1486: Pierre Menard, Author of Garfield
| Pierre Menard, Author of Garfield |
 Made by: "Pierre Menard" (not actually -- see below) |
Explanation[edit | edit source]
The entire strip is a reference to the 1939 short story "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote", which takes the form of a review of the titular (and fictional) author, who immersed himself so totally in Don Quixote that what was originally supposed to be a translation became a line-for-line recreation of the entire story in its original Spanish. Ironically, the reviewer enjoys this version better than the original because it must be considered in a contemporary manner (as opposed to the original, which was published in the 15th century).
This comic alludes to all of this by presenting the original Garfield strip, without any alteration. Whether or not it has gotten any funnier in 2013 (as opposed to its original publication date in 1998) is left to the viewers to decide for themselves. Presumably, this comic was chosen because it features a book starring a "brave man" - possibly Don Quixote.
The author writes:[edit | edit source]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Menard,_Author_of_the_Quixote
Original strip: 1998-05-21.
Transcript[edit | edit source]
{Jon holds a book, sitting next to Garfield}
Jon: This book is about a very brave man.
Garfield: He can't be Braver than you, Jon.
{Garfield looks angry}
Garfield: My dinner is five minutes late.
