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/lit/ - Literature

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11872280 No.11872280 [Reply] [Original]

What's the funniest book you've ever read?

>> No.11872285

>>11872280
Journey to the End of the Night

>> No.11872286

My Fathers Past Internet Inquiries: An exploration of humor

>> No.11872307

>>11872280
I don't read funny books.

>> No.11872314

are there birds?

>> No.11872321

>>11872280
Zen koans are really fucking funny if you aren’t a retarded spiritualist

>> No.11872324

Norm Macdonald's memoir

>> No.11872329

Pynchon's V.

>> No.11872332

I unironically find Plato's dialogues funny

>> No.11872362 [SPOILER] 
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11872362

>>11872280

>> No.11872522

>>11872321
What is the difference between a duck? One leg is both the same.

>> No.11872523

Cryptonomicon had me laughing my ass off.

>> No.11872573

>>11872280
The part in Brothers Karamazov where they go to the church and the father is pulling his wacky antics and embarrassing everyone. It was also hilarious how he kept purposely pissing off Musiov and then turned it around on him by feigning ignorance. Funniest shit I’ve ever read and was not expecting it at all.

>> No.11872585

v, gr, ulysses

>> No.11872597

Anything by Wodehouse.

>> No.11872621
File: 285 KB, 2330x668, 0B297D89-FD86-48F2-B164-0F01399A2106.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
11872621

>>11872585
Ulysses has some gems

>> No.11872636

Bill Bryson really makes me kek

>> No.11872640

>>11872362
I'm skeptical. Which episodes did he write

>> No.11872693

Infinite Jest is pretty funny

>> No.11872701

Hitchhiker's Guide unironically

>> No.11872713

IJ, Suttree, Gravity's Rainbow

>> No.11872732

Master & Margarita

>> No.11872844

>>11872640
Tons of the first 10 years I think, he was there from the early days. But I just specifically love the book. It's very very funny.

>> No.11872890

>>11872640
Tons of the first 10 years I think, he was there from the early days. But I just specifically love the book. It's very very funny.

>> No.11872895

>>11872890
[spoilers]sorry, accidental repost[/spoilers]

>> No.11872902

>>11872895
>double posting
>can't spoilers
git gud

>> No.11872910

>>11872280
Either Calvino's "If on a winter's night..." or Charles Jarvis' (1742) translation of "Don Quixote."

>>11872597
>>11872332
Seconding these as well.

>> No.11872917

>>11872640
https://simpsonswiki.com/wiki/Category:Episodes_written_by_John_Swartzwelder

i agree with anon, his books are pretty funny

>> No.11873038
File: 333 KB, 722x1280, 4L_Xi7h9QpA.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
11873038

Dead serious, “What Happened” by Hillary Clinton.

Reading it as a trump guy gave me laugh after laugh at the bullshit she feeds her supporters.

Pic related, I had to stop reading and catch my breath from laughing so hard imagining Alex Jones yelling about how Hillary has kidnaped, raped, and eaten children.

>> No.11873042

A walk in the woods was pretty funny at times.

Nice comfy read too

>> No.11873048

Probably catch 22 or a confederacy of dunces if I'm being honest.

>> No.11873054

the recognitions

>> No.11873142

>>11872324
did he tell the story how doug stanhope change his career?

>> No.11873167

>>11872732
This

>> No.11873951

Don't Squat With Yer Spurs On!

>> No.11874014

the castle

>>11872329
and this

>> No.11874691

>>11873038
It's even funnier cause it's all true imo

>> No.11874760

>>11872280
the importance of being earnest

>> No.11874773

>>11874760
Oscar Wilde would have been a great sitcom writer

>> No.11874921

what is the name of the woman

>> No.11875143
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11875143

>>11872701
Same senpai.

>> No.11875313

>>11872573
I love the part where someone at dinner gives a heartfelt account of some martyrs that got tortured and killed, and Fyodor says the monastery should charge tourists to see the flayed skin and everyone gets mad while he just laughs

>> No.11875540

God Bless You, Mr Rosewater made me cry laughing twice

>> No.11875555

>>11875540
Great book.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately as I’m reading catch 22 and laughing a bit but also many of the jokes seem to be dated as many of them were made to appeal to people in the peace movement.

The funniest thing I’ve ever read was Descent Of Man by T.C. Boyle.

>> No.11875569

your diary

>> No.11875610

>>11875540
This; or Confederacy of Dunces

>> No.11875627

>>11872280
I lel’d reading Invisible Man way more than I thought I would. The first few chapters caught me off guard

>> No.11875726

>>11873038
You think that's funny then finds the videos.

>> No.11875903

>>11875726
Alex jones has been purged from the internet

>> No.11876020

Anything by Terry Pratchett

>> No.11876028

Don Quixote or Canterbury Tales

>> No.11876038

>>11872280
my diary desu

>> No.11876210

>>11872280
Three men in a boat (to say nothing of the dog).

>> No.11876353

>>11872280
Metamorphosis

>> No.11876358

Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall

>> No.11876366

>>11872307
you are probably a dreadfully terrible person to be around
>>11872280
i dont read funny books

>> No.11876388

dead souls

>> No.11876396

>>11876358
Agreed

>> No.11876397
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11876397

>>11872280
I just finished Catch 22 and I can say that made me laugh so intensely and much more than Don Quixote so I may have to say Catch 22, but then I didn't expect I'd fucking bawl my eyes out during the "I'm Cold" part towards the end either.

>> No.11876403

>>11872324
Need to read this, I hear he's a real unreliable narrator too. Have you seen his new show on Netflix?

>> No.11876416

>>11873038
>Reading that page
>that's what you take away from it
Wow, Burgers really only see what they agree with. Being informed requires more than that.

>> No.11876449

>>11876397
I wasn't expecting to be affected by the 'I'm cold' part at all. I've seen dozens of real people die in rekt threads, seen the pretend deaths of tens of thousands in movies and video games, but the image of that one death produced using only text still managed to get to me more than any of the real footage and blood.

>> No.11876470

>>11876449
I think a lot of it boils down to how hard Yossarian tried to save Snowden's life and that, by the end of it, it was clearly all too much to handle and the only thing he could do was try to make Snowden comfortable before he died. I also think knowing this and then reflecting on Yossarian being so adamant on never flying more missions makes that pivotal moment carry a lot more weight than you'd expect it too. Joseph Heller's a clever writer in how he set that chapter up to pack that powerful punch.

I was glad to hear about Orr in Sweden though afterwards, that made me smile and feel a little more optimistic.

>> No.11876536

>>11872280
I saw this chick bomb so hard in adelaide. It physically hurt there were literally hundreds of people, if not 1000+

>> No.11876537

>>11872280
I haven't read a lot of funny books, but I thought American Psycho had some hilarious parts mostly involving Patrick Bateman. There is this part where he tri ks his girlfriend into eating a chocolate covered urinal cake, gave me a good chuckle.

>> No.11876543

>>11876536
literally who is she, anon?

>> No.11876546

Catch-22

>> No.11876824

>>11872332
>by the dog!
Me too

>> No.11876832

>>11876543
Just some aussie comic. She got memed on /tv/ because of a crappy bit she did

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTd0crm1rt8

>> No.11877231
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11877231

>>11872621
The whole Circe chapter is hilarious

>> No.11877896

>>11877231
>>11872621
...yeah....hilarious....

>> No.11877898

>>11876366
>you are probably a dreadfully terrible person to be around
>>11872280
I don't read comical books.

>> No.11877906

>>11872280
Heller, Good as Gold

>> No.11877909

>>11872280
I've stopped trusting people when they say that a book is "funny", they're almost always wrong in my experience.

>> No.11878040

>>11872280
Nothing of book-length stands out, but some writers can make me bust gut like no others can. Seneca, Lord Chesterfield, William Hazlitt, Max Beerbohm, H. L.Mencken. The only one of Shakespeare's comedies that I'm guaranteed to laugh out loud to is Measure For Measure. Coleridge's prose & casual verse sometimes gets me, when he's on a roast, for instance one about Erasmus Darwin, or self-deprecating. Mephistopheles has all the best spoken lines in Faust, and damn it that I'll never live to see them played as I imagine him. Sometimes I wish Aristophanes had a style adequate to his conception. Hedda Gabler is the creation of Ibsen's that I lose to, but then I've always had a thing for evil women.

>> No.11878067

>>11872732
Second

>> No.11878075

>>11872910
If on a winter's night... really goes to far with the humor, it's much funnier when subdued in the earlier chapters but by 8, 9 and 10 it almost becomes tiresome. The book got it's point across very early on but keeps going, needed to be shorter desu

>> No.11878092

This audio essay is the best thing DFW ever did, pure gold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJv_dxh6meE

>> No.11878128

Naked Lunch

>> No.11878150

death on the installment plan

>> No.11878227

>>11872280

Is she the 2020 candidate?

>> No.11878259

>>11876832
Jeez Louise I thought you might be exaggerating but this was awful

>> No.11878546

Northanger Abbey - Austen

>> No.11878560

>>11876388
This

>> No.11878599

>>11872713
I didn't even know McCarthy was capable of humor till I picked up Suttree. Harrogate is one of the funniest characters in fiction, his scheme with the bats was hilarious

>> No.11878609

While it's definitely not the funniest I've read, Pale Fire doesn't get enough credit for being frequently hilarious. The complete self-obsession and delusion of the commentator is so perfectly absurd.

>> No.11878683

>>11876403
There is a conceit behind the book's narrative but it's made clear early on so you're mostly in for the joke along the way

>> No.11878694

>>11878259
>Jeez Louise
this made me laugh

>> No.11878712

>>11877898
>You are probably a dreadfully boring person to be around
>>11872280
I do not partake in humorous texts

>> No.11878782

>>11878712
>>You Are probably a dreadfully boring person to be around
>>11872280
Of farcical scripts and whimsical musings I do not indulge

>> No.11878959

>>11876470
Definitely feel like Orr stole the show of the entire book. Snowden is the tragedy that brings Yossarian to the realization that the apparent moron who is Orr is actually the only one with his head truly on straight.

>> No.11878972

The death of Bunny Munroe by Nick Cave is the darkest, funniest thing I've ever read. His music is meh but he's an unironically good writer.

>> No.11878989
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11878989

>>11872280

>> No.11879014

>>11878546
Good choice. It got me to read The Mysteries Of Udolpho (horrid bad), The Monk (horrid good) and Castle Of Atranto (horrid mess). When I recover I'll read the novels mentioned in the book, some of which have been republished.

>> No.11879024

fear and lothing

catch 22

I've read books that weren't meant to be funny that were hilarious but I don't think that's what you're looking for

>> No.11879178
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11879178

>>11878989

>> No.11879186
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11879186

>>11879178
>>11878989

>> No.11879275

>>11872285
This

>> No.11879300
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11879300

>>11873038
The internet reactions to it were perfect

>> No.11879307

>>11879178
Yeah that’s hilarious Hillary is an idiot blah blah blah

Hey listen, can someone make a version of this image with ‘jimmies’ instead of ‘cattle’? I would appreciate it thanks I’ll give you ten bucks in your PayPal and if you actually do it and post your real PayPal I actually will feel guilty and follow through thanks

>> No.11879329

>>11876397
The whole last section of the book from when all Yossarians friends start dying inly to be replaced by dumb young kids who don't know what they're getting into is absoloutely heartbreaking, and the fact, especially when Yossarian realizes him and Hungry Joe are the only ones left, only for Hungry Joe to die in a completely retarded way immediately after.
>long, full page description of an unimportant side character who wasn't that likeable dying
>oh and by the way Nately's dead too

>> No.11879528

>>11878599
All the Pretty Horses has some interesting moments of humor as well used almost as comedic relief.

>> No.11879538
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11879538

>>11872280
This.
Thanks.
Send pics of you.

>> No.11879540
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11879540

>>11872585
V is unironically funny

>> No.11879580

>>11875555
GBYMR is razor sharp right now. I read Catch22 like 2 years ago and had the same feeling.

>> No.11879586

The Sot Weed Factor.

Ebe trying to buy a notebook is absolutely the best, and all the weird shit with John Smith.

>> No.11879879

>>11872701
Also this

>> No.11879884
File: 130 KB, 800x500, smart grugg.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
11879884

>>11878782
>>>
me thinks you boring
>>11878782
Grug no like funnies cave material.

>> No.11879928

>>11875610
Title of your new book?

>> No.11879952

>>11878972
this book was the worst trash i've ever read desu

>> No.11879961

>>11872597
>>11872280
Gussie Fink-Nottle's monologue in Right Ho Jeeves.

>> No.11879964

the third policeman

>> No.11880157
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11880157

>>11872280
unironically, pic related.

>> No.11880187

>>11873038
Similar. I learned quickly to ignore the books written by "my guys," because I already knew all the stories and inside jokes from the campaign(s). I also know these shitters are just trying to frame themselves to take credit for the victories.

Thus, reading books like "Unleashing Demons," a Brexit book written by one of Cameron's guys, and "Shattered" by those long-time Clinton biographers was fucking hilarious. Seeing everything they said and did, in retrospect, shows the sky-high piles of denial that soothes the soul.

As for non-political books that are actually intended to be funny, I'll second Norm's book.

>> No.11880349

>>11872701
First read through absolutely, but it gets better upon every revisit as you pick up on more of the inside jokes within its universe.

>> No.11880447

>>11872280
The part in Blood Meridian when the Judge buys a couple puppies from a mexican kid and then instantly throws them into the river made me laugh fucking hard because of how psychopathic he is. also the part when he's mixing up the gunpowder and urging the men to piss into it while laughing

>> No.11880707

>>11875540
I'm 47 pages into this 147 page book and not even a snicker. The fuck is funny about it?

>> No.11880803

infinite jest
the scene where hal's grandfather talks about how he lost his career in tennis made my face hurt from laughing

>> No.11880856

>>11872280
how is she so funny bros??? I'm so glad this is where my tax money ends up haha

>> No.11880895

>>11880803
wtf i found this chapter sad af

>> No.11880949

>>11876470
Orr is a fucking genius and I never expected it, but it completely makes sense that he would get himself fucking prepped early on so he's ready to escape.

>> No.11880984

Candide

>> No.11881112

>>11879186
Kek

>> No.11881248

Diary of Adam and Eve - Twain

>> No.11881390

Any book by Evelyn Waugh before Brideshead Revisited

Basil Seal us my vote for the funniest character in English literature

>> No.11881434

>>11879186
Nice.

>> No.11881548

>>11872280
Don Quixote
The Time Machine Did It
Based on a True Story

>> No.11882423

>>11872732
The "Skabichevsky" line cracks me up every time.

>> No.11882472

>>11872329
the nose joke kills me every time

>> No.11882529

>>11872280
Don’t read funny books but any schizoid ranting from Dosto has me in fits

I thought The Double was especially hilarious for this

>> No.11882549
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11882549

>>11872321
O i am laffin

>> No.11882587

Taximovich

>> No.11883127

The Anatomy of Melancholy

>> No.11883133

>>11882549
are zen koans just really old shitposts

>> No.11884503

>>11872280
Inside Mr. Enderby, by Anthony Burgess. Look it up, and thank me later.

>> No.11884768

American Psycho is probably the only book that made me literally laugh out loud.

I've chuckled in other books, but I don't think I've ever laughed out loud at anything else.

>> No.11884786

>>11879178
Like is this in the book? Or some parody of it? I thought it was a serious autobiography

>> No.11886389

nietzsches polemics are hilarious, for example the first untimely meditation where he spends the last third of the book just pointing out grammar errors going as far as citing sentences with wrongly placed semicolons

>> No.11886396

I have unironically laughed reading Kant. Is there any hope for me?

>> No.11886605

>>11879884
>you are in all liklihood a person whose company is a tedious affair that others only tolerate out of a sense of pity
>>11872280
Literature written in a humorous or comedic style is a most pitiful thing to me, and subsequently I avoid it at all costs.

>> No.11886613
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11886613

the epitome of trump derangement syndrome, a dystopia in which women are only allowed to say 100 words a day, because the evil southeners took over the US, protagonist is a nagging wife who cheated on her husband and is supposed to be sympathetic

>> No.11886741

Confederacy of Dunces, the main character Ignatius is basically a lot of anons.

>> No.11888287

>>11882549
How is this funny? Do I have to have autism to find this humorous?

>> No.11888341

>>11886396
I like you