Thanks to the lovelies over at The Blue Bookcase for hosting the Literary Book Blog Hop. It's pretty much the most hit place to be on a Thursday on the internet.
Can literature be comedic? My answer is a very large yes. Since the ascetic quality of the work is really the biggest defining characteristic of literature I don't see any reason why it can't be humors. If you had asked me this in the early days of high school my answer would be very different. Our curriculum only assigned "classics" like Huck Finn and The Odyssey. Not exactly laugh out loud things. However, I did end up searching out some of the funnier classics myself. Catch 22 remains one of my favorite books of all time. As a satire it is meant to be funny, and while it didn't have me on the floor in tears from laughter I still look back at it with a small chuckle. Plus, there is a character named Major Major Major (Major), and that's just brilliant.
Here's the title quote. I always find it hilarious and intimidating.
There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane, he had to fly them. If he flew them, he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to, he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.
Sorry, I'm brain dead from school this week so my answer is kind of half hearted. I'll have a post on my adventures in bookbinding and a review of Prisoner of Azkaban up in the next few days!
6 comments:
Sarah: I am definitely going to read Catch-22. How did I get through all of school without having that assigned? I'm going to follow your blog.
I wish they assigned more humorous classics. One of the pivotal books for me as a reader was The Three Musketeers in high school. It was an assigned book, and I was shocked to find humor in it. It changed my world a little. :)
Lots of people chose Catch-22. I would say that Huck Finn is pretty funny. Twain is considered a great humorist. You should give it another try.
See my hop here: http://hawthornescarlet.blogspot.com/2011/03/literary-blog-hop-ha-ha-funny.html
Catch 22 is a great example of hilarious literature. I love that quote, even if it makes my brain hurt a bit to follow it :)
catch 22 is a popular book, and with good reason, as it's full of a desperate humour.
I admit to laughing out loud recently when I read Huck Finn - it was hilarious!
Post a Comment