Books, funny, and dialogue

[squeequeg]

Following up on the lists of five things:

From 2h2o: Five books that don't exist but should:
- Unclear Physics, by Terry Pratchett (Yes, I know he used it as a working title at some point. I've read that book. I want to see this book.)
- The Norton Anthology of Everything Ever Written Except Stuff By James Fenimore Cooper
- Shota Rustaveli's lost epic, the one that follows The Knight in Panther Skin
- The book that Chretien de Troyes cites as his source in the introduction to Perceval. This may or may not have existed; claiming an older source was a way of lending legitimacy to a text at the time. However, since Perceval is (I'm fairly sure) the first recorded appearance of the Grail myth, it'd be quite interesting if it had been a real book.
- Your Mom on $20 a Day
- Boston Beneath Ground, ed. Robert W. Chambers (dec.). There are rumors that Lovecraft contributed a piece to this travel guide, but his estate has denied it.
- How I Did It, by V. von Frankenstein.

From sigerson: Five sources of my humor (not the only sources, certainly, but ones that come to mind):
- Monty Python, natch. Watched it before I got what any of the naked lady jokes were about.
- MST3K, natch. If I wanted to be pretentious, I'd compare the post-modern referential aspect of it to Monty Python, write a monogram, and never smile again.
- Earlier than that, Looney Tunes. Anvils add humor to any situation, boxing gloves on springs are hilarious, and making self-important people look stupid is always worthwhile (even if you have to buy the entire Acme catalog to do it).
- P.G. Wodehouse. Specifically, Jeeves and Wooster. Specifically, the BBC series starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. House fans, you will never look at Laurie the same way after you have heard him sing "Forty-seven Ginger-Headed Sailors."
- How to Attract the Wombat, by Will Cuppy. Granted, it didn't make as much of an impact as the others on this list, simply by being smaller, but the dry, deadpan humor is a style I love and occasionally try to emulate. (The scratched-out title above is not an example of this.)

minyan offered me two options, and I'm grateful for the choice. Option 1 was five characters I'd like to write for, and, well, I have trouble writing for others' characters. (This is part of why I haven't written fanfic.) Either I make them sound stilted and uncomfortable, as if the understudy had been brought on to play their part and hadn't learned all of the lines yet, or it gets so Mary-Sue it would make a stone vomit.

However, she did offer Option 2: Five favorite lines of dialogue (at least at the moment).
- "Placetne, magistra?"
- "Egg? Egg, I dreamed I was old." (This one has been on my mind since I read it.)
- "Yes. But I'm me."
- "Oh, dear. I seem to have ruined my shirt."
- "Mr. Dunworthy, I think you'd better come and get me."

Hmm...shorn of context, those lines lack a bit of oomph. I therefore recommend reading the full books for the oomph.

Comments

[sanj.livejournal.com]

I'd say "placetne, magistra?" has all the oomph in the world, but I guess you really do need the context. :)

[minyan.livejournal.com]

I can't tell you how much I love how many people here have this line graven in their memories! That's the T-shirt I need, right after the skimpy geeksexual number:-)

Off topic but on the subject of geeks and music, I couldn't get to your liner notes. I've been listening to your mix for the last two weeks...