Gaston de Foix Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 Given the current worldwide level of anxiety, I was wondering if there are humorous novels/memoirs/comics that people on this board turn to in times of stress, unhappiness, sorrow and grief. I'm talking about the books that make you laugh so hard that people give you weird looks. The ones that immediately spring to mind: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. The Uncle Fred short stories/novels by PG Wodehouse (less well-known than Jeeves and Wooster but my introduction to Wodehouse). Terry Pratchett. So much to choose from, but my favorite would be the first Guards trilogy. I love you Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle. Any others? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peadar Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 Sadly out of print, but nevertheless hilarious, is Mervyn Wall's The Unfortunate Fursey. Very funny medieval shenanigans, featuring the devil, witches and deranged monks. Also, Barry Hughart's The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted March 18, 2020 Share Posted March 18, 2020 Every Malazan Book of the Fallen entry with Tehol and Bugg in it. Just skip to their sections. The Onion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IlyaP Posted March 18, 2020 Share Posted March 18, 2020 On 3/17/2020 at 10:37 PM, Gaston de Foix said: Terry Pratchett. So much to choose from, but my favorite would be the first Guards trilogy. Took the words right out of my mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argonath Diver Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 I re opened an old cardboard box of books I packed up after a move maybe fifteen years. Had a lot of clunkers (oh, so I didn't get rid of my college collection of Shannara and Goodkind after all) but some gems. Specific to this thread, several of the Stainless Steel Rat books, which I recall loving in college for their humor. Hope they hold up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Ah, the book referenced in the thread title is one of my all-time faves. I mean it has that one scene that where an adult assaults a particularly loathsome child it's laugh out loud funny, which really shouldn't even be possible. Roald Dahl's adult dark comedy My Uncle Oswald stuff is really good and short and funny to the point that I have difficulty reading it and not guffawing and snorting every couple pages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liffguard Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Lois McMaster Bujold's A Civil Campaign is, to me, always joyful to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inkdaub Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Pollack - The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature Browning Spencer - Resume with Monsters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 22 hours ago, Argonath Diver said: I re opened an old cardboard box of books I packed up after a move maybe fifteen years. Had a lot of clunkers (oh, so I didn't get rid of my college collection of Shannara and Goodkind after all) but some gems. Specific to this thread, several of the Stainless Steel Rat books, which I recall loving in college for their humor. Hope they hold up. Harry Harrison did write a lot of funny stuff. The Stainless Steel Rat series was quite enjoyable. If you want straight out slapstick funny SF, try his book Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers. Another funny one is The Technicolour Time Machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Terry Pratchett for sure: humor and humanism. Douglas Adams for absurdism. Dean Jonathan Swift writes SF. Colin Bateman’s Mystery Man series, a misanthropic Belfast bookshop owner (probably on the spectrum) who gets dragged into investigating small crimes in a city with big problems and lot of dark humor. Very, very funny. Same author also has a Dan Starkey series, but I found the self-destructive alcoholism less fun to read. Paul Howard’s Ross O’Carroll-Kelly series, a hilarious parody of modern Irish social castes. Caoimh McDonnell’s Dublin Trilogy. Paul, Bridget and Bunny are an unlikely trio thrust into a crime story. I just discovered Tom Holt. Light, clever, funny, although not hilarious. Like Arthur Dent in urban fantasy. Kurt Vonnegut. Not my favorite but some people love him. Tim Dorsey has a long series set in the backwoods of Florida. Funny and kooky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Patrick O'Brian, not for everyone but if you can dig the Austen-ian prose it's got a bunch of LOL moments in every installment. I think it's Desolation Island that even has a ship overcome with plague. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 I used to like Tom Sharpe (whom I just conflated with Tom Holt, I don't think I have read anything by the latter), at least the few (mostly of the Wilt series) I read, years ago. Also David Lodge (often a bit too heavy on humanities university stuff) but both might not have aged as well as Wodehouse. The 1970s and 80s can be further away than the timeless pseudo-Edwardian age of Jeeves, Wooster, Uncle Fred, Lord Emsworth, Gussie Fink-Nottle, Barmy Fotheringay-Fipps, Honoria Glossop and all the others). Is "Joy in the Morning" the one with the improvised Blackface and lack of butter for removing the boot-polish? Wodehouse lost his edge at some stage in the 1950s but at his prime he is supreme and second rate Wodehouse is often still better than lots of other stuff. Graham Greene also has some rather funny ones, Travels with my Aunt, and Our man in Havana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaston de Foix Posted March 20, 2020 Author Share Posted March 20, 2020 Thanks all for the recommendations! Keep 'em coming. Right now I'm reading “Nobody Will Tell You This But Me” by Bess Kalb (excerpt): https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/nobody-will-tell-you-this-but-me-phone-calls-with-my-grandmother Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luzifer's right hand Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 I recommend Tom Holt if you want some light but fun reading. Authors like Pratchett make you think which might not be the best kind of escapism in this situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teng Ai Hui Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 For humor, my first thought is always Calvin and Hobbes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Laugh out loud? Maybe not like that, but I love Jasper Fforde's Nursery Crimes stories... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 On 3/20/2020 at 7:08 PM, Luzifer's right hand said: I recommend Tom Holt if you want some light but fun reading. Authors like Pratchett make you think which might not be the best kind of escapism in this situation. Yeah but only third thoughts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mosi Mynn Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Terry Pratchett, of course. Can't help but wonder how Granny Weatherwax would be dealing with this. PG Wodehouse is lovely and benign escapism. Now I want to see a Jeeves and Granny team up. Children's books are great escapism - Roald Dahl, as someone mentioned above, and Olga da Polga, and some Enid Blyton books would be my go to. Narnia seems a good place to visit right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 As for children's books: "Winter holiday" of Ransome's "Swallows and Amazons" series even has a mumps quarantine! Spoiler THis has the double purpose of largely removing the dominating character Nancy and giving an explanation for the overextended winter holiday (because all children cannot return to their schools) necessary for the huge lake to freeze over. Highly recommended although one should start with the first book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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