takes a visiting professorship at Cambridge. Not only does he get totally immersed in academic political struggles, he has major issues with English toilets. (These two parallels surely can't be coincidental.) In the end his dealings with the politics of Cambridge and English bathroom design leave a clear opinion of Germanic superiority in von Igelfeld's mind.

Soon after the return from Cambridge, von Igelfeld is invited to become a Distinguished Corresponding Fellow at the Colombian Academy of Letters. This eventually leads to political intrigue at a different level when von Igelfeld is held captive at the Villa of Reduced Circumstances and encounters a strange group of rebels and government loyalists. It all concludes with von Igelfeld becoming the President (yes, of the country, not the Academy) and thus a target for violent overthrow. His ability to extract himself gracefully from that situation is dealt with in a most ingenious and amusing manner.

This is another great volume by Alexander McCall Smith, and I recommend it everyone with a dry sense of humor and an inclination to mock the excesses of academia. I have read the book and listened to this reading by Hugh Laurie, and they provide different but complimentary experiences. Laurie is an excellent choice to read this book as he excels at accents and linguistic nuances. The four CD's are divided into numerous short tracks pausing at logical points in the plot, making it very user friendly for people listening in short sessions. I love to read, and I recommend reading the original highly, but also love this audiobook adaptation, which is perfect for those on the go.