I already made it yesterday, but I need to reiterate* it.
I don’t like Wodehouse. I have read his books, but I don’t find them funny. I realised that there was something abnormal about me when I realised that everyone else around me used to read them and find themselves in splits, while I turned page after page trying to find a joke. I think I skip all the funny parts because I don’t expect to find humour in longwinded sentences. I like my jokes to be pithy.
As for what kind of humour I like, try The Importance of being Ernest by Oscar Wilde. Also try Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister
*Strictly speaking, shouldn’t it be iterate the first time and reiterate if I repeat it again?
If you repeat it again, that would be redundant. Repeating it should suffice. 😉
You are of course correct about the first bit, strictly speaking. But people would just look at you funny if you said “iterate” (except for the CompSci geeks.)
My dear fellow, I have as much of a horror of inadvertantly using unnecessarily redundant words as much as you. But in this instance, “repeat again” is correct. My theory was that it should be iterate if I repeat once, and reiterate if I repeat it again.
I think you said it twice yesterday (the second time after some of us gasped in shock). So you you can reiterate it on your blog.
Although I’m a *huge* wodehouse fan, I still can understand the way you feel. It is like types of humor appeals to different people. The Japanese for example don’t find verbal humor (puns and long winded sentences) funny – but would readily laugh at a hole in a sock.
The thing about Wodehouse is that the humor is in the *words* rather than the situation. Whereas you seem to appreciate humor which is vice versa
PG Wodehouse sucks big time 🙂 Best restricted to the stiff upper lip English types who need to be reminded that man is possessed with a sense of humour.
Actually, the humor of PG Wodehouse isn’t in the words, it is in the slight
hyperbole he infuses in his characters — this is magnified by his showing of the thought processes of the characters in the story. This can’t be done pithily unfortunately.
Ppl should read The Confederacy of Dunces (a Pulitzer winner — Pulitzers are great reads, unlike the Bookers) for a similar type of humor. Neal Stephenson (Snowcrash, Cryptonomicon) achieves the same effect with less long-winded sentences. Also, his characters are cool, where Wodehouse’s are bumbling.
You could also check out this fellow’s short stories.
Particularly, this one.
Thanks STS
Well, I am a PGW fan and I probably gasped the most when Ravikiran said those words, but the fact that he is repetitive cannot be disputed. but, would you call Raag Bhairavi sung by Pt. Bhimsen Joshi at two different points in time repetitive? I would. Does that make it less exhilarating? I wouldn’t agree.
Oh, and Wodehouse can be pithy when he wants to…and he did want it quite often. Jeeves and Wooster and Psmith represent the more long-winded aspect of his humour. Blandings castle and his Hollywood stories, the immortal Golf stories are a delight to read…Anyway, to each his own.
That said, HHGTTG and Yes, M and Yes, PM, are a class apart…I would rate HHGTTG the best work of humour I have come across, followed by the Y,M and Y, PM series and then all the works of Wodehouse.
Ravikiran,
A query based on your last post (yeah – I am a tad late) regarding the Bombay Bloggers meet. I am curious to know what you guys aim to or accomplish by such a meeting. Do you guys meet for exchange of ideas, thoughts or just a bit of socialization. I would like to know if your meetings are for, crudely put, a lot talk or do you guys envision something (what?! action?) to come out of this exchange?
MS.
Ravi, you have company. Once I started reading some “Jeeves” (who cares for the title), worshipped by my roommates, and I couldn’t get past the 2nd page even in my 3rd attempt. Starting at some random page to catch that elusive thread, didn’t help either.
Thanks 42 !…My stomach is aching with splits …ROTFL
btw, his “we kumars..we kumars” reminds me of Another Weekly FunnyboneHis recent one’s are not so good. Read his earlier ones especially this one on Bombay locals An excerpt frm this post:
“..The most important skill to be successful in second class was to be supremely insulting. The following conversation (which I am not making up) between an elderly Telugu gentleman (who are called Madrasis in Bombay out of respect) and a young confident man, who was making rapid advances in life by combing his hair every two minutes and selling tickets in black outside cinema theatres, should highlight exactly what..”
And ofcourse not many would not know abt this famous piece by a Mallu whose name is as funny as his writings. Go read em.
correccione….
name is as funny as his writings…
MS, we don’t do much I’m afraid. We managed to decide who will be the next Pope. We’ve decided who will be the next head of the Federal Reserve and gave him broad instructions on how to stabilise the dollar. We also managed to squeeze in some time and decided to privatise Indian Airlines and Air India before the year is out, but overall I think our productivity is shamefully low.
Hats off to you Ravi. It takes a lot of guts to make a confession of this magnitude. Shocked as I was at first, it was heartening to see that all is not lost. Yes Minister salvages your esteem in my eyes. Have you tried Dave Barry yet? Dont judge the author by his blog – Dave’s blog sucks BIG time. It seems to be too porn oriented.
Have you read ‘Lamb: The gospel according to Biff, Christ’s childhood pal’ by Christopher Moore?
PGW’s humor is secondary.
What makes him great is that he’s the greatest prose stylist of the 20th century. Just about everyone,even Dickens,suffers in contrast to him if a total mastery of the English Tongue were the only criterion for the comparison.
PGW’s humor is secondary.
What makes him great is that he’s the greatest prose stylist of the 20th century. Just about everyone,even Dickens,when compared to him if a total mastery of the English Tongue were the only criterion for the comparison.
I do find Dave Barry funny, and I used to read him before he started his blog.