Undermajordomo Minor

A twisted fairy tale, with a little bit of everything and dozens of literary influences in evidence. It's clear who "Lucy" is supposed to be in the pantheon of mythcal figures, but he turns out not to be a fallen angel after all. He deals with so-called alpha males who get the girls, and also corrupted gentry B, C, and D (Baron & Baronness, Count & Countess, Duke & Duchess) but eventually Lucy comes out on top. I liked the black humor and the ending, and was engrossed with the way the whole fable played out. There isn't a boring page in the book, and much of the dialogue is darkly or ironically hilarious. Unlike other reviewers, I didn't feel that any part of the story was forced; the narrative flow of it all made perfect sense. The show more only thing I felt it lacked was a more engaging protagonist. I was okay with Lucy being a liar, a coward, and deeply flawed in various respects, but I wasn't okay with him being rather flat. Especially given the denouement of the novel, in which the Lucy makes his epic journey and finds his ultimate truth; had he been a hero or antihero that the reader could root for, this would have sent the book from merely good to stunning. show less

Patrick DeWitt's 2015 novel “ Undermajordomo Minor” suits its title. It's cute, charming, unconventional and fun. Except for the train that passes through the novel regularly, the story could take place at any time in the past thousand years or so. It all feels like a fable or fairy tale, like something from the Dark Ages.

Lucien Minor, called Lucy, is a young man who feels out of place in his own hometown, so he accepts a position at a baron's castle as an undermajordomo, without having a clue about what the job entails.

It turns out that the baron is quite mad, given to roaming the castle at night and eating live rats. Yet each day he writes a love letter to the baroness, who left him, and it becomes Lucy's job to hand that letter show more to the engineer as the train flies by each morning. That is, until one day the engineer carries a reply: the baroness is returning home. That means restoring both the castle and its baron to dignity and respectability.

Meanwhile Lucy finds his own true love, Klara, a lovely girl who also happens to be pursued by a giant warrior, whose own true love happens to be fighting a nonsensical, never-ending war. When separated from Klara. Lucy begins to understand what happens to the baron when the baroness is away.

Hardly anyone in the story can talk in a straight line, which becomes frustrating for Lucy but delightful for the reader. The conversations are great fun even if they often go nowhere. Lucy witnesses an orgy, confronts the giant and falls into a Very Large Hole. Anyone who loves “The Princess Bride,” which is just about everybody, should love DeWitt's novel. show less

This was just underwhelming, which is especially disappointing considering how much I enjoyed [b:The Sisters Brothers|9850443|The Sisters Brothers|Patrick deWitt|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1291999900s/9850443.jpg|14741473]. If this had been from an unknown author, I probably wouldn't have made it past page 100.

Lucy Minor has no reason to stay in his home village. His father is dead, for which his mother blames him, and the girl he loves has scorned him for another. So he heads off to begin a new life, working as the assistant to the Majordomo at a mysterious castle, where the master is a mad Baron. It's all very madcap, with a reasonless war being fought around the castle, and a village where Lucy falls in with a thieving father and show more son, and quickly falls in love with their beautiful daughter/sister.

deWitt's gift for dialogue shines through, although I found it distracting that Lucy, Mr. Olderglough, and the Baron all speak in the same overly formal language, despite their very different backgrounds. The ways they verbally dance around the truth is entertaining and highlights the many lies upon which this novel is built. Lucy lies almost as easily as he breathes, and we must assume that nearly everyone around him is lying, too.

But the plot meanders and sometimes stalls, and it all seems so very pointless (especially the ridiculous orgy). And I hate ambiguous endings. show less

Lucien Minor isn’t having such a good life. A severe illness has him on death’s door but his father walks through it in his stead. The love of his life (so far) is engaged to another, someone considerably larger than Lucy. And his self-serving lie that might have sown discord between them has backfired. It’s a good thing he is leaving town soon to take up the position of Undermajordomo at the nearby castle of Baron Von Aux. Unfortunately the Baron is mad, which has its dangers. And even when he isn’t mad, he and his friends are substantially depraved. It hardly seems likely that Lucy will find happiness in his new surroundings. But he does. For a time.

Patrick DeWitt writes with a beguilingly simple style. His dialogue borders on show more Beckett. The absurdist comedy that permeates the book is a thin surface over sadness and disappointment, love found and lost, and the veil between thought and violence. The reader might easily feel lost in this unnamed country and time. But the lilting style pulls you along and you find, in no time, that you’ve completed the book. All is not right with the world, but at least Lucy has a direction and a clue as to where his happiness lies. I enjoyed the book much more than I expected to and that’s enough warrant to gently recommend it to others. show less

The plot and way the story is told is delightful, very arch and amusing and old-fashioned in a way that made me think of The Sisters Brothers (although perhaps that could be chalked up to the fact that Dan Stiles designed the jackets of both books, in the editions that I have). The only thing I really didn’t like was the orgy scene. It was completely unexpected, quite crude details, and I happened to be reading this book on the bus, which was really embarrassing. On the plus side, this has basically pushed French Exit to second place in my overall Patrick deWitt ranking.

Totally unlike The Sisters Brothers, though the quirkiness is still there. Some great thoughts on identity and taking responsibility for one's own life (most of the characters just stay in their life regardless of how bored they are, but the protagonist has an instinct for survival and "progress"), and of course what it means to love. There's an element of magical realism and the tone of the book is akin to a fairytale -- Grimm's style. The writing style is amazing -- concise, terse, and captivating. I love it! There's one scene that comes out of left field and is so off-the-wall strange but told with such matter-of-factness that I wasn't sure I was reading it right, but I was. Where did it come from? Totally bizarre, but makes the book show more that much more memorable. don't read this one if you love The Sisters Brothers; read it if you like deWitt's writing style and quirkiness and want good literature. show less

from James:

If a majordomo is the manager of the estate, then his assistant could be called the Under-majordomo and if his last name is Minor, he would be Undermajordomo Minor. deWitt obviously likes titles that you have to puzzle over. The Sisters Brothers is another. That alone gives you some idea of the type of books he writes: they're witty and entertaining yearns, but not silly or easily dismissed.

The story has the feel of a fairytale askew. Lucien Minor is a young man when he leaves home after being offered a placement at a castle. He makes friends, gets a puppy, finds love and becomes embroiled in the affairs of the house and village. Along the way he learns of the man he was hired to replace and tries not to re-create his fate.

If show more you like seemingly-absurd yet serious novels that never fail to entertain, give Patrick deWitt a twirl. show less