The sotweed factor is a 760 page historical novel written by the national book award winning author john barth and first published in 1960. Ebenezer cooke, an innocent like candide, was born in maryland but raised in 17th century england. It kept popping up in lists of great novels, here and there. It has the feel of the historic, but says things that never would have been said in a piece from the period. The sotweed factor has a story that is both comic and compelling, suspenseful and entertaining. The sotweed factor is one of those books that had been in the back of my mind for over 30 years. Book printed material image 6 of the sot weed factor. Well, finally, after all these years, i got around to reading it, and i found out. This modern classic is a hilarious tribute to all the most insidious human vices, with a hero who is one of the most roam the world since candide. The sotweed factor is a 1960 novel by john barth that satirizes picaresque novels such as tristram shandy and tom jones.
However, it wavers and meanders to the point that, by the 34 point, it loses much of its spark. The project gutenberg ebook of the sotweed factor, by ebenezer. Punning and ribald, it must be situated just below pynchon, specifically mason and dixon. He has been fictionalized by john barth as the comically innocent protagonist of the sot weed factor, a novel in which a series of fantastic misadventures leads cooke to write his poem. As barth explained, the sot weed factor began with the title and, of. As barth is wont to do, the sotweed factor is not only the title of this book, but it is also the title of a poem in the book which is penned by the lead character, who is himself a sotweed factor sot weed being a slang term for tobacco, and a factor being an agent, middleman or dealer. The songs plot is not all that far from what john barth is up to in the sotweed factor, but barth is far more dare i say it exhausting. But the lawyer turns out to be an ambodexter quack, who poses as either solicitor or physician, and sometimes confuses the two professions. Whereas his earlier fiction considered these questions in a contemporary context, barths third novel introduces an existential perspective into lateseventeenthcentury colonial america.
Tc book clubs denver7 book club colorado book awards reading the west. The sot weed factor may be my favorite book of all time. Free download or read online the sot weed factor pdf epub book. All trades, all crafts, all professions are wondrous, but none is finer than the rest together.
Complete summary of john barths the sotweed factor. Buy a cheap copy of the sotweed factor book by john barth. The sot weed factor is a 1960 novel by john barth that satirizes picaresque novels such as tristram shandy and tom jones. Free audio book that you can download in mp3, ipod and itunes format for your portable audio player. Internet archive bookreader the sot weed factor internet archive bookreader the sot weed factor. The main characters of this fiction, historical story are. The novel marks the beginning of barths literary postmodernism. The sotweed factor 1 the poem stands as one of our earliest examples of debunking and disillusionment2, in the most exact sense of that word. In the last years of the seventeenth century there was to be found among the fops and fools of the london coffeehouses one rangy, gangling flitch called ebenezer cooke, more ambitious than talented, and yet more talented than prudent, who, like his friendsinfolly, all of whom were supposed to be educating at oxford or cambridge, had found the sound of mother english more fun to game with. Read the sot weed factor by john barth available from rakuten kobo. It kept popping up in lists of great novels, here and there, and always that intriguing title, the sot weed factor. Considered by critics to be barths most distinguished masterpiece, the sotweed factor has acquired the status of a modern classic.
Time included the novel in its time 100 best englishlanguage novels from 1923 to 2005. When he is defrauded of all his wealth and property, he seeks out a lawyer. Those days may be gone, and gone forever, but novels like the sot weed factor will always be with us. Barth also sees the book as the second of a loose trilogy of novels that concludes with the sot weed factor, after which he embarked on the fabulist giles goatboy. The sot weed factor is one of those books that had been in the back of my mind for over 30 years. This modern classic is a hilarious tribute to all the most insidious human vices, with a hero who is one of the most. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them.
A factor is a middleman who buys something to resell it. The sotweed factor by barth, john and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. For various reasons, one of them being the need to lure and recruit settlers to. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 756 pages and is available in paperback format. As barth is wont to do, the sotweed factor is not only the title of this book, but it is also the title of a poem in the book which is penned by the lead character, who is himself a sot weed factor sot weed being a slang term for tobacco, and a factor being an agent, middleman or dealer. The hero of the sotweed factor is an easy mark in this new world. But we have never seen this rare book, published twentytwo years after the sot weed factor was first issued in england, and know nothing of its character or.
Oct 16, 2005 its the late 17th century and ebenezer cooke is a poet, dutiful son and determined virgin who travels from england to maryland to take possession of his fathers tobacco or sot weed plantation. The sotweed factor eleven and a half years of books. The first edition of the novel was published in 1960, and was written by john barth. This is a mock history of the real life poet ebenezer cooke, who wrote the hudibrastic poem the sotweed factor.
Set in the late 1600s, it recounts the wildly chaotic odyssey of. The sotweed factor 1960, by john barth alltime 100. His initial difficulty is that his tutor teaches him to make a game of learning so that later he. Steven soderbergh working on the sotweed factor adaptation. It tells the story of an english poet named ebenezer cooke who is given the title poet laureate of maryland by charles calvert. The sotweed factor takes its title from the poem the sotweed factor, or a voyage to maryland, a satyr 1708 by the englishborn poet ebenezer cooke c.
Mar 18, 2017 john barths third book, the sotweed factor, is an epic in nearly every sense of the word including the poetic. The hero of the sot weed factor is an easy mark in this new world. The sotweed factor by john barth the greatest books. It was a time, in updikes phrase, when books were a common currency of an enlightened citizenry. The sot weed factor this is barths most distinguished masterpiece. The sotweed factor is a very unusual novel, and it took me some time to finish it. The sotweed factor, picaresque novel by john barth, originally published in 1960 and revised in 1967. The sot weed factor was a literary quantum leap, an 800page mock epic of the colonization of maryland based on an actual poet, ebenezer cook, who wrote a poem of that name. Set in the late 1600s, it recounts the widely chaotic odyssey of hapless, ungainly ebenezer cooke, sent to the new world to look after his fathers tobacco business and to record the struggles of the maryland colony. The project gutenberg ebook of the sotweed factor, by. Some of the chiefest pleasures in a lifetime of reading fiction are those moments when you stumble upon a gem of a book you somehow. The sot weed factor 1 the poem stands as one of our earliest examples of debunking and disillusionment2, in the most exact sense of that word. For various reasons, one of them being the need to lure and recruit settlers to populate exploitable territories, a spate of bonanza or comeon literature appeared, promotional tracts. In which is describd the laws, government, courts and constitutions of the country by ebenezer cooke.
This modern classic is a hilarious tribute to all the most insidious human vices, with a hero who is one of the most roam the world since candide time. He is also eventually given to believe that he has been commissioned by the third lord baltimore to write an epic poem, the marylandiad. The sotweed factor has acquired the status of a modern classic. My final summation would have to be that the sotweed factor has plenty to chew on yet doesnt chip teeth. But he also has a very wicked and bawdy sense of humor. The sot weed factor was released in paperback the year before giles goatboy, and increased interest in his work shortly before giles goatboy was released. As barth is wont to do, the sotweed factor is not only the title of this book, but it is also the title of a poem in the book which is penned by the lead character, who is himself a sotweed factor sot weed being a slang term for tobacco, and a factor being an agent. A sotweed factor, was a tobacco agent or supercargo. The sot weed factor was what northrop frye called an anatomya large, loosely structured work, with digressions, distractions, stories within stories, and lists such as a. Considered by critics to be barths most distinguished masterp. Friends of tattered cover tc weekly bestsellers indie bestsellers book of the month cookbook of the month digital audio books gift cards tattered cover gear indienext list featured preorders. This modern classic is a hilarious tribute to all the most insidious human vices, with a hero who is one of the. A satirical epic of the colonization of maryland based on the life of an actual poet, ebenezer cooke, who wrote a poem of the same title. One should read the sot weed factor if at all concerned with the undulating comic possibilities of the pox.
Pdf the sotweed factor book by john barth free download. The sot weed factor is a 760 page historical novel written by the national book award winning author john barth and first published in 1960. Sep 28, 2019 these sot weed planters crowd the shoar more recent explanatory footnote sot weed, i. And as i was happily reminded this summer, its never too late to discover them. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world. Books similar to the sotweed factor the sotweed factor. The sotweed factor paperback tattered cover book store. Jul, 2010 it was only after finishing the novel that i went back and read barths foreword, which he wrote in 1987 for the release of a new, slightly shortened anchor books edition. The sotweed factor is a 1960 novel by the american writer john barth.
The sotweed factor american literature barth, john on. Giles goatboy was released the same year as a number of landmark works in the early history of postmodern american literature, most notably pynchons the crying of lot 49. Free download or read online the sotweed factor pdf epub book. The sot weed factor returns to barths earlier exploration of the existentialist notions of action, choice, and value. It kept popping up in lists of great novels, here and there, and always that intriguing title, the sotweed factor. The sotweed factor by john barth discussion i just finished this book, first off, for anyone who hasnt read it i couldnt recommend it enough. Barth is usually classed as an academic writer, and his work is clearly filled with intellectual ideas and words like postmodernism are bandied about. From the appearance in 1956 of the floating opera, his first published book. Considered by critics to be barths most distinguished masterpiece, the sot weed factor has acquired the status of a modern classic. Its essentially a satirical epic which probably doesnt accurately express the character of the book, but ive seen it aptly described as a rollicking good tale. The book is a bareknuckled satire of humanity at large and the grandiose costume romance, done with meticulous skill in imitation of such eighteenthcentury picaresque novelists as fielding, smollett and sterne. In which is describd the laws, government, courts and constitutions of the country, and also the buildings, feasts, frolicks, entertainments and drunken humours of the inhabitants of that part of america.
Mar 29, 20 steven soderbergh working on the sotweed factor adaptation. John barth, quote from the sot weed factor all men are loyal, but their objects of allegiance are at best approximate. John barth books biography and list of works author of. The sot weed factor by john barth and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.
This is a mock history of the real life poet ebenezer cooke, who wrote the hudibrastic poem the sot weed factor. It is written in the linguistic style of the eighteenth century, an historical, satirical novel, a parody of the 18thcentury picaresque novel. The sot weed factor by john barth the novel is set in the 1680s and 90s in london and on the eastern shore of the colony of maryland. Set in the late 1600s, it recounts the wildly chaotic odyssey of hapless, ungainly ebenezer cooke, sent to the new world to look after his fathers tobacco business and to record the struggles of the maryland colony in an epic poem. A sot weed factor, was a tobacco agent or supercargo. Nevertheless, it was an entertaining, funny, and witty read. The time is late seventeenth century, the reign of william and mary.
Gaddiss jr, a prebath intro reading great books in the bathtub ep 29 duration. The sot weed factor by barth, john and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. From the foreword i learned that the sotweed factor was originally published in the summer of 1960, when barth was just 30, exactly 50 years before i finally came to it. The songs plot is not all that far from what john barth is up to in the sot weed factor, but barth is far more dare i say it exhausting. Critics lev grossman and richard lacayo pick the 100 best englishlanguage novels published since 1923the beginning of time. It is disquieting how polarizing otherwise literate people are concerning mason and dixon. As barth is wont to do, the sot weed factor is not only the title of this book, but it is also the title of a poem in the book which is penned by the lead character, who is himself a sot weed factor sot weed being a slang term for tobacco, and a factor being an agent, middleman or dealer.