Death of a genre
For a while now I've been looking out for uplifting books. Books that, when you turn the last page, leave you with the proverbial smile on your face and a song in your heart. And make you better company than before you opened them. A deserving cause if ever there was one, in these increasingly antisocial times.
I am sorry to say that I haven't got very far in my search. In desperation, after scanning shelves full of gritty, reality novels, I asked the man behind the Waterstones counter if he had any books fitting that description. He seemed a little taken aback. And after a diligent five-minute search of his database regretted that he had nothing for me. These days whenever he spots me crossing the threshold he disappears into the depths of the shop or becomes deeply absorbed in some clearly crucial task.
Us terriers are not easily discouraged. so I decided to continue my search on the world wide web. Now I doubt that googling "uplifting" would give me what I wanted. So decided to settle for "Humour" instead. First stop: Barnes & Noble. Browsing through the categories I spotted Christian fiction, Gay & Lesbian, Horror, Mystery and Crime, Teen Fiction, Thrillers, Science Fiction and Fantasy. But no Humour. Although there was a Graphic Novels and Comic Books category.
Next stop: Amazon.com. Same result. Sudden panic! Had it finally happened? Had Humour been wiped out? I know there aren't any decent humour sections at bookshops these days. Instead the shelves are full of Horrid Henry and Captain Underpants and jokes & riddles and such-like. But this was absurd! Where were messrs Wodehouse, Mortimer, Jerome, Hiaasen, Sharpe, Fry, Elton, Hornby, Heyer, Robinson, Adams, Dickens, Townsend, Fielding, Vonnegut, Waugh? Where were all those shades of humour--slapstick, noir, romance, crime...?
I fared better with the authors A-Z search on Borders and Waterstones. I found some of the names. But not under Humour. Why ever not? Could it be that Humour has become unfashionable; that when it's most needed it is no longer relevant to this generation? I don't know. I do know that Humour is in decline much like children's literature before Rowling. Maybe that's the kind of boost this genre is waiting for--a big phenomenon, who'll help us look at the brighter side of life. Till then, I am joining the Wodehouse Society.
I am sorry to say that I haven't got very far in my search. In desperation, after scanning shelves full of gritty, reality novels, I asked the man behind the Waterstones counter if he had any books fitting that description. He seemed a little taken aback. And after a diligent five-minute search of his database regretted that he had nothing for me. These days whenever he spots me crossing the threshold he disappears into the depths of the shop or becomes deeply absorbed in some clearly crucial task.
Us terriers are not easily discouraged. so I decided to continue my search on the world wide web. Now I doubt that googling "uplifting" would give me what I wanted. So decided to settle for "Humour" instead. First stop: Barnes & Noble. Browsing through the categories I spotted Christian fiction, Gay & Lesbian, Horror, Mystery and Crime, Teen Fiction, Thrillers, Science Fiction and Fantasy. But no Humour. Although there was a Graphic Novels and Comic Books category.
Next stop: Amazon.com. Same result. Sudden panic! Had it finally happened? Had Humour been wiped out? I know there aren't any decent humour sections at bookshops these days. Instead the shelves are full of Horrid Henry and Captain Underpants and jokes & riddles and such-like. But this was absurd! Where were messrs Wodehouse, Mortimer, Jerome, Hiaasen, Sharpe, Fry, Elton, Hornby, Heyer, Robinson, Adams, Dickens, Townsend, Fielding, Vonnegut, Waugh? Where were all those shades of humour--slapstick, noir, romance, crime...?
I fared better with the authors A-Z search on Borders and Waterstones. I found some of the names. But not under Humour. Why ever not? Could it be that Humour has become unfashionable; that when it's most needed it is no longer relevant to this generation? I don't know. I do know that Humour is in decline much like children's literature before Rowling. Maybe that's the kind of boost this genre is waiting for--a big phenomenon, who'll help us look at the brighter side of life. Till then, I am joining the Wodehouse Society.
posted by Sabiha | 3:19 PM
4 Comments:
sabs have you read hiaasen's skinny dip? it's hilarious! recently i read this book called 'cooking with fernet branca' by a brit writer, james hamilton-paterson, which i found funny too in a mad sort of way. also if you haven't read 'confederacy of dunces' by john kennedy toole, you must, it's one of my favourite books.
check out these links: http://title.forbiddenlibrary.com/
http://www.invisiblelibrary.com/
How weird Rumi - I was looking at Fernet Branca at Oxford and wondering whether I should pick it up. I didn't but picked up 4 'humour' books at Daryaganj yesterday - all new authors for me. Angela Carter's Wise Children, Stickleback and two other books whose names I don't remember (one is Whitbread award winner '95, if that helps).
Nish
Thanks for suggesting the books. I will try to pick up the Fernet branca book. I think I read Skinny Dip and Confederacy when I was in B'bay. Interestingly, it was Saibal who introduced me to Confederacy. I am also planning to pick up the Ukrainian tractor... book. I keep coming across all these names of books I want to read in friday mags, but alway forget to jot them down and have to start over. So first buy shall be little pocket diary.
Nishu, I don't know the authors you mention, but will read reviews about their books a little more carefully now.
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