Book Review - The finer points of Sausage Dogs

This is the second in the series of books by Alexander McCall Smith on Von Igelfeld, a professor of Romance Philology. Von Igelfeld is socially inept, and yet in constant search of respect that he believes is due to him. This leads him, much to his dismay, into situations of increasingly embarrassing nature where he is forced to swallow his pride, and discover that it is non fattening.

The wit is very dry, and hence this book may not be for all readers. Those looking for thrillers will be disppointed. Yet, McCall Smith, in his inimitable style, turns this collection of short stories into a profound observation on human psyche. Like many people, Von Igelfeld believes that his colleagues have won all the laurels that Von himself rightfully deserves. Besides, he judges people on the basis of their degree of familiarity and respect they show towards his esteemed book 'Portugese Irregular Verbs", a mighty tome. Von Igelfeld oscillates between feelings of jealosy towards his colleages, and a sense of guilt upon realising his assumptions regarding his colleagues to be untrue.This makes Von endearing in a pleasantly irritating way, for , in essence he is a good man.

In the opening story, von Igelfeld has himself invited to give a lecture, only to realize that he has been mistaken to be a Professor of Veterinary science with expertise in the area of Sausage Dogs. Von Igelfeld successfully delivers a talk on the finer points of sausage dogs, eminently accessible to the public, thus making it a grand success. Elsewhere in this collection of short stories, he finds himself aboard a ship, being pursued by marriage minded ladies! Igelfeld, at first makes awkward attempts at sounding coy and myseterious, and soon finds himself utterly unequal to the task.

This book is far from being a thriller, yet it constantly left me itching to know what's going to happen next, for Igelfeld constantly finds himself in settings of deliciously( only to the reader) embarrassing nature. Its the writing, and the elegant phrasing that stand out. Indeed, coming from a less gifted writer, the stories might seem downright silly. The hidden message seems to be to not take oneself too seriously, or spend inordinate amounts of time wondering what others are thinking about us! But that is never made explicit, which is what makes this book all the more charming.

In the course of writing this post, I was distressed to discover a marked dip in my active vocabulary. Words acquired over the years and tucked away into safe corners, seemed to be glued to the safe corners, and refused to budge or answer my call as I beckoned to them. Sigh! There is much work to do. Else, there soon will come a day when even my puns will no longer pack the pun-ch! (not that they do now, but still:-)

Coming back to the book, I definitely liked it, and would recommend it, thought I must add that it may not appeal to all readers. I found the first book in the series, "Portugese Irregular verbs" better though, and would definitely recommend trying that out first.