Literary Lapses


Read by TriciaG

(4.1 stars; 11 reviews)

Short sketches relating the humourous side of life in 1910. "Professor Leacock has made more people laugh with the written word than any other living author. One may say he is one of the greatest jesters, the greatest humorist of the age." – A. P. Herbert (Summary by TriciaG and Wikipedia) (4 hr 40 min)

Chapters

01 - My Financial Career 6:04 Read by TriciaG
02 - Lord Oxhead's Secret 13:46 Read by TriciaG
03 - Boarding-house Geometry 2:21 Read by TriciaG
04 - The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones 6:13 Read by TriciaG
05 - A Christmas Letter 2:39 Read by TriciaG
06 - How to Make a Million Dollars 8:56 Read by TriciaG
07 - How to Live to Be 200 7:49 Read by TriciaG
08 - How to Avoid Getting Married 7:23 Read by TriciaG
09 - How to Be a Doctor 9:10 Read by TriciaG
10 - The New Food 2:54 Read by TriciaG
11 - A New Pathology 8:28 Read by TriciaG
12 - The Poet Answered 2:24 Read by TriciaG
13 - The Force of Statistics 3:02 Read by TriciaG
14 - Men Who Have Shaved Me 9:24 Read by TriciaG
15 - Getting the Thread of It 7:17 Read by TriciaG
16 - Telling His Faults 2:50 Read by TriciaG
17 - Winter Pastimes 8:36 Read by TriciaG
18 - Number Fifty-Six 14:48 Read by TriciaG
19 - Aristocratic Education 4:49 Read by TriciaG
20 - The Conjurer's Revenge 5:02 Read by TriciaG
21 - Hints to Travellers 5:51 Read by TriciaG
22 - A Manual of Education 5:07 Read by TriciaG
23 - Hoodoo McFiggin's Christmas 6:48 Read by TriciaG
24 - The Life of John Smith 8:38 Read by TriciaG
25 - On Collecting Things 6:04 Read by TriciaG
26 - Society Chit-Chat 6:54 Read by TriciaG
27 - Insurance Up to Date 3:26 Read by TriciaG
28 - Borrowing a Match 3:11 Read by TriciaG
29 - A Lesson in Fiction 7:55 Read by TriciaG
30 - Helping the Armenians 2:46 Read by TriciaG
31 - A Study in Still Life: The Country Hotel 3:51 Read by TriciaG
32 - An Experiment with Policeman Hogan 12:16 Read by TriciaG
33 - The Passing of the Poet 12:13 Read by TriciaG
34 - Self-Made Men 6:44 Read by TriciaG
35 - A Model Dialogue 3:13 Read by TriciaG
36 - Back to the Bush 11:03 Read by TriciaG
37 - Reflections on Riding 4:26 Read by TriciaG
38 - Saloonio 6:44 Read by TriciaG
39 - Half-Hours with the Poets 15:43 Read by TriciaG
40 - A, B, and C 11:35 Read by TriciaG
41 - Acknowledgments 1:53 Read by TriciaG

Reviews

Can't Take It.


(2 stars)

The reader has a hypnotizing way of intoning all of her sentences the same way. She weirdly extends the last word of each phrase and raises her pitch a bit, in a way no one would do in natural speech. Pretty soon I'm listening to that pattern and can't focus on the words of the story.

Laugh out loud funny, on a regular basis


(5 stars)

The book didn't click for me, until about chapter 4. Not so much because of the readin, which is good or excellent depending on the reader, but because...well I don't know. It took me a little while to "get" the author. I mention this only to suggest to you that if you are listening to this and just don't get it, give it a little time. It really is excellent once you click to it. (His politics regarding the Armenians are abominable, though.)

So Relevant


(4.5 stars)

Stephen Leacock should be enshrined alongside, but slightly to the right and 1/4", lower, as Twain. He beats Twain out for sheer ridiculousness, and laughably mean insanity. His writings are fresh and modern. If Twain is The epitome of American humor, Mtr. Leacock is certainly Canada's

TricaG is great!


(5 stars)

For the first couple of stories, TriciaG didn't impress me. Then I 'got' her. Her reading is a wonderful combination of innocence and irony. Perfectly suited to Leacock's work. Hope she reads more of his stories. I've listened to her reading of Lapses many times.

Raycyst


(5 stars)

These stories, read by a great narrator, are whimsical and funny. Therein lays the problem. Whimsey is now out of favor. All the math jokes need to be replaced with observation on how Texans hate black folks.

Excellent


(4 stars)

Great humour! The reading is steady and competently, with a curious intonation well suited to the book.