Recommendations for a Tom Sharpe fan?

Fr Clint Power

I am a big Tom Sharpe fan and have read all of his work. His books are without some of the funniest I have read. Just wondering if anyone can recommend other similiar writers.

utopian

Fr Clint Power wrote:

I am a big Tom Sharpe fan and have read all of his work. His books are without some of the funniest I have read. Just wondering if anyone can recommend other similiar writers.

Lucky Jim is similar (in a milder way) - perhaps some other K Amis stuff?

I would imagine anyone who enjoyed Sharpe would enjoy The Good Soldier Schweik.

I've been thinking about Sharpe recently. I remember hugely enjoying Riotous Assembly when I was younger, and I've also read Porterhouse Blue and Wilt, although I didn't enjoy them quite as much. Which Sharpe would you recommend? Blott On the Landscape?

It's so difficult to find a really funny book...

Fr Clint Power

utopian wrote:

Lucky Jim is similar (in a milder way) - perhaps some other K Amis stuff?

I would imagine anyone who enjoyed Sharpe would enjoy The Good Soldier Schweik.

I've been thinking about Sharpe recently. I remember hugely enjoying Riotous Assembly when I was younger, and I've also read Porterhouse Blue and Wilt, although I didn't enjoy them quite as much. Which Sharpe would you recommend? Blott On the Landscape?

Thanks for that, I will check out Amis' work. DId you know that there is a sequel to Riotous Assembly? It is called Indecent Exposure and is well worth checking out its more of the same, you should enjoy it if you enjoyed the first. Other Sharpe books I would recommend are Wilt Alternative and Wilt on High, I was a little disappointed in the first Wilt, but the next two in the series are superb, the last wilt in nowhere should be avoided. Other Sharpes worth a look are Ancestral Vices, The Throwback and Blott on the Landscape.

If I had to recommend one book to a fan of Riotous Assembly it would have to be Indecent Exposure though.

I have to agree that it is difficult to find really funny books. Any other recommendations for funny books are appreciated! Since the fine weather arrived, I seem to be in the mood for some light hearted reading material.

If you are looking for a chuckle I would have to recomment Three Men on a Boat and the sequel Three Men on the Bummel, both are charming reads, a bit along the lines of Wodehouse. Also the Flashman series of books are worth checking out. In the strictest since these books would be classified as a historical fiction, but they are much much more than that, very funny indeed.

utopian

Thanks for the recommendation.

Fr Clint Power wrote:

If you are looking for a chuckle I would have to recomment Three Men on a Boat and the sequel Three Men on the Bummel, both are charming reads, a bit along the lines of Wodehouse.

I actually got TMIAB out from the library recently. I found it mildly amusing, at best.

I'm trying to think of some books/writers which made me laugh:

1. At Swim Two Birds
2. Pickwick Papers
3. Wodehouse (particularly the golf stories)
4. Hasek (funniest writer ever)
5. Sharpe
6. Lucky Jim (parts of)
7. Letters of Henry Root (probably out of print)
8. Private Ivan Chonkin by V. Voinovich (maybe Moscow 2042 as well)
9. Tom Jones
10. Perfume by Susskind (not sure I was supposed to)

I suppose my sense of humour tends towards Slapstick and Vulgarity, but well-written S&V...

humbert

I loved porterhouse blue, it was the first Tom Sharpe book I read, didn't like Wilt very much and loved indecent exposure, almost hurt myself laughing during parts of it. I think I read one called The Midden which I didn't enjoy very much either. I will have to check the others recommended there.