Forget about all my negativity on Tuesday about The Sot Weed Factor. Yes, the Old English style is tiring. Yes, it’s wordy and archaic.
And, yes, that’s the point. It is satire, after all. I think I’m starting to grasp a little of what Barth is trying to do with this novel. Part of his satirical brilliance is illustrated in the form of the chapter titles.
We all know that no self-respecting literary-minded novelist uses chapter titles, right? If anything, they simply enumerate the chapters and nothing else, right?
Wrong! Not John Barth, at least.
Not only does John Barth use chapter titles, he uses extremely wordy chapter titles that pretty much say everything.
Tell me if these aren’t the best chapter titles you’ve ever read.
1: The Poet Is Introduced, and Differentiated From His Fellows
2: The Remarkable Manner in Which Ebenezer Was Educated, and the No Less Remarkable Results of That Education
3: Ebenezer Is Rescued, and Hears a Diverting Tale Involving Isaac Newton and Other Notables
4: Ebenezer’s First Sojourn in London, and the Issue of It
5: Ebenezer Commences His Second Sojourn in London, and Fares Unspectacularly
6: The Momentous Wager Between Ebenezer and Ben Oliver, and Its Uncommon Result
7: The Conversation Between Ebenezer and the Whore Joan Toast, Including the Tale of the Great Tom Leech
8: A Colloquy Between Men of Principle, and What Came of It
9: Ebenezer’s Audience With Lord Baltimore, and His Ingenious Proposal to That Gentleman
10: A Brief Relation of the Maryland Palatinate, Its Origins and Struggles for Survival, as Told to Ebenezer by His Host
11: Ebenezer Returns to His Companions, Finds Them Fewer by One, Leaves Them Fewer by Another, and Reflects a Reflection
Now don’t you want to read this book? Don’t you want to know how Ebenezer reflected on his reflection in the 11th chapter?
Those chapter titles are just for the first section of The Sot-Weed Factor. They get even better in the second section.
Like this one:
The Laureate Is Exposed to Two Assassinations of Character, a Piracy, a Near-Deflowering, a Near-Mutiny, a Murder, and an Appalling Colloquy Between Captains of the Sea, All Within the Space of a Few Pages
I know my sense of humor is a little different, so you might think those are the stupidest, wordiest, most horrible chapter titles ever. But I think they’re great.
Maybe there is hope for The Sot-Weed Factor after all!
