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    Portuguese Irregular Verbs
    Portuguese Irregular Verbs
    Portuguese Irregular Verbs
    Audiobook3 hours

    Portuguese Irregular Verbs

    Written by Alexander McCall Smith

    Narrated by Paul Hecht

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    From the New York Times best-selling creator of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels and winner of the inaugural Saga Award for Wit, comes the first novel starring distinguished philologist Professor Doctor Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld. Von Igelfeld is the world's leading scholar on Portuguese irregular verbs. But in other matters - such as tennis against equally dreadful opponents and the arranging of fencing duels - he is not nearly so skilled. Yet that does not stop him from having a go at life, and the results are always humorous.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMar 10, 2008
    ISBN9781440795534
    Portuguese Irregular Verbs
    Author

    Alexander McCall Smith

    Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the award-winning series The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and he now devotes his time to the writing of fiction, including the 44 Scotland Street and the Isabel Dalhousie series. He is the author of over eighty books on a wide array of subjects, and his work has been translated into forty-six languages. Before becoming a full-time writer he was for many years Professor of Medical Law at Edinburgh.

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    Reviews for Portuguese Irregular Verbs

    3.5/5

    33 ratings19 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Each chapter is a stand-alone story about Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld and his colleagues. Actually too droll for my taste.
    • 2/5
      I was disappointed with this one. I found his other books hilarious, especially his 44 Scotland St. series (of which I'm a big fan), so I had high expectations for this book, but this tragicomedy just didn't live up to them. Prof. Dr. von Igelfeld is an uebergeek philologist whose highlight of his life was writing the masterpiece "Portuguese Irregular Verbs", a book that is now only sold as furniture. The Prof. Dr. finds himself in academic conferences in various places around the world, including Italy, India, and Austria, and the humor consists of his nerdy, almost autistic/Asperger's way of dealing with new situations and different cultures. It is somewhat funny at times, but geek humor gets old pretty quick for me, I guess because I know too many geeks...
    • 3/5
      Complete return to form by this author after the unfortunate The Sunday Philosophy Club. Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igenfeld is a gem.
    • 4/5
      Light, fun, friendly. (My expectations were fairly dismal, which helped. I've always had trouble with traditional picaresque tall tales such as Gargantua or Münchhausen.) Would recommend. Am considering purchasing. I think this is my favourite McCall Smith series so far.
    • 4/5
      About a bumbling snoot who would like nothing more than to take the academic world by storm. Charming and witty.
    • 5/5
      The story recounts the "adventures" of Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, who prides himself on being the author of the book Portuguese Irregular Verbs. Full of zany and eccentric humor, McCall Smith shows us that three highly intellectual German philologists look at the world much differently than most. Settings vary from Germany, to Ireland, to Italy. A quick, light, humorous read that gently pokes fun at the world of academia.
    • 3/5
      The first Dr Igelfeld book. Love his Sunday philosophy club books, and the NO.1 Ladies Detective Agy. books are fun as well. Always a fun easy read.
    • 4/5
      Unabridged CD reading of the book by the same name read by Hugh Laurie. Not mystery genre. Stories about an extraordinary and eccentric German Professor, Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld. Really a thinly disguised short story collection made better than it really is by Hugh Laurie's excellent narration and voice impersonisation. And yet underlying the stories are some serious elements such as student high-jinks in German universities, the useless nature of some funded research projects, corruption in government circles in India, and the sinking and pollution of Venice.
    • 3/5
      Dr. von Igelfeld and colleagues plot their petty intrigues and endeavor to preserve their pride through a series of comic undertakings and tame adventures.While not as heartwarming as the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, there is something charming about the petty concerns of these German academics. Without the clever, usually understated writing, this book would be sunk, but McCall Smith manages to pull it off. Not a book for everyone, but I will look for the others in the series.
    • 4/5
      I like the simplicity, the kindness, the gentleness, the light humor, and the respect the author pays to each character in this story. Smith, author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective series, is not to everyone's liking. A friend, who I loaned one of the No. 1 series books, was irritated with the books. "Nothing happens," she complained. I know that is true. But somehow it suits me.
    • 2/5
      A Light Collection of Vignettes for Fans OnlyAlexander McCall Smith , author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, shifts away from the mystery genre with his series of short novels featuring Professor Dr. Von Igelfeld, the first of which is Portuguese Irregular Verbs, named after the main character's academic magnum opus. A series of light vignettes, the books follows Dr. Von Igelfeld's misadventures as he tries to assert himself as an intellectual in the lost field of romantic philology as well to gain respect from his fellow academics. The results include dangerous amateur duels, obscenities from archaic Ireland, an unsavory tour of India, and toxic water in Venice. Along the way we also meet interesting secondary characters such as a racist Italian innkeeper and a dentist fatale.While a bit unexpected for fans of his mystery series, the book provides a break from hard-boiled murders and gives us the light side of Mr. McCall Smith. His character Von Igelfeld is thoroughly an underdog and awkwardly lovable, and with each story, we cheer for him even though we know it will not turn out well for him. Despite this, however, the British/European humor is sometimes lost in translation, and for whatever humor there is to laugh at, it is usually a light chuckle or two, not something on the scale of say the Monty Pythons (but of course, the Monty Pythons are in a class of their own).Overall, the book should be taken as it is: not a serious work of fiction, not part of his usual writing, but something light that can be read in a couple of sittings. However, with this said, the average reader would be disappointed. This should only be recommended to loyal McCall Smith fans.
    • 5/5
      Portuguese Irregular Verbs (and the rest of the von Igelfeld series) is completely hilarious. I've read this book several times, and I laugh out loud every time. The humor is VERY dry, and this book is definitely not for everyone. But if you like dry humor and are interested in the adventures of a very eccentric philologist, I urge you to read Portuguese Irregular Verbs (one of my favorite books of all time).
    • 5/5
      Witty yet light.Complex sociology, yet esteem culture recognition.Lighthearted though not taking itself too seriously, did discuss some rather interesting and sociological situations one must face in relations of academics.
    • 1/5
      Three German professors galumph about. The one with a superiority complex is repeatedly humiliated.I found this book both tedious and painful. It was unentertaining. It was not exactly unreadable, but definitely not worth the effort. Very disappointing, because I usually like McCall Smith, I find languages and linguistics fascinating, and I am predisposed to like academics.
    • 3/5
      Teeters between funny and serious - the stories follow a likable german philologist. Teh comedy is based mainly on the starched pov of the academic world.
    • 4/5
      [Portuguese Irregular Verbs] by [[Alexander McCall Smith]], author of the [No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency] series, is another wonderful addition to the humorous fiction genre. Professor Dr. von Igelfeld is a very smart, very specialized (witness his 1200 page magnum opus "Portuguese Irregular Verbs"), and very naive professor. He and his professor friends get into humuous contretemps dealing with the real world as well as the perils of academe. The pacing and understated writing style is similar to [No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency], but the characters are more unbelievable and fantastic. My wife felt it was too silly. I loved it. Your mileage may vary.
    • 2/5
      Not wildly funny, but amusing.
    • 3/5
      It took me a while to get into this one. I read "Sausage Dogs" first and I like it much better, but this was still funny.
    • 4/5
      The wit is dry and the humor sneaks up on you in this book. Another work of minutia and seeing the world through the eyes of someone else with a slightly sheltered, definitely warped viewpoint. This book won't be for everyone, but it appeals to my sense of the absurd, and I'll be reading the other books in the series, I'm sure. It gets a 3.5.