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Funniest Books- agree? Or what would you suggest...
One of the funniest things I ever read was in one of the James Herriot books where, to revive pedigree pooch, Tricki Woo (or something like that), he held fast onto her front paws and spun her round and round above his head. I couldn't see the words for tears streaming down my face.
I don't think that happened to Tricki Woo - that was the dog of someone who was psychic and they said that they had been flying through the air - Tricki Woo was the flop-bot dog. Yes all those books made me laugh... i read them over and over...
'Hitchhikers' is my all-time favourite. Of Tom Sharpe's stuff, I'd place Blott on the Landscape and Porterhouse Blue before Wilt. P.G Wodehouse is hilarious if you picture his characters. Certainly all in my top ten.
Douglas Adams, Bill Bryson, David Sedaris - all wonderfully funny. I read Tom Sharpe many years ago, but he didn't really do it for me. I've never read PG Wodehouse. James Herriot was a good chuckle when I read him years ago.
I have read Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson which was funny. One of the funniest books I have read was An Auctioneers Lot by Phillip Serrell who appears on Flog It and Bargain Hunt.
I have read Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson which was funny. One of the funniest books I have read was An Auctioneers Lot by Phillip Serrell who appears on Flog It and Bargain Hunt.
Wilt is about a college lecturer (Henry Wilt) who hates his job teaching day-release students and is hen pecked by a domineering wife. He is arrested for murdering her and her lover and exasperates the police by constantly making flippant comments because he knows that they are alive and have gone away for a weekend.
I saw the film before I read the book and was disappointed that two of my favourite scenes were written especially for the film. Mel Smith played the policeman and Griff Rhys-Jones played Wilt. The inspector has been reading some of Wilt's writing in which he is very critical of the police.
"You're inferring that we're all thick."
"No, I'm implying that you're all thick. You're inferring from what I've written that I think you're all thick."
At one point the inspector gets extremely exasperated with Wilt for being flippant while on a charge of murder.
"You appear to be completely disinterested in the gravity of the charges before you."
"No, no, no, no. A judge is disinterested: impartial to both sides. I am completely uninterested in the gravity of the charges before me."
As those scenes did not appear in the book, it's possible Tom Sharpe didn't write them, but it's still a very funny book.
Michael Frederick Green; "The Art Of Coarse Sailing" and similar "how to (not)" books. [Possibly too old for you 'young ones' to be considered in present ratings.] Alf White's pseusdonym, James Herriot, reminsce of a veterinarian profession. Franc Roddam's creation "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet".
All particularly hilarious, perhaps, due to association with personal experiences.
Well said Jan! I'd forgotten the "Coarse" books. The only one I've read is Coarse Golf, but I have Coarse Sailing on the bedside table waiting for me to find time to read it.
I also have The Deeper Meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd. A "Marmite" book: some find it hilarious, others think it ludicrous. I'm one of the former.
Comments
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
The one about England by Bill Bryson
The Lucia trilogy by E F Benson
Hmmm....
Tend not to read humorous books right now, too busy reading for my BA
'Lucky Jim' is amusing, and the 'Hitchikers' book.
Just finished Nigel Williams Unfaithfully Yours unusual format for a story and also very funny.
I saw the film before I read the book and was disappointed that two of my favourite scenes were written especially for the film. Mel Smith played the policeman and Griff Rhys-Jones played Wilt. The inspector has been reading some of Wilt's writing in which he is very critical of the police.
"You're inferring that we're all thick."
"No, I'm implying that you're all thick. You're inferring from what I've written that I think you're all thick."
At one point the inspector gets extremely exasperated with Wilt for being flippant while on a charge of murder.
"You appear to be completely disinterested in the gravity of the charges before you."
"No, no, no, no. A judge is disinterested: impartial to both sides. I am completely uninterested in the gravity of the charges before me."
As those scenes did not appear in the book, it's possible Tom Sharpe didn't write them, but it's still a very funny book.
But - Chambers and Oxford both have disinterested as also meaning uninterested, something which really irritates me.
Alf White's pseusdonym, James Herriot, reminsce of a veterinarian profession.
Franc Roddam's creation "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet".
All particularly hilarious, perhaps, due to association with personal experiences.
I also have The Deeper Meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd. A "Marmite" book: some find it hilarious, others think it ludicrous. I'm one of the former.
'Politely rude, briskly vague, firmly uninformative'.
I've always rather cherished this description of myself, and I think 'Politely rude' still applies.
It's a gift, you know.
My current 'funny favourite' is Terry Pratchett - he is so very clever with words and he also bears repeated reading.
I didn't like Wilt or the others much, and Hitchhiker was funnier on TV than in the book (Sorry - I know that's blasphemous!).
I think it's called 'Notes on a Small Island'