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Joined: 3/14/2011
Posts: 80
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I recently wrote a blog post about the lack of comedy in today's fiction. Or so I've noticed (could be I'm just not finding the right titles).
While there are always amusing lines here and there, I haven't found too many books that keep the laughs going throughout (also please keep in mind that the majority of the books I read are YA).
Do people not like a lot of comedy in their fiction? Life is so stressful and serious as is, I'd think more people would look for it. Those crazy slapstick kind of movies seem to bring in big bucks, so why not books?
What's your take on comedy in fiction? Do you think it doesn't have a place with the vampires, fae and love stories?
Can you recommend some books rich with humor?
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Joined: 4/3/2011
Posts: 13
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I haven't seen a lot of comedy recently, but I'm a fan of Christopher Moore. Love, love, love Lamb; The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal.
Oh, and Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman? Awesome.
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Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 412
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Addie, take a look at Phule's company and Myth Adventures
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Joined: 4/3/2011
Posts: 13
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I'll have to check those out! Thanks!
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Joined: 5/5/2011
Posts: 23
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Another vote for Christopher Moore. Lamb, the Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal = one of my all time favourite novels.
Check out Jasper Fforde if you haven't already. Love his stuff - great combo of cerebral and silly. I just finished the latest Thursday Next. The map of Fiction Island alone is worth the jacket price (eg clowns are located on the border of comedy and horror).
Hiaasen and Brookmyre can be pretty funny too.
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Joined: 3/12/2011
Posts: 376
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Third vote for Moore in general. Pratchett isn't comedy per se, but has loads of humor throughout.
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Joined: 3/14/2011
Posts: 44
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I think one of the reasons you find novels with funny parts, as opposed to funny novels, is that constant humor can sometimes get in the way of the story or character development. Readers need to believe in, fall for and/or root for the main character(s). Characters either need to grow or overcome something to carry the reader along.
I think the reason that the books referenced above are so good is that the authors are able to balance character development and plot with humor. And, much of the humor comes from the character's POV or their oddball reactions to situations or other characters.
I find Richard Kadrey's Sandman Slim serious funny even though it's fairly dark material. It's the main character's dry humor and Kadrey's juxtapositioning of otherworldly creatures in a very familiar setting that make the books so funny.
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Joined: 2/26/2013
Posts: 4
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I highly recommend the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich if you want hilarity. I once burst out laughing so loudly while reading "One for the Money" that I frightened my cat. Evanovich's humor is nonstop, knee slapping, tears run down your face, can't catch your breath laughter.
Also, I just finished reading "Bet Me" by Jennifer Cruisie. It takes extreme talent to write humor like that and make it seem easy!
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If there aren't any funny parts, I don't want to read it. Levity lightens the tension and gives the reader a break. Besides, in real life, people often josh around with each other in tense situations - if this doesn't happen in fiction, it's not as real and makes a scene seem lopsided.
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Joined: 6/28/2011
Posts: 188
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I highly agree, Mari. Especially in fantasy, I find a lot of writers (aspiring writers in particular) go for a deadly earnest mode of characterization that just doesn't ring true to me. It's as though they've read The Lord of the Rings and been amazed by the power of the story's drama, but somehow managed to overlook the fact that everyone in the trilogy has a terrific sense of humor. Even Gollum makes the occasional smart-ass remark.
As for outright comedy, I think one issue is simply that novelists are deprived of several tools that enhance pure comedy. We cannot make very effective use of facial expressions or tone of voice in the way that film-makers can, nor can we control the timing of dialogue in the same way. A lot of funny lines are funny because of the precise length of a pause that precedes them, or because of the absence of such a pause. Authors can try to describe such pauses, but ultimately there's always a paragraph break and a uniform indentation between lines of dialogue. As a result, humor in books has to be almost entirely character-driven and situational, or built around amusing turns of phrase.
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In my YA, the teen's parents have painted the pantry door with chalkboard paint and leave stupid messages for each other.
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here's an example:
Notes I don't like? The ones that say, "Destiny, Do Your Laundry." I always
want to write back, "Can't Steve Do
It?" Well, I did once, but Mom didn't find it very funny. I still
had to do my own laundry. I don't mind, though; Mom has a cool washing machine
and dryer get up out in the passage between the kitchen and the garage. I also
don't like the ones that say, "Destiny,
Do Your Homework." One time I wrote that I didn't have any, and
Steve wrote, "A Passenger Train
Leaves Harlan At 35mph. How Soon Will It Arrive In Corbin?" Devon
wrote back, "Dad, Passenger Trains
Stopped Running In The 60s!"
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Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 412
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I like that! thats the kind of running gag that would have me in stitches every time it popped up.
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thanks alexander! 
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