"The book's title refers to an epigram from Jonathan Swift's essay
Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting:
"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
_____
"Literary works from Imperial Rome published during the 1st–2nd century AD, such as
Satyricon by Petronius
and The Golden Ass by Apuleius
had a relevant influence on the picaresque genre and are considered predecessors.
Other notable early Spanish contributors to the genre included Mateo Alemán's Guzmán de Alfarache (1599–1604) and Francisco de Quevedo's El Buscón (1626). Some other ancient influences of the picaresque genre include Roman playwrights such as Plautus and Terence. "
"According to the traditional view of Thrall and Hibbard (first published in 1936), seven qualities distinguish the picaresque novel or narrative form, all or some of which an author may employ for effect:[4]
A picaresque narrative is usually written in first person as an autobiographical account.
The main character is often of low character or social class. They get by with wits and rarely deign to hold a job.
There is little or no plot. The story is told in a series of loosely connected adventures or episodes.
There is little if any character development in the main character. Once a pícaro, always a pícaro. Their circumstances may change but these rarely result in a change of heart.
The pícaro's story is told with a plainness of language or realism.
Satire is sometimes a prominent element.
The behavior of a picaresque protagonist stops just short of criminality. Carefree or immoral rascality positions the picaresque hero as a sympathetic outsider, untouched by the false rules of society.
'While elements of literature by Geoffrey Chaucer and Giovanni Boccaccio have a picaresque feel and may have contributed to the style, the modern picaresque begins with Lazarillo de Tormes, which was published anonymously in 1554 in Burgos, Medina del Campo, and Alcalá de Henares in Spain, and also in Antwerp, which at the time was under Spanish rule as a major city in the Spanish Netherlands. It is variously considered either the first picaresque novel or at least the antecedent of the genre."
verb
past tense: piqued; past participle: piqued
1.
stimulate (interest or curiosity).
"you have piqued my curiosity about the man"
Similar:
stimulate
arouse
rouse
provoke
whet
awaken
excite
kindle
stir
spur
intrigue
galvanize
2.
feel irritated or resentful.
"she was piqued by his curtness"
Similar:
irritate
annoy
bother
vex
provoke
displease
upset
offend
affront
anger
exasperate
infuriate
gall
irk
get someone's back up
disgruntle
nettle
needle
ruffle
get on someone's nerves
ruffle someone's feathers
make someone's hackles rise
rub up the wrong way
peeve
aggravate
miff
rile
get
get to
bug
get under someone's skin
get in someone's hair
hack off
get someone's goat
wind up
nark
get on someone's wick
give someone the hump
get across
get up someone's nose
tick off
rankle
ride
gravel
bum out
rark
exacerbate
hump
rasp
View 1 vulgar slang word
3.
archaic
pride oneself.
"men, who are thought to pique themselves upon their Wit"
____
'
"The curious presence of Russian loanwords in the text of the Lazarillo also suggests the influence of medieval Slavic tales of tricksters, thieves, itinerant prostitutes, and brigands, who were common figures in the impoverished areas bordering on Germany to the west.
When diplomatic ties to Germany and Spain were established under the emperor Charles V, these tales began to be read in Italian translations in the Iberian Peninsula
As narrator of his own adventures, Lázaro seeks to portray himself as the victim of both his ancestry and his circumstance."
"The Metamorphoses of Apuleius, which Augustine of Hippo referred to as
The Golden Ass (Latin: Asinus aureus),
is the only ancient Roman novel in Latin to survive in its entirety."
"The protagonist of the novel is Lucius. At the end of the novel, he is revealed to be from Madaurus, the hometown of Apuleius himself. The plot revolves around the protagonist's curiosity (curiositas) and insatiable desire to see and practice magic.
While trying to perform a spell to transform into a bird, he is accidentally transformed into an ass.
This leads to a long journey, literal and metaphorical, filled with inset tales.
He finally finds salvation through the intervention of the goddess Isis, whose cult he joins."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Ass
"Lucius is abruptly awoken and arrested for the murder of the three men. He is taken to court where he is laughed at constantly and witnesses are brought against him. They are just about to announce his guilt when the widow demands to bring out the dead bodies; but when the three bodies of the murdered men are revealed, they turn out to be puffed-up wineskins.
It turns out that it was a prank played by the town upon Lucius, to celebrate their annual Festival of Laughter.
Later that day, Lucius and Photis watch Milo's wife perform her witchcraft and transform herself into a bird. Wishing to do the same, Lucius begs Photis to transform him, but she accidentally turns him into an ass, at which point Photis tells him that the only way for him to return to his human state is to eat a fresh rose.
She puts him in the stable for the night and promises to bring him roses in the morning, but during the night Milo's house is raided by a band of thieves, who steal Lucius the ass, load him up with their plunder, and leave with him."
"The thieves also kidnap a rich young woman, Charite, who is housed in a cave with Lucius the ass. Charite starts crying, so an elderly woman who is in league with the thieves begins to tell her the story of Cupid and Psyche."
"Psyche is the most beautiful woman on earth, and Venus jealously arranges for Psyche's destruction, ordering her son Cupid to arrange for her to fall in love with a worthless wretch.
An oracle tells Psyche's parents to expose her on a mountain peak, where she will become the bride of a powerful, monstrous being.
Psyche is left on the mountain, and carried away by a gentle wind."
***
"Lucius is sold into labor, driving a baker's mill-wheel. Lucius, though bemoaning his labor as an ass, also realizes that this state has allowed him to hear many novel things with his long-ass ears."
"Lucius is expected to be initiated through the Navigium Isidis into Isis' priesthood, Isis being the Queen of Heaven's true name. Lucius follows her instructions and is returned to human form and, at length, initiated into her priesthood.
Lucius is then sent to his ancestral home, Rome, where he continues to worship Isis under the local name, Campensis.
After a time, he is visited once more by the goddess, who speaks again of mysteries and holy rites which Lucius comes to understand as a command to be initiated into the mysteries of Isis. He does so.
Shortly afterwards, he receives a third vision. Though he is confused, the god appears to him and reassures him that he is much blessed and that he is to become once more initiated that he might supplicate in Rome as well.
The story concludes with the goddess, Isis, appearing to Lucius and declaring that Lucius shall rise to a prominent position in the legal profession and that he shall be appointed to the College of Pastophori
("shrine-bearer", from Ancient Greek: παστοφόρος)
that he might serve the mysteries of Osiris and Isis. Lucius is so happy that he goes about freely exposing his bald head."
**
"The writing of William Shakespeare was influenced by The Golden Ass e.g. A Midsummer Night's Dream from c. 1595 where the character Bottom's head is transformed to that of an ass.
In 1915, Franz Kafka published the short story The Metamorphosis under a quite similar name, about a young man's unexpected transformation into an "Ungeziefer", a verminous bug. "
____
"The Adventures of Pinocchio.
Pinocchio, is an 1883 children's fantasy novel by Italian author
Carlo Collodi.
It is about the mischievous adventures of an animated marionette named Pinocchio, which he faces many perils and temptations, meets characters that teach him about life, and learns goodness before he achieves his heart's desire of becoming a real boy."
"universal icon and a metaphor of the human condition, the book is considered a canonical piece of children's literature and has had great impact on world culture. Philosopher Benedetto Croce considered it one of the greatest works of Italian literature."
*""
"Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is a 2022 stop-motion animated musical film directed by Guillermo del Toro and
Mark Gustafson"
He was the animation director of Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Gustafson died of a heart attack on February 1, 2024, at the age of 64."
(Picaresque Mr Fox)
Born
September 19, 1959
Portland, Oregon, U.S
____
"A Confederacy of Dunces is a picaresque novel by American novelist John Kennedy Toole which reached publication in 1980, eleven years after Toole's death.
Published through the efforts of writer Walker Percy (who also contributed a foreword) and Toole's mother, Thelma, the book became first a cult classic, then a mainstream success; it earned Toole a
posthumous Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981, and is now considered a canonical work of modern literature of the Southern United States."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confederacy_of_Dunces
"Ignatius declines to see another film, a "widely praised Swedish drama about a man who was losing his soul". This is most likely Ingmar Bergman's Winter Light, released in early 1963."
"There have been repeated attempts to turn the book into a film. In 1982, Harold Ramis was to write and direct an adaptation, starring John Belushi as Ignatius and Richard Pryor as Burma Jones, but Belushi's death prevented this.
Later, John Candy and Chris Farley were touted for the lead, but both of them, like Belushi, also died at an early age, leading many to ascribe a curse to the role of Ignatius.
Director John Waters was interested in directing an adaptation that would have starred Divine, who also died at an early age, as Ignatius."
"A version adapted by Steven Soderbergh and Scott Kramer, and slated to be directed by David Gordon Green, was scheduled for release in 2005. The film was to star Will Ferrell as Ignatius and Lily Tomlin as Irene.
A staged reading of the script took place at the 8th Nantucket Film Festival, with
Ferrell as Ignatius, Anne Meara as Irene, Paul Rudd as Officer Mancuso, Kristen Johnston as Lana Lee, Mos Def as Burma Jones, Rosie Perez as Darlene, Olympia Dukakis as Santa Battaglia and Miss Trixie, Natasha Lyonne as Myrna, Alan Cumming as Dorian Greene, John Shea as Gonzales, Jesse Eisenberg as George, John Conlon as Claude Robichaux, Jace Alexander as Bartender Ben, Celia Weston as Miss Annie, Miss Inez & Mrs. Levy, and Dan Hedaya as
Mr. Levy.
In a 2013 interview, Steven Soderbergh remarked
"I think it's cursed. I'm not prone to superstition, but that project has got bad mojo on it"
____
"Hill's death at the age of 36 brought considerable media attention. In 2007, an unidentified intruder shot and killed her in her New Orleans home.
Her death (one of six murders in the city that day), coupled with the murder a week before of New Orleans musician Dinerral Shavers, sparked civic outrage.
Thousands marched against the rampant and continuing post-Katrina violence in New Orleans."
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