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I find I have a consistent problem when looking for books to read, specifically funny novels. They're never classified as comedy. Douglas Adams is shelved under sci-fi, Terry Pratchett's under fantasy, and if there is a humour section it's full of memoirs and parodies. So how do you find good, funny stories, other than by stumbling across them unexpectedly or following specific authors? For anyone else having the same problem, I'll start by listing some that I've found and enjoyed. Some of them you've probably already heard of, if not read, but I might as well list them anyway.
So that's what I've got. What are some other funny books/authors? How do you find good stuff to read?
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Nov 29, 2016 11:16
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| # ? Apr 20, 2024 03:41 |
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Everyone says A Confederacy of Dunces but it is seriously loving funny.
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Nov 29, 2016 11:19
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Sewer, Gas and Electric: The Public Works Trilogy - Matt Ruff.
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Nov 29, 2016 17:59
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Three men in a boat, Jerome K. Jerome - about three men on a boating holiday Star Diaries, by Stanislaw Lem - assorted stories from a starship captain A bunch of other Stanislaw Lem fiction - including Crompton Divided, The Futurological Congress
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Nov 29, 2016 19:15
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OP a lot of that stuff sucks a confederacy of dunces, toole catch-22, heller the master and margarita, bulgakov grendel, gardner cat's cradle (or really anything), vonnegut the crying of lot 49 or anything by pynchon, i guess
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Nov 30, 2016 00:04
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snoremac posted:Everyone says A Confederacy of Dunces but it is seriously loving funny. drat came in here just to say this haha. Vonnegut is good too yeah. Also Catch 22.
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Nov 30, 2016 01:22
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Tiggum posted:I find I have a consistent problem when looking for books to read, specifically funny novels. They're never classified as comedy. Douglas Adams is shelved under sci-fi, Terry Pratchett's under fantasy, and if there is a humour section it's full of memoirs and parodies. So how do you find good, funny stories, other than by stumbling across them unexpectedly or following specific authors?
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Nov 30, 2016 02:03
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Tiggum posted:I find I have a consistent problem when looking for books to read, specifically funny novels. They're never classified as comedy. Douglas Adams is shelved under sci-fi, Terry Pratchett's under fantasy, and if there is a humour section it's full of memoirs and parodies. So how do you find good, funny stories, other than by stumbling across them unexpectedly or following specific authors? Yeah, we're all in the same boat here, I think. I generally find new people to read by finding someone I enjoy and then working backwards through their influences (and then back forwards through people that those influences said they enjoyed); Pratchett and Adams lead directly to PG Wodehouse (do not pass Go, do not collect £200); and then through Wodehouse you get to turn-of-the-century stuff like Jerome K Jerome, and Diary of a Nobody; and then back forward via Wodehouse to George Macdonald Fraser.
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Nov 30, 2016 03:22
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OWLS! posted:Sewer, Gas and Electric: The Public Works Trilogy - Matt Ruff. chernobyl kinsman posted:catch-22, heller Trin Tragula posted:Yeah, we're all in the same boat here, I think. I generally find new people to read by finding someone I enjoy and then working backwards through their influences (and then back forwards through people that those influences said they enjoyed); Pratchett and Adams lead directly to PG Wodehouse (do not pass Go, do not collect £200); and then through Wodehouse you get to turn-of-the-century stuff like Jerome K Jerome, and Diary of a Nobody; and then back forward via Wodehouse to George Macdonald Fraser.
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Nov 30, 2016 03:53
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ah see the problem is that you have terrible taste
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Nov 30, 2016 04:04
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Tiggum posted:Wodehouse is really good, I should have included him in my original list. I'll have to try Jerome and Fraser. If you like Wodehouse you really need to dig into those turn-of-the-century comic writers and humourists; they were their own little cottage industry, being really quite funny for about 30 years until Wodehouse came along and perfected what they were doing while also creating something new and unique, and nobody could match him. Kind of like how there were a load of really good skiffle bands in Liverpool in the late 50s, and then the Beatles happened.
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Nov 30, 2016 04:19
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Funny is subjective, but If you like your murder mysteries then James Anderson wrote three terrifically funny books in the 1970s. They are parodies of 1930s detective stories but with a decent mystery thrown in. The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy, The Affair of the Mutilated Mink, and The Affair of the 39 Cufflinks. Then he died on us so there aren't any more 
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Nov 30, 2016 10:04
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Tiggum posted:Jerome and Fraser. Careful with Jerome. 3 men in a boat is funny, but there are books where he kind of loses interest halfway though and a couple where he bangs on and on about religion and god in a way that will piss off Christians and atheists alike. These are not funny at all. All Roads Lead to Calvary is the worst example of this and a horrible sanctimonious steaming turd of a book that you should save yourself from.
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Nov 30, 2016 10:13
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learnincurve posted:Funny is subjective, but If you like your murder mysteries then James Anderson wrote three terrifically funny books in the 1970s. They are parodies of 1930s detective stories but with a decent mystery thrown in. These definitely sound like something I will enjoy.
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Dec 1, 2016 02:47
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Hugh Laurie's The Gun Seller isn't bad. I'll also go with Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall.
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Dec 1, 2016 04:47
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Tiggum posted:These definitely sound like something I will enjoy. Funny mysteries without too much blood and guts are my thing  You should also check out Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters (written 1975-2006) - first four are available on kindle as a bundle deal. But the real strength of the series is the narration by Barbara Rosenblat. She's one of those gung ho victorian lady explorers who ends up in egypt, and says what she thinks; "I was feeling perturbed and annoyed. 'I am feeling peturbed and annoyed' I said" and the whole story follows her life for about 30 years. This next one is Mrs Pollifax series by Dorothy Gilman (written 1966-1990) "Mrs. Pollifax is an elderly widow who has come to find life dull and is almost ready to end it all out of sheer boredom. Inspired by a newspaper profile of an actress who began her career in later life, she decides to fulfill a childhood ambition and apply for a job as a spy at the CIA."
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Dec 1, 2016 09:45
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William Gaddis wrote some funny novels OP
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Dec 1, 2016 11:42
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If you want to go with the classics there's a bunch to choose from. Candide, by Voltaire Quite possibly one of the funniest books ever written and possibly the gold standard of satire. It's worth picking up an annotated edition, as even though you can appreciate the book without them, without the historical context your enjoyment might not be all it can be (most of the tragedy that befalls Candide, in addition to some of the stuff he sees, is based on historical events). Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes Also a very funny book, although probably more tragically so than most. I'm very fond of the Edith Grossman translation and have gushed about it before. Most people give up with the Windmill stuff, but that's by far the weakest. The chapter from where Rocinante tries to get frisky with the mares up until the History of Cardenio is probably one of the funnier things ever written. Gargantua and Pantagruel, by François Rabelais A 16th century century monk writes a bunch of satire riddled with sex, violence and fart jokes. What's not to love? They're a series of five novels, although most modern editions include them in a single volume, about the exploits of Gargantua and his son Pantagruel, two learned giants. They're very vulgar and even get challenged for obscenity these days. Definitely worth checking out.
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Dec 1, 2016 14:38
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Im saddened that no one recommend Christopher Moore.
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Feb 5, 2017 06:48
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Ride The Gravitron posted:Im saddened that no one recommend Christopher Moore. BTW, I've now read: Three Men in a Boat - It was uneven, but the good bits were good. A Confederacy of Dunces - Didn't like it at all or find anything funny about it. Diary of a Nobody - Same. The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy - enjoyed it but didn't find it particularly funny. Just struck me as a pretty standard cosy rather than a parody of the genre. I've taken note of the other suggestions as well and added several to my reading queue.
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Feb 5, 2017 14:59
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Tom Sharpe is funny, if farce is your thing. Riotous Assembly is sharp as gently caress about apartheid SA.
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Feb 5, 2017 19:37
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I liked this one: Orconomics: A Satire The premise if an economy was built up around adventuring. Fun read, looking forward to the next one.
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Feb 6, 2017 05:15
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Robert Asprin has written a number of comedy novels. His Phule Company books are some of my favorite to re-read.
nessin fucked around with this message at 05:25 on Feb 6, 2017 |
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Feb 6, 2017 05:22
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Gotta drop The Leaky Establishment by David Langford. Absurd farce about British nuclear research in the eighties, one of the very few books that made me laugh out loud.
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Feb 7, 2017 01:33
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Funny and literary rarely mix. Don't feel bad, OP. Pratchet and Adams wrote some good stuff. Vonnegut is always good. He's the closest we'll ever get to a writer who wrote comedy and literary fiction. Catch-22 is good. A Confederacy of Dunces is overrated and not funny.
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Feb 7, 2017 04:55
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BananaNutkins posted:Funny and literary rarely mix. that's completely wrong
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Feb 7, 2017 05:30
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BananaNutkins posted:Funny and literary rarely mix. Seems weird to post in the book forum without ever having read a book but what do I know
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Feb 7, 2017 07:50
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here's the facts: the only human to have combined 'funny' and 'literature' is this guy named kurt vonnegut
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Feb 7, 2017 08:13
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I'm going to mention Kinky Friedman's crime novels, I read a bunch of them some years back and they were fun.
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Feb 7, 2017 09:55
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nessin posted:Robert Asprin has written a number of comedy novels. His Phule Company books are some of my favorite to re-read. I remember reading a couple of these twenty years ago as a junior high kid and really enjoying them- Phule was among my first imternet handles- but I also scarfed down everything Piers Anthony wrote until he had a little op-ed at the end of one of his books about how ephebephilia is good and cool and how kids should read his books in secret if their parents are upset with the themes That creeped me right tf out and the best thing I can say about Anthony is that at least he's a incompetent creep Anyway- haven't read Asprin since then, I don't expect HIGH LITERATURE, but is it readable?
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Feb 7, 2017 13:25
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Peanut Butler posted:Anyway- haven't read Asprin since then, I don't expect HIGH LITERATURE, but is it readable? The early Myth books are still classics of the genre, the Phule books remain readable as an adult. A lot of his other stuff is just kinda flat and bad and unfunny but I think he just ran out of good ideas.
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Feb 7, 2017 14:17
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:The early Myth books are still classics of the genre, the Phule books remain readable as an adult. A lot of his other stuff is just kinda flat and bad and unfunny but I think he just ran out of good ideas. When it comes to the Myth books, I feel like you should just read them until you think, "huh, these puns aren't funny anymore" and then stop because they're not getting better. I remember really enjoying the Phule books, but I read them around the time I read the Myth books, so I won't speak as to their quality; if other people vouch for them, then go ahead and give them a try.
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Feb 7, 2017 19:04
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BananaNutkins posted:Funny and literary rarely mix. Don't feel bad, OP. Pratchet and Adams wrote some good stuff. Vonnegut is always good. He's the closest we'll ever get to a writer who wrote comedy and literary fiction. Catch-22 is good. A Confederacy of Dunces is overrated and not funny. i, too, was once a sophomore in college
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Feb 8, 2017 01:18
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Oh, I just thought of one, probably my favorite political fiction ever, Al Franken's "Why Not Me?" in which he runs for president in 2000 on a campaign built entirely on "No More ATM Fees", becoming increasingly estranged from reality, and culminating in spending his first hundred days locking himself in the Lincoln bedroom, depressed and inconsolable. The story is told through the framing device of a docent at the Franken Presidential Library, who is a clone of Franken. The audiobook is read by Al and it's great, like there are more genuine gut laughs in that book than expected, especially if you only know safe, relatively defanged Senator Franken and not the guy who liberally wrote gently caress words and portrayed himself in this book as an increasingly attention-hungry curmudgeon who lays sick burns on Al Gore Haven't read it in a few years, its amazing how.... less outlandish the concept of an Al Franken presidency is now
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Feb 8, 2017 01:36
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Peanut Butler posted:there are more genuine gut laughs in that book than expected, especially if you only know safe, relatively defanged Senator Franken and not the guy who liberally wrote gently caress words and portrayed himself in this book as an increasingly attention-hungry curmudgeon who lays sick burns on Al Gore And what if I have no idea who Al Franken is at all? How much do you need to know about American politics of the time to enjoy it?
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Feb 8, 2017 03:26
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The weird thing with Dunces is that it reads to me like the comedy should have broad appeal, but people come out of it thinking it's hilarious or not funny at all. Likewise, people either love Ignatius or think he's completely unlikable as a character. I dunno. Personally I find it as endlessly quotable as The Simpsons.
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Feb 8, 2017 08:04
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Tiggum posted:And what if I have no idea who Al Franken is at all? How much do you need to know about American politics of the time to enjoy it? There are probably layers and extra lols if you know who such as Frank Luntz is but yeah its not essential imo- a lot of the book focuses on his gonzo political campaign with his fictional violent boozehound brother Otto and Dan Haggerty from the TV show Grizzly Adams. Also it was written in 1999, which was a pretty slow news year by today's standards Its good, I'm hunting down a copy for a re read
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Feb 8, 2017 08:23
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it turns out that there's two funny authors in the world - kurt vonnegut and a united states senator
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Feb 8, 2017 09:20
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A human heart posted:it turns out that there's two funny authors in the world - kurt vonnegut and a united states senator You're forgetting Gaddis, the only author I know of to use 500 pages just to set up a lame pun. Which is hilarious.
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Feb 8, 2017 17:41
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| # ? Apr 20, 2024 03:41 |
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Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the funniest novel if you enjoy Mark Twain's dry wit
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Feb 10, 2017 12:35
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