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Princess Hoppy or, The Tale of Labrador
A postmodern fairy tale might best describe Jacques Roubaud's delightful book The Princess Hoppy or, The Tale of Labrador. How else to describe a novel that reads like an Arthurian romance as rewritten by Lewis Carroll, with enough math puzzles to keep the game reader busy with a calculator for months? The tale concerns a princess, her faithful dog (who happens to be a wiz at math), four royal uncles always plotting, four royal aunts always potting, a lovesick hedgehog named Bartleby, two camels named North Dakota and South Dakota, four ducks who double as boats (thus called doats), and an amphibious blue whale named Barbara—to name only a few. (Even the Sun has a speaking role.) There are dramatic abductions, daring rescues, passages in hitherto untranscribed languages (Dog, Grasshopper, Duck), tales of unrequited love, allegorical interludes, poems, a playlet, and much more. (But no suspenders, the author promises.) Finally, there are 79 questions for readers of the novel, to see how closely they've been paying attention—for ultimately The Princess Hoppy is a giddy inquiry into how we read literary works. It is both an old-fashioned tale and an ultramodern hypertext, the oldest and the latest thing in fiction.
Details
Title
Princess Hoppy or, The Tale of Labrador
Title First Published
01 September 1993
Format
Paperback
Nb of pages
133 p.
ISBN-10
1-56478-032-5
ISBN-13
9781564780324
Publication Date
01 September 1993
Nb of pages
133
Dimensions
5.5 x 8.5 in.
List Price
$9.95
Excerpt
Chapter 0
Some Indications about What the Tale Says
The one telling the tale
1 It is the tale that tells, and the one telling the tale is the tail, the Tail of Labrador. Thus the tale is said to be the Tale of Labrador.
2 When the tale says what the tale says, the tale tells you: here is what the tale says. Who is then speaking, the tale? Yes, but don’t ever forget that the tale is the tale of Labrador.
3 This is certainly not the first tale told by a tail. But most probably it is the first tale of Labrador told by a tail of Labrador.
4 You might find it difficult to believe that the tale/tail is the author of the story; and if you believe this, maybe you are wrong to do so.
5 Careful! Do not trust tales that tell you their tale as if the tale were the author of the tale. Distrust even more the Tail of Labrador.
That the tale is true
6 The tale always tells the truth. What the tale says is true because the tale tells it. Some say that the tale tells the truth because what the tale tells is true. Others that the tale doesn’t tell the truth because truth is not a tale. But in reality what the tale tells is true of what the tale tells that what the tale tells is true. This is why the tale tells the truth.
7 The tale tells the truth. This does not mean that the Tail of Labrador tells the truth. The truth of the tale is not always the truth of the tail. The tale is nevertheless true.
8 What the tale tells happened while the tale was telling it. It even happened while the tale was telling what the tale was telling. This is why it is so true.
9 Often the tale lies the tale lies often
the tale often lies often
10 There are two tales in the tale: the tale told by the tale and the telling of what the tale tells. It adds up in fact to much more than two tales.
11 The truth of the tale is in the tale. Which tale? Well, in the tale and in the tale recounted by the tale. Thus is the truth of the tale the truth of the truth.
12 When the tale lies, and it will eventually lie as it tells the truth, the tale will be finished.
What there is in the tale
13 In the tale there is what there is in a tale, whatever makes a tale a tale. It can be defined as being what there is in a tale, and as this tale is a tale, all of this can be found in this tale. This is what there is in this tale.
14 There is in this tale a princess and her dog. The name of the princess is Hoppy. Thus the title of the tale is: The Princess Hoppy. The name of the dog is kept privy for security reasons.
15 There are in this tale kings queens and one astronomer. There are lots of other people as well. Everybody’s name is in the index. the names of the kings, the names of the queens are in a separate index.
16 There is in this tale information about the weather. There are passages and passages about journeys. They extend to pages and pages. They can be omitted at the first reading. There is a bit of everything in the tale.
17 What there isn’t: in this tale there are no, I repeat, in this tale there are no suspenders. That’s what there are none of in the tale.
When one tells the tale. When one tells you the tale
18 When one tells the tale it must be told in such a way that it appears to be the tale which tells the tale. And this is normal after all as it is the tale which tells the tale.
19 Careful! Careful! the tale sometimes requires close attention.
20 At times the tale gives false indications. In that case the tale says the tale gives false indications. At times.
21 Language: The tale is said to be in the language of the tale. The language of the tale is English. The language of the tale is Dog as well. What is English? the language of the tale. What is Dog?
22 Anticipations. But let’s not anticipate.
23 To tell the tale: ask for a glass of wine. If there is no wine, or if you don’t drink wine, don’t tell the tale. Unless you still want to tell the tale.
24 While telling the tale, tell, tell the tale. Do not tell “About Materialism” by Philippe Sollers or “Prayer to Go to Heaven Together with the Donkeys.” Tell the tale.
To whom the tale tells
25 The tale is being told to you. Who then are you? Those to whom the tale tells. If the tale is being told to you, it means you.
26 The tale tells for those who are more or less than twenty, more or less than sixty, who are seventeen or more, thirty-one or less, forty-one or more, fourteen or less. It is always the same tale. But not always the same people.
27 This tale is for grasshoppers. This tale is for one particular grasshopper particularly.
28 Those to whom the tale tells, if they are listening to the tale, let them be thanked. The thanks are in the tale. To hear them, one must listen.
29 In those days the tale was everywhere and all had access to it. Which days?
30 Now those for whom the tale is the tale are in the tale. For whom is the tale?
31 The last indication:
t’ cea uc tscl rs
n neo rt aluot
ia ouna s ilel-
-rc oal ei ntoi.
(it’s in Dog).
Reviews
Press Reviews
Princess Hoppy or, The Tale of Labrador
New York Times Book Review
"Exhilarating . . . [T]he chief pleasures of this book are its narrative inventiveness and vigorously related amusing parodies, excellently translated by Bernard Hoepffner. Mr. Roubaud is a vivid and charming writer who seems to smile as he makes esthetic and philosophical points about the autonomy of fiction and the illusory nature of destiny. He is, moreover, highly proficient at various forms of humor, from the silly to the sophisticated. When he does satirize the vanities of society, his touch is light and never mean-spirited . . . [ The Princess Hoppy is] a delightfully eccentric book, [where] Mr. Roubaud combines a nimble intellect with an endearingly buoyant spirit."
Princess Hoppy or, The Tale of Labrador
Washington Post Book World
Princess Hoppy or, The Tale of Labrador
Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Delightful and full of fun."
Princess Hoppy or, The Tale of Labrador
Texture
"One of the strangest books that I have ever had the pleasure of reading completely and finding that I had not quite fully understood just what it is I was reading is Jacques Roubaud's The Princess Hoppy . . . Roubaud takes advantage of language . . . expectations of heroic fairy tales, and postmodern perspective to create a story rife with intrigue, suspense, and mathematical puzzles. The Princess Hoppy is an irreverent trip throughout collective consciousness, with elements familiar to everyone, but with a bizarre twist, making us realize just how it is we go about reading stories. I have found the story to be educational . . . and simultaneously fabulously entertaining. This is one book that will be read many times and recommended as a positive and fun read. I have never before read anything that had an appendix containing questions for the reader and two indexes. I still can't answer them all, and I can't read Grasshopper either, but I'm glad it's in there. Check it out, it is inconceivably cool!"
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