Friday: Hili dialogue

56 thoughts on “Friday: Hili dialogue”

1. As for that list of funny novels, Paul Beatty’s “The Sellout” is great. Not mentioned in the article is Thomas Berger’s “The Feud,” which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Anne Tyler called “The Feud” a “comic masterpiece.”

   1. I thought of “Little Big Man” as soon as I saw the list.

2. From what I see in the news it seems that all Arab Americans and Muslim Americans are 100% behind the Palestinians. Around the world it seems that Arab Countries and Muslim countries are less united behind the Palestinians. So what is different here? I know that Qatar is a big funder of universities. I wonder if they also fund activist groups.

3. “Paws and hairs” … ‘lil help with the pun..?

   1. Thoughts and prayers.

      Technically, it is not a pun.

      1. Ah!… I like it!

4. William Thomas is “queering” athletics.

   That is the sacred language of the Queer religious cult for their praxis. The doctrine of Queer Theory seeks to “queer” the world – transformation of the world according to gnosis of how the world is supposed to work – which “includes” the immoral subversion of fairness.

5. Nancy Pelosi thought that the FBI should investigate pro Palestinian protest groups. She claimed that Putin was behind funding of the groups. The NYT said their was no evidence for this and at the time(January 24) she was mocked online as well. I remember the CP being anti Israel in the 60s and 70s. Would it surprise anyone if Putin was funding Hamas?
   In response to A Different Mike comment

6. Yes, “Dunces” should be on the list. I’ve known a few Ignatius types down South in my time.

   1. Ignatius is one of the greatest comedic characters in literature. Such a shame that John Kennedy Toole didn’t live to see his genius recognised.

      I would also add Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time to the list.

      1. Thinking about the list, I realise that Douglas Adams is inexplicably missing. The first volume of the five-book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy “trilogy” would probably be my choice, but any of his works are worthy of inclusion. HHGTTG has aged pretty well, although I guess the modern reader should think “mobile phone” rather than “digital watch” when reading the opening lines.

         1. The genre of Science Fiction has always seemed to be considered not worthy of serious consideration among the literati of literature. It’s usually only found on SF specific “Best Of” lists.

7. “Duck shit fragrance” is indeed the correct translation of the Chinese 鴨屎香. There’s a lore behind this name for this popular, delicious tea. Briefly, this is a naming convention wherein the name is meant to throw someone off or deceive, like when a beautiful baby is called ugly to keep the evil spirits away. More here https://teapedia.org/en/Ya_Shi_Xiang
   Brief Chinese lesson: 香 xiāng, meaning fragrance or aroma, is sounded as the Mandarin of the Cantonese Hong Kong, xianggang, 香港, translated as “fragrant harbor.” Also, 香蕉, xiangjiao, “banana,” or “fragrant plant part.” (Indeed, ethylene! 🍌)

8. Maybe it would be a good idea to send the daily “Auschwitz Memorial “ X message to every member of the US Congress and Senate to remind them what this all about and to stop criticizing Israel and Jewish people?
   To be fair they are not the only ones constantly sticking their noses in the affairs of Israel. The dysfunctional UN is high on the list.

   1. and to stop criticizing Israel and Jewish people?

      No. I think you mean “stop criticising them unfairly”.

      If the state of Israel does something that deserves criticism, it should be called out.

   2. It’s a sobering thought that at the rate of one post per day it would take more than 3,000 years for the Auschwitz Memorial X/Twitter account to commemorate the 1.1 million killed in the Auschwitz concentration camp alone.

      1. My goodness. That IS sobering. I pay attention to those posts each day and each day I shake my head with perplexity. I think it was TP who commented one day how he continually asks himself the “stupid” question why? (I hope I’m not misattributing this) I’ve asked the same question all my life. I cannot comprehend it. It’s a strange, sick thing. I am so glad Jerry posts it every day without fail.

         1. Absolutely! May their memory be a blessing.

9. On Schumer’s speech: I wrote him a letter yesterday criticizing the speech. If you’re so inclined, you can go to his website and write your own letter: https://www.schumer.senate.gov/contact/message-chuck.

   The essence of my letter was to say that:

   (1) American leaders should not be calling for the overthrow of the governments of our allies.

   (2) That his pressure—when added to the other pressures upon Israel—could bring about change that could cost Israel the war, and

   (3) That the great majority of Israeli citizens (according to polls) want Israel to prosecute the war until Hamas is destroyed. Consequently, he should not assume that a new leader would implement a different policy.

   I also reminded Schumer that one of Netanyahu’s strengths is his tenacity, that a more malleable leader might not have the strength that Israel needs now, and that a Hamas left intact will regroup and attack Israel again and again until Israel is no more.

   Finally, I told the Senator that I praised his excellent speech on antisemitism a few months ago, but that I cannot do the same today.

   Will my letter be read? Who knows. If it’s read by a staffer, it will probably be recorded simply as a check in the “against” checkbox and go no further.

   As for another salvo from our government aimed at bringing Netanyahu down, Blinken’s repeated statement that protecting Gazan civilian is “job number one” is way off base. Israel’s job number one is destroying Hamas and bringing back the hostages. This is how wars are prosecuted and won. As the governing entity in Gaza, Hamas bears responsibility for the civilians of Gaza, but I don’t expect Hamas to come to their aid anytime soon. After all, dead Gazan’s are Hamas’s most weapon.

   1. Thank you for doing that. You never know when something like this will resonate with a young staffer or intern. If you do not write, then it surely will not.

   2. How ironic that a prominent member of a political party which refuses to defend his great nation’s southern border is telling the leader of a small nation how to defend its southern border.

      Given the USA’s mixed record in small war fighting and nation building since WW2, Netanyahu might be a little sceptical of advice from Washington.

      I admire the US as the leader of the free world and its constitutional commitment to freedom, but sometimes the US and its politicians generate serious misgivings – not that my own insignificant country, its politicians and institutions are especially inspirational.

10. I’m a staunch supporter of Israel in its war against Hamas, but I have to disagree with Murray. It is, in my opinion, morally incorrect to blame Hamas for every civilian death that occurs in Gaza. Notwithstanding its tactic of using Palestinians as human shields, when a nation like Israel decides to bomb or send its soldiers to attack an enemy, that comes with responsibility. That is to say it bears at least some responsibility for the unfortunate consequences of that military action. In fact, the IDF agrees, which is why it has very high standards of engagement. (That’s why they warn civilians of impending air strikes.) To suggest otherwise violates the principles and laws of war, developed over centuries.

    1. Emily, it is a well-established principle of war that ostensibly non-combatant civilians who assist their sovereign’s military in fighting the enemy lose their protected status. Civilians don’t have absolute immunity, whether their participation into the war effort is coerced or enthusiastic. Human shields and engagement in such tasks as lookouts, spies, hostage guarding, food storage, and rocket construction are examples of militarization. In those cases, it is necessary only that the civilian deaths be somehow proportionate to the military value of the objective. This calculus occurs in the mind of the belligerent. The outside world doesn’t get a vote on the value of Israel’s defeat of Hamas, obviously, since much of the world attaches no military value at all to Israel’s survival. If someone is cheering Hamas on, then anything Israel does to defeat it will be a war crime.

       Israel behaves as if it wishes to kill no more Gazans than necessary to achieve its war aims. If its techniques save 300 out of every 1000 in the line of fire, that helps those soldiers go back to their families with healthier minds than if they had simply killed all 1000. But not killing the 700 would be folly, and dangerous not only for the soldiers but for the nation they are fighting for. There is no way around this.

       1. A civilian, by common definition, is simply a person who is not a member of the police or military.
          A 16 year old girl, who goes on a stabbing spree at an Israeli bus stop, then detonates a suicide vest is not only a civilian, but a child.

          During the 10/7 massacre, very young children were used to unlock Jewish houses from the inside, because they could slip through the bars on the windows.

          I do not envy the IDF folks in Gaza who have to identify who is a threat and who is not.

11. I assume Israel’s goal in Gaza is not to just eliminate as much of Hamas’ membership and infrastructure as possible but to let the Palestinian people know what retribution will befall them should they every let an event like Oct. 7th happen again and put the onus on them to prevent the rise of Hamas 2.0.

    1. But they won’t. I think they can’t (stop Hamas 2.0), but they also won’t.

       1. I think Israel would like to stop Hamas 2.0, but it might be like the Lebanon invasion in ’82 which was instrumental in the rise of Hezbollah. We’ll see.

12. Of the novels on the list, I would recommend reading Maupin’s Tales of the City. It’s a wildly entertaining series.

    A book that should have been included is Thank You For Smoking by Christopher Buckley.

    1. Maupin has just published a new addition to the series, Mona of the Manor, which is set in the UK in the ’90s.

13. I can barely see the cat, but my partner sees it clearly. Perhaps my being mildly deuteranopic (red/green colour blind) is the problem. She thinks it is a Bengal.

14. Late today – just back from an overnight visit to my oldest friend who I’ve known since we were both six years old.

    On this day:
    44 BC – The assassination of Julius Caesar takes place on the Ides of March.

    1564 – Mughal Emperor Akbar abolishes the jizya tax on non-Muslim subjects.

    1672 – King Charles II of England issues the Royal Declaration of Indulgence, granting limited religious freedom to all Christians.

    1783 – In an emotional speech in Newburgh, New York, George Washington asks his officers not to support the Newburgh Conspiracy. The plea is successful, and the threatened coup d’état never takes place.

    1877 – First ever official cricket test match is played: Australia vs England at the MCG Stadium, in Melbourne, Australia. [Given that it’s cricket, the game is probably still going on…]

    1917 – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates the Russian throne, ending the 304-year Romanov dynasty. [If only Tsar Vladimir would abdicate.]

    1919 – Ukrainian War of Independence: The Kontrrazvedka is established as the counterintelligence division of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.

    1927 – The first Women’s Boat Race between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge takes place on The Isis in Oxford.

    1939 – Germany occupies Czechoslovakia.

    1939 – Carpatho-Ukraine declares itself an independent republic, but is annexed by Hungary the next day.

    1965 – President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to the Selma crisis, tells U.S. Congress “We shall overcome” while advocating the Voting Rights Act.

    1990 – Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first President of the Soviet Union.

    2011 – Beginning of the Syrian Civil War. [Thirteen years already – I feel old…]

    2019 – Fifty-one people are killed in the Christchurch mosque shootings.

    2019 – Beginning of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.

    Births:
    1809 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts, American-Liberian historian and politician, 1st President of Liberia (d. 1876).

    1852 – Augusta, Lady Gregory, Anglo-Irish landowner, playwright, and translator (d. 1932).

    1854 – Emil von Behring, German physiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917). [Received the 1901 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the first one awarded in that field, for his discovery of a diphtheria antitoxin. He was widely known as a “saviour of children,” as diphtheria used to be a major cause of child death.]

    1858 – Liberty Hyde Bailey, American botanist and academic, co-founded the American Society for Horticultural Science (d. 1954).

    1886 – Gerda Wegener, Danish artist (d. 1940). [Her husband Einar was an early transwoman, making Gerda possibly the first “transwidow”. Einar changed his name to Lili Elbe and was the subject of the film The Danish Girl.]

    1900 – Gilberto Freyre, Brazilian sociologist, anthropologist, historian and writer (d. 1987).

    1912 – Lightnin’ Hopkins, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1982).

    1921 – Madelyn Pugh, American television writer and producer (d. 2011). [Known for her work in the ’50s on I Love Lucy.]

    1933 – Ruth Bader Ginsburg, American lawyer and judge (d. 2020).

    1939 – Julie Tullis, English mountaineer (d. 1986). [Today’s Woman of the Day, see next post below.]

    1940 – Phil Lesh, American bassist.

    1943 – David Cronenberg, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter.

    1943 – Lynda La Plante, English actress, screenwriter, and author.

    1943 – Sly Stone, American musician and record producer.

    1947 – Ry Cooder, American singer-songwriter and guitarist.

    1955 – Dee Snider, American singer-songwriter.

    1959 – Ben Okri, Nigerian poet and author.

    1962 – Terence Trent D’Arby, American singer-songwriter.

    1975 – will.i.am, American rapper, producer, and actor.

    1978 – Takeru Kobayashi, Japanese competitive eater. [Described as “the godfather of competitive eating”, Kobayashi is a six-time champion of Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest and is widely credited with popularizing the sport of competitive eating.]

    Death is present every day in our lives. It’s not that I take pleasure in the morbid fascination of it, but it is a fact of life. (Jose Saramago):
    1891 – Joseph Bazalgette, English engineer and academic (b. 1819).

    1898 – Henry Bessemer, English engineer and businessman (b. 1813). [Played a significant role in establishing the town of Sheffield, nicknamed ‘Steel City’, as a major industrial centre.]

    1937 – H. P. Lovecraft, American short story writer, editor, and novelist (b. 1890).

    1942 – Rachel Field, American author and poet (b. 1894).

    1959 – Lester Young, American saxophonist and clarinet player (b. 1909).

    1962 – Arthur Compton, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892).

    1983 – Rebecca West, English author and critic (b. 1892).

    1998 – Benjamin Spock, American pediatrician and author (b. 1903).

    2003 – Thora Hird, English actress (b. 1911).

    2004 – Bill Pickering, New Zealand-American scientist and engineer (b. 1910).

    2008 – Sarla Thakral, First Indian woman to earn a pilot’s license. (b. 1914).

    2011 – Smiley Culture, English singer and DJ (b. 1963).

    2014 – Scott Asheton, American drummer (b. 1949).

    2014 – Clarissa Dickson Wright, English chef, author, and television personality (b. 1947).

    2015 – Sally Forrest, American actress and dancer (b. 1928).

    2016 – Sylvia Anderson, English voice actress and television and film producer (b. 1927). [ “Thunderbirds are go!” ]

    2016 – Asa Briggs, English historian and academic (b. 1921). [Between 1961 and 1995, Briggs wrote a five-volume series on the history of broadcasting in the UK from 1922 to 1974 – essentially the history of the BBC, who commissioned the work. He did a much better job than his successor, Jean Seaton, whose 6th volume was riddled with inexcusable errors.]

    1. Woman of the Day:
       [Text from Wikipedia]

       Julie Tullis (née Palau) (born on this day in 1939, died 6/7 August 1986) was a British climber and filmmaker who died while descending from K2’s summit during a storm, along with four other climbers from several expeditions, during the “Black Summer” of 1986.

       Julie was born to Erica and Francis Palau. Her early life was disrupted by the outbreak of World War II. In 1956, she began climbing near Tunbridge Wells, where she met Terry Tullis. In 1959, they were married and spent the following years running various small businesses. They also continued climbing, in addition to which Julie studied traditional Japanese martial arts, under David Passmore in the Budokan school, Tunbridge Wells. She occasionally practised karate forms in traditional hakama when climbing.

       Tullis met Austrian climber Kurt Diemberger in 1976, and by 1980 they were working together on lecture tours. In 1981, Diemberger hired Tullis as a technician for an expedition to Nanga Parbat, and their high-altitude filming career began. It would include, in the following years, expeditions to the North ridge of K2 and the unclimbed North-East ridge of Mount Everest. In 1984, Tullis and Diemberger climbed Broad Peak, and after more film work they went on an expedition to climb K2, in 1986, becoming part of the 1986 K2 disaster.

       Although Tullis and Diemberger finally made the summit on 4 August 1986, making Tullis the first British woman to do so, they were exhausted from spending several days above 8,000 metres (26,000 feet) known as the death zone. On the descent, Tullis slipped and fell; although Diemberger’s belay successfully saved them both, it is likely that Tullis suffered internal or head injuries that began to affect her vision and co-ordination. Arriving at Camp IV they were trapped in their tents by a storm that lasted for several days. All the trapped climbers deteriorated physically and mentally, lacking food, sleep, oxygen and, once the gas for the stoves ran out, the ability to melt snow and produce water. This, in turn, made them vulnerable to pulmonary or cerebral oedema, which in Tullis’ condition would have been rapidly fatal. Tullis died on the night of 6/7 August (the accounts of Diemberger and another climber present, Willi Bauer, differ on the date) and was buried on the mountainside.

       In 2005, an audio cassette tape diary recorded by Tullis in 1982 was recovered from the glacier below K2.

       https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Tullis

       1. What a horrible prolonged death for her.

          1. Indeed, Jim, although the story of another British female climber, Alison Hargreaves, and her son is a tougher one. She climbed Mt Everest alone in 1995, without supplemental oxygen or the support of a team of Sherpas, but died after reaching the summit of K2 in 1998:

             She was six months pregnant with her first child, Tom, when she climbed the Eiger north face. Tom Ballard went on to become the first person to solo climb all of the six great north faces of the Alps in a single winter. He died in 2019 while ascending Nanga Parbat.

             https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_Hargreaves

             1. Many of these adventures do not seem to end well.

15. A lot of good serious stuff in this post — truly hope the plaintiffs in the NCAA lawsuit prevail — but what has truly made my day is the dad going into the balloon! My mood is set for the day.

    1. Yes. Good indeed. Very glad that Jerry is covering the ncaa issue. I have been a strong supporter of Title 9 beginning as a school board member in the 80’s, especially as some high cover was required for high school girls in a world in which virtually all athletic directors were men. Now I continue to be supportive and appreciate Jerry’s and others who have helped us non-biologists understand sex (determined by gamete size and mobility) versus gender (socially constructed). Now it also seems to me the separation of genders into their own restrooms is surely socially constructed. Since one of the issues for the plaintiffs seems to be the obviousness of Mr William’s “full frontal maleness”, perhaps a step in a right direction might be to simply require a bit more commitment from boys who want to compete as girls and use girls’ dressing facilities: that is, require that these trans gender candidates go at least a step further with a snip and tuck. Then they would at least appear to be no different than the girls, and like the pig versus the chicken in bacon and eggs, show commitment, not just involvement. I am not making light of this issue, and I would go further in not allowing boys who have developed male muscularity through puberty compete directly against cis girls.

       1. Sorry, I meant Mr Thomas not Williams referring to Lia Thomas of course.

          1. Jim, I think we all know / knew who you are referring to. It is so obvious that this individual is male especially when dressed in swimming attire. I wonder how he lives with his blatant disrespect of the women he competes against. No shame obviously?

    2. Yes yes yes! This lawsuit against the NCAA is great news on the gender war front. I, too, hope the plaintiffs prevail. A non frivolous lawsuit lodged by a serious victim of the craziness. Finally! I don’t use or care for this expression much but, “You go girls!”

16. “White Teeth” by Zadie Smith

    1. + 1

17. I’m neither a foreign policy expert nor a trained psychologist, but I think that Antony Blinken is a compassionate and intelligent person who must, with his words, reflect official U.S. policy and not necessarily his own. (His face, however, often seems to reflect his true feelings, at least to me.) In any case, I would hesitate to criticize him for his words, and would rather see only his words criticized. Maybe I’m naive, but doesn’t calling Blinken an “idiot” lean heavily on the ad hominem fallacy?

    1. Yes, it does. And Blinken’s handling of the Ukraine conflict demonstrates that he is definitely not an idiot.

       1. 👍
          https://x.com/jon_alexandr/status/1766168250877137361

18. Biden has praised Schumer’s speech: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/15/schumer-netanyahu-speech-biden-reaction

19. My wife loves Skippy peanut butter, which — in addition to sugar & salt — contains hydrogenated oil made from cottonseed, soybean and rapeseed oils. But I continue to read that hydrogenated oil is considered unhealthy because it contains trans fat.

    Though hydrogenated oil has less trans fat than partially hydrogenated oil, the hydrogenated oil still contains trans fat, though it may be below the threshold for reporting on labels that U.S. law allows. (Less than 0.5% per serving.)

    Because of these factors I’ve long preferred raw peanut butter, with no additives, though I need to stir it and refrigerate it afterward to prevent it from separating again. Also, I think raw peanut butter tastes better to me, having more “body” and “peanut flavor.”

    Finally, Skippy peanut butter is sold in plastic jars, while raw peanut butter is usually sold in glass jars, which are better for the environment.

    1. Glass jars may not be better for the environment unless the store where you buy your peanut butter lets you bring your washed jar back to have it refilled many times. If you are going to toss the jar after one use it’s probably better to use plastic: less material and energy consumed to manufacture and transport and less mass to go to landfill.

       https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230427-glass-or-plastic-which-is-better-for-the-environment

       If it’s a toss-up, might as well use whichever meets your needs better.

       1. I will check that article, though I generally don’t go to BBC for science. But if plastic refuse went only to landfill, I would think better of it. In reality, so much ends up in the ocean, on the beaches, and in the digestive systems of creatures that mistake it for food.

          Also, it seems unlikely to me that the byproducts of various plastics — many actively toxic — during production and use are great for the environment.

          New forms of plastic that are truly recyclable need to be developed, and there seems to be progress toward that. In the meantime I try to limit my use of plastics, especially when glass is a reasonable alternative.

20. Evelyn Waugh is an author people might like for his dark humor.

    From wikipedia

    The critic Clive James said of Waugh: “Nobody ever wrote a more unaffectedly elegant English … its hundreds of years of steady development culminate in him”.[207] As his talent developed and matured, he maintained what literary critic Andrew Michael Roberts called “an exquisite sense of the ludicrous, and a fine aptitude for exposing false attitudes”.

    I cannot recommend “Brideshead Revisited” wherein I believe he explores Catholicism, but I have read and enjoyed “Decline and Fall”, “Dark Mischief”, “Scoop”, “A Handful Of Dust”.

    1. Ironically, Waugh disliked Catch-22. He was sent a copy and responded:

       “Thank you for sending me Catch-22. I am sorry that the book fascinates you so much. It has many passages quite unsuitable to a lady’s reading. It suffers not only from indelicacy but from prolixity. It should be cut by about a half. In particular the activities of ‘Milo’ should be eliminated or greatly reduced. You are mistaken in calling it a novel. It is a collection of sketches—often repetitive—totally without structure.

       “Much of the dialogue is funny. You may quote me as saying: ‘This exposure of the corruption, cowardice and incivility of American officers will outrage all friends of your country (such as myself) and greatly comfort your enemies.’

       Yours truly, Evelyn Waugh”

       By then Waugh had turned into a crusty old fart, and his opinion didn’t stop the book from becoming a classic.

       1. Thanks for the response.
          This section

          You are mistaken in calling it a novel. It is a collection of sketches—often repetitive—totally without structure.

          recalls a wikipedia critique of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody In Blue”

          Overall, professional music critics recurrently criticized Gershwin’s piece as essentially formless and asserted that the composer had haphazardly glued melodic segments together.

          .
          I am rather enamoured of the piece. I must be an idiot.

21. The comments under the Sam video can be considered quite enlightening (but, for me anyway, infuriating) as they show the muddled thinking of the Hamas/Palestine supporters.

    I’ve had a big falling out with my best friend over this (we’ve managed to park it to one side and continue friendship fortunately). He was a huge Sam Harris fan, but has now lost “all respect” for him over his stance on Israel. Sam has simply used his usual moral clarity on the subject, that he’s used throughout his career. As Sam would say, if you are surprised by Sam’s take on Israel, you have not been listening.

    He took a little swipe at Sam yesterday and I sent him the following. Not my best prose, I was being hounded by my two toddlers at the time, but you get the point…

    “Not this again.

    You know what most would do when someone they respect and have always agreed with, who has a long track record of being spot on, of being clearly very smart and who carefully considers every topic (and has the time to do so because it’s his job), and who is respected by some of the best minds of his generation, says one thing they don’t agree with? They would question their own views!

    But not our Peter! Who clearly thinks he is the superior thinker 🤪😂”

    1. Well said.

22. Like Jerry, I’ve not even heard of many books in that list and have only read the Adrian Mole one (when I was a teenager, which I think is the demographic it’s aimed at?).

    But, given Catch-22 is my favourite book, I’ll investigate the list.

    I agree with a commenter above, first book in the Hitchhiker “trilogy” is phenomenal. Had me in stitches and so much of it has entered popular culture you’ll find yourself saying, “ah! That’s where that comes from!” I only read it for the first time a couple of years ago, in my late thirties.

    I found the Booker Prize winning “Lincoln in the Bardo” to be the closest thing I’ve read to Catch-22 in terms of one page having you lol’ing and the next wallowing in the tragedy of it all. Brilliant and highly recommended.

    “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida”, the Booker winner in 2022, was also very funny.

23. I would add Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream” to the list of funniest novels. Terry Gilliam’s 1998 movie adaptation is fun, but something about Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Raoul Duke (Thompson’s alter ego) didn’t appeal to me. The book is screamingly funny, especially if you were around in the late 60s and were a bit familiar with the recreational chemistry and politics of the times.

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