The three books that never fail to make me laugh.

Some folks have asked me, because I reported on a book as ‘the third funniest book I had ever read’, to inquire about number’s one and two.   Always a slightly dangerous subject to suggest that any one thing is better than another: it really does not matter what.  (Did you notice that colon there ?  I like colons).  It could be the shape and size of an envelope or the the best store to find some aged Italian cheese or a TV show.   It is all relative.

SO … these are my top books for bringing a smile or a laugh or, in many cases with the top one, total meltdown mirth, so that sitting on the sofa, book in hand, I would find a passage that made me unable to read further, as I was shaking with laughter and then when I had sobered up, just reading two more lines, reduced me to a kind of helpless and childish mirth and the tears rolled down my face.  When that happens, it is great comic writing.   And I should add, none of these is remotely modern   The oldest was first issued in 1892 and the second oldest in 1932 and the third in 1956.


Bronze medal goes to  Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons.  Written as a parody of the Thomas Hardy earthy, provincial novels that he turned out by the yard, it relates the effect of a cool, very calm Flora Poste, orphaned and alone, who decides to descend on her relatives at Cold Comfort Farm, a chaotic place in the wilds of nowhere and in modern Brit parlance ‘Get them sorted.’.  She does this with ruthless efficiency.  All the characters, and there are many, are deftly drawn, each with their own strong character.  Flora is as cool as a cucumber, as you should be.   It was made in to a movie, about 20 years ago, with a fairly starry cast too, but the genius remains on the page.

Silver medal  goes to the oldest of the bunch, which has never been out of print.  The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith, yes, they were brothers. A total, small scale joy.   Mr Pooter, a self admitted nobody, decides to record his family’s up and downs, as he tries to move up a mini-step in his London society.  He is a fussy, probably, little man but you know who he is and the ride is wonderful.  Tiny little pieces of Victorian life are here, including wife Carrie and the fairly deadbeat son, Lupin, and you ride with them on the heels of a very unimportant person.   He was almost 100 years ahead of Hyacinth Bucket.  I hope that you know who she is.  If not, there is a dragon in waiting, with her slim-line telephone, with instant last number recall.  

And the Gold Medal goes to ‘The Ascent of Rum Doodle’, by W. E. Bowman which is a glorious parody of books about exploring and climbing mountains.  You will join a truly hapless group, muddling its way up a mountain. Well, they have to get out of the UK first and as their route finder seems to be permanently lost on the London Underground system, it gives you a taste of what is to come. So often, parodies start to run out of steam halfway through, but this one does not.   It usually comes with an introduction by Bill Bryson, detailing how he came across it totally by accident and he states very accurately that ‘this is the funniest book you have never heard of’. Well, now you have, so no excuse not to find it and have a good time climbing a mountain.

And if it too much effort to read, they are all available as recordings, read by actors well versed in how to keep you amused.