A Confederacy of Dunces - A Review

I think it's fair to say that when one picks up a good-sized novel, one expects to be drawn into a good story. A Confederacy of Dunces did well to keep me wanting such enticement, and 400 pages is a long time to be waiting.
It simply lacked a coherent narrative. The farcical comedy, while at times hilarious, in my opinion didn't make up for this weakness. Furthermore, I felt little affinity with any of the characters, although in retrospect (and after bookclub discussion) the more extreme bits of all of us can be found lurking in the psyche of the book's gargantuan centre, Ignatius Reilly. Perhaps I failed to notice this because I was so repelled and revolted by his habits and behaviour most of the time. Unfortunate.
There was too much ranting too, which I absorb enough of in my everyday existence as a student, that to read it in a fiction novel is like cleaning a well-used bathroom - something of a chore. Hidden among these rantings, brandishing of plastic cutlasses and blocking of valves were small gems of social commentary that addressed themes of sexuality, reputation, mental illness, modernity, and the wobbly wheel of fortune. First and foremost however, A Confederacy of Dunces is a book about a confederacy of dunces. Even Angelo, who had enough sense to solve the mystery of the brown packet trade spent most of the book locked in a bathroom, or sulking around the streets in a ridiculous costume. Would it be utterly pretentious of me to be disappointed by his almost complete lack of back-bone? And Ignatius himself could be squeezed into a nutshell (if we could find one big enough) with the force of the single sentence, 'In his wake he had left a trail of overturned tables.'
Provided it was done well, this book would definitely translate into an excellent slapstick comedy film, with plenty of opportunities for symbolic visuals like the pirates earing flashing about, and closeups of a steaming, quivering hot-dog. But this is not a film, it is a book, and despite moments of genius comedic exaggeration and pertinent mockery of modern society, it is a novel which perhaps requires a certain type of reader, or a certain type of reading, to make it an overall enjoyable read. As one of our number aptly put it, this novel promises much but never truly delivers.
I give it 5/10.