Modern Good Reads discussion

I'm just posting this because the comedy section of the MGR group is a bit quiet. Since quite a lot of people have recommended a literary comedy book I guess there are people who are interested in the subject and am wondering if we can keep things going.

My last attempt to start a thread wasn't a great success, perhaps because I posted quite a long, complex article. Not a great ice-breaker (though thanks to Jonah for his response).

I'm willing to start the odd thread if others are interested in joining in. Let me know...

Unless you have a feel for it comedy in litrature is very difficult but I'll be very interested in how this thread develops. Good luck.

Sybil wrote: "Unless you have a feel for it comedy in litrature is very difficult but I'll be very interested in how this thread develops. Good luck."

Thanks, Sybil.

NB Just to be clear, I'm talking about a place for readers of literary comedy to discuss the books and authors they enjoy.

Comedy is underrated.

Do you mean by literary comedy tales with a happy ending? Or stuff like James Herriot?

Sybil wrote: "Do you mean by literary comedy tales with a happy ending? Or stuff like James Herriot?"

Take a look at the Welcome... and Readers recommend...threads to see what the group's about. (If you're not sure how to find them, click on the Comedy hyperlink at the top of this page and it will take you to the other threads.)

I am an author and I specialise in satirical fiction. What's been interesting to me is the cultural differences between people when it comes to satire. In particular, my most recent endeavour meets with extremely mixed reviews but they are predictable in that Europeans tend to favour it and Americans don't. I've even had some comments from American readers telling me that the story is too fantastical when, in fact, this is often the point of satire. I was surprised by this reaction, because America does produce satirical comedy. Perhaps, though, it is less ingrained in the culture than in parts of Europe. I also wonder if it's because Europeans have experienced more hardship over the years and have developed gallows humour as a coping mechanism? Anyways, I am curious to hear other people's views on this.

Vaulte wrote: "I am an author and I specialise in satirical fiction. What's been interesting to me is the cultural differences between people when it comes to satire. In particular, my most recent endeavour meets..."

Interesting - why not post it as a separate thread for discussion? I will post a fuller response when I have more time.

It's very hard to elicit a laugh out loud reaction to something you're reading alone in silence at home, compared to being in a darkened auditorium with fellow audience members watching a comedy film or play.

That's not to say there aren't many books that produce a wry smile on the reader's face, but it is a different dynamic

It is very hard for a writer to be funny on the page, but here is a list of a few books that have amused me in my life. Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne remains one of the funniest books I have read. I like its bird brain humour. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons made me laugh, as did The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne. In His Own Write and A Spaniard In The Works by John Lennon are two very original and funny books. In one of his short stories, he named Princess Margaret, for example, as Priceless Margarine, which still makes me laugh every time I remember it. The Dong With The Luminous Nose and other nonsense verses by Edward Lear are funny, too. This year I read a book called The Sheep Who Changed The World by Neil Astley, which is funny, in parts, a political satire about a cloned sheep who manages to solve at least some of the world's problems.

Philip wrote: "Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons made me laugh, as did The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne. "

I loved Cold Comfort Farm and really wanted to like The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman because I've heard so much about it and its influences, but struggled with it. Maybe I'll try again one day.

Marc wrote: "It's very hard to elicit a laugh out loud reaction to something you're reading alone in silence at home, compared to being in a darkened auditorium with fellow audience members watching a comedy fi..."

I have found myself laughing out loud at a couple of books recently. Usually on the train! Perhaps it's because you feel you shouldn't...

One of my favourite laugh out loud moments occurs in a Home Depot in the book the Home to Woefieldbecause it was such a relateable moment trying to track down staff in that massive box of a building.

I can name a dozen laugh-out-loud books--maybe two dozen--but yes it is comparatively VERY rare for any author to achieve that effect.

Complex subject. Comedy depends on many things. Surprise, embarrassment, stiffness, disapproval. Tragedy, desperation. It has a simplicity which is difficult to master. Good comedy also relies very often on... 'bad taste'. Hard to instill into a novel.

Everyone will have their own definition of "literary comedy", but there are a number of books that I would put in that class:
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
The Rachel Papers or Money by Martin Amis
World's End or The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle (and several of his other works)
Nature Girl by Carl Hiassen (ditto)
Each of these is well-written and tackles important themes (literary) and they all have laugh out loud moments as well.
If your taste runs to older works, I could add The Spoils of Poynton by Henry James and many of the plays of Oscar Wilde.

I'm not having Amis, but the rest yes definitely!

For me these were two very funny books

Karoo

A Fraction of the Whole

I remember laughing out loud a lot when reading "Catch 22" but apart from that, and the compilations of "Garfield" comics when I was younger, I find that I'm more often smiling at a good joke in a book, rather than laughing out loud, which is still an enjoyable effect.