Sunday, December 9, 2012

Top seven funny books

Jamie Thomson is a British writer, editor and game developer, and winner of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2012.

He named his seven favorite funny books for the Guardian. One title on the list:
The Princess Bride by William Goldman

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Now this really is a work of comic genius! The film is one of my favourites of all time too, but people tend to forget that it was a book first and foremost. It's a wonderfully zany re-working of the fairy tale and a brilliant satire of the genre as well as a great example of a fairy tale in its own right, while also being a cracking adventure story. I can think of no better thing to say than the product description from an online retailer (lazy of me I know, but it just works): "So starts a fairytale like no other, of fencing, fighting, torture, poison, true love, hate, revenge, giants, hunters, bad men, good men, beautifulest ladies, snakes, spiders, beasts, chases, escapes, lies, truths, passion and miracles."

Plus it has some of the best one liners ever written.
Read about the other books on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue