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/lit/ - Literature

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22965368 No.22965368 [Reply] [Original]

What other humorists were on his level?

>> No.22965929

Mark Twain was a wonderful man and one of our (t. burger) best writers.

I cannot think of anyone who can rival his vitriol or humor. That man despised most of humanity, like any good soul. He is also thoroughly intellectual and dead-serious, and saw well beyond the ideology of the times.

I find Charlie Brooker to be very good contemporary satire. He has a piece called "Nightclubs are Hell" that certainly scratches an itch. He is not a Mark Twain nor does he try to be.

>> No.22965940

>>22965368
I would put Wolfe (the journalist), when he is at his best, on Twain's level. Beyond that I'm not sure.

>> No.22965999

HL Mencken can be quite sarcastic and sairical at times, and he thought America was basically stupid. He reminds me of Twain sometimes.

>> No.22966024

Woody Allen

>> No.22966033

George Carlin

>> No.22966045

>>22965368
Lots of people have equal skill with language, but lack his breath. Two examples: James Thurber & P. G. Wodehouse. They're (at least) as good as him at doing what they do, but what they do is a lot more limited.

The nearest counterpart on the large scale might be someone like Dickens.

>> No.22966066

>>22966045
Dickens is a very good comparison. I think they have the exact same pathos. The styles are obviously quite different. I am not familiar with the others you mentioned and will look them up. Since you demonstrate some familiarity with 19th century American lit, can you share what texts/writers you have found that you consider underrated and under-read?

>> No.22966094

>>22966045
>breath
breadth, obviously

>>22965999
>Mencken
Yes, although he was more waspish and anti-populist. Twain, though he might have thought many Americans were stupid, still considered himself "one of them". Mencken really didn't.

>sarcastic and satirical
Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary has a similar vibe.

>> No.22966123

>>22965368
Perhaps Mark Leyner, or Cecil Brown.

>> No.22966171

>>22966094
Mencken definitely was a German, and Twain definitely was an American, and this indeed explains a lot of their difference, excellent observation. Thanks.

>> No.22966195

>>22965368
Vonnegut

>> No.22966221

>>22966195
Yes! Good call, he has exactly the same good humor, an ability to accuse and indict life and humanity while warmly winking at it and inviting it.

I watched an interview with him from the 70s, he is surprisingly cerebral in conversation (not that I took him for a dummy, I just found his thoughts delightful). He was my favorite writer in my teens, and I enjoy him no less at 30.

>> No.22966234

>>22966195
Damn, great observation. I find it no coincidence that I considered myself far too sophisticated for both Vonnegut and Mark Twain in my 20s. I recently reread most of Mark Twains works I think I'll dive back in to Vonnegut this year

>> No.22966242

>>22966066
I'm not really an expert on 19th century American lit. But speaking more generally, if you mean "underrated by /lit/", then the obvious lacuna is poetry. I've never seen anyone talk about Wallace Stevens or Robert Graves or John Berryman. (Or any other poet, pretty much.)

Since this is a humorist thread — it would be nice to see Damon Runyan get a mention once in a while.