BOOKS FOR THE BIBLIOPHILES | FROM BEOWULF TO VIRGINIA WOOLF BY ROBERT MANSON MYERS

BEOWULF TO VIRGINIA WOOLF

★★★☆☆

Originally published in the 1950s as a piece in Furioso Magazine, this parody work is a fun jaunt through notable moments in classic literature. While gathering information for a PhD thesis, college-age Myers, finding himself inspired by some of the funny little historical nuggets he was hitting upon, put together this little collection of humorous stories about famous authors and imagined alternate histories accompanied by parody artwork such as:

* The famous portrait of Henry VIII identified as William Jennings Byron, while also suggesting in a footnote that Byron was a lycan! (Myers also does some interesting "re-telling of the history of Henry's daughter, Elizabeth I.)

* Mona Lisa tagged as poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning

* A country scene of the "Bucolic Plague"

* A depiction of the "Invisible Spanish Armada" (a painting of an empty sea)

* Keats, famous poet of "Ode to a Greasy Urn", later dying of tuber roses 😆

Just to name a few.

"Perpetual Emotion" LOL

In this satirical, very much tongue-in-cheek work, we also cover :

* Virginia Woolf's "Rum of One's Own"

* "Ben Johnson enjoying a chat with Mrs. Thrale over tea and strumpets"

* William the Conqueror -- "William was, according to his usual custom, killed in battle."

*This illustration is from the 1950s edition!

While certainly entertaining, the humor, for me, got a little tiresome after awhile. There is such a thing as pun overload for my brain (though the illustrations repeatedly cracked me up!). The Beowulf essay in Chapter 1 felt like it was going for the laugh a little too hard, but I did like the immediate follow-up in Chapter 2 with Big Bad Wolf: Muddle English Literature.

Again, from the 1950s edition!

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