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Post by kent on Apr 28, 2014 18:44:17 GMT -6
Recently I finished reading The Thin Red Line (James Jones - 1962). I found myself laughing more often than when I read Catch-22, and The Thin Red Line has richer offerings when it comes to pathos and the sh!ttting-horror of war. From pure selfishness, I wish Jones I would had enlarged the character of sergeant Welsh, whom you may remember as Sean Penn in the screening arranged by Malick, he fades away after a robust start. Now Malick made an expert film, laying profundity bare at points where even jones struggled, but Jones had a sense of humour that Malick lacked. There is a point in the novel where Welsh stands pointlessly still for as long as seems fitting for the pure satisfaction of dementing squadies nearby killing time rolling dice as they await disembarkation. Welsh is something else.
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Post by scottenkainen on Apr 28, 2014 20:06:04 GMT -6
In prose, Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency. Though some comic books have been funnier.
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Post by geoffrey on Apr 28, 2014 21:09:00 GMT -6
Far and away the most I have laughed while reading a book was with The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens.
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Post by thorswulf on Apr 29, 2014 7:46:15 GMT -6
Any of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels whenever Death is involved. I laughed so hard I know I annoyed my family!
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Post by kent on Apr 29, 2014 14:52:32 GMT -6
Good choices. I could never get into Pratchett for some reason though there is no denying his immense popularity. He also gives great interviews. I really enjoyed Douglas Adams Hitchhikers Guide when I was younger, laugh out loud stuff at the time. The Pickwick Papers was an eyeopener for me, I had no idea Dickens could write like that. Top drawer comedy escapades.
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Post by talysman on Apr 29, 2014 15:53:54 GMT -6
Either Bored of the Rings or A Harvard Education in a Book, both by The Harvard Lampoon (but not the same writers.) Their Time magazine parody was funnier, but technically not a book...
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Post by Porphyre on Apr 30, 2014 8:06:48 GMT -6
Funniest in the "made me burst out laughing in a public place" way, Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett come first in my mind (especially Good Omens ).
I also find Lean Times in Lankhmar also immensely enjoyable.
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kipper
Level 3 Conjurer
Posts: 55
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Post by kipper on Apr 30, 2014 8:40:41 GMT -6
My favourite are the last three books of The Dying Earth series by Jack Vance (Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel the Clever, Rhialto the Marvellous). Not sure though if I had to pick just one...
Other notable mentions:
Dave Duncan - The Reaver Road, The Hunter's Haunt
Craig Shaw Gardner - The Ebenezum Trilogy, and The Sinbad Series
Fritz Leiber - Fafhrd and Grey Mouser books (as mentioned above)
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - A Baroque Fable
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Post by kent on Apr 30, 2014 9:23:47 GMT -6
I remember laughing at the notion of the sour farting nazgul alright. Cugel is hilarious, definitely some of the funniest stuff Ive read and I prefer those two books to the Dying Earth volume which lacks humour, though not by very much. Do people think Leiber's Fafhrd & Gray Mouser books are funny?
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Post by Porphyre on Apr 30, 2014 14:53:38 GMT -6
Do people think Leiber's Fafhrd & Gray Mouser books are funny? As I said, Lean times in Lankhmar...
Late stuff comes as rather boring. |
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Post by ritt on Jul 8, 2014 19:19:58 GMT -6
Lint by Steve Aylett, the "Non-fiction biography" of beatnik 50's SF writer Jeff Lint. Be warned, the sense of humor involved is extremely bizarre and not to all tastes.
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Post by cleverkobold on Jul 9, 2014 13:42:01 GMT -6
Do people think Leiber's Fafhrd & Gray Mouser books are funny? As I said, Lean times in Lankhmar...
Late stuff comes as rather boring. Yes. A thousand times, yes. It was The Swords of Lankhmar, one of the most gloriously over the top books I have ever read, that came to mind for me. |
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