Quote:
Originally Posted by Taylor514ce
Why is that funny?
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well, superficially, it's a pun : "i wonder why so many café waiters are called "descartes" ?" Descartes = des cartes (playing cards, which you ask the waiter for to play cards in the café). on a meta level, Queneau was quite interested in Descartes (the philosopher) and studied him quite extensively, and this was his subversive way of slipping an overt reference via a thoroughly un-intellectual joke into a novel which he intended as a litterary illustration of Descartes "Discours de la méthode". so you can add a tacit second-degree "wink wink, nudge nudge" to the (superfically rather terrible) joke.
never mind. as pshrynk has reminded me, it's not funny if you have to explain it.
so you'll just have to trust me on this one.