Reading the 20th Century discussion

Having just finished and laughed heartily at....


From the Oasthouse: The Alan Partridge Podcast

Review here...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I started thinking about books that make me laugh.

P.G. Wodehouse is the most obvious example for me however humour is very subjective.

What about you?

What books make (or did make) you laugh?

I mean to read my first Wodehouse this year, and am looking forward to it!

If it isn't too clever for me, I like fiction with witty dialog. I'm thinking of Oscar Wilde of course, but one of my favorites at this is actually Eudora Welty (particularly Why I Live at the P.O). Also Barbara Pym.

For laughs I don't think you can go far wrong with the unholy trinity of characters, Flashman (if you have the stomach for it) Rumpole and Charlie Mortdecai.
If it's smart silliness you want then S.J. Perleman is your man. Other than those I'd struggle to think of many books that can make me laugh out loud.

Not to everyone's taste, but I have laughed a lot at Blue Heaven by Joe Keenan.

Thanks. There's names there that I have never tried


I'd endorse CQM's top tips - Flashman and Rumpole. I don't know Charlie Mortdecai, another one to investigate

I recently read A Confederacy of Dunces and thought it was very funny however that was extremely divisive for my book group and I was in a minority.

Wilt and many other Tom Sharpe books reduced me to tears of mirth back in the day. I would like to revisit them at some point to see if I still found them so funny.

The Diary of a Nobody is very amusing but, for consistency, it's hard to see past PGW

Nigeyb wrote: "


I don't know Charlie Mortdecai, another one to investigate"

From Wikipedia...

Mortdecai is a series of comic thriller novels written by English author Kyril Bonfiglioli. The book series deals with the picaresque adventures of a dissolute aristocratic art dealer named Charlie Mortdecai, accompanied on his adventures by his manservant Jock. The books consisted of Don't Point that Thing at Me, After You with the Pistol, Something Nasty in the Woodshed and The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery. The books have been translated into several languages including Spanish, French, Italian, German and Japanese. First published in the 1970s, the novels have since attained cult status.

Kyril Bonfiglioli's style and novel structure have often been favourably compared to that of P. G. Wodehouse, Mortdecai and his manservant Jock Strapp being described as bearing a fun-house mirror resemblance to Wodehouse's Wooster and Jeeves. The author makes a nod to this comparison by having Mortdecai reference Wodehouse in the novels.

Sounds fabulous

Literary humour can be so unpredictable, can't it? - Jeeves and Wooster can make me cry with laughter but I've never been able to get on with other Wodehouse.

There are also those writers who wouldn't be designated 'comic' but who still write a rich vein of humour, sometimes quite dark - Shirley Jackson, for one. Also Hilary Mantel's snarky wit which comes out through Thomas Cromwell's commentary in the Wolf Hall books.

Here are some excellent books which I find amusing.:
*Le Chat by Philippe Geluck
*The Homecoming Party by Carmine Abate
*Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth
*Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark
*A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark
*Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
*Pereira Maintains by Antonio Tabucchi
*Two Owls At Eton by Jonathan Franklin
*An American Childhood by Annie Dillard
*Mrs. Bridge by Evan S. Connell
*L'Élégance du hérisson by Muriel Barbery
*Agatha Christie: An Autobiography by Agatha Christie

ETA:I would not classify these as "comic books" though, except for maybe the first.

One that made me laugh out loud was Jeannette Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Ang wrote: "One that made me laugh out loud was Jeannette Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit"


I'd never had that pegged as a comedic read

I agree the Winterson is very funny, particularly the depiction of her mother's habits.

RC if you like Jeeves, have you tried Mulliner? I found these were very similar in style, I keep trying Blandings but striking out but loved the Mulliner books.

I also love E.F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia, the later ones in the series when Mapp and Lucia cross swords are very amusing. As is some of Saki although more droll humour. I like Nancy Mitford's series starting with The Pursuit of Love

Alwynne, thanks - I've never heard of Mulliner but given that I share your love of Mapp and Lucia, and Mitford, they could be just my thing.

There are three Mulliner books in total or an omnibus version. Starting with Meet Mr. Mulliner, Mulliner sits in the pub and regales anyone who ventures near with tall tales featuring a disproportionate number of scary aunts and hapless curates, the style is very similar to Jeeves and Wooster.

Thanks Alwynne - off to investigate Mulliner

When Wodehouse is on form he's unbeatable, did you see the article in the New Yorker last year? Rivka Galchen wrote a wonderful tribute to his work and its value as comfort reading. I'd never imagined Galchen as a Wodehouse fan but seems he crosses a number of literary divides.

Agree with all of Alwynne's choices, I'm reading The Pursuit of Love for another group this month, I love those books. Also loved the Mapp and Lucia books. I'm reading Beverley Nichols The Star Spangled Manner, and even though it is one of his more serious books it's still making me chuckle, and I finished The Diary of a Provincial Lady which also made me laugh.

Tania wrote: "Agree with all of Alwynne's choices, I'm reading The Pursuit of Love for another group this month, I love those books. Also loved the Mapp and Lucia books. I'm reading [author:Beverle..."

I was racking my brains, but you've reminded me that Nancy Mitford always makes me laugh. I've only got as far as Pigeon Pie though so I don't know if they carry on being as funny. It's always put me off reading any more in case they don't.

I've only read the ones in the series starting with 'Love in a Cold Climate' but also really liked Jessica Mitford's Hons and Rebels

Ruth, I think they actually get funnier. I don't think you'd be disappointed.

I'm another one who finds P.G. Wodehouse hilarious - also Angela Thirkell, and I'm thinking I must get back to both of them before too long.

I also agree on Nancy Mitford, and was very pleased to see her complete novels in the Kindle offers Susan posted today!

Dickens and Thackeray both make me laugh too.

Vanity Fair is an all-time favourite of mine, also a huge fan of Dickens's work.

Last night I was reading The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer and chuckling away. When she's on form, she can be very funny.

Ooh, yes, Heyer can make me giggle out loud and Grand Sophy is an excellent example.

Also Elly Griffiths's Ruth Galloway series has some hilarious lines and absurd scenes.

Over the years I have found Reginald Hill's Daziel books have had me nearly crying with laughter. Also I was in an uncontrollable fit of laughter by one of Mick Herron's books.
I found Wodehouse funny when I read him in my early teens, but having read him since, they haven't had that affect. I do think humour can vary with age.
It would seem youngsters now days do not even understand the old Knock, Knock jokes that were so prevalent some years ago.

I was surprised at how hard I find it to pinpoint truly funny books and authors. I agree on P.G. Wodehouse, and I think Evelyn Waugh does a good job too.

Of recent reads, My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite My Sister, the Serial Killer was a joy- from the give away title onwards.

I also liked Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

I do love The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books, comfort reading for me.

I recently read a book that had me laughing, sadly hard to get hold of but I read it online. Sally on the Rocks by the unfortunately named Winifred Boggs.

I’ve been looking for Sally on the Rocks! Would love to read it. It sounds like a lot of fun!

Lynaia, it is available to read here https://archive.org/details/sallyonro...

Thanks Tania!

You're welcome, hope you enjoy it. It isn't exactly readily available, so it's nice to have this to fall back on.

I just finished How Do You Want Me? and found Wax's account funny in a lot of spots, despite a lot of grim material.
Humour is so personal though and reading through the reviews for it, some found it less funny, so each to their own.

reading the above comments I too found Winterson funny in parts with Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? and in the same vein of grim but absurd childhoods, Burroughs' Running with Scissors and to a lesser extent A Wolf at the Table.
I think it was Poison Penmanship: The Gentle Art of Muckraking of Jessica Mitford's, talking about her dealings with the funeral industry in America and teaching journalism amongst other that I read and found funny.
Hard to think of outright funny books on the spot.

CQM wrote: "If it's smart silliness you want then S.J. Perleman is your man. ..."

Thanks for mentioning Perelman. Sounds just my cup of tea! I went looking for him online and found him on archive.org. I don't know why I haven't explored this resource before - it's brilliant! I found a book there called Twentieth Century Parody: American and British which I've just borrowed and will keep me distracted from the sound of the neighbours having several hundred trees removed and chopped into chips this morning. No. OK. Not several hundred. Four actually. But the noise!!

I can second Rumpole, which I've been re-reading this month. I also borrowed an audio version from our online library, with Timothy West as the older Rumpole, narrating, and Benedict Cumberbatch as the younger one. Very good!

One of my favourites is Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House which I've read several times. I also love the film version with Cary Grant, which always makes me laugh.

Rosina wrote: "Not to everyone's taste, but I have laughed a lot at Blue Heaven by Joe Keenan."

Ah!!!! I read this last year and could NOT stop laughing!!! What a bungle!!

I'll add The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Nigeyb wrote: "What books make (or did make) you laugh?..."

I am struck by how few books are mentioned in this discussion topic. Its really very difficult to write a funny novel that has more than niche appeal it would appear.

I have just read a newly released novelKitchenly 434 by Alan Warner. Its his eighth novel and was described in the Times newspaper byline as "like a rude Remains of the Day".
Warner has been well received over the years including a Man Booker Prize long listing in 2010

If anybody remembers Vivian Stanshall and his creation Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, it is reminiscent of that as well.

Set in Sussex; lots and lots of music references (1970's) and some extremely funny sketches.

Its a strange book title (not too many have numerals in their name) but you have to read it to find out what it means!!

I've been laughing at Carl Reiner's My Anecdotal Life: A Memoir.

I read Yes Man by Danny Wallace ages ago and found myself laughing out loud at times. Caveat as always: taste in humour is different for different people.

Kit wrote: "I read Yes Man by Danny Wallace ages ago and found myself laughing out loud at times. Caveat as always: taste in humour is different for different people."

Not read that one but I do like Danny Wallace

Thanks Kit

Has anyone read John Hadfield's Love on a Branch Line? I came across an adaptation online labelled 'Eccentric British Comedy'

#https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpekK...

and enjoying it so far. But I'd never heard of the author or the book.

Tom Sharpe and Carl Hiaasen normally gets the giggling and guffaws going.

Wayne wrote: "Tom Sharpe and Carl Hiaasen normally gets the giggling and guffaws going."


Agreed Wayne

Nigeyb: If you do read Yes Man I hope you like it.

Carl Hiaasen is a strange one to me - labeled as thriller but more jocular.

Kit wrote:


"Nigeyb: If you do read Yes Man I hope you like it.

Carl Hiaasen is a strange one to me - labeled as thriller but more jocular."

Thanks Kit - I'll let you know

Carl Hiaasen is indeed a curious hybrid but often very humourous along with corruption, ecology, and politics

Talking of funny books here's Esquire magazine's list of...


39 Of The Funniest Books Ever Written

https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/bo...

I've read quite a few of them that, whilst I enjoyed many of them, I would not have on my own list (e.g. The Bottle Factory Outing, The Catcher in the Rye, My Sister, the Serial Killer) however some certainly did tickly my funny bone.

I am currently rereading one that's on the list and which I remember enjoying when it came out in the 1980s...

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend

I'm delighted to report that, whilst some of it has not dated too well and feels anachronistic, it's still very amusing. Adrian's uptight personality and judgemental tone, which results in some quite good parent/child role reversal scenarios, remains clever and funny. I only ever read this one but note that the series ultimately stretched over 8 books, finishing off with 2009's Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years, five years before author Sue Townsend's death.

I wonder what those subsequent volumes are like? Has anyone read them?

More about The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 (1982) by Sue Townsend...

Meet Adrian Mole, a hapless teenager providing an unabashed, pimples-and-all glimpse into adolescent life. Writing candidly about his parents' marital troubles, the dog, his life as a tortured poet and 'misunderstood intellectual', Adrian's painfully honest diary is still hilarious and compelling reading thirty years after it first appeared.

Nigeyb wrote: "Talking of funny books here's Esquire magazine's list of...


39 Of The Funniest Books Ever Written

https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/bo...

I've read quite a few ..."

A list worth exploring. I have read a few, most recently Cold Comfort Farm and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas both of which I enjoyed but did not find hilariously funny. I guess it takes a lot more to make a grumpy old(ish) man suffering from the Covid-blues laugh. I also have a few on the reading list, with Vile Bodies, Catch-22 and A Confederacy of Dunces scheduled for this year.

From The History Man:

' “Are you going to eat your sodding cornfakes?” asks Howard of the children. “Or do you want me to throw them out of the window?”

“I want you to throw them out of the window,” says Martin.

“Christ,” says Barbara, “here’s a man with professional training in social psychology. And he can’t get a child to eat a cornflake.”

“The human will has a natural resistance to coercion,” says Howard. “It will not be repressed.”

“By cornflake fascism,” says Celia.'

I really enjoyed The History Man

Wayne wrote:


"I also have a few on the reading list, with Vile Bodies, Catch-22 and A Confederacy of Dunces scheduled for this year."

Three books I loved Wayne but I wouldn't say any of them is a laugh-a-thon. Dunces is the funniest but it is also v divisive. Many, possibly most, seem to hate it. I thought it was blimmin fab.


Nigeyb wrote:

"I am currently rereading one that's on the list and which I remember enjoying when it came out in the 1980s...

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend

I'm delighted to report that, whilst some of it has not dated too well and feels anachronistic, it's still very amusing. Adrian's uptight personality and judgemental tone, which results in some quite good parent/child role reversal scenarios, remains clever and funny. I only ever read this one but note that the series ultimately stretched over 8 books, finishing off with 2009's Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years, five years before author Sue Townsend's death."

Nearly finished now. Tremendous fun. Really enjoying it and it's making me laugh.

Nigeyb wrote: "Wayne wrote:


"I also have a few on the reading list, with Vile Bodies, Catch-22 and A Confederacy of Dunces scheduled for this year."

Three books I loved Wayne but I wouldn't say any of them is..."

Thanks for the heads-up Nigeyb. I have Catch-22 waiting for me as an Inter Library Loan so will most probably get to it first out of the three. I have also read Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 and one or two more and found them all laugh out loud funny. It is a long time ago though and I might go back for more some time in the future.