Each person has episodes in life when melancholy sadness, longing, or depression develops, and at such moments the best savior is an interesting book. Plunging into it, a person forgets everything else, the problems of the real world fade into the background. A good book is a life buoy in the ocean of vital unrest, and an interesting and funny book all the more, and if you rephrase the words of Bernard Werber, you can say: "The book is like a sword, humor is like a shield." Hit a good book on longing and a bad mood and defend ourselves with humor from all the vicissitudes of life!
A sense of humor is a very subjective concept, so all the tops of the best, ratings and other comparative actions are obviously doomed to condemnation, because 100% of the same opinions about one work do not exist, and even more so about a funny book. The most objective in this case is time-tested, therefore the following is a list of works from this category.
Play in verse
This work is literally every second column stretched by readers to quotes. "The Tale of Fedot the Sagittarius, the Remarkable Well done" was written in 1985 by the Russian author Leonid Filatov on the basis of the well-known children's fairy tale "Go there - I donât know where." The play in verses instantly won the hearts of readers with a subtle sparkling humor, its inimitable style in the spirit of a parody of a folk tale with a classic plot and an ancient style in a modern manner makes it unique and relevant at all times. This is one of the few books that, even in audio format, do not lose their spark and zest.
In 2008, an adult cartoon was shot on this work, which is very closely intertwined with the idea and manner of presentation of Filatov. The whole essence of interpersonal relations, politics and moral values ââis shown in "The Tale of Fedot the Sagittarius, a retired young man," which will be the same modern, relevant, interesting and funny for decades.
The plot is quite simple and ordinary, as in all folk tales: an evil king, a good fellow and a beautiful woman. The king, wanting to get Fedot's beloved, gives him complex tasks in order to bring him to light. But as you know, in fairy tales, good always triumphs over evil.
"My Family and Other Beasts" by Darrell Gerald
This is a short autobiography telling about the authorâs several years of living on the island of Corfu. The story is presented on behalf of a boy of ten, who will subsequently become an outstanding naturalist and biologist. His large family, each member of which with its own âcockroaches in the headâ, and their life together amid these differences is the main plot.
Most members of large families will see themselves in this ridiculous book: the most interesting thing is that the situations are ordinary, but the authorâs presentation of the plot, dialogs and small details is such that I want to re-read it again and again, realizing that somewhere there are the same crazy and reckless little family, and from this yours no longer seems to yourself flawed and inadequate. The author very simply, skillfully and unobtrusively immerses the reader in the colorful world of the plant and animal kingdom, intertwining all this with stories about his relatives, flavoring with stunning gravy from humor and fun. And also âMy family and other animalsâ - a book that teaches people to love animals and nature in general, it is very touching and sincere.
"Notes of the Shashlik cat"
The unusual creation of Alex Exler, in which the narration is conducted on behalf of a cat with a strange name: his cynical view of what is happening is sometimes unnecessarily harsh and subjective. After reading this book, many of your petâs actions become more understandable and obvious, despite the whole comic of the situation, and the mood will certainly increase one hundred times from the venomous barbecue Shashlyk. From the very first lines it becomes clear that the cat is that fruit, arrogant, ungrateful, but he is the Cat! Divine being of a higher order. And in the process of reading, a change of attitude towards him from indignation with frankly low actions to tenderness and touching will be several times.
Although some readers responded to the book by Exler differently: low-level cabaret humor on the verge of vulgarity, propaganda of laziness and drunkenness in the image of the owner of a cat, absolutely not funny situations and lack of morality. But not all writers' creations need to be in the spirit of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky - sometimes light reading on a day off or during a vacation will give a person more than volumes of great classics. This is again a subjective thing, so itâs better to read and draw your own conclusion than to limit yourself to the opinions of others.
Brilliant works of Ilf and Petrov
âTwelve Chairsâ - a unique book. It refers to those works that are in the âeternalâ column: each generation of readers finds reflection of their time in them, despite the fact that the first book was written in 1927. The young charismatic adventurer Bender and his ward, Kitty, are looking for diamonds hidden in one of 12 chairs, their adventures on this wave are served under such an amazing sauce of humor and satire that even the most cynical critic will not resist.
Quotes from this creation wander among the people, and not everyone knows their origin and authors: âThe ice has broken, gentlemenâ, âDo not teach me how to liveâ, âIt is famousâ, âHow much opium is for the peopleâ, âOr maybe you still give the key to the apartment where the money is âand many other amazingly strong and capacious phrases that are used all the time. The book is a must for everyone to read; it, as a powerful cleaning agent, cleanses the mind, washing out its limitations and stereotypes.
The Golden Calf, a book by the same authors, is a continuation of the adventures of Ostap Bender, who now competes with the other two âsons of Lieutenant Schmidtâ and is trying to seize other people's wealth by cunning and tricks. This novel is also full of famous winged phrases: âThe idiotâs dream came trueâ, âI will command the paradeâ, âI would take it in parts, but I need to immediatelyâ. The book "The Golden Calf" is simply packed with stunningly sharp words and remarks that are not immediately noticeable to an inexperienced reader.
"Everything is red"
Despite the fact that this work is most often referred to as detective story, it is read as an excellent ironic novel with elements of the grotesque. According to the plot at the party, they kill a young man who tries to warn the hostess of fun about something extremely important, of course, does not have time, and the main character herself becomes the object of persecution and attempted murder, most often unsuccessful. The whole canvas of the work is saturated with stunningly subtle humor, hilarious situations, interspersed with discoveries about the real essence of man.
The author of the novel, John Khmelevskaya, does not consider his work to be a masterpiece or worthy to stand on the same shelf with Gogol or Chekhov, rather it is home reading under a blanket on an autumn day - to cheer up, get rid of melancholy and laziness. The work belongs to the funniest books of our time, despite the tragic plot.
The Trilogy of Mikhail Uspensky
âThe Adventures of Zhikharâ is a modern fantasy in the spirit of folklore with an admixture of humor, wit, and modern slang. The red-haired Zhikhar is friends with King Arthur himself (neither more nor less) and the Chinese Liu, with whom he finds himself in various situations on which the book is based. A heap of unusual and frankly fabulous accents in the form of a sorcererâs vehicle, flights to the moon, pagan Baba Yaga, Leshii and Vodyani mixed with the modern train of thoughts, words and deeds of the protagonist gives rise to a kind of mess, which only by the middle of the novel calms down and shows the main point.
At the same time, itâs useless to wait for subtle âBritishâ humor - everything here is in our way, in a simple way, splendid and awkward. Therefore, lovers of subtleties consider this trilogy to be low-grade garbage at the Dontsova level.
But after all, fairy tales are also few compared with the classics, and yet they occupy an honorable place in every family and are rightfully considered the first teachers. Therefore, maybe you should not demand a lot from modern fantasy tales, allowing them to just spend the evenings with readers, because any smile and laughter prolong life, no matter from reading Gogol's âEvenings on a Farm near Dikankaâ or Mikhail Uspensky's âAdventures of Zhikharâ.
The most popular work of the Czech author
The first mention of the name of the author of this work immediately gives rise to one association - soldier Schweik. âThe adventures of the brave soldier Schweikâ Yaroslav Hasek has long become a classic of modern literature: the adventures of an unpretentious man in a cloaked overcoat and worn boots walking along the military road from one casual situation to another, but not losing his optimism and breadth of soul, will make even the most severe and sad experienced reader. The sharp satire to tears, reminiscent of soldier's tales by the fire under a pile, and the appeal through the whole novel to end all wars make this novel worthy of respect and recognition. The great in its simplicity, accessible to any level of understanding, Hasek's novel has won millions of hearts around the world, and his chatty character has become a symbol of ingenuity and good primitiveness.
The adventures of the brave soldier Schweik begin with the fact that he was disqualified due to the "scarcity of mind", but during the First World War he was again drafted into the army for extras, or as cannon fodder, as they now like to say. On the way to the front line, representatives of different walks of life annoy the brave soldier, they are turned around as they want, but he inexorably continues to move forward, towards obvious death.
Sarcasm seasoned with nostalgia and sadness
"Legends of Nevsky Prospect" is a collection of short stories about life in the city of Leningrad of the 20th century of simple, unremarkable people: doctors, speculators, military men and even women of easy virtue. In an acute satirical form with a large share of sarcasm, the life and customs of the people of that time are depicted, the Russian mentality shines through in each story, it often appears that the characters are familiar people: a neighbor or employee, a friendâs uncle or brotherâs wife. It is this realism of the heroes that makes the moments described in the book live in a special way, a feeling of bitter reality and truthfulness of what is happening in the spirit of âI was thereâ appears. After all, all the stories described in the book seem impossibly real.
The book was first published in 1993 and has since earned Mikhail Weller enormous popularity among the Russian-speaking population. Laughter loudly - this is about the "Legends of Nevsky Prospect", so it is ideal for long winter evenings and pleasant company. For those who do not know how to laugh at themselves, the book is contraindicated: it will not cause anything but disgust for the world and people.
Fantastic Adams novel
According to the Air Force, âHitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxyâ ranks fourth in the list of the most popular, and the creator of Douglas Adams is considered one of the best science fiction contemporaries. The book consists of several parts, the first of which was written in 1979. In the first three months, 250 thousand copies were sold, then four more parts of the book followed, and in 2005 the novel was filmed. This is truly a sensation in the world of science fiction!
The plot of the novel âHitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxyâ is built on the intergalactic travels of the loser Arthur Dent, who suddenly finds out that the planet Earth should be destroyed by enemy alien creatures, and his friend, whom he has known for many years, is also an alien. A moment before the destruction of the Earth, they are with a friend on a spaceship.
If you start reading the novel, initially it seems that the absurdity is built on absurdity, creates absurdity on the verge of madness and a complete lack of logic, the world in the novel seems so strange, but painfully real, and against the background of general madness, deep philosophical thoughts about the Cosmos, about it habitability: other races and life forms. Many of the funny moments in the book cannot be understood without some knowledge of physics, so it makes sense to keep a reference handy. And all these factors are mixed with jokes and comic situations to colic in the stomach and homeric laughter.
Inimitable English humor
The English writer Pelem Woodhouse created a series of comedy novels and short stories "Jeeves and Worcester" about the adventures of an English aristocrat, a staunch bachelor, and his ubiquitous valet. The first story was written back in 1916, and periodically the story was replenished with plots until 1974. The novels served as an idea for the British series with Hugh Laurie and Steven Fry in the lead roles, which still serves as an example of a good humorous film.
The stories are based on ridiculous and embarrassing situations, mainly with women trying to marry a young aristocrat: they come across a wise-minded but brilliantly educated Worcester, from whom he is saved by the resourceful valet Jeeves. For example, in the novel âThis Inimitable Jeevesâ, Worcesterâs best friend, Bertie, who is too avid for women, is woven into the plot: he decides to marry a waitress from a bar, bypassing the views of aristocratic relatives, against this background, Bertie Worcesterâs attempts to get rid of annoying attempts to marry themselves on the next girl seem even more funny. As always, the stunningly erudite Jeeves comes to the rescue, deftly resolving the situation one by one.
Exquisite subtle English humor, combined with unobtrusiveness and delicacy, without deep philosophical and rhetorical piles, honors the author, whose books are considered to be one of the most ridiculous books of British literature.
Finally
The above are not all the funniest books to read, but just the subjective view of the author. There is an enormous list of works worthy of the readerâs attention, but with more varied taste preferences: since Olga Gromyko, who prefers novels, is unlikely to be interested in the zest of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogolâs humor, and lovers of âHow to Live With a Neurotic Dogâ or Slava Seâs creations do not always delve into into the delicate fleur of exquisite irony in The Dogâs Heart and the works of Victor Pelevin (who is still a comedian!).
The sense of humor, as well as the sense of tact, is different for everyone, subjective, which is why people mix different things, sometimes completely opposite and incomprehensible to others. Therefore, we will not impose thoughts, but let the reader make a personal choice. And most importantly: smile, gentlemen, smile!