Slogging through

A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
Page Count: 99/338

Well I’m almost 1/3^rd of the way through Confederacy and I’m on the fence.

Figuratively, of course.

I want to like Confederacy, I really do. It’s well-written, it’s funny (yes, I’ll admit to laughing a few times!), the characters feel very real, etc. etc. There’s just one problem really: I dislike Ignatius J. Reilly.
A lot.

As a protagonist, Reilly is an extremely unlikable character. He’s lazy, a slob, a conspiracy theorist, a moocher, a horrible employee, a pessimist... I could go on but I’ll spare you the thesaurus that would result. Suffice to say that it is far too easy to dislike this man. And that makes it difficult to like the book.

There are, however, a number of other amusing and relatable characters, from Mrs. O’Reilly (Ignatius’ alcohol- and arthritis-ridden mother) to Jones (a down-on-his-luck man trying to hold a job) to Patrolman Mancuso (a not-so-talented police officer who’s forced to wear silly costumes by his boss). As a supporting cast these guys are carrying the book.

They’re also holding me back from punching Ignatius in the face, which would be an admirable feat, indeed.

In a few reviews I’ve read online, readers also elaborated upon their own hatred of Ignatius, though most wrote that by the end of the novel they commiserated with him and had grown to like him. So far I’m not seeing how that is remotely possible!

Looking at the date, however, I’m going to have to hurry to finish the rest of this! I guess I know what I'll be doing this afternoon...