tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post872299021324708804..comments2024-03-28T09:33:29.705+00:00Comments on Clothes In Books: Tuesday List: Books that Make Me LaughClothes In Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-90103687186061969952014-12-01T16:56:00.640+00:002014-12-01T16:56:00.640+00:00And her husband was "a do-it-yourself man - i...And her husband was "a do-it-yourself man - if I asked him to put up a shelf he said 'do it yourself'". I think she had this in common with Betty MacDonald - bowling along, being very funny about her husband, and then you suddenly realize this relationship is not OK, and isn't going to survive, there is going to be a split. Vanishingly rare in funny domestic writing at the time. (I hope I'm remembering this right and not maligning a happy marriage.)Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-84266925468114445232014-12-01T14:44:42.202+00:002014-12-01T14:44:42.202+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18030571187291039318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-37114310980751860372014-12-01T14:01:09.929+00:002014-12-01T14:01:09.929+00:00Just remembered the previous boyfriend who took he...Just remembered the previous boyfriend who took her to endless meetings of strange little societies, and the town in Lower Saxony with its "rather self-conscious red-light district".Lucy R. Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-30367392721286897702014-11-29T16:09:41.043+00:002014-11-29T16:09:41.043+00:00All worth a try. Or just read Saki again, he never...All worth a try. Or just read Saki again, he never fails does he?Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-58213476735941025492014-11-29T11:32:49.899+00:002014-11-29T11:32:49.899+00:00Oh, yes, the marvellous, wonderful, genius Saki! I...Oh, yes, the marvellous, wonderful, genius Saki! I adore his work. And I like the Mitford ones and E F Benson's. Not read the others.LollyWilloweshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05616800459266149659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-48926778909667088642014-11-27T21:11:51.446+00:002014-11-27T21:11:51.446+00:00Love Robert Benchley. But comic crime tends not to...Love Robert Benchley. But comic crime tends not to appeal, I like some jokes, but not too many, and not that keen on farcical situations. We are so fussy aren't we? Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-17989183187216984472014-11-27T21:11:06.007+00:002014-11-27T21:11:06.007+00:00Oh my goodness, I have to read these straight away...Oh my goodness, I have to read these straight away!Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-36047567903547640222014-11-27T18:20:28.287+00:002014-11-27T18:20:28.287+00:00Yes, novels with funny bits are more appealing. I ...Yes, novels with funny bits are more appealing. I used to read Lawrence Block's The Burglar Who... series and want to read them again. Same for the Donald Westlake Dortmunder series that is similar. The Hot Rock was wonderful. Glen has LOTS of Robert Benchley books.TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-49050509762850811412014-11-27T16:34:31.920+00:002014-11-27T16:34:31.920+00:00Deric Longden is a must-read. I first encountered ...Deric Longden is a must-read. I first encountered him with "The Cat who Came in from the Cold" but they are so, so much more than cute kitty books. (in fact, the first two, before the cats turned up, about his first wife's struggles with M.E. (at that time nobody knew what it was) - Diana's Story - and his mother - Lost For Words - are incredibly sad but at the same time have so much that is laugh out loud funny and life affirming. They are some of the books I go to first when I need picking up. You might have seen the TV dramatisations of Lost For Words (Thora Hird as his mother... Oh my, you would LOVE the anecdote where Thora Hird meets her "stunt double" for the dramatisation, who turns out to have been a former burlesque dancer... and the Songs of Praise presenting, highly religious, very ladylike Thora has a look through her stunt double's vintage burlesque album... "in some photographs she had not been quite quick enough with the fan..." and responds brilliantly.Daniel Milford-Cottamhttps://www.facebook.com/danielmilfordcottamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-30943700530476299322014-11-27T10:36:57.060+00:002014-11-27T10:36:57.060+00:00Didn't quite get on with Evanovich but keep th...Didn't quite get on with Evanovich but keep thinking I might try her again. Calvin & Hobbes will live forever I think. And some of the others are more novels with funny bits rather than straight humour - might that appeal to you more?Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-76513991795338786772014-11-27T10:35:01.784+00:002014-11-27T10:35:01.784+00:00Oh lots for me to check up on here, thanks. And ye...Oh lots for me to check up on here, thanks. And yes Paddington - brilliant plotting and a hard stare. Don't know Longden or Addis at all. Jennings I am proud to have introduced to many American children who couldn't be living more different lives, but loved him to bits with minimal explanation of prep schools, Latin and cricket...Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-39664611521174324942014-11-27T10:31:57.055+00:002014-11-27T10:31:57.055+00:00Oh yes, Vicki, excellent choice. It's actually...Oh yes, Vicki, excellent choice. It's actually ver cheering that there are so many funny books around, isn't it?Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-4686926421571773242014-11-27T10:30:34.537+00:002014-11-27T10:30:34.537+00:00Lucy, the only other people who I knew to have rea...Lucy, the only other people who I knew to have read AB were the people I gave them to, desperate to spread the word back then. I must admit I haven't thought about her in years, and now I want to re-read. Every time someone opens a door with a lot of clanking and key-turning and bolts drawn, I remember her husband groaning 'Oh Christ, Chateau d'If' when they visit her mother. Makes me laugh every time.Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-89256248870199617142014-11-27T10:27:32.339+00:002014-11-27T10:27:32.339+00:00Oh yes, another fan! That's such a good descri...Oh yes, another fan! That's such a good description of her, and there are phrases of hers that I too remember. Haven't actually read Plague and I, so I can see I must...Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-51930330994377172592014-11-27T07:16:54.681+00:002014-11-27T07:16:54.681+00:00Loved the list, and thrilled to discover a couple ...Loved the list, and thrilled to discover a couple of Betty McDonald fans. Reading her is like being buttonholed by a brilliant raconteur, and many of her phrases have wedged themselves, whole, into my brain. And 'The Plague and I' has to be the funniest/only funny book about having TB ever written.Lissa Evansnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-53409620999444252162014-11-26T23:01:27.525+00:002014-11-26T23:01:27.525+00:00I think Alida Baxter married again and wrote child...I think Alida Baxter married again and wrote children's books (as did MacDonald and Monica Dickens). She was so funny but she's a well-kept secret - I've never met anybody else who's read her!Lucy R. Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-38486124504931263542014-11-26T16:08:51.122+00:002014-11-26T16:08:51.122+00:00Hmmm, there must be some funny books that I have l...Hmmm, there must be some funny books that I have liked. But they don't come to mind. The first Stephanie Plum book by Janet Evanovich was very funny (and had some other good points), and kept me reading that series longer than I should have. Calvin and Hobbes I loved. I will probably try Wonder Boys, and maybe the Nancy Mitford books. But really humor in books is not my thing. I enjoyed the Peg Bracken book, but it has been a very long time since I read it.TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-38519249917852546822014-11-26T14:15:31.707+00:002014-11-26T14:15:31.707+00:00Deric Longden's books managed to be both shrie...Deric Longden's books managed to be both shriek-out-loud funny and excruciatingly sad in the same paragraph. I think you'd love the scene in (I think it's "I'm A Stranger Here Myself." where he imagines his blind wife's old clothes in her wardrobe having a conversation. There's another beautiful line about a silk blouse worn by his wife following her as she turns around "a few moments later." Lovely bits of clothing observation.<br /><br />I can't believe you know (and love!) Jennings! Fossilised fishhooks! I would also include the Paddington books by Michael Bond - Paddington is frequently utterly hilarious and the way he reacts to the world around him is just sublime.<br /><br />Oh yes, and Faith Addis's books about running a children's holiday camp in Devon - The Year of the Cornflake and Green Behind the Ears - like Longden's books, they are ones I read at least once every few years. Very broadly comedic and they always make me limp with laughter - someone else who had a great ear for dialogue and the things people say.Daniel Milford-Cottamhttps://www.facebook.com/danielmilfordcottamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-54101757045259195652014-11-26T09:44:58.851+00:002014-11-26T09:44:58.851+00:00I think Auntie Mame was mentioned here recently - ...I think Auntie Mame was mentioned here recently - a very funny book. skiourophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08200877834536477400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-12414114848570001642014-11-25T22:35:51.524+00:002014-11-25T22:35:51.524+00:00Oh yes another fan! They are such lovely books, I ...Oh yes another fan! They are such lovely books, I wish modern children read them more. And yes also, Just William, great addition to the list...Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-39155677380357811272014-11-25T21:19:08.902+00:002014-11-25T21:19:08.902+00:00After your post yesterday I was hunting through my...After your post yesterday I was hunting through my much-worn old Puffins in search of Geoffrey Trease, and came across "Jennings Goes to School"; even the introduction made me laugh, and I started wondering whether there were any other Jennings and Darbishire fans out there. I can't tell you how pleased I am to find you singing their praises! My only other possible addition to your list would be the Just William books- some of the stories are definitely better than others, but the best are wonderful. I am also a fan of Nancy Mitford and Bridget Jones (first book at least) and look forward to checking out the rest of your list; there really is nothing better than a properly funny book. Thank you!Mrs Fordhttp://mrsfordsdiary.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-81395965346900201992014-11-25T18:44:39.548+00:002014-11-25T18:44:39.548+00:00Oh yes, absolutely....Oh yes, absolutely....Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-1428865306685503732014-11-25T18:44:27.879+00:002014-11-25T18:44:27.879+00:00thanks Prashant, and PG Wodehouse is a nice sugges...thanks Prashant, and PG Wodehouse is a nice suggestion. Calvin and Hobbes - he did do wonderful expressions, and just thinking about boy and tiger makes me laugh.Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-16493281442851932712014-11-25T17:40:40.779+00:002014-11-25T17:40:40.779+00:00How could I have forgotten Evelyn Waugh's Scoo...How could I have forgotten Evelyn Waugh's Scoop? 'Feather-footed through the splashy fen passes the questing vole . . .' Now I must stop. But this has been great fun and there are lots of recommendations I am going to follow up.Christinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16510409974009816550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-8379508114176146692014-11-25T17:15:14.547+00:002014-11-25T17:15:14.547+00:00Moira, this is a wonderful post and I like your ch...Moira, this is a wonderful post and I like your choice of books that make you laugh even though I haven't read most of them. I have read Saki and would like to read some his stories again. I absolutely love Calvin & Hobbes and my all-time favourite strip is the one where Calvin, angry because his father isn’t paying attention to him, scares the hell out of him by blowing into a paper bag and exploding it right next to him. The expression on Calvin’s father’s face is hilarious. There’s a lesson in it for parents who are too busy to spend time with their kids. On another note, I also like Wodehouse humour even though it is often stereotype. Prashant C. Trikannadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16079354501998741758noreply@blogger.com