# What is your favourite funny novel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [March 14, 2024, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832 "2024-03-14T13:43:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/61 "2024-03-15T01:24:52Z")
I just logged back in to have a look around, intending afterward to find The Awful German Language afterward. Well Done!! ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/62 "2024-03-15T01:48:37Z")
Mark Twain’s essay is very amusing though my German is too weak to fully appreciate it. It reminds me of (and probably inspired) certain work by Jerome K. Jerome, George Mikes and David Sedaris. Read it for free here^ (nine pages): > **[Mark Twain - The Awful German Language : Mark Twain (1835-1910) : Free...](https://archive.org/details/mark-twain-the-awful-german-language/page/n8/mode/1up)** > > Legendäre Satire von Mark Twain über die deutsche Sprache, insbesondere ihre Grammatik. Auszug aus: 'A Tramp Abroad' ^May be required to register if you visit this excellent site frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/63 "2024-03-15T02:05:48Z")
Although the genre of service comedies has more memoirs than novels like Catch-22, the gold standard is _The Good Soldier Svejk_ ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/64 "2024-03-15T04:13:13Z")
That list offered up by the _New York Times_ seems weird, inasmuch as I haven’t even heard of most of the titles. Removing the restriction of “since _Catch-22_” I would immediately cite my favourite humour writer of all time, PG Wodehouse. In that regard … > [@epbrown](#): > > My favorite is PG Wodehouse’s “Mating Season,” one of the Jeeves novels. Thank you for mentioning the great and inimitable PG Wodehouse, not only a great humourist but a master of language who could turn a phrase like no one else. For me probably the best Wodehouse Jeeves novel is _The Code of the Woosters_, but to each his own. There are also numerous great and very funny Blandings novels, like _Pigs Have Wings_, about the scatter-brained peer Lord Emsworth, his domineering sister and delinquent brother and their various quirky guests. And of course there are many wonderfully funny novels that are “free-standing” as it were, and don’t fit into any recurring theme. If we can branch out to short story collections, it opens up an enormous vista. As someone said, the short story is probably a better vehicle for humour than a full-fledged novel. Here Wodehouse again excels, and I’d cite the three “Mr Mulliner” collections, and the many other varied collections featuring Jeeves and Wooster stories, Blandings short stories, the Drones Club stories, and the Ukridge stories. There’s also the many books by Dave Barry, most of which are collections of his newspaper columns, but some were written specifically as semi-fictional accounts on specific subjects, like _Dave Barry Slept Here_ (a farcical “history” of the US), _The Only Travel Guide You’ll Ever Need_, and _Dave Barry Does Japan_, among others. Don’t believe anything you read in any of them! 😁 And if one can put aside his personal troubles, the humour of a younger Woody Allen – before he got old and cranky – was nothing short of pure genius. I’m referring here to the collections _Getting Even_, _Without Feathers_, and _Side Effects_. By the time he got around to _Mere Anarchy_ many years later he was losing his touch, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/65 "2024-03-15T04:28:00Z")
Me too. Humour on multiple levels. From slapstick to dark social commentary humour. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/66 "2024-03-15T04:38:21Z")
My favorite funny novel, that hasn’t been listed yet, is: **A Night of Blacker Darkness: Being the Memoir of Frederick Whithers As Edited by Cecil G. Bagsworth III** , by Dan Wells. He’s not known for his humor (that I know of), but this is hilarious. Set in 1817 England, it is a horror/farce with more than a few 1817 authors as characters. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/67 "2024-03-15T04:40:09Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Dave Barry Does Japan I have a copy of this, or rather, my wife does. I on the other hand, have three different books of compilations of his columns in audio book format, great for long car-trips. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/68 "2024-03-15T04:53:55Z")
I don’t think it’s a novel, exactly, (more of a social documentary, I think) but the funniest book I have ever read was [“Things My Girlfriend And I Have Argued About.”](http://www.thingsmygirlfriendandihavearguedabout.com/) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/69 "2024-03-15T04:54:02Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Thank you for mentioning the great and inimitable PG Wodehouse, not only a great humourist but a master of language who could turn a phrase like no one else. For me probably the best Wodehouse Jeeves novel is _The Code of the Woosters_, but to each his own. There are also numerous great and very funny Blandings novels, like _Pigs Have Wings_, about the scatter-brained peer Lord Emsworth, his domineering sister and delinquent brother and their various quirky guests. And of course there are many wonderfully funny novels that are “free-standing” as it were, and don’t fit into any recurring theme… > > … the humour of a younger Woody Allen – before he got old and cranky – was nothing short of pure genius. I’m referring here to the collections _Getting Even_, _Without Feathers_, and _Side Effects_. Mrs Cretin introduced me to Wodehouse with _Pigs Have Wings_, which led to my binging on PGW’s complete bibliography. Loved nearly all of it but _Pigs Have Wings_ will always be my favorite. Heartily agree about the three Woody Allen books cited. (Not novels, however.) “Pure genius” indeed. There was a time when his standup, movies, and books were _very_ funny. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/70 "2024-03-15T05:01:08Z")
Clearly, @TreacherousCretin, you are a gentleman and a scholar of impeccable taste! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/71 "2024-03-15T05:02:22Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I’m thinking _Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy_ for me. Yup…no question. Nothing else comes close for me. I’ve read it a few times. Listened to the BBC Radiophonics Workshop version many, many times. Seen the movie. Seen the TV version. Never gets old, never fails to make me laugh (the movie was the worst of them, the only one I am not keen on watching again). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/72 "2024-03-15T06:20:53Z")
Some may know Tom Sharpe through his _Wilt_ series (even a film of the first one), but his two South African-set novels, _Riotous Assembly_ and _Indecent Exposure_, are hilarious send-ups of Apartheid-era small-town society, especially the police. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/73 "2024-03-15T11:43:09Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > The James Herriot books are hilarious, in parts. Other parts are very sad, so I wouldn’t call them comedic novels, but the funny stuff is very good. Tristan always slays me. After reading the Herriot books in the US (and excerpted in _Reader’s Digest_) with their treacly hymn-derived titles (“All Creatures Great and Small”, etc.), it was shock to me when I visited the UK and found the same books for sale there with completely different titles and cartoony covers **It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet** > **[Vtg 1973 James Herriot It Shouldn’t Happen To A Vet Pan Books Ltd. Paperback ...](https://www.ebay.com/itm/353964384000?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=353964384000&targetid=1529493965662&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9060351&poi=&campaignid=19851828444&mkgroupid=145880009014&rlsatarget=pla-1529493965662&abcId=9307249&merchantid=6296724&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIldjngpf2hAMVBUpHAR3x3g3aEAQYAiABEgKIyfD_BwE)** > > Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Vtg 1973 James Herriot It Shouldn’t Happen To A Vet Pan Books Ltd. Paperback at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products! **Let Sleeping Vets Lie** > **[Let Sleeping Vets Lie book by James Herriot](https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/let-sleeping-vets-lie_james-herriot/459971/item/36102378/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_everything_else_customer_acquisition&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_content=593719077582&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIldjngpf2hAMVBUpHAR3x3g3aEAQYCSABEgIoI_D_BwE#idiq=36102378&edition=19408793)** > > Buy a cheap copy of Let Sleeping Vets Lie book by James Herriot. From the author whose books inspired the BBC series All Creatures Great and Small , Let Sleeping Vets Lie is the third volume of James Herriot's classic memoirs; a... Free Shipping on... Evidently there was a UK film based on the first book, and using the title “It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet”, released in 1976 and accentuating the comic aspects: > **[It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet (1976) ⭐ 6.4 | Comedy, Drama](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079353/)** > > 1h 34m | G So in the US the Herriot books are good, wholesome family-friendly entertainment with occasional humor and pathos, taking place in the exotic world of the British countryside. In the UK, these re comic novels with occasional sides of pathos, taking place outside the city. Very different takes on what is basically the same material. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/74 "2024-03-15T11:48:24Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Mark Twain’s essay is very amusing though my German is too weak to fully appreciate it. Much of the humour comes from the fact that most of his hilarious observations apply equally well to _English;_ it is not precisely about German, except, of course, the parts where he touches upon German literature and culture and style. However, I love Twain and he is very amusing, but languages are not intrinsically funny, German no more so than English or French or Italian, therefore how far can he really take the joke? He is clever, but to me it is not that side-splitting to hear how some languages have irregular verbs or grammatical gender and come to the astonishing realization that English shares some of these features as well. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/75 "2024-03-15T12:04:49Z")
I second Carl Hiassen’s novels. I think the one I laughed at hardest and longest was _ **Tourist Season** _, where the “revolutionaries” fed out-of-staters to a crocodile. Robert R McCammon’s _ **Gone South** _ is both hilarious and touching. If you’re not in tears by the time you finish reading it, there’s something wrong with you. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/76 "2024-03-15T12:13:25Z")
More UK Herriot covers > **[Book Review: James Herriot - Lorna Sixsmith](http://www.lornasixsmith.com/book-review-james-herriot/)** > > It might be 30 years since I last read James Herriot's books, it's certainly well over 20. I've just reread the entire series and loved every single chapter. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/77 "2024-03-15T12:16:32Z")
It’s kind of jarring nowadays to read his observation that German is poorly suited for describing violence because its phonology is so soft and gentle. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/78 "2024-03-15T12:16:53Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > However, I love Twain and he is very amusing, but languages are not intrinsically funny, German no more so than English or French or Italian, therefore how far can he really take the joke? It’s not the language itself – it’s the way Twain describes it. “We were in the awful presence of the German Language. When you see a literary German dive into a sentence, that’s the last you see of him until he emerges from the other side of the Atlantic with his verb in his mouth.” Surprisingly, that’s not from _A Tramp Abroad_ or any of his novels set in Germany, but from _a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court_. I guess he thought it was too good a line to not use, even if he had to shoehorn it into the book. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/79 "2024-03-15T12:20:52Z")
More Herriot UK titles > **[Lot 167 - Herriot, James If Only They Could Talk; It](https://auctions.tennants.co.uk/auction/lot/167-herriot-james-if-only-they-could-talk-it-shouldnt-happen-to-a-vet-let-sleeping-vets-lie-vet-in/?lot=2169232&sd=1)** > > Lot 167 - Herriot, James If Only They Could Talk; It - Estimate 80-120 GBP ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832/80 "2024-03-15T12:21:10Z")
[The Diary of a Nobody](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diary_of_a_Nobody) by George and Weedon Grossmith is a good’un. Tobias Smollett is always good for beaucoup yoks as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-funny-novel/998832.md?page=5)