Puckoon

by Spike Milligan

Puckoon is Spike Milligan's classic slapstick novel, reissued for the first time since it was published in 1963.

In 1924 the Boundary Commission is tasked with creating the new official division between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Through incompetence, dereliction of duty and sheer perversity, the border ends up running through the middle of the small town of Puckoon.

Houses are divided from outhouses, husbands separated from wives, bars are cut off from their patrons, churches sundered from graveyards. And in the middle of it all is poor Dan Milligan, our feckless protagonist, who is taunted and manipulated by everyone (including the sadistic author) to try and make some sense of this mess . . .

Spike Milligan was one of the greatest and most influential comedians of the twentieth century. Born in India in 1918, he served in the Royal Artillery during WWII in North Africa and Italy. At the end of the war, he forged a career as a jazz musician, sketch-show writer and performer, before joining forces with Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe to form the legendary Goon Show. Until his death in 2002, he had success as on stage and screen and as the author of over eighty books of fiction, memoir, poetry, plays, cartoons and children's stories.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Comedy, Ireland, Irish Literature, Novels, Historical Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Terence Alan Patrick Seán Milligan, known as Spike, was a comedian, writer and musician. He was of Irish descent, but spent most of his childhood in India and lived most of his later life in England, moving to Australia after retirement. He is famous for his work in The Goon Show, children's poetry and a series of comical autobiographical novels about his experiences serving in the British Army in WWII. Spike Milligan suffered from bipolar disorder, which led to depression and frequent breakdowns, but he will be remembered as a comic genius. His tombstone reads 'I told you I was ill' in Gaelic.

Reviews

[Barry Cunningham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, in my opinion, the best and funniest book Spike Milligan ever produced, I say this from a position of having read just about everything he had published. The characters, the plot, the little scenes, the recurring little themes with each of the main characters are superb. I have lost count of how many times I have read it. I know I bought the book three times (just shows how much I love it) the first book was lost to a school friend who never returned it, the second disappeared with one of my daughter's boyfriends, he borrowed it and never came back, I often wonder if he died laughing or was just scared away by a prospective father-in-law who was a committed Milliganite! This is the first book I have encountered where the main character has a dialogue with the author and even has a magic word to use just in case he doesn't like what is written about his legs.
"Caw said the crow, Balls said Milligan"

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 2 out of 5]

Umm. Well. It's well-known Spike Milligan had a depressive disorder, making it impossible for him to concentrate on one thing for a long time. Hence his role in the Goons and other digressional comedies. But random doesn't lend itself to novels. You can throw in Romans, Chinamen, IRA officers and the kitchen sink, but you still have to structure the thing.

Puckoon is a dated book, probably quite sexist and racist to modern eyes, and the freewheeling absurdity simply doesn't shine on the page, though there are quotable lines a-go-go. Just no novel.

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are going to get one Spike Milligan novel, this is it. For those who don't know (or who are American), Milligan is probably one of the great comic writers in the British language. Lots of word-playing, and very funny. He is also part of the Goons along with the always fantastic Peter Sellers. They did a series of radio shows - and one can purchase the CD's, they're not hard to find. But beyond that Milligan was a fantastic writer, and well worth it to search out this particular novel by him.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember laughing like a drain reading this when I was about 14, a time when the world seemed otherwise a fairly grim place. Today i found this Penguin edition at a local secondhand store. I look forward to reading it again.

[mohsen pourramezani · Rating 2 out of 5]

ماجراهای کتاب در منطقه‌ی کوچکی به اسم «پاکون» در ایرلند اتفاق می‌افتد. پس از پایان جنگ داخلی، کمیته‌ی تعیین مرز پس از مدت‌ها تلاش، بخش کوچکی از مرز جدید را تعیین نکرده‌اند. سرانجام به این نتیجه می‌رسند که نماینده‌ی هر کدام از طرفینِ جنگ، به یک مداد قرمز چنگ بیندازند و بکشند تا مرز مشخص شود. با این روش مرز جدید از میان پاکون عبور می‌کند و مشکلات زیادی را به وجود می‌آورد.
به نظرم ترجمه و ویراستاری کتاب می‌توانست بهتر باشد. بعضی جاها شوخی‌های نویسنده بامزه بود اما به دلیل زیاد بودن شخصیت‌ها و درهم بودن ماجراها از لحاظ زمانی و مکانی، خط اصلی داستان یک جاهایی گم می‌شد. بعضی از شوخی‌ها و ماجراها هم وابسته به زمان و مکان است و فهمیدنش برای مخاطبی که شناختی از ایرلند آن زمان ندارد مشکل است.
http://choobalef.blog.ir/1395/04/30/%...

[Hanieh · Rating 5 out of 5]

متاسفانه تموم شد!
برای توضیح خلاصه ی از پشت جلدش استفاده میکنم: "در سال 1924 کمیسیون مرزی موظف می شود یک نوار جدید مرزی میان ایرلند شمالی و جمهوری ایرلند ترسیم کند. اما در نهایت مرز مذبور بر اثر بی صلاحیتی، بی مسئولیتی و دستکاری های عمدی دست اندرکاران از وسط شهری کوچک به نام پاکون می گذرد. در نتیجه، کار به جایی می رسد که خانه ها دو قسمت می شوند، شوهران از همسرانشان جدا می مانند، مشتریان پروپاقرص پای شان از کافه های مورد علاقه بریده می شود و حیاط گورستان یک طرف می افتد، کلیسا طرف دیگر. در بطن تمام این قشقرق ها هم آدمی از همه جا بی خبر به نام دن میلیگن قرار دارد، قهرمانی بی خاصیت که هر کسی به بازیش می گیرد و دستش می اندازد تا پا پیش بگذارد و به این آشفته بازار سامانی بدهد."
کتاب رو با تمام وجودم دوس داشتم، اونقدر که دلم میخواد به خودم بچسبونمش و از خودم جداش نکنم...روزایی که حال روبراهی نداشتم، میرفتم سراغش و منو میخندوند. کوچک ترین اتفاقات کتاب به شیرین ترین و خنده دار ترین وجه ممکن نوشته شده بود.
در کنار داستان جذابش، مکالمه بین دن میلیگن و نویسنده ی کتاب رو هست که حکم خدا رو داره و بعضی جاها که میگلین توی دردسر میفته، از صفحات کتاب میاد بیرون و دست به دامن نویسنده میشه تا اوضاع رو براش سرو سامون بده.
به نویسنده ی کتاب، لقب پدربزرگ معنوی نویسندگان طنزپرداز مدرن بریتانیا رو دادن.
من از تموم شدنِ کتاب ها خیلی کم پیش میاد که ناراحت شم چون همیشه شوقِ شروعِ کتاب بعدی رو دارم اما از تموم شدنِ پاکون ناراحتم چون میترسم که دیگه کتابی با چنین سبکی گیرم نیاد.
در نهایت کنج قلبم نشست و رفت جزو مورد علاقه های من.
فیلمی هم با همین اسم سال 2002 ازش ساخته شده که قطعا خواهم دیدش.

[Pete daPixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Kaw', said the crow.
'Balls', said the Milligan.

[George Kaslov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolute Pandemonium!
I like it.

[Matt Harris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Puckoon is a blurt of Spike Milligan's rapid-fire childish cleverness and is very much of its time, it was written in 1963.

It is (as far as I can gather, discerning the plot through the maze of little gags takes quite an effort) the story of a small town which lies right at the place where the officials have decided to run the new Irish borderline. This creates situations like, a small corner in the local pub in one country being in one country and having lower taxes on alcohol than the rest of the pub, so a squish of cheapskates clamour for drinks from that spot while the rest of the pub is empty.

With much silliness on every page, no characters get the time to really build up a personality, with a cast of over 50 people in the slim paperback. Every single event is the precursor to a one-liner or a surreal throwaway. Some of the jokes raised a smile, but at the heart of it seems to be a disdain for the general populous, a sexist approach and you feel that Spike in his sandbox is just doodling with words. E.g "The door opened, a girl's face appeared, it appeared very pretty too."

Look, it's clever, but it's not the medium for Spike in my opinion.

He clearly had a wonderful, probably autistic, precious mind for humour, and it must have been hard for him during his manic times, not to crack jokes about every single thing he saw or heard, making for a noisy mind and probably maddening himself and those close to him.

But put him together with other sympathetic and guiding lights such as the Goon Show cast, and this hyper-jocularity suddenly has a place among other characters and talents, and becomes more effective.

[Katy Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

What did I just read?!

Pure bonkers from Milligan, his first book. I've never read any of his books, and felt it was time to rectify that.

You don't get a straightforward read with Milligan. Plenty of laughs, definitely, some clever stylings and lines (you can tell he's a stage/screen comedian with some one-liners thrown in) but you have to be on your toes:

The scene switches from scene to scene instantly. The main character talks to the 'voice' of the author, who talks back.

The plot overall heads towards the direction of a story set in Ireland, involving a new border near the village of Puckoon, with some villagers buried on the wrong side. But there's also an escaped panther, a night-shift Chinese policeman, TNT, a clock stuck at 4.32 and a whole village full of crazy stuffed in!

As I said - bonkers. But enjoyable, and at less than 160 pages, a quick read. Very glad to say I've now sampled Milligan. I may try his war books next.

[Egor Mikhaylov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Стремительная, плотная, уморительная повесть с особенным лихорадочно-сбивчивым ритмом и изобретательнейшим (спасибо понятно кому) языком. При этом Миллигэн, как свойственно ирландцам (см., например, Макдона) искренне и небезосновательно полагает, что смешное и страшное не противоречат друг другу, и от этого форменный балаган с проламыванием четвёртой и всех прочих стен временами выдаёт такую атональную полифонию, что только держись.

Две сотни страниц, разумеется, поглощаются (не люблю гастрономические метафоры по отношению к книгам, но что уж тут поделать)невероятно быстро, но насыщенность текста не даёт сделать это наскоком: раз в пару глав неплохо бы переводить дыхание и снова бросаться в пучину.

[Hamideh · Rating 2 out of 5]

من که چیزی نفهمیدم ازش... شاید سه ماه از خوندنش گذشته باشه تصمیم داشتم یه بار دیگه بخونم بعد اینجا اسمشو به عنوان کتاب خونده بیارم اما الان که ریخت کتابو دیدم فهمیدم بهتره تا زمان نامشخصی دوباره خوندنشو به تعویق بندازم، نمیدونم مشکل از منه یا نویسنده یا مترجم... به هر حال که با هم کنار نیومدیم :-) دلم میخواست میتونستم بعضی ریویوهامو خصوصی کنم یا حتی استاتوس بذار�� اما نمیشه این اپلیکیشن گودریدز مزخرف ترین و حرص درآرترین اپ دنیاست :-\ مسئولین رسیدگی کنن

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this as a schoolboy in the 1960s, sitting in the school library with a hanky stuffed in my mouth and the tears rolling down my face. Don't bother with the film - it is a very pale and not particularly funny shadow of the book.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never would have read this without #BowieBookClub. And I'm not sure I appreciated it enough for dear Bowie.

I enjoyed this book a lot. Puckoon is funny. And bizarre. And full of English/Irish humor. And just kind of confusing some of the time.

This book made me laugh out loud and then sigh because there were still so many pages left (and it's a short book). I cheered for the characters and chuckled at the jokes and rolled me eyes at the absurdity of it all. There was a lot to react to and there's a lot that got past me.

The best part of this book was Dan Milligan, who keep arguing with the Author about how his legs should look. And that's an absurdity I'll keep chuckling at for awhile.

[Genean · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been quite some time since I lined up at the bookstore counter to meet Mr Milligan and have my copy of Puckoon signed. This book will forever hold a tender to my heart. It made me laugh out loud, miss my bus stop when travelling home and saw me buy copies for my friends. It took Milligan 2 years to write this, no doubt while he was in the thrrawl of th Q Series. As one of the greatest comedic talents of the last century it is clear that he had lots of fun writing this one down. He has written his bio, several revisions on the great classics and lots of children's stories and verse. The only serious work was a play "The Bedsitting Room".
As this is his only true novel. Believe me it is hard to write funny and there are few examples (Lennie Lower is one).
From the man who created a whole new measure of radio media this book deserves to be read.

[K.A. Laity · Rating 5 out of 5]

A surreal classic full of inventive wordplay of the Irish variety: I actually have this lovely old Penguin edition. From its mirthful Joycean opening to its final ironic joke dialogue, the book cracks along with amusement, absurdity and some rather sneaky wisdom. If you are the dull sort who can't get a laugh to run up under your legs, you will suffer mightily. If however you are a ready-hooter, you will find much to keep you hooting away.

[Steve Angelkov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this as part of the March 2018 submission for Bowie Book Club.

Actually listened to the audiobook.

Instant favourite.

So funny, the not so subtle nuances about the Irish craic are sublime.

I doff my cap to you sir.

[Aurelija · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Satyrinis žvilgsnis į airijų troubles. Dabar jau kai kuriom prasmėm senstelėjęs, bet humoras smagus, ir siužetas nurautas. Kaip tik trumpam skristelėjimui į Dubliną

[nats · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una historia absurda donde las haya, con un humor muy al estilo de los Monty Python. No es una historia lógica, pero tiene unos giros inesperados con los que te mueres de risa.

[Liam Dunne · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good I had to read it again, I might even read it again again

[russell barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I imagine had I reviewed this in my Goon-loving, Milligan-adoring mid-teens heyday it would've got five stars, no problems. The thing is twenty years have passed since I was 16, and the times have a-changed.

Clearly I've got older, and I suppose we all grow out of certain phases of likes and dislikes. I'm not saying I've become more discerning or refined, more my tastes and horizons have expanded, all of which now make Puckoon markedly less "the funniest thing ever", which I thought in 1988.

More obviously, *any* jokes based on racial stereotypes just aren't funny anymore. Given Puckoon is entirely peopled by larger-than-life Englishmen, Irishmen, a Chinaman and one-eyed Lascar sailor, it has all the ingredients of one of Bernard Manning's favourite jokes. Although to be fair to Milligan (and avoiding the usual 'of his time' cliches), pretty much everybody gets it regardless of creed or colour, but if you remove the schoolboy sniggering, the whole thing turns into a surreal novel, and surreal isn't necessarily 'funny'.

Having said all of that, what amazed me most this time around were the things I took from re-reading that I'd never noticed before; the revealing insights into Milligan's character, the hints of depression in the foreward, the description of Dan's upbringing in Poona, and his dislike of modern architecture. No wonder Prince Charles liked him.

[Mohammad Saeed · Rating 3 out of 5]

داستان از این قرار است که می‌خواهند خط مرز را از میان شهر «پاکون» بکشند. پس شهر و هر چه در آن است دو نیم می‌شود و در پی آن آشوب و هرج‌ومرج است که به پا می‌خیزد.
این رمان، طنز خواندنی و خاصی دارد و میلیگن در آن همه‌چیز، از جمله شخصیت اصلی داستان و حتی کلمات را هم به بازی می‌گیرد. آقای ویسی هم در ترجمه‌ی ادبیّت و هنر این نویسنده‌ی ایرلندی، واقعا حق مطلب را ادا کرده است.

[Susanne McCarthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has got to be one of the funniest books ever written - pure genius. Somehow he manages to make the most ridiculous situations seem almost plausible, and weaves them all together to create a brilliant, hilarious, chaotic conclusion.

[Michaelwilliam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic Irish farce on steroids

This is a classic Irish farce about the futility of the war between the IRA and the British. If you enjoy the farce, no better one has ever been written. For those unfamiliar with Irish humor move forward with caution.

[Mcfly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Le doy dos estrellas. Por tener gags de humor en algunos momentos divertidos y que reconozco que me han sacado alguna carcajada. Aunque considero que la historia no está estructurada. Es liosa. Son muchos "sketches" sin seguir un orden o guión coherente. Yo no lo recomiendo.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

another review reminded me of this one. Completely daft and best read when you're a teenager. That's when I read it. I've categorised it as a novel but it's Milligan arsing about really.

[Shashi Martynova · Rating 5 out of 5]

блестящий балаган. понятно, откуда у "Питонов" уши растут. феерическое развлекательное чтение, совершенно кинематографический памфлет с кучей речевых подарков.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite Spike Milligan novel in the history of everything

[Kris McCracken · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh no, Spike. No no no.

Lame puns and a plot that is all over the show.

Give it a miss.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a sort of love/hate relationship with Spike Milligan. Sometimes I love his work, and sometimes I hate it. Sometimes I’m utterly indifferent.

There’s also the problem that he has a habit of casual racism, something that I think he picked up during his time in the army. It’s unfortunate and something that you have to kind of overlook, although I know that some readers are unable to do that. In my mind, I offset it a little with the fact that he was something of a pioneer for animal rights and vegetarianism, and it’s also kind of easier because he’s dead.

This book is mostly notable because of its humour and wordplay, something that Milligan was always pretty good at. Plot-wise, it’s lost the plot, but in many ways that’s the point. I thought it was pretty fun and would recommend it.