Dying's easy ...
Ken_from_Chicago
(really, name the last 3 comedies to win the Oscar for Best Film--
bonus if it's NOT a romcom) or tv (look at what passes for comedy on
tv) or even literature.
Okay, sure, this group is dedicated to SF literature, but as much as
we discuss and debates various elements therein, from concepts,
technology, physics, social impact, plausible extrapolation, etc., how
often to we take note of humor, especially humor unique to SF (aside
from the awkwardness of time travel grammar, I mean really, how do you
conjugate a verb to tackle the various permutations, but I digress)?
Peter F. Hamilton's PANDORA'S STAR / JUDAS UNCHANGED duology has a
dose of it, from a running gag featuring "Mellanie", which has a big
punch line in JU, to the classic good news / bad news setup in
introducing an alien, to various one-liners delivered with verve,
especially one delivered by the aforementioned Mellanie when
introduced to and threatened by someone ex-wife.
My own personal favorite writer, Peter David, loves to heap a heaping
helping of humor in stories, be they comedies, dramas, adventures or
even tragedies. Bonus is when he is doing media tie-ins to tv shows,
movies and / or comics, the comedy still has the "voice" of the
characters involved.
Of course Charles Stross' introduces his Eschaton in SINGULARITY SKY
with the great and ominous and also funny 3-line (or 3 law)
declaration:
Shirley I'm not the only one to have appreciated a little levity in
his literature, what say you, dear reader, what yuks thru yonder
window breaks have you liked?
-- Comedic Ken from Chicago
Eric Walker
[...]
> Shirley I'm not the only one to have appreciated a little levity in his
> literature, what say you, dear reader, what yuks thru yonder window
> breaks have you liked?
http://greatsfandf.com/humorous-books.php
--
Cordially,
Eric Walker, webmaster
Great Science-Fiction & Fantasy Works
http://greatsfandf.com
Now with forums.
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
> Shirley I'm not the only one to have appreciated a little levity in
> his literature, what say you, dear reader, what yuks thru yonder
> window breaks have you liked?
I enjoyed the Myth series by Asprin. Retief was amusing at times.
--
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
Live Journal: http://seawasp.livejournal.com
Butch Malahide
> On Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:16:07 -0700, Ken_from_Chicago wrote:
>
> [...]
>
> > Shirley I'm not the only one to have appreciated a little levity in his
> > literature, what say you, dear reader, what yuks thru yonder window
> > breaks have you liked?
>
> http://greatsfandf.com/humorous-books.php
Great site, great list. Some familiar favorites (Finney, Lafferty,
Cabell, et al.), and a lot more that I either hadn't heard of or
didn't know they did the funny. But what have you got against John
Collier? Robert Sheckley? John Sladek?
--
I'm the fellow who, for more than a quarter century, has faithfully
maintained the thesis that all writers should be funny-looking, and
all stories should be funny. Almost all of the evil in the world is
brought about by handsome writers doing pompous pieces." -- RA Lafferty
Dorothy J Heydt
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>Ken_from_Chicago wrote:
>
>> Shirley I'm not the only one to have appreciated a little levity in
>> his literature, what say you, dear reader, what yuks thru yonder
>> window breaks have you liked?
>
> I enjoyed the Myth series by Asprin. Retief was amusing at times.
>
_Sorcery and Cecelia_ and its sequels _The Grand Tour_ and
_The Mislaid Magician_.
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at hotmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the hotmail edress.
Kithrup is getting too damn much spam, even with the sysop's filters.
Jacey Bedford
<0080c735-a603-4b48...@j32g2000yqh.googlegroups.com>,
Butch Malahide <fred....@gmail.com> writes
And Lois McMaster Bujold (Vorkosigan - especially 'A Civil Affair')
And Liz Williams' Chen books (Snake Agent; Demon and the City; Precious
Dragon) are very 'light touch' if not laugh out loud.
Jacey
--
Jacey Bedford
Eric Walker
> In message
> <0080c735-a603-4b48...@j32g2000yqh.googlegroups.com>,
> Butch Malahide <fred....@gmail.com> writes
>>On Jul 3, 5:35 pm, Eric Walker <webmas...@greatsfandf.com> wrote:
>>> On Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:16:07 -0700, Ken_from_Chicago wrote:
>>>
>>> [...]
>>>
>>> > Shirley I'm not the only one to have appreciated a little levity in
>>> > his literature, what say you, dear reader, what yuks thru yonder
>>> > window breaks have you liked?
>>>
>>> http://greatsfandf.com/humorous-books.php
>>
>>. . . But what have you got against John Collier? Robert Sheckley? John
>> Sladek?
[...]
> And Lois McMaster Bujold (Vorkosigan - especially 'A Civil Affair')
>
> And Liz Williams' Chen books (Snake Agent; Demon and the City; Precious
> Dragon) are very 'light touch' if not laugh out loud.
Personal taste. Differences of opinion are why they race horses. See:
http://greatsfandf.com/miscellaneous-topics.php#WHEREIS
(Before throwing your hands--or anyone's hands--up in despair, please get
through the last paragraph of that short sub-topic.)
Carl Dershem
8109-95c...@32g2000yqj.googlegroups.com:
> ... but not only is comedy hard, worse, underappreciated, be it movies
> (really, name the last 3 comedies to win the Oscar for Best Film--
> bonus if it's NOT a romcom) or tv (look at what passes for comedy on
> tv) or even literature.
> Shirley I'm not the only one to have appreciated a little levity in
> his literature, what say you, dear reader, what yuks thru yonder
> window breaks have you liked?
One of the things I like best about Lawrence Watt-Evan's work is that he
often has a few threads of subtle humor running through his books. Of
course, that's without the very silly book he did with Esther Friesner.
Not to mention Pratchett and Asprin. And yes, I also like Peter's work.
cd
--
The difference between immorality and immortality is "T". I like Earl
Grey.
Walter Bushell
There is a lot of humor in Turtledove, particularly _The Case of the
Toxic Spell Dump_.
Lawrence Watt-Evans
wrote:
>One of the things I like best about Lawrence Watt-Evan's work is that he
>often has a few threads of subtle humor running through his books. Of
>course, that's without the very silly book he did with Esther Friesner.
Is your problem with _Split Heirs_ that it's not subtle, or that it's
not funny? I hope it's the former, but senses of humor do vary.
Incidentally, in unpacking after moving I found an entire box of the
first edition hardcover of _Split Heirs_. I thought I'd sold 'em all
ages ago. I'll have to put it back on my "Books for Sale" page.
--
My webpage is at http://www.watt-evans.com
I'm selling my comic collection -- see http://www.watt-evans.com/comics.html
I'm serializing a novel at http://www.watt-evans.com/realmsoflight0.html
Jack Bohn
>My own personal favorite writer, Peter David, loves to heap a heaping
>helping of humor in stories, be they comedies, dramas, adventures or
>even tragedies. Bonus is when he is doing media tie-ins to tv shows,
>movies and / or comics, the comedy still has the "voice" of the
>characters involved.
Have you read the X-Wing Wraith Squadron series by Aaron Allston?
The character interactions feel a bit Peter Davidish, and there's
a running joke I can only describe as "There's no 'I' in
'teamwork,' but you will find an 'ewok' in it."
--
-Jack
Carl Dershem
news:kelt451b0kg39hm6b...@news.eternal-september.org:
> On Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:45:43 GMT, Carl Dershem <der...@cox.net>
> wrote:
>
>>One of the things I like best about Lawrence Watt-Evan's work is that he
>>often has a few threads of subtle humor running through his books. Of
>>course, that's without the very silly book he did with Esther Friesner.
>
> Is your problem with _Split Heirs_ that it's not subtle, or that it's
> not funny? I hope it's the former, but senses of humor do vary.
>
> Incidentally, in unpacking after moving I found an entire box of the
> first edition hardcover of _Split Heirs_. I thought I'd sold 'em all
> ages ago. I'll have to put it back on my "Books for Sale" page.
I like it just fine, but as noted, the humor is not a subtle as is usual
for you.
Lawrence Watt-Evans
wrote:
>Lawrence Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> wrote in
>news:kelt451b0kg39hm6b...@news.eternal-september.org:
>
>> On Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:45:43 GMT, Carl Dershem <der...@cox.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>One of the things I like best about Lawrence Watt-Evan's work is that he
>>>often has a few threads of subtle humor running through his books. Of
>>>course, that's without the very silly book he did with Esther Friesner.
>>
>> Is your problem with _Split Heirs_ that it's not subtle, or that it's
>> not funny? I hope it's the former, but senses of humor do vary.
>>
>> Incidentally, in unpacking after moving I found an entire box of the
>> first edition hardcover of _Split Heirs_. I thought I'd sold 'em all
>> ages ago. I'll have to put it back on my "Books for Sale" page.
>
>I like it just fine, but as noted, the humor is not a subtle as is usual
>for you.
I would have to agree that humor based on the likes of whistling
cheeses, pratfalls into cesspits, and a dungeon provided with the
appropriate atmosphere by a professional screamer, is not particularly
subtle.
Carl Dershem
> On Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:34:30 GMT, Carl Dershem <der...@cox.net>
> wrote:
>
>>Lawrence Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> wrote in
>>news:kelt451b0kg39hm6b...@news.eternal-september.org:
>>
>>> On Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:45:43 GMT, Carl Dershem <der...@cox.net>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>One of the things I like best about Lawrence Watt-Evan's work is
>>>>that he often has a few threads of subtle humor running through his
>>>>books. Of course, that's without the very silly book he did with
>>>>Esther Friesner.
>>>
>>> Is your problem with _Split Heirs_ that it's not subtle, or that
>>> it's not funny? I hope it's the former, but senses of humor do
>>> vary.
>>>
>>> Incidentally, in unpacking after moving I found an entire box of the
>>> first edition hardcover of _Split Heirs_. I thought I'd sold 'em
>>> all ages ago. I'll have to put it back on my "Books for Sale" page.
>>
>>I like it just fine, but as noted, the humor is not a subtle as is
>>usual for you.
>
> I would have to agree that humor based on the likes of whistling
> cheeses, pratfalls into cesspits, and a dungeon provided with the
> appropriate atmosphere by a professional screamer, is not particularly
> subtle.
Not that there's anything *wrong* with that. :)
Mark Zenier
Ken_from_Chicago <kwic...@comcast.net> wrote:
>.... but not only is comedy hard, worse, underappreciated, be it movies
>(really, name the last 3 comedies to win the Oscar for Best Film--
>bonus if it's NOT a romcom) or tv (look at what passes for comedy on
>tv) or even literature.
>
>Okay, sure, this group is dedicated to SF literature, but as much as
>we discuss and debates various elements therein, from concepts,
>technology, physics, social impact, plausible extrapolation, etc., how
>often to we take note of humor, especially humor unique to SF (aside
>from the awkwardness of time travel grammar, I mean really, how do you
>conjugate a verb to tackle the various permutations, but I digress)?
>Shirley I'm not the only one to have appreciated a little levity in
>his literature, what say you, dear reader, what yuks thru yonder
>window breaks have you liked?
Nobody has mentioned Ron Goulart, yet.
"Considering the design, I think they showed great restraint"
(Or something close to this).
Mark Zenier mze...@eskimo.com
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)
MajorOz
Every now and then I get a kick out of reading (if I can find it out
in the barn) a well-worn copy of and OLD Humor/SF/soft porn novel
called _The Girls from Planet 5_. It is kind of a guilty pleasures
thing, like watching _Porky"s_.
cheers
oz, somewhat under-sophisticated
Ken from Chicago
"Carl Dershem" <der...@cox.net> wrote in message
news:Xns9C3DC90AB86...@69.16.185.247...
Which Peter?
-- Ken from Chicago
Arthur
Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede Bradley Denton
Zod Wallop William Browning Spencer
Bad Monkey Matt Ruff
Carl Dershem
news:S9ednTiGZZmtpMzX...@giganews.com:
>> Not to mention Pratchett and Asprin. And yes, I also like Peter's
>> work.
>>
>> cd
>> --
>> The difference between immorality and immortality is "T". I like
>> Earl Grey.
>
> Which Peter?
Peter David.
Ken from Chicago
"Jack Bohn" <jack...@bright.net> wrote in message
news:9shu45tern45c36dp...@4ax.com...
Yes, I loved the Wraith Squadron series! Much as X-Wing Squadron was fresh
breath of air to the Star Wars: Expanded Universe novels (e.g., New Republic
and Imperial Remmant battling of a discovered Secret Weapon), WS took the
idea and amped it up with a tastefully wacky twist.
-- Ken from Chicago
Chuk Goodin
>In article <h2m1uu$m08$2...@news.eternal-september.org>,
>Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>>Ken_from_Chicago wrote:
>>
>>> Shirley I'm not the only one to have appreciated a little levity in
>>> his literature, what say you, dear reader, what yuks thru yonder
>>> window breaks have you liked?
>>
>> I enjoyed the Myth series by Asprin. Retief was amusing at times.
>>
>There's a lot of subtle humor in Wrede and Stevermer's
>_Sorcery and Cecelia_ and its sequels _The Grand Tour_ and
>_The Mislaid Magician_.
Thanks, I had forgotten that there was another sequel.
--
chuk
Christopher Henrich
<87aa0e55-3951-4da5...@32g2000yqj.googlegroups.com>,
Ken_from_Chicago <kwic...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> My own personal favorite writer, Peter David, loves to heap a heaping
> helping of humor in stories, be they comedies, dramas, adventures or
> even tragedies. Bonus is when he is doing media tie-ins to tv shows,
> movies and / or comics, the comedy still has the "voice" of the
> characters involved.
>
> Of course Charles Stross' introduces his Eschaton in SINGULARITY SKY
> with the great and ominous and also funny 3-line (or 3 law)
> declaration:
>
> Shirley I'm not the only one to have appreciated a little levity in
> his literature, what say you, dear reader, what yuks thru yonder
> window breaks have you liked?
There are stories where it is pretty clear up front that a lot of levity
is intended, and sometimes even the characters seem to know that they're
supposed to be funny. /Rock of Ages/ by Walter Jon Williams comes to
mind; and /The Flying Sorcerers/ by Gerrold and Niven.... and most of
Pratchett.
But I like better the stories where the characters,and even the author,
play it straight and the humor emerges from the situation. I think that
Lois McMaster Bujold's novels about Barrayar succeed in this way. At
least the characters take it all seriously. Would Miles Vorkosigan be
more entertaining if he didn't take himself seriously? And there are
great lines, which have to be played straight[1] and sometimes take a
long buildup. My favorite, perhaps, is when Cordelia asks a physcian for
something to deal with extreme muscular fatigue. She has just ridden a
horse for the first time in her life, all night, over 60 kilometers of
rough country, fleeing from a murderous palace coup. Carrying Miles in
her womb, and looking after the child Emperor.
The doctor recommends that she get some exercise.
[1] "Playing it straight is the essence of comedy." - Lawrence Smith.
From what novel?
--
Christopher J. Henrich
chen...@monmouth.com
http://www.mathinteract.com
"A bad analogy is like a leaky screwdriver." -- Boon
Ken from Chicago
"Christopher Henrich" <chen...@monmouth.com> wrote in message
news:chenrich-E6B47C...@news.eternal-september.org...
So where the SITUATION's comedic. Nice idea. Too bad tv has corrupted that
idea, or at least the label.
-- Ken from Chicago