I avoided bookstores last December because I’m prone to splurging more at the end of the year (and God knows I have entirely too many books waiting for me at home) but there was one book that I couldn’t pass up buying, because of its sheer entertainment value (for me, at least).
It’s a book entitled, “Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don’t Float: Classic Lit Signs on to Facebook” by Sarah Schmelling, who catapulted to fame with her Facebook news feed edition of Hamlet.
For an impulse buy, it didn’t come cheap (it was P600+, or over US $12) which I rarely spend on a single book unless I’m fanatically compelled to buy it; but as soon as I read a few pages into this book I knew I had to get a copy.
The book is a treat for avid readers who are on Facebook, as it is a compilation of Facebook pages of various literary characters and even some authors, much like historical tweets or other social networking site parodies.
It’s pretty hilarious if you get them, but if you’re not much of a reader, a lot of jokes will probably sail right past you — uhmm, I tried passing the book around at the office because they were wondering why I was laughing so hysterically and the jokes fell quite flat because I had to keep explaining them.
Here are some snippets from the book:
Other than those in the snippets above, a lot more of the classics are covered in the book, including Hamlet, Beowulf, Jane Eyre, Anna Karenina, Wuthering Heights, The Scarlett Letter, The Catcher in the Rye, Moby Dick, Gulliver’s Travels, Brave New World, Lord of the Flies, Frankenstein, The Great Gatsby, Slaughterhouse Five, Waiting for Godot, and many more.
I do wish the book was in full color — they could have hit it out of the ball park with a good graphic designer and a spoof of the Facebook interface as well as fabricated photos of the characters, but content-wise, I have no complaints, except that I’d love to read more!!! The book gave me a much needed cheer in the middle of a particularly stressful holiday season, and had me laughing from cover to cover (270+ pages) (and I was still laughing when I took photos for this review!).
All in all, money well spent, I say.
***
My copy: paperback
My rating: 5/5 stars
(Book #220 of 2009)
Can I borrow this?! I saw it before on the shelves, but I didn’t buy it. Super kulit niya ha!
ah luuuv eeet! can i mooch it from you? weheehehheheheheh!
akin na lang :)
@Myx, sige I’ll lend it to you :)
@Czar and Marie- Heh! Not for mooching and not for giving away! I might bring this on the 23rd… Still thinking if I’ll make it my best book for the discussion
I must buy this book now…
@ash- Dontcha just love it?
So funny! Thanks for sharing snippets :)
@Alita- I’d have loved to share more, but it’d have taken me forever.. and the book people might start running after me already!
ang selfish mo naman! =P
5 bookmooch points?
Nope, not even for 10 BM points Czar :)
This looks hilarious! I don’t have the budget to buy it but hope it will turn up in a bargain bin in a year or two when Facebook has been eclipsed by the next big social networking thing!
Hey Iya, it’s really hilarious. But yeah, I bet in a couple of years it’ll be in the bargain bins already :)
Heehee. I wanna read this one too! Gonna look in the lib now…. thanks Blooey!
@czar i’m giving away BM points. check out my blog! para madagdagan yang pambribe mo kay blooey! (as if!)
This sounds hilarious!
@Aloi – Welcome! And Czar knows better than to bribe me
@Anna- It totally is!