Over the past few months I have taken to listening to "classics" on tape while I wash the dishes. As we don't have a dishwasher, I actually end up listening to books quite frequently.
Last year I started with Anthony Trollope's The Way We Live Now, which I really enjoyed and which had eerie overtones considering our current financial crisis (everyone in Trollope's book was "speculating," and there's a character who's definitely Madoffesque). Then I moved it along to E.M. Forster's A Room with a View*, which I enjoyed the hell out of. I chose that one because I saw a bit of the Masterpiece Theatre production of it on PBS, and thought, oh, I'll just get the video from the library. Then I further smartened up and realized I could actually read the book, or at least listen to it. What a novel idea!
This year, however, things have stalled a bit, as I'm making my way through Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence. It's interesting, but am I correct in guessing that ol' Edith didn't have much of a sense of humor? I chuckled quite a bit through the Trollope and the Forster turned out to be way more amusing than I thought it would, but any chuckling I'm doing during this one is because her main character, Newland Archer, is such a dud (and also because I keep picturing Daniel Day-Lewis in the role, from the 1993 movie, and it makes me giggle).
Now, I am predisposed to liking British authors, and thinking they're a bit more humorous than most. Is that true, do you think? Are British classics funnier than American ones? If anyone has an American "classics" author they think is rather lighthearted, please do let me know.* I'll need a new book tape soon.
*It also has my vote for some of the best character names ever: Lucy Honeychurch and Cecil Vyse.
**I hate to rain on any parades but please don't suggest Mark Twain. I have never understood the appeal of Mark Twain's humor.
Not sure about Americans, but for Brits, have you tried Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat? I think it's pretty hilarious.
Posted by: Nora | 21 January 2010 at 09:21 AM
I love, love, love A Room With a View. I found the 1980s film with Helena Bonham-Carter and Judi Dench before I picked up the book, but the book has that wry humor that Edwardians seemed especially adept at. Age of Innocence: another novel I love, but not one that springs to mind as terribly laughable, unless one finds Newland's constant haplessness to be amusing.
I'm not sure that Americans really found a sense of humor as far as 'classics' go until the mid-20th century. Have you tried A Confederacy of Dunces? I haven't read it, but it's been a pretty constant recommendation in terms of 'literary' and 'funny.' I just finished rereading The Thin Man, which has snappy dialogue and is short, but it's more a classic of mystery lit than a bona fide Modern Library-type classic.
Posted by: Bibliomane | 21 January 2010 at 09:48 AM
Wow, great question. I think Bibliomane is correct; it took a while for the U.S. develop not just a literary sense of humor, but literature at all.
I read "A Confederacy of Dunces". I didn't think it was that funny, maybe I just didn't get it. I find Kurt Vonnegut's books to be funny. And I recall "Main Street" by Sinclair Lewis as being humorous. I read "Babbit" right after because "Main Street" was so great, but it did not quite compare.
Posted by: Ruthiella | 21 January 2010 at 11:12 AM
I like Booth Tarkington.
My book club read Age of Innocence and almost everyone hated it. I realized I would have taken a different side if I'd read it as a teenager - I sympathized with Mrs. Archer and I actually liked the ending.
Posted by: Jessica | 21 January 2010 at 11:27 AM
Nora,
You know, that's the third time this year someone has told me about "Three Men in a Boat." Thank you--I think it's just moved up the list.
Bibliomane,
Well, yes, Newland's constant befuddlement is kind of funny, but mostly I just kind of feel bad for May. And, blast, now I have to choose which version of "A Room with a View" to watch--I love both Helena B-C and Judi Dench but the later TV version, from 2007, looked pretty good too.
I think you're right on about the Edwardians and their "wry" humor. Maybe that's just the kind of thing I gravitate to. And, hm, The Thin Man, I might try that. I love classic mysteries. Thank you!
Bibliomane, Ruthiella,
I'd heard that about "Confederacy of Dunces" too, but I didn't really get it when I tried it. I might have been in too much of a hurry. I could see where the main guy could have been kind of funny in an inept way, but I just didn't stick with it.
Hm, Sinclair Lewis. There's another book on tape possibility. I wouldn't say I enjoyed "The Jungle" but it certainly wasn't dull. I've never read "Main Street"--thanks for the suggestion!
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 21 January 2010 at 11:30 AM
Hmmmm, I can't think of any American classic writer I would call funny. Is Pynchon old enough? Probably not.
I agree though that Trollope is excellent and quite funny.
Posted by: Tripp | 21 January 2010 at 11:45 AM
Personally, I liked House of Mirth much better than Age of Innocence. But, then, I also like Mark Twain :-)
I would second Vonnegut.
Posted by: Laura | 21 January 2010 at 11:55 AM
A Room with a View rocked. I love the British Modernists. I love them. I love them. I want to sleep with them, all of them, except for Virginia Woolf who was snobby.
Edith Wharton was born without a sense of humor, but that's okay. I very much liked Age of Innocence (that last scene is just TRAGIC) but one of my favorite books EVER is her book Ethan Frome. Knowing what I do of your reading tastes, I'd guess that you'd like it (except that, seeing as how I love it so, you would despise it).
Funniest academic fiction ever is by a Brit, Kingsley Amis (Martin's daddy), and it is called Lucky Jim. You should listen to that, and then report back to me how you couldn't get into it.
As for Americans: I looked through my own spreadsheet of books I've read and came up with nothing. Then I looked at the wikipedia entry on American lit. Except for Mark Twain, none of the authors mentioned wrote anything even remotely funny until you get to Joseph Heller and Catch-22. Oh, you know who else? Flannery O'Connor might work. Try her on audio. But I'm sorry, I have no other suggestions. Americans didn't learn to be funny until the late twentieth century.
As for
Posted by: lesbrarian | 21 January 2010 at 11:57 AM
I love this comment thread. There is *some* humor in early American fiction, but it generally doesn't translate very well into the present. For instance, Hawthorne's The Blythdale Romance is kind of funny in parts if you know something about the history of Transcendentalist communes, but even then it's a very slight sort of humor. I adore EM Forster and am really quite fond of the Edith Wharton I've read (House of Mirth is my favorite, but I've never read Ethan Frome--I need to correct that)--but she is not funny.
Posted by: laura | 21 January 2010 at 12:31 PM
Jessica,
Hm. I don't know anything about or by Booth Tarkington, but I do like the name. That's enough reason to get something by a person, isn't it? :)
Tripp,
Oh, dear, Pynchon's another one I don't understand at all. Was "The Crying of Lot 49" funny? I got maybe halfway through and realized that if I closed it, I wouldn't remember anything about the main character or the story. That didn't seem like a good sign. Is he considered humorous? (I'm really curious about the appeal of Pynchon so please do let me know. Do you think male readers like him better than female readers?) And yes, I'm going to get another Trollope. I loved "The Way We Live Now" way more than I expected to.
Laura,
Absolutely love Vonnegut, and find him hilarious in the saddest, darkest way possible. Ditto Joseph Heller. Any more recent authors you think can compare to those two giants?
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 21 January 2010 at 01:24 PM
p.s. : Citizen Reader, you're confusing the two Sinclairs. (Everyone does this. Everyone.) Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle. Sinclair Lewis wrote Main Street.
Posted by: lesbrarian | 21 January 2010 at 01:26 PM
Lesbrarian!
Was Virginia snobby? I overlook a lot in Virginia because I get the feeling she was kind of anti-war, and, in the absence of humor, that's my second favorite sentiment.
I would like to take a gander at your spreadsheet some time--I find it very intriguing that you have one. Mainly, of course, I just want to make a list of all the titles you've loved so that I can avoid reading them...
You know I had to say it. I'm happy we agree on "Room with a View." Add that to our list of "Sure Sure Bets"! Flannery's an interesting idea, too. I've read about her but I've never actually read her; maybe I could start with some of her short stories. Oh--and I will definitely get "Lucky Jim," too--there's a movie of that out too with one of my favorite British actors, so that will be a listening and a viewing bonanza. Thank you!
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 21 January 2010 at 01:27 PM
Laura,
I love this thread too. I never too very many Lit classes so I always feel slightly behind in the area, although the "classics" that I've read, I've almost universally enjoyed (helloooo, Jane Austen!). I liked the Blythedale Romance, too, even if it wasn't a barrel of laughs. I know I kept my school copy, so I must have liked it for some reason.
I will think about House of Mirth someday--or the movie with Gillian Anderson--but I think Age of Innocence will do me on Edith just for a while.
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 21 January 2010 at 01:29 PM
Lesbrarian,
D'oh! That's embarrassing (re: the multitude of Sinclairs). Thanks for clearing that up. See what I mean about missing out on my Lit education?
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 21 January 2010 at 01:30 PM
I've always been of the opinion that humor comes from decline, which would explain that somewhat wry thread that runs through British lit from the 1820s onward. And why you really only begin to see it after America's first forays on the world stage. (Yeah, we could really argue that one to death, but it's just opinion...and a pretty baseless one, at that. I'm a cynic.)
I can't really think of anyone funny before the mid-20th Century in the US. Most of the humor I've read from before then hasn't really aged well.
For those who like Brit lit, has anyone read JG Farrell's Siege of Krishnapur (from 1973)? It's a black comedy set in British India, and I'm the only person who will admit to reading it. I cackled my way from San Francisco to New York, but I have a massively twisted sense of humor. It won the Booker Prize, but please don't let that stop you.
Posted by: Rachael | 21 January 2010 at 01:34 PM
I haven't read a classic in eons, but I do remember enjoying alittle Thomas Hardy when I was trying to be cool and read important books. I seem to remember some laughs and maybe some naughty parts. There's my dishwashing suggestion.
Posted by: katharine | 21 January 2010 at 02:10 PM
Oh, Katharine, my one true love,
I LOVE Thomas Hardy. I did listen to Far from the Madding Crowd, which definitely had hilarious moments, last year, but had already forgotten it. Don't know if I'll be able to handle either "Jude the Obscure" or "Tess of the Durbervilles," though...maybe "The Mayor of Casterbridge. Thank you for the reminder.
Maybe there's some Elizabeth Gaskell out there too. The movie of "Wives and Daughters" had some light moments. I knew there were other authors I was forgetting!
Rachael,
Yeah, the big discussions about subtext and history and all that is primarily why I avoided Lit classes, I remember now.
I also got a charge out of your Booker disclaimer. I will not hold that against the Farrell book!
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 21 January 2010 at 02:21 PM
Maybe Dorothy Parker? If heartbreakingly human characters are funny.
Did Twain offend you with his words about (cue angels-on-high music) Jane Austen? I can never keep straight if he hated or loved her.
Posted by: Robin | 21 January 2010 at 04:19 PM
Oh, Robin, my other one true love,
How I LOVE Dorothy Parker. At one point in my life I absolutely consumed Dorothy Parker, including biographies about her (come on: "what fresh hell is this?" The woman's a genius). But it's been a while. And she wrote poetry, too. Excellent suggestion.
Twain never really offended me, he just triggers an instant narcoleptic state in me. I could never shelve that "Hal Holbrook presents...Mark Twain" DVD at the library because just looking at it made me sleepy. I think I had to read some frog story of his once, and I never went back for any more. I certainly hope he didn't hate Jane Austen. Is such a thing even possible?!?!
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 21 January 2010 at 04:52 PM
Hmmmm...my clever librarian digging (um, "googling") revealed this article. It includes the quote for which I unsuccessfully racked my brain, "Whenever I take up "Pride and Prejudice" or "Sense and Sensibility," I feel like a barkeeper entering the Kingdom of Heaven."
http://www.vqronline.org/articles/1999/winter/auerbach-barkeeper-entering/
Guess you'll reverse your opinion about Twain or, more likely, find it more firmly cemented.
Ah, Hal Holbrook. I understand your position, but will always have a soft spot in my heart for him after watching him play Julia Sugarbaker's significant other in Designing Women. And they're really still married! In real life! Really!
Posted by: Robin | 21 January 2010 at 08:54 PM
Not sure if this is a little later than what you're looking for, but I think Faulkner is giggly. Not Helene-Hanff-funny, but he very often makes me laugh. For what it's worth, I looked up a few other authors in the comments on Wikipedia to get my dates straight, and that picture of Sinclair Lewis is seriously scary.
Posted by: Alli | 21 January 2010 at 09:27 PM
So many great comments here. You have great commenters.
I don't really get audio books. I find my mind wondering and I lose the thread of it all.
You mention the PBS version of Room with a View. If you haven't seen the 1985 Merchant-Ivory version you must! It is so far superior to the one on PBS.
I will be wracking my brain trying to think of funny US classics.
Posted by: Thomas at My Porch | 22 January 2010 at 01:04 PM
Robin,
See what I mean about Twain? I have to go read the VQR article, but I don't even really know what that quote means. Am I just dense? Is it good to be a barkeeper in Heaven?
I did not know that about Hal Holbrook. Weren't Gerald Rainey and Delta Burke a couple too? A show packed with love.
Alli,
Thanks for the suggestion, but can you provide a good accessible Faulkner? I think I tried The Sound and the Fury once and couldn't understand much of it.
And oh, Helene, maybe I'll just re-read Helene.
Thomas,
I couldn't agree more; I love checking in during the day to see what people have said--everybody here really seems to be a READER, and you don't know how I appreciate that.
I'm not a huge audio book consumer myself. Interestingly, I do prefer listening to fiction, because it doesn't matter to me as much if I sometimes miss a few things. Especially in the classics...which often are so long to begin with.
Thanks fo rthe recommendation--I'm actually going to try and watch both versions. I love the actor who plays Cecil in the 2007 PBS version--too lazy to look it up at IMDB right now, but my appetite for British movies knows no bounds, so I can do both!
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 22 January 2010 at 10:10 PM
Most of what I've "read" of Dickens has been on audio. It's great.
I'm about the equivalent of 250 pages into Moby Dick on audio. While there's a lot of the morphology of whales I kind of didn't really concentrate on, the early relationship of Ishmael and Queequeg does have some humorous moments. Actually there's more (though not that much) humor in Moby than I ever expected.
Posted by: Donna | 25 January 2010 at 02:03 PM
Donna,
Hmm, Dickens is an idea. I've only read one book of his, "Great Expectations," (and hated every word of it), but I watch his stuff when they make it into Masterpiece Theatre movies. Maybe audio would be another way to get through him.
Always wanted to read "Moby Dick," too. Thanks for letting me know there is some humor in it--I wouldn't have expected that!
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 26 January 2010 at 09:10 AM
Dickens is my 2010 author project. I'm going in chron order--Pickwick Papers is up first!
Posted by: Rachael | 26 January 2010 at 11:43 AM
I liked Sound and the Fury but I thought Absolom, Absolom was funnier and all around easier (they're related). I can only do about one Faulkner a year, but I've never listened to them on tape. I was wondering if some of the humor might translate better in audio?
Posted by: Alli | 26 January 2010 at 08:49 PM
Rachael,
Wow, good for you. I take it back--I read another Dickens novel, "Hard Times," and that one I actually did like. I hope you find more of his books that you like than not!!
Alli,
Thanks for the Faulkner suggestions. I think the dialect in his books might also translate better in audio, so perhaps I will try him this year!
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 27 January 2010 at 12:15 PM