Thorne Smith
Paperback | Pages: 320 pages Rating: 3.85 | 463 Users | 71 Reviews
Itemize Out Of Books The Night Life of the Gods
| Title | : | The Night Life of the Gods |
| Author | : | Thorne Smith |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 320 pages |
| Published | : | December 28th 1999 by Modern Library (first published 1931) |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Fiction. Humor. Mythology. Classics |
Narration As Books The Night Life of the Gods
Thorne Smith's rapid-fire dialogue, brilliant sense of the absurd, and literary aplomb put him in the same category as the beloved P. G. Wodehouse. The Night Life of the Gods, the madcap story of a scientist who instigates a nocturnal spree with the Greek gods, is arguably his most sparkling comedic achievement.Hunter Hawk has a knack for annoying his ultra respectable relatives. He likes to experiment and he particularly likes to experiment with explosives. His garage-cum-laboratory is a veritable minefield, replete with evil-smelling clouds of vapor through which various bits of wreckage and mysteriously bubbling test tubes are occasionally visible.
With the help of Megaera, a fetching nine-hundred-year-old lady leprechaun he meets one night in the woods, he masters the art (if not the timing) of transforming statues into people. And when he practices his new witchery in the stately halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, setting Bacchus, Mercury, Neptune, Diana, Hebe, Apollo, and Perseus loose on the unsuspecting citizenry of Prohibition-era New York, the stage is set for Thorne Smith at his most devilish and delightful.
Declare Books Supposing The Night Life of the Gods
| Original Title: | The Night Life of the Gods |
| ISBN: | 0375753060 (ISBN13: 9780375753060) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating Out Of Books The Night Life of the Gods
Ratings: 3.85 From 463 Users | 71 ReviewsComment On Out Of Books The Night Life of the Gods
Thorne satirises nearly everything in this generally enjoyable bit of fluff. Sometimes he is very funny but just as often can become laboured and tiresome. The novel is episodic and I feel that it would have gained by pruning. The book is a pleasant period piece but not a classic.
First published in the early 30s, this comic fantasy about a drink-loving American inventor who brings statues of the gods back to life for some louche adventures is pretty creaky. He's no Wodehouse and the plot seems at times like he was making it up as he went along. However there are some nicely witty and/or sarcastic lines scattered throughout and it passed the time well enough - and the Rodin-esque final scene was charming.
What a fun little book. I think our culture has moved beyond the point where anything can be ribald any more. Things are either explicit or they aren't. And that's a bit of a shame, because there's some fun to be had with subtlety. You feel like you're getting away with something. At any rate, The Night Life Of The Gods was written in 1931, and it is ribald as all hell. It centers around a guy who can turn people to stone and stone statues to people. From this rather ridiculous premise comes a
Hunter Hawk is an unsuccessful inventor, he has seven explosions to prove this fact, causing much damage to his home, the now destitute silly sister , Alice, incompetent brother-in -law, Alfred Lambert, who squandered all their money not a businessman, the brat nephew Junior and nice niece Daphne...oh can't forget crusty grandpa Lambert, live with their rich, reluctant relation...not very well though, except for Daphne they detest each other. The latest unfortunate incident shattered the peace
One of the few books I can read every few years and it is always makes me laugh. Thorne Smith wrote this book in 1931 and it is a classic. If you are in the mood for light reading that will make you smile this is the book for you.
Thorne Smith's The Nightlife of the Gods is the literary equivalence of a Frank Capra's screw-ball comedy film. Smith loved his drunken debaucheries, his mean-spirited pranksters, his heathenistic mythological creatures and of course all that drinking and sex. Classy double-entendre styled sex of course. This was the early 20th century. Yet he was also making lots of social commentary, much of it skewering the American upper-class and their often hypocritical morals. Thorne Smith certainly knew
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