The 2½ Pillars of Wisdom

The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom collects the three volumes of McCall Smith's Portuguese Irregular Verbs trilogy: Portuguese Irregular Verbs, The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs, and At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances. These three are linked by an unlikely (and often unlikeable) protagonist: Prof. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, a German Romance philologist and author of the (to him, at least) all-important manual Portuguese Irregulat Verbs. From his office at the Institute in Regensburg, he directs his research and lords it over his two co-researchers, Drs. Prinzel and Unterholzer (who, distinguished as they may be, did not write such a monumental work of philology).

The short adventures and vignettes are carried by Igelfeld's stragely charming show more pompousness, as he finds himself in situations that become increasingly bizarre and dangerous: from a lecture cruise where he is swamped with marriage requests, to four months in Cambridge surrounded by plotting academics, to a final voyage where he accidentaly becomes the new President of Colombia. Beneath all the arrogance and academic preoccupations, however, is the very human story of a basically honorable man who would like somehing more from life than conferences and publications, but who never seems to work up the courage to pursue it. There are two poignant moments, when Igelfeld seriously contemplates marriage (he is the only bachelor of the three), and in both he makes the mistake of hesitating a moment too long... show less

Wie die Hauptperson Prof. von Igelfeld bin auch ich Professorin an der Universität Regensburg. Daher musste ich das Buch einfach lesen. Allerdings hat die tatschliche Uni nicht viel mit dieser fiktiven Uni Regensburg zu tun. Aber so wenig auch nicht: Das Buch beschreibt den deutschen Professor als naiv, weltfremd, eitel und verschroben - ständig im Konkurenzkampf mit den Kollegen, die am Ende doch fast die besten Freunde sind.
Wie britischer Humor manchmal ist, ist auch dieses Buch fast zu übertrieben. Aber ich fn es doch sehr lustig und manches absolut gut getroffen. Für Angehörige der Universität, v.a. in den Geisteswissenschaften, ist das eine sehr kurzweilige Lektüre.

This book made me laugh out loud; a lot of the humour arose out of the Professor’s vanity and the unexpected twists and turns. Despite his conceit he never lost my sympathy - probably because deep down he aspired to do what he considered to be right. Was sorry to finish this novel and even more sorry that so far there are no other ‘Professor’ books.

I've read the first 4 stories in Portuguese Irregular Verbs. The first story was very funny, the others not particularly, though I can see that they were meant to be. Would they be any funnier if I knew German?

Stories funf, sechs, and sieben were funny, but I didn't find the Death in Venice pastiche particularly funny.

The first three stories from The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs were hilarious, though I did feel slightly guilty about laughing at the unfortunate fate of Unterholzer's dachshund.

"The Bones of Father Christmas" was great fun, though I must admit I was waiting for a revelation that von Igelfeld was the victim of an elaborate con job. The cruise story was mildly amusing but not really one of the better ones.

Rather gentler show more humour in the two stories from The Villa of Reduced Circumstances.

All in all, a mixed bag, so I'm afraid I can't give it more than 3 1/2 stars, though I'd have liked to have been able to. show less

"The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom: The Professor von Igelfeld Trilogy" consists of "Portuguese Irregular Verbs", "The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs" and "The Villa of Reduced Circumstances".

The Professor von Igelfeld Trilogy trilogy was a quick read, being less than 400 pages in total, and I read it over the weekend. Having very much enjoyed the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, I was a bit disappointed with the doings of Professor Dr Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld and his colleagues. They are the sort of books that are vaguely amusing but don't actually make you laugh, although I did find each book more amusing than the last.

Alexander McCall Smith branching out from Botswana and Edinburgh into German academia, not entirely successfully. His other books inspire affection for characters of natural warmth. Here, he has used less attractive characters with less attractive results. Read May 2009.

Great book, or books to be precise.I loved the idiosyncratic characters and the dry humour.