Humour and literature

[saliotthomas]

Does it always have to be serious to be worthy of the literature label?Of course not,be it does get anoying when it become a systeme.
The funniest novels i read would be John Fante-west of Rome (my dog stupid) a real delight,followed closely by Water Music by TC Boyle whom unfortunatly never wrote it's equal in his following attemptes.
The evolution man(or what we did to father) by Roy Lewis was hilarious about a stone age familly with anachronic thoughts.
I would add Roddy Doyle who's one of my favorite when it come to descibe Irish life style.
I must admit(and i'm sure i shall be stoned to death for this)that i'm not a big fan of Terry Prachett,whom i find very repetitive.Same with Woodhouse and Tom Sharp.A bit of a trade.Sorry there.

My last good laugh was Lamb by Christopher Moore about a very original life of Christ.I read a few others of his but,again very systematic.He is very good at describing stupid angels though.

[Sybarite]

In recent years, Terry Pratchett has been "accused of literature'.

The Discworld novels are very funny ? but they go beyond, with Pratchett using the fantasy genre to satirise the real world, including dealing with some tough issues such as religious fundamentalism and racism.

[Ramblingsid]

I didnt take to Pratchett the first time I tried many years ago - perhaps it's time to try again.

Big Wodehouse fan - I don't care if they are repetitive etc I could read them over and over.

Elsewhere I have advocated the comic novels of Jasper Fforde so will do so again here. Full of puns and silly jokes he creates an alternative world (based largely on Swindon as far as I can tell) and rather bookish stories. The Eyre Affair for example is vaguely to do with people trying to change the ending to Jane Eyre. Other titles include The Well of Lost Plots and First Among Sequels (geddit!).

Are they literature? I dunno - but they do what they say on the tin - ie make me chuckle.

:)

[titania7]

What a clever new thread, Thomas! Honestly, there aren't that many genuinely funny books....at least, I haven't found many of them. However, two Russian classics would be worth a mention, namely Gogol's Dead Souls and Sologub's The Little Demon. I wrote a thread on Sologub (under "Writers") back in October, and I quoted many of the most
humorous passages from The Little Demon in this write-up. But almost the entire book is funny! In fact, I found myself laughing aloud at least 2/3 of the time, particularly when I was reading the last half of the book.

Although the title of the book, The Little Demon, does refer to the main character, Peredenov, there is also a small evil spirit that pops up intermittently. To quote one paragraph:

"The little demon ran squeaking under the chairs and into every corner. It was filthy, repulsive, evil-smelling and terrifying.
There was no doubt that it was Peredonov's mortal enemy and had appeared on the scene just for him: it had never even existed before. It had been created and then a spell had been cast over it. And there it was, a fantastic creature which could take many shapes and which was born to terrify and destroy him.

It followed him everywhere, deceiving and mocking him.
It would roll over the floor and turn into a rag, a ribbon, a twig, a flag, a small cloud, a dog, a cloud of dust in the street. Everywhere it crawled or ran after him to weary and exhaust him with its quaking dance."

Peredonov is also amusing. His immense paranoia ("Everything conspired in hostility towards Peredonov. Dogs laughed at him, people barked"), his malicious, child-like antics--such as the scene in which he cuts all the eyes out of a stack of playing cards--are truly funny.

I will save up more comments on Dead Souls for another post.

Thomas, wasn't My Dog Stupid on your list of favorite books?
Is this something I would like, do you think? If so, I will check the library.

~Titania

"Indeed, a lie is often more plausible than the truth. Almost always.
The truth, of course, is never plausible."
~Fyodor Sologub, The Little Demon

[Irene Wilde]

I must admit(and i'm sure i shall be stoned to death for this)that i'm not a big fan of...Woodhouse...

M. Thomas, I forgive you, but only because you're so handsome! ;)

Wodehouse, D. Adams, W. Shakespeare, Mr. Sterne's little opus that I'm about half-way through, M. Twain, my twin literary bffs Sir Noel and Mrs. Parker, and too many others for me to count without removing my shoes, clearly demonstrate that literature is filled with humor (how American my spelling!). Oh! And dear ol' Uncle Oscar, of course.

Oops! I forgot to give credit to the newcomers, like young Mr. Buckley of "Boomsday" and "Thank You for Smoking." He seems to have a gift for the humorous le mot juste as well. And people say I don't keep up with the times.

[saliotthomas]

Thanks for reminding me of my handsomeness Irene,i have a tendancy to froget it.

I don't know if you would like My dog stupid Titania,might be a bit offensive.

[titania7]

Thomas,
Thanks for answering the question. I'm not priggish, by the way. And last time I noticed I wasn't wearing a nun's habit ;). Moreoever, I did read Henry Miller's Quiet Days at Clichy. What you might find more surprising still, Thomas, is that I gave it a glowing, ****0 review.

Regarding handsome men, I had a male friend who admitted to me that he was/is incredibly vain. Often he would look in the mirror and say, "You are 'it' today." Then again, he sometimes--very rarely, I would imagine--would look in the mirror and say, "I am not 'it' today. In fact, I may never be 'it' again."

Whenever I think of vanity, I think of this man. I do admire the fact he was willing to disclose the fact he's vain. You have to admit--that takes courage! Of course, since this same man had battled a 15-year addiction to marijuana, which, according to him, had influenced what he told me had been a genius-level intelligence, I guess he needed to feel good about some aspect of himself :D.

I guess I'll skip My Dog Stupid. And there I was hoping I had found out about another funny book I would enjoy! :(

Best,
Titania

[Ramblingsid]

I am repeating myself I know (no low, vulgar humour please :)) - but I would also mention Simon Raven's novels again here.

I don't know whether they are meant to be funny - but they made me laugh when I read them because of the revolting antics of the characters. It could just be that I am a bit strange :)

Oh and Jerome K Jerome - are they literature? Don't know and don't care. I tend to think everything is literature although I may have a view as to whether this or that is good or bad literature. And we all have different views on that. :cool:

So I am not going to pontificate on that - after all I am not a pontiff. Ah but Wodehouse ..... well he just writes so beautifully doesn't he ..... if that's not Literature (with a huge capital L) I don't know what is.

[nnyhav]

Flann O'Brien (not that Beckett, Joyce, Kafka et al aren't a bunch of comedians).

and then there's Ogden Nash ...

[Beth]

Wot, no mention of Philip Roth? Profane, merciless, and smooth. The first three Zuckerman novels are always good for laughs amid Nathan's antics. Note to self: must read The Prague Orgy to finish the original group.

[Sybarite]

I'm not sure how I could have forgotten Gore Vidal ? Live from Golgotha and Myra Breckinridge are laugh-out-loud funny in places.

[LCT]

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s20/stiofanwiles/Waiting.jpg




Waiting for Gateau: Samuel Bakeit's piece of slapstick. A bunfight! Tart! Every trifle will have you howling.

I also enjoyed;

Far from the Madding Crow: A hilarious Poe-tic tale of a Raven who loses his marbles from the writer of Mess of the D'urbervilles and Judge the Obscure.


A Christmas Carol: A Vorderman is not just for Christmas, but forever. Countdown those laughs. More Sudoku vicar?


In Search of Lost Lime: Proust?s bitter examination of a man and his quest for the zest of a citrus fruit. Juicy stuff. It'll have you in tears...of laughter.

Shotgun by James Clavell: A group of Samurai find that their swords are no match for a Tommy and his pump action rifle. A laugh-a-minute romp.


The Rainbow: D H Lawrence?s account of the sexual awakening of George, Zippy, Bungle and Jeffwey as they explore the bounds of eroticism?up above the streets and houses?


Finnegans Cake: Begin bakin? doughtless arising our icing by carbon ate so da de?clairs the light. A sponger if air I did sly as a pie cease sees him in custardy. Funny stuff!

[Eric]

Depends on whether you're looking for a snigger, a chortle, a belly laugh, a giggle, a guffaw, or a wry smile.

I've laughed aloud at a few passages of "Northanger Abbey". But I would suggest that Austen's sense of humour differs substantially from that of Rabelais (or the comedian Frankie Boyle, for that matter).

I like witty observation, as in Anthony Powell (his memoirs as much as his novel), an author I feel like bringing up as much RamblingSid brings up Simon Raven. There, you have far more wry smiles than loud laughter.

Reading the written versions of Monty Python sketches is interesting. You have to focus on the words without the props. So some of the sketches survive in print; other just aren't funny without the funny voices and facial expressions.

Comic scenes in otherwise serious novels are sometimes more effective than when the novel tries to be funny all the way through. Hence my laughter at the Austen. I've never read either David Lodge nor Malcolm Bradbury's comic novels. The danger with labelling a novel a comic is that you raise expectations for every chapter. Flashes of wit are more effective than "Why Come To Slaka?", a (condescending and xenophobic) joke sustained over 96 pages.

[titania7]

I feel it's incumbent upon me to mention one of the greatest humorists of all-time, Mark Twain. So much of his work is funny enough to bring tears to your eyes, but my very favorite of all
would have to be "The Notorious (or Celebrated) Jumping Frog of Calaveras Country." Here's an excerpt (I hope no one will have difficulty understanding the dialect ;)):

"He ketched a frog one day, and took him home, and said he cal'lated to educate him; and so he never done nothing for three months but set in his back yard and learn that frog to jump. And you bet he did learn, too. He's give him a little punch behind, and the next minute you'd see that frog whirling in the air like a doughnut--see him turn one summerset, or maybe a couple, if he got a good start, and come down flat-footed and all right, like a cat. He got him up so in the matter of ketching flies, and kep' him in practice so constant, that he'd nail a fly every time as fur as he could see him. Smiley said all a frog wanted was education, and he could do 'most anything---and I believe him. Why, I've seen him set Dan'l Webster down here on this floor--Dan'l Webster was the name of the frog--and sing out, 'Flies, Dan'l, flies!' and quicker'n you could wink he'd spring straight up and snake a fly off'n the counter there, and flop down on the floor ag'in in as solid as a gob of mud, and fall to scratching the side of his head with his hind foot as indifferent as if he hadn't no idea he'd been doin' any more'n any frog might do.
You never see a frog so modest and straightfor'ard and as he was, for all he was so gifted.....Smiley was monstrous proud of his frog, and well he might be, for fellers that had traveled and been everywheres all said he laid over any frog that ever they see."

If you're interested in knowing more about Mr. Twain, go here:

The Official Web Site of Mark Twain

The Official Web Site of Mark Twain (http://www.cmgww.com/historic/twain)

For more on Mark Twain and Southwestern humor, check out this link:
Southwestern Humor (http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/projects/price/southwes.htm)


One thing's for sure--whether you decide to explore the universe of Twain's fiction or not, you shouldn't miss out on "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." It's one of the funniest stories I've ever read!

Best,
Titania

[titania7]

LCT,
Very clever! Glad to see you've finally joined the forum ;). You have such a rollicking sense of humor! I particularly like Proust's "In Search of Lost Lime." I'm always having limes spoil because they roll back behind all the other fruit in the refrigerator...and when I find them, many of them are as hard as golf balls! :eek:

Gan canny,
Titania

[Irene Wilde]

I feel it's incumbent upon me to mention one of the greatest humorists of all-time, Mark Twain. So much of his work is funny enough to bring tears to your eyes, but my very favorite of all
would have to be "The Notorious (or Celebrated) Jumping Frog of Calaveras Country."

If you're interested in knowing more about Mr. Twain, go here:

The Official Web Site of Mark Twain

The Official Web Site of Mark Twain (http://www.cmgww.com/historic/twain)

For more on Mark Twain and Southwestern humor, check out this link:
Southwestern Humor (http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/projects/price/southwes.htm)


One thing's for sure--whether you decide to explore the universe of Twain's fiction or not, you shouldn't miss out on "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." It's one of the funniest stories I've ever read!

Best,
Titania

I believe I did mention Mr. Twain, but you did him more justice than my brief mention.

Another laugh-out-loud frog story is in John Steinbeck's "Cannery Row." That whole book is just fantastic, but the catching-the-frogs story was hilarious.

[titania7]

Why, Irene Wilde, I'm positively mortified! However did I miss your mention of Mr. Twain! Shame on me! I don't think I've been eating enough food lately. I need somebody to fix me one of those mushroom omelets like the one you made mention of in John Lanchester's Debt to Pleasure. Mirabell, will you come cook for me? I'm getting tired of all the dirty dishes! :(

What can I say about Mr. Twain?? Fab-u-lous!! And would you believe it, Irene? Is it synchronicity? Methinks it is. I just purchased a copy of Cannery Row at a book sale last month. It's still stashed away in a box somewhere.....but I'll find it. Can't wait to check out the catching-frogs story. I just announced to my mum today that I'm thinking of getting a pet frog :). After all, that character in Mr. Twain's story pointed out that all a frog needs is a good education! My dream is to learn Spanish and teach it to the frog at the same time. Sounds like a plan, doesn't it?? I can give up my search for a prince once I own a pet frog! Hmmm....I could even buy him a miniature crown! Who says a frog doesn't deserve the....well, royal treatment? ;)

~Titania

[Heteronym]

Many Nobel Prize winners are deadly funny: Saramago, Fo, Grass, Garc?a M?rquez, France, Camus. I don't know where the idea literature must be serious came from, but it certainly didn't come from writers.

[Eric]

Never read any Clemens. Must try some day.

Hetero, I see your list of Nobel winners that make you laugh. Do tell me whether Camus, for one, is one for a snigger, a chortle, a belly laugh, a giggle, a guffaw, or a wry smile. I found the Camus I read rather straitlaced and depressing. Grass is a different kettle of fish. And Fo, surely, is intended as humorous.

[Heteronym]

The Fall is hilarious, Eric, in the dry, sarcastic sense.

[Irene Wilde]

Why, Irene Wilde, I'm positively mortified! However did I miss your mention of Mr. Twain! Shame on me! I don't think I've been eating enough food lately. I need somebody to fix me one of those mushroom omelets like the one you made mention of in John Lanchester's Debt to Pleasure. Mirabell, will you come cook for me? I'm getting tired of all the dirty dishes! :(

What can I say about Mr. Twain?? Fab-u-lous!! And would you believe it, Irene? Is it synchronicity? Methinks it is. I just purchased a copy of Cannery Row at a book sale last month. It's still stashed away in a box somewhere.....but I'll find it. Can't wait to check out the catching-frogs story. I just announced to my mum today that I'm thinking of getting a pet frog :). After all, that character in Mr. Twain's story pointed out that all a frog needs is a good education! My dream is to learn Spanish and teach it to the frog at the same time. Sounds like a plan, doesn't it?? I can give up my search for a prince once I own a pet frog! Hmmm....I could even buy him a miniature crown! Who says a frog doesn't deserve the....well, royal treatment? ;)

~Titania

If you ever find yourself driving through Virginia City, NV, you will find a large sign that says "Mark Twain was Robbed Here." Apparently his luck improved after that. :)

I do hope you enjoy Cannery Row. It is a favorite of mine, very gentle and sweet.

Good luck education your frog. I hope it does its homework more willingly than my daughter.

[Noane13]

One of my favourites is Magnus Mills 'Restraint of Beasts"

[saliotthomas]

I shall check that out Noane.I'll let you know.
Try to get back Pourquoi j'ais mang? mon p?re by Roy lewis.I think there is a preface by Theodore Mono,not shure.

[rabbitfast]

Love in the Time of Cholera is hilarious...as are Ulysses, Pride and Prejudice, At Swim-Two-Birds and countless others...so yes, there is room for humour in literature...absolutely.

[Igu Soni]

Don't understand why there's no mention of Bill Bryson round here. Doesn't write fiction, makes me laugh my head out every time, and I generally find it hard to get more than a smile or a snort out of books(in comparison to my friends). Wikiquote article (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bill_Bryson).

I would also like to know if anyone actually thinks about George MacDonald Fraser. Supposed to be funny but I found him contrived, though I did only read around ten pages

[OutragedOptimist]

A few laugh out loud funny writers come to mind: Samuel Beckett, Carson McCullers (sp?), Mark Twain. I'm reading Murakami for the first time and finding him pretty funny too.
It occurs to me that these are all writers who, while they aren't directly political, have strong views on social issues. Is there some link between comedy and politics? In non-fiction, comedy tends to make political points come across stronger; maybe the same goes for fiction.

[john h]

I think humorous books are a lot harder to pull off than generally recognized. I've read a lot of books that were supposed to be funny that didn't seem very funny at all. An exception is "The Siege of Krishnapur" by J.G. Farrell.

[Flower]

I find Hanif Kureishi hilarious at times! I have found myself laughting out loud a few times reading his books...

His old novel "Buddha of Suburbia" was made into a tv serie some years ago and that gave me a good laught as well...

[Bev Stayart]

During his youth, Mark Twain lived in both Missouri and Iowa.

[My name is red]

A confederacy of dunces is my favourite when it comes to humour.I do love books with a little humour in it.

[ferns_dad]

A few laugh out loud funny writers come to mind: Samuel Beckett, Carson McCullers (sp?), Mark Twain. I'm reading Murakami for the first time and finding him pretty funny too.
It occurs to me that these are all writers who, while they aren't directly political, have strong views on social issues. Is there some link between comedy and politics? In non-fiction, comedy tends to make political points come across stronger; maybe the same goes for fiction.

beckett in watt...

[Daniel del Real]

I am currently reading a book titled The Best English Humour and it's a collection of short stories by English writers. It is always good to rescue Humourous texts as solid pieces of good literature.
This books includes texts by P.G. Wodehouse, Saki, Evelyn Waugh, Tom Sharpe, Roald Dahl, Alan Bennett, Julian Barnes, Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, Douglas Adams and Nick Hornby.
By now, I've just read the first 5 authors and it's been hilarious. The tales by Saki and Roald Dahl are very very good.
I have the curiosity to see how funny can McEwan be, since the books I've read for him are really tragic.
Anyway, a really good collection to smile a little in this hard times.

[Igu Soni]

Nick Hornby.
Please say more about this one, when you are done reading. I watched the movie adaptation(High Fidelity) of one of his books and found it hilarious. Would love to know how he writes.

[miercuri]

I read three books by Hornby, High Fidelity included, and I believe it is the kind of literature one would read when one wants to loosen up a bit. Hornby has a healthy dose of wit and irony which I certainly appreciate. I liked High Fidelity the book better than the film, but I liked the film version of About a Boy better than the book. It's nothing all that special but it cheers me up, so I guess he's worth checking out. :)

[ferns_dad]

wild boys by burroughs has some very hilarious parts

[Liam]

I can't believe no one's mentioned David Sedaris (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sedaris) yet. He's hilariously funny. Do check out his essay-like stories (or his story-like essays, whatever) Barrel Fever, Naked, Holidays on Ice, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, and When You Are Engulfed in Flames, his latest, which I haven't read.

It's all about being Greek, American, gay, part of a big family, exiled from a big family, loving your relatives, hating your relatives, as well as the general suffocation and small-mindedness of Anytown, America. I enjoyed his collections thoroughly (a phrase I often use to express my enthusiasm, I know).

[Jan Mbali]

Your list certainly covers some of the funniest I have read: Sharpe (The Throwback and Porterhouse Blue are my favourites) and of course Dahl, Wodehouse (appeals to everyone - cannot figure out exactly why - perhaps clever butler and brainless aristos does it), Waugh and the unique Saki. Damon Runyon I devoured as a child, purely because he was among the books on my parent's shelves. Recently found Travels with Donkey in the Cevanne by Stevenson hilarious. Find Jerome K. Jerome more irritating than funny, and Thurber similarly so, because both seem to play the same tune in endless variations. There are great novelists who can be extremely funny - Dickens is one - en route, as it were. And then there are the satirists, Swift for me was the greatest, and there are Vonneguts, et al who are hard to pin down. But what I find funniest, are the wonderful scripts you get in the best movies or made for TV series, the gbest of which for me are the scripts written by Ben Alton for Black Adder goes forth - the WW1 in the trenches series. Where wit meets satire meets situational humour, both sharp and rude and crude. "Ball bouncingly funny" to quote one of the characters. And comic poets and singer-poets and stand-up comedians. And the Simpsons at their best. Bless them all for levening our sad lives!

[miercuri]

David Sedaris
Some of my friends keep raving about him. These same people also rave about Josh Kilmer-Purcell's memoir I Am Not Myself These Days, which according to them is supposed to be pretty funny and brilliant. I've had these two names on my list of priorities for almost two years now.

[Igu Soni]

I read three books by Hornby, High Fidelity included, and I believe it is the kind of literature one would read when one wants to loosen up a bit. Hornby has a healthy dose of wit and irony which I certainly appreciate. I liked High Fidelity the book better than the film, but I liked the film version of About a Boy better than the book. It's nothing all that special but it cheers me up, so I guess he's worth checking out. :)

Thanks. I enjoyed About a Boy the movie, but had no idea it was written by Hornby.:D
And I just saw yesterday High Fidelity the book in penguin's orange-striped(classic) line. Weird.

[Threetrees]

I am careful about humour to make sure whether I have it or not. Humour is the mirror of your soul, isn't it? I must admit that certain people laugh at me - I immediately see them as those having it. If laugh at them is the same. All the others I call "humour-rumours". They echo me back in the manner alike. It's a battle. They (I) see that there is something funny in what I (they) say or recite but they (I) can't get where humour lies. I don't smile ( or smile but it's much like a laughter - when we smile to people saying "Good morning!" it doesn't mean we laugh at them, does it?) when it comes to humour (or should I?). I laugh when humour comes. I am always serious about it. Nothing can be more serious than this humour. Someone has started this thread, so we'll continue. This branch deserves more attention as it is the strongest one, to my mind, in any language. I'd like to be selective as much and miscellaneous as well. Here we go with the refreshments.

Robert Benchley. One of the explorers (along with the other masters - they will follow in "to be continued...") who had ploughed and cultivated the soil to exhibit this "treasure" of language. As soon as we experience the same things let's laugh with them. Ok?
*_________________________________________________ ___________________________________________

As a rule, I try not to look into mirrors any more than is absolutely necessary. Things are depressing enough as they are without my going out of my way to make myself miserable. But every once in a while it is unavoidable. There are certain mirrors in town with which I am brought face to face on occasion and there is nothing to do but make the best of it. I have come to classify them according to the harshness with which they fling the truth into my face. I am unquestionably at my worst in the mirror before which I try on hats. I may have been going along all winter thinking of other things, dwelling on what people tell me is really a splendid spiritual side to my nature, thinking of myself as rather a fine sort of person, not dashing perhaps, but one from whose countenance shines a great light of honesty and courage which is even more to be desired than physical beauty. I rather imagine that little children on the street and grizzled Supreme Court justices out for a walk turn as I pass and say "A fine face. Plain, but fine."

Robert Benchley.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________
Has humour died here since 30-Aug-2009, 12:32? Threetrees.

[Eric]

Humour is unlikely to have died a couple of years ago, Threetrees. But people perhaps don't think about it so much. They mumble the name of "Woody Allen" as a kind of talisman and go into a brown study, out of which they never come.

As someone in touch with various different nations, I notice that whether we're talking about TV sitcoms or Stephen Potter, stand-up comedians or books of humorous anecdotes, tastes vary a lot, even within that small continent, Europe.

I feel that, for instance, Germans, Dutch people, and Scandinavians are more attuned to lavatory humour while, for instance, the Poles have a more developed sense of the absurd. Even in Britain, there was a huge sea change when the Monty Python team came along. Before that, British humour was very much more Morecambe and Wise and working men's clubs' stand-up comedians. And Benny Hill's bum-slapping hilarity (which goes down well in the Germanic countries I've just listed).

I personally don't read many books of undiluted humour, finding humour within serious novels more interesting, maybe as a counterpoint or foil to the rest of the story (as, indeed, in Shakespeare).

[Threetrees]

I feel the same, Eric. It's good that we see eye to eye (and not tooth for tooth) at least in the matters of humour (and probably in some other fields there can be found a multitude of common ideas). I prefer to be both with eyes and teeth. (Sorry, I try to be jocular as usual)

[Threetrees]

As an intersection in the thread I'd like to recollect Walter Hines Page whose sense of humour and earnestness came hand in hand. He was an American journalist, publisher, and diplomat. Walter H. Page was the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom during World War I. Page believed that a free and open education was fundamental to democracy. He felt that nothing — class, economic means, race, religion — should be a barrier to education. But with this serious approach to life and education there are the things that highly praise him as a jollier.

__________________________________________________ _________________________________________________

The English newspapers took delight in printing Page's aphorisms, and several anecdotes that came from America afforded them especial joy. One went back to the days when the Ambassador was editor of the Atlantic Monthly. A woman contributor had sent him a story; like most literary novices she believed that editors usually rejected the manuscripts of unknown writers without reading them. She therefore set a trap for Page by pasting together certain sheets. The manuscript came back promptly, and, as the prospective contributor had hoped, these sheets had not been disturbed. These particular sections had certainly not been read. The angry author triumphantly wrote to Page, explaining how she had caught him and denouncing the whole editorial tribe as humbugs. " Dear Madam," Page immediately wrote in reply, "when I break an egg at breakfast, I do not have to eat the whole of it to find out that it is bad." Page's treatment of authors, however, was by no means so acrimonious as this little note might imply. Indeed, the urbanity and consideration shown in his correspondence with writers had long been a tradition in American letters. The remark of O. Henry in this regard promises to become immortal: "Page could reject a story with a letter that was so complimentary," he said, " and make everybody feel so happy that you could take it to a bank and borrow money on it."

Another anecdote reminiscent of his editorial days was his retort to S. S. McClure, the editor of McClure's Magazine.

"Page," said Mr. McClure, "there are only three great editors in the United States."

"Who's the third one, Sam? " asked Page.

Plenty of stories, illustrating Page's quickness and aptness in retort, have gathered about his name in England. Many of them indicate a mere spirit of boyish fun. Early in his Ambassadorship he was spending a few days at Stratford-on-Avon, his hostess being an American woman who had beautifully restored an Elizabethan house; the garden contained a mulberry tree which she liked to think had been planted by Shakespeare himself. The dignitaries of Stratford, learning that the American Ambassador had reached town, asked permission to wait upon him; the Lord Mayor, who headed the procession, made an excellent speech, to which Page appropriately replied, and several hundred people were solemnly presented. After the party had left Page turned to his hostess:

"Have they all gone "

"Yes."

" All? "

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Then let's take hands and dance around the mulberry tree!"

Page was as good as his word; he danced as gaily as the youngest member of the party, to the singing of the old English song.

The great service in St. Paul's Cathedral, in commemoration of America's entry into the war, has already been described. A number of wounded Americans, boys whose zeal for the Allies had led them to enlist in the Canadian Army, were conspicuous participants in this celebration. After the solemn religious ceremonies, the Ambassador and these young men betook themselves for lunch to a well-known London restaurant. In an interval of the conversation one of the Americans turned to Page.

"Mr. Ambassador, there was just one thing wrong with that service."

"What was that?"

"We wanted to yell, and we couldn't."

"Then why don't you yell now? "

The boy jumped on a chair and began waving his napkin. "The Ambassador says we may yell," he cried. "Let's yell! "

"And so," said Page, telling the story, "they yelled for five minutes and I yelled with them. We all felt better in. consequence."

This geniality, this disposition not to take life too solemnly, sometimes lightened up the sombre atmosphere of the Foreign Office itself. "Mr. Balfour went on a sort of mild rampage yesterday," Page records. "The British and American navies had come to an arrangement whereby the Brazilian ships that are coming over to help us fight should join the American unit, not the British, as was at first proposed. Washington telegraphed me that the British Minister at Rio was blocking the game by standing out for the first British idea---that the Brazilian ships should join the British. It turned out in the conversation that the British Minister had not been informed of the British-American naval arrangement. Mr. Balfour sent for Lord Hardinge. He called in one of the private secretaries. Was such a thing ever heard of?

"'Did you ever know,' said the indignant Mr. Balfour, turning to me, 'of such a thing as a minister not even being informed of his Government's decisions?' 'Yes,' I said, 'if I ransack my memory diligently, I think I could find such cases.' The meeting went into laughter!"

from THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF WALTER H. PAGE
BY BURTON J. HENDRICK
__________________________________________________ ________________________________________________

[lenz]

Please, if you are going to discuss humour in literature, stick to the topic.

[Threetrees]

The guy wakes up one morning to find a gorilla in his tree. He looks in the phone book for a gorilla removal service until he finds one.
"Is it a boy or girl Gorilla?" the service guy asks.
"Boy," is the man's response.
"Oh yeah, I can do it. I'll be right there", says the service guy.
An hour later the service guy shows up with a stick, a Chihuahua, a shotgun, and a pair of handcuffs. He then gives the man some instructions: "Now, I'm going to climb this tree and poke the gorilla with the stick until he falls. When he does, the trained Chihuahua will bite the gorilla's testicles off. The gorilla will then cross his hands to protect himself and allow you to put the handcuffs on him."
The man asks, "What do I do with the shotgun?"
The service guy replies, "If I fall out of the tree before the gorilla, shoot the Chihuahua."

[pigeonweather]

People's ideas of what's funny are so varied. I once had an argument with someone who'd just finished writing their Master's Thesis on the 'tragedy' of Kafka's 'The Castle', whereas I thought the book was hysterical. Along the same line, I recently re-read 'The Metamorphosis' and was struck by the part where, despite having just woken up transformed into a giant insect, he is certain he can still catch the seven o'clock train, or, at worst, the eight o'clock. In Kafka's case, humor is like a dagger pointed straight at the heart of our common absurdity.

[Threetrees]

__________________________________________________ _____________________________________

Are there control authorities? There are nothing but control authorities. Of course, their purpose is not to uncover errors in the ordinary meaning of the word, since errors do not occur and even when an error does in fact occur, as in your case, who can say conclusively that it is an error?

from 'The Castle' by Franz Kafka
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________

Very good, Tom, that you've fetched Kafka. Here, in forum, we have the same, don't we? Kafka's mini-castle? Members control members. Members give their conclusions. Anarchy of views. Who can say conclusively that it is an error or a humour? TTT

[Heteronym]

Having read The Castle weeks ago, I still remember the humor in the novel with vivid pleasure. It's a strange sort of humor. There shouldn't be anything to laugh about K's condition of being knocked around, from person to person, always receiving inconclusive answers. I think it's a humor of paradoxes, when you're confronted with something that doesn't have a logical way out, I think you can only laugh.

[Threetrees]

Everything, as it turns out, has its scientific explanation. When I've read this article (link below) I immediately realized we can be ill when we laugh or don't do it at all. I don't know but my primary need is to laugh. I even laughed when I was scanning this The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. Am I insane?*
__________________________________________________ _____________________________
http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=100246

For more than two decades, this patient could not keep from laughing even when he did not detect humor. His examination disclosed memory impairment, frontal-executive dysfunction, and a gait disorder with lower extremity pathological reflexes, consistent with his bifrontal encephalomalacia and hydrocephalus. His involuntary laughter was secondary to pseudobulbar palsy and may have been facilitated by disinhibition of the anterior cingulate gyrus.

__________________________________________________ _______________________________________

[pigeonweather]

we can be ill when we laugh

Reminds me of Italo Svevo's "Confessions of Zeno", the scene where the father calls the family into his study to reveal the secret of life, and it turns out to have been a brain tumor instead.

[Threetrees]

Hi, Tom. Started to read your stories. They are incredibly hilarious. )

[pigeonweather]

Started to read your stories
thanks! that's very kind of you to say

[Eric]

I agree with those of you that think that think that "The Castle" is essentially a humorous book.

I find some of the postings here a trifle distracting.

[Threetrees]

What is the best place to punch a shark?

A friend of mine (may I call her like that) told me she didn't want to punch it. She said it would
have been better not to be on its (shark's) way. So,
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________
- What if it wants to punch me?
- Shark doesn't know "to want" or "not to want". There's only instinct.
- I have also instinct - to protect myself.
- Try to avoid the shark.
- Do you think I can manage?
- Smile at it.
- I can smile but I suspect its (shark's) smile of another kind and it is not a kind one.
- Then punch it if you like.
- Where to?
- In the nose.
- Do you think I can manage?
- I know you can. Make your try in the eye then.
- Shark could then have a bruise. Green Peace will fine me.
- What is better then to be fined or to be eaten?
- Ok. I think we'll have the shark for the supper. Call me later.
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________

The people also discuss it. Join.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S-OkbpmuCc

[Threetrees]

Mothers-in-law, hen-pecked husbands and bad cheese nowadays

Max Beerbohm (who is in the catalogue of my favourites) recounted once (early 20th century) the subjects of merriments of the public. How much had they altered since then?


...the entertainment consists almost entirely of variations on certain ever-recurring themes. I have been at pains to draw up a list of these themes. I think it is exhaustive. If any fellow-student detect an omission, let him communicate with me. Meanwhile, here is my list:

Mothers-in-law
Hen-pecked husbands
Twins
Old maids
Jews
Frenchmen, Germans, Italians, Niggers (not Russians, or other foreigners of any denomination)
Fatness
Thinness
Long hair (worn by a man)
Baldness
Sea-sickness
Stuttering
Bad cheese
'Shooting the moon' (slang expression for leaving a lodging-house without paying the bill).


The days I have read a someone's comment: funny thing is, my feet smell exactly like parmesan.