Título: The Old Man and Mr. Smith
Autor: Peter Ustinov
Sinopse: God and Satan return to Earth on a fact-finding mission, meeting after several millenia on a Washington street corner, in this shaggy, overextended fantasy. The conceit of two addled old geezers - the Creator of the Universe played, let's say, by Bert Lahr, with Don Rickles as his sidekick - who don't have a clue about the 20th century (why do they need luggage to check into a hotel? how are they going to pay? what on earth is the appeal of television?) carries the book along, relaxed as a soft-shoe routine, long enough for the plot - no, better make that the running gag - to take hold: first the police, then the FBI, then Interpol are out to nab the pair for forgery (the Old Man created the money he needed to pay for that hotel room). The resulting plot escalates without ever taking hold, and the scenes are disappointing in which the Old Man (whom Ustinov wisely makes more interesting than Mrs Smith) meets the American President and the Soviet First Secretary. But moments of wondrous wide-eyed comedy pop up in all sorts of places - the Old Man tries to deal with a by-the-book concierge, Mr. Smith gets talked down by a TV evangelist, the two of them go on trial in an Israeli religious court - if you have the patience to wait. Hit-or-miss cosmic farce with a gently, insistently preachy undertone.
Contexto da obra
Quando a classificação é mais ampla, o contexto do livro costuma depender ainda mais de autoria, tema e edição. “The Old Man and Mr. Smith”, de Peter Ustinov, publicado pela editora Michael O'Mara Books Ltd, em 1991 e com 368 páginas, integra a categoria Livros Variados. Por isso, autoria, edição e tema acabam tendo ainda mais peso na forma de apresentar o livro.
Editora: Michael O'Mara Books Ltd
Páginas: 368
Ano: 1991
Edição:
Linguagem: inglês
ISBN: 1854791001
ISBN13: 9781854791009
