Do you want to laugh? The best humorous literature. The funniest books you should read

Each of us has had a book in our lives that, throughout the entire reading, made us smile, giggle into our fists, choke with laughter, or, disregarding decency, laugh loudly right in public places!

Narine Abgaryan "Manyunya"

Anna, 23 years old, seller in a bookstore:

“Actually, I warmly recommend the entire trilogy about the girl Manyuna! And I’m just about to re-read it myself. This is a pure, unclouded adult nonsense like politics, psychology and some kind of expectations from life! The way everyone should have it, and from which such wonderful adults as the author then grow - Narine Abgaryan. This book is an excellent vaccination against everything superficial and a reminder that life is nothing if you treat it correctly! "

Favorite quotes:

“Who would dare refuse Ba’s help? No one! Everyone wanted to live.”

“How can I explain to you what they give away for stewed vegetables? Take a school apron, cut it into strips, fill it with chalk and a treble clef. Add D’s in algebra and geometry. Simmer for a day in milk with foam. That’s how sad the stewed vegetables smell and look.”

“To enhance the aroma, Manka sprinkled us with the Wild Berry air freshener. The amber we exuded could have overwhelmed a fully combat-ready company of infantrymen.”

Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov "Golden Calf"

Tatyana, 29 years old, teacher:

“A wonderful book: sparkling, radiant and comprehensive! In many ways superior to the first part of the stories about the “great schemer”. I read it with great pleasure and laughed to tears! The authors’ sense of humor is subtle, without vulgarity, so sincere and kind that you want to re-read the book repeatedly and advise everyone around!”

Favorite quotes:

"Don't hit your bald head on the parquet!"

“In Rio de Janeiro, for example, stolen cars are repainted in a different color. This is done for purely humane reasons - so that the previous owner would not be upset when he sees that a stranger is driving around in his car.”

“You are an interesting person! Everything is fine with you. It’s amazing, with such happiness - and in freedom.”

Douglas Adams "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

Ekaterina, 24 years old, engineer:

“This is my personal No. 1 in humorous literature. An absolutely brilliant work, with quotes from which I often talk with friends. The content is impossible to retell, because these are not just space adventures of crazy heroes - in his book, Douglas Adams reflects on the Meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything Else ! A subtle and smart book that pretends to be an entertaining, humorous bestseller, but has many deeper layers. English humor(and one of its best incarnations, in my opinion)."

Favorite quotes:

“A man who has traveled the length and breadth of the Galaxy, gone through hunger, poverty and deprivation, and still has a towel with him - this is a man with whom you can do business.”

“The main difference between an object that can go bad and an object that can’t go bad is that an object that can’t go bad cannot be repaired if it does go bad.”

“The technology that makes something invisible is so infinitely complex that 999,999,999 times out of a billion it is much easier and more efficient to simply take it and run off with it to an unknown destination.”

And, of course, signature quotes (for those in the know): "Don't Panic!!!" and "42".

Helen Fielding "Bridget Jones's Diary"

Alexandra, 26 years old, technical writer:

“In general, I rarely read books that make you smile and lift your spirits, I prefer all sorts of adventures and gothic fantasy, and there’s no time for smiles... But at one time I was very amused by the book “Bridget Jones’s Diary”: in places I just laughed and read her already twice, including in English. What this book probably knows the whole world: about a not very lucky girl in her thirties, lonely, whose head and life are full of problems and awkward situations with men, parents, excess weight and etc., who one fine day decides to start a diary in order to somehow put her life in order. Well, she does!”

Favorite quotes:

“I realized that the secret to losing weight is not to weigh yourself.”

“Being a woman is even worse than being a farmer. There is so much that needs to be fertilized and cleaned up: waxing the hair on the legs; shaving the hair under the arms; plucking the eyebrows; scrubbing the heels with a pumice stone; tinting the regrown hair roots; cleansing the skin with a scrub and moisturizing with cream; acne disinfect with lotion; file nails; massage cellulite; strengthen abdominal muscles with exercises. labor process must be perfectly tuned - if you take your mind off it for just a few days, all your efforts will be nullified."

“The need to open your mouth while applying mascara to your eyelashes is a great and inexplicable mystery of nature.”

Sergey Dovlatov "Compromise"

Tatyana, 28 years old, sound engineer:

“From my rather extensive reading experience, almost all of Sergei Dovlatov’s works were and remain the most “smiling.” And first of all, precisely because this smile is not toothy: one, you know, that does not turn into laughter, but no less pleasant for this. Like him he himself said that among his characters there are no good or bad ones, each of them has a little bit of everything mixed in. And with each of them, like with each of us, such ordinary, everyday funny and sad joys happen “Compromise” (a series of short stories. from very different times), I can say without exaggeration, I know it almost by heart and re-read it every time I feel like I lack the spontaneity with which the heroes of these books look at life.”

Favorite quotes:

“A decent person is one who does nasty things without pleasure.”

“A boxing match was shown on Leningrad television. A Negro, black as wax, fought with a blond Pole. The announcer explained: “You can distinguish a Negro boxer by the light blue border on his shorts.”

- At least you wouldn’t lie! Who is this red-haired, fidgety big thing? I saw you from the bus this morning...

- This is not a red-haired, fidgety big thing. This is the metaphysical poet Vladimir Erl. He has this hairstyle...

Irina and Leonid Tyukhtyaev "Zoki and Bada: a guide for children on raising parents"

Tatyana, 35 years old, health worker:

“I first read this wonderful book “for everyone who has ever been a child” in in electronic format about 10 years ago, and recently I bought a paper one, with beautiful illustrations. It is very funny (based on a play on words), kind, easy to read and liked not only by me, but also by my husband and 12-year-old daughter, who actually doesn’t like to read at all. The idea of ​​the book is for adults to learn to understand children better, and for children to understand adults better. This book always lifts my spirits, so I will read it again and again!”

Favorite quotes:

“I’m so tired of you,” Bada groaned, “it would be better if you weren’t here.”

“And there is no one better than us,” objected Mu-odov.

“So, bada, we were with you, are and will be there,” confirmed Mu-odov.

“Good dogs don’t lie on the road, they lie on the sofa.”

“Here you go,” said Bada, “he treated and treated... What, your headache didn’t go away?

“I guess not,” Myu-odov hesitated, “actually, I wanted to find out: here

did your head go away?

Slava Se "The plumber, his cat, his wife and other details"

Elena, 27 years old, journalist:

“Very, well, just very funny reading! And by the words “very funny” we should not mean “hee-hee” and “ha-ha”, but a wild guffaw that erupts completely uncontrollably! Therefore, at work, like me, you still read it’s not worth it... Slava Se is like Dovlatov (I’m not afraid of this surname), only closer, not so brilliantly unattainable, and also a little sad, but very lively and understandable. Besides, I don’t remember my father’s notes at all in our literature, especially about his daughters. , about little ones, and written so warmly and with such love. Seriously, a universal remedy for the blues and can be read from anywhere.”

Favorite quotes:

“Whoever throws away a Christmas tree in January is paranoid. And a pathetic slave of order. A determined owner dries the tree until it becomes crispy.”

“It’s easy to raise two girls. I know how to bark, “Come on, eat!” and “Come on, go to sleep!” I’m good at it. Lyalya is already asleep at the thirteenth chapter. Masha - I don’t know, after the hundredth I fall asleep myself.

I know how to cook sausages, I know where the tights are (I don’t know whose). It’s just the hair... In the morning, you need to whip up compositions “like a princess” using them and elastic bands. I can only play "woman from Mars".

"We found a kitten. The color is metallic leopard print. Affectionate, with small child-sized velvet eggs on the back. Responds to the names Kuzya, Tobik, Lena, Petya and Where did you put the remote control? Funny, bites everyone's toes at night. Eats well, went potty three times , out of necessity and just out of interest. Smart as Feuchtwanger.

If this is your kitten and you are not indifferent to its fate, add a comment here, and I will post it once a week interesting stories about his personal growth."

Tibor Fischer "Philosophers from the Highway"

Olga, 26 years old, editor:

"The wittiest, kindest and very funny story about a fat and lazy loser philosopher and his disabled partner robbing banks. Moreover, it happens to them completely by accident, and often unexpectedly for them. Luxurious narrative style - in the spirit of a philosophical treatise with subtitles like "A Series common places" and "The train as a way to cover your tracks." About love, friendship, sex, philosophy, logic and bandits: "This is a robbery! Everyone should read it!"

Favorite quotes:

“Themistocles riding around the agora in a chariot drawn by prostitutes... This picture has nothing to do with philosophy. But what is the thought!”

“Other details of the orphanage education are omitted: a priori it was assumed that if this was not hell itself, then one of its branches.”

"And then there's always the morning when you have to get up disgustingly early and go rob five banks in Montpellier."

Georgy Danelia "The toastee drinks to the dregs"

Irina, 36 years old, economist:

“These are the director’s memories - about his childhood, about his films (in particular, “Afonya”, “Mimino”, etc.), about the actors, about the oddities on the set, the history of creating scripts for our favorite comedies. The book cannot be called funny in the literal sense of this the words are rather ironic. But it definitely lifts the mood!”

Favorite quotes:

"This is not music, this is a tripper." - "Why clap?" - “Because it catches on quickly and is difficult to get rid of.”

“Once in Tashkent I watched on TV Tatyana Lioznova’s film “Seventeen Moments of Spring,” dubbed into Uzbek. There Bormann, when he entered the Fuhrer’s office, threw out his hand and exclaimed: “Salaam alaikum, Hitler-aha!”

“Meet, this is my mother,” I told my new friends. I stood up and offered to drink to her health. Mom said that if I drank less to her health, there would be more of it.”

Igor Guberman "Gariki for every day"

Inna, 29 years old, dentist:

“A collection of short, very apt and vital quatrains. The humor, of course, is more masculine, and this is confirmed by the profanity that occurs, but most of the “gariks” are so truthful that, noticing the imperfections of existence, ourselves and the world around us, they invariably make us smile - they say, Yes, that’s exactly how it is! The book is as funny as it is sad - but I highly recommend reading it!”

Favorite quotes:

Yesterday I ran to get a tooth filled
and I laughed as I ran:
all my life I've been dragging around my future corpse
and cherish it zealously.

An era is upon us,
and in the corner there is a bed,
and when I feel bad with my woman,
I don't care about the era.

Sometimes you wake up like a bird,
winged spring on platoon,
and I want to live and work;
but by breakfast it goes away.

What books will you add to this list?

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As said main character famous film “That Same Munchausen”, “an intelligent face is not yet a sign of intelligence. Smile, gentlemen!” How more people laughs, the healthier and happier he is. April 1 is a good reason to start reading something fun, life-affirming and look for new ways to make fun of others. RIA PrimaMedia, together with the team from the Read-Gorod store, have compiled a list of 10 books that will make you smile more than once.

Terry Pratchett "Feint"

Terry Pratchett Feint. Photo: Maria Borodina, RIA PrimaMedia

London, Victorian England. Seventeen-year-old Dodger scours the city's sewers in search of lost treasure. It’s an unrespectable occupation, whatever one may say, but it’s not theft. One day, on a dark, stormy night, Turnpike saves a young maiden with golden hair from two villains who were trying to take her away against her will in an unknown direction. How could the lively boy know that this event was just the beginning of amazing and dangerous adventures in his life. The trickster is expected to meet the great writer Charles Dickens, the infamous hairdresser Sweeney Todd and the equally famous politician Benjamin Disraeli. And the finale of the young Londoner’s grandiose adventures will be an audience with Her Majesty Queen Victoria.

Alexander Tsypkin "Women of Relentless Age"

Alexander Tsypki "Women of Relentless Age". Photo: Maria Borodina, RIA PrimaMedia

Everything in these stories is strange, unexpected, but at the same time paradoxically reliable. This makes it easy, free and fun. Reading the book "Women of Relentless Age" will make you laugh. Sometimes it's indecently loud. The hooligan lyrics of the charismatic St. Petersburg PR man and journalist Alexander Tsypkin have deservedly outgrown online success and popularity in periodical media. This book will restore your appetite for life, and maybe your love for people.

Richard Feynman "Of course you're joking, Mr. Feynman!"

Richard Feynman "Of course you're joking, Mr. Feynman!" Photo: Maria Borodina, RIA PrimaMedia

He was known for his passion for jokes and pranks, painted amazing portraits, played exotic musical instruments. An excellent speaker, he made every lecture exciting. intellectual game. Not only students and colleagues, but also people simply passionate about physics were eager to attend his speeches. The autobiography of a great scientist is more captivating than adventure novel. This is one of the few books that will forever remain in the memory of everyone who reads them.

Wendy Northcutt "Darwin Award"

Wendy Northcutt "Darwin Award" Photo: Maria Borodina, RIA PrimaMedia

The Darwin Award is a virtual joke award for particularly impressive evolutionary gambits. To be awarded it, one must die in the most ridiculous way possible, or at least lose the ability to reproduce, thereby saving our gene pool from its desperate recklessness - or from its extreme stupidity. American Wendy Northcutt is the “chronicler” of the Darwin Award. Many years ago, after learning about this natural phenomenon, she began documenting the stories of the laureates, and subsequently created the famous website. Letters about the adventures of worthy candidates for the award poured in from all over the world. The most striking stories are collected in this book, which clearly demonstrates that the evolution of our species is characterized by a merciless sense of humor.

Manu Joseph "Serious Men"

Manu Joseph "Serious Men". Photo: Maria Borodina, RIA PrimaMedia

A sharp, biting, irreverent, funny and smart novel about India and Indian men. About male ambitions and inflated egos, about the battle of Indian bonds with inexorable progress, about quiet love and its strange consequences. Ayyan - from low caste people like him do not make their way to the top, the path there is forbidden to them - by caste restrictions, poverty and lack of education. But Ayan is unique. Too smart, dexterous and enterprising. He has already achieved the impossible - at the age of forty he is not only alive and well (which for an Indian man from a lower caste is tantamount to a miracle), but also works not as a rickshaw puller, not as a laborer for everything, but as a personal assistant to a brilliant scientist, a world-famous astrophysicist and obnoxious character. But this is not enough for Ayan, he is hatching a cunning and ambitious plan - to fly into the stratosphere of society. And his own son will serve as his launch vehicle - a boy who torments his teachers with his "prodigy" antics.

Mikhail Zhvanetsky "Who am I not to drink"

Mikhail Zhvanetsky "Who am I not to drink." Photo: Maria Borodina, RIA PrimaMedia

Zhvanetsky is not a person, not a writer, not destiny, or even a diagnosis. Zhvanetsky is how we see ourselves. This is the harmless truth spoken by the person we love. He taught us so well that we do not perceive him as a Teacher. We simply speak in his words, which have long become ours. "Zhvanetsky said this." And there’s no getting away from it, and I don’t want to. The book offered to your attention includes treatises written by the author after 2000.

Pelham Greenville Woodhouse "Jeeves, you are a genius!"

Pelham Greenville Woodhouse "Jeeves, you are a genius!" Photo: Maria Borodina, RIA PrimaMedia

Meetings with characters from works English writer Granville Wodehouse's Pelham - with the cute rascal Bertie Wooster and his experienced valet Jeeves, Aunt Agatha and Lord Emsworth, who loves pigs, Uncle Dynamite and Bingo Little - you look forward to with joy and impatience, like dates with close friends. Wodehouse's heroes live in their own cozy little world, in which serious passions boil, cunning intrigues are woven and bold matrimonial plans are made. These brilliant stories have been rightfully considered classics of English humorous prose for many years.

Faina Ranevskaya "Mulya, don't make me nervous!"

Faina Ranevskaya "Mulya, don't make me nervous!" Photo: Maria Borodina, RIA PrimaMedia

“I often say out loud what others are afraid to even think”, “Officials have the most harmful work. No one does more harm than them”, “By career ladder It’s easiest to climb on your knees”, “Our hands are golden, they just grow from...”, “If there is the speed of light, there must also be the speed of darkness?” For the first time, this book publishes not only unknown witticisms and aphorisms of Ranevskaya, but also her drawings, caricatures, cartoons. The great actress was always famous for her sense of humor and sharp tongue - but, it turns out, she also had a sharp eye and a steady hand. They say the truth: talented person talented in everything. And although Ranevskaya herself admitted: “I like to draw, but I don’t know how” - this publication proves the opposite.

Alexander Malenkov "Red Cucumbers"

Alexander Malenkov "Red Cucumbers". Photo: RIA PrimaMedia

Anton Opushkin is an ordinary designer, a young man floating with the flow of life. But everything changes in one day when he falls in love with someone else's wife, and in one night when he witnesses a murder. Can you afford the luxury of being normal if the world is crazy? Will criminal aggression withstand the logic of an intellectual? How long do hallucinogenic mushrooms last? The author tries to find answers to these questions together with his hero. Bandits, special forces and a drug-addicted inventor do not make this task any easier, and danger, friendship and love befall Anton from the most unexpected sides.

Vladimir Vishnevsky "Darling, I know you're online"

Vladimir Vishnevsky “Darling, I know you’re online.” Photo: RIA PrimaMedia

Vladimir Vishnevsky is one of the most quoted modern poets, whose poems and aphorisms managed to become part of Russian colloquial culture. Being one of those rare creative people, thanks to which the spirit of “akynism” still lives in Russia, Vladimir Vishnevsky, however, does not lag behind his time one step, and this time delights his readers with his own online diary. A new book“Akyna” fully complies with the main laws of the network space: “Live to post” and “Understand and repost.” Surrounded by the inexpressible Russian reality, the improvising poet ironizes the current events and the clichés generated by them.

Do you want to live long, love humor and short stories?.. Then don’t rush to leave, because the shortest story, as lovers of black humor say, is an epitaph. I tried to transform this not very funny thought into my short humorous stories and funny miniatures with slight irony and sarcasm, so read them - they will only prolong your life. If short humor with irony is not to your liking, then read serious prose: - they are not long either...

Anatomy of life

Angela Kuzikova was jubilant... Of course! Now, after vegetating in the employment center and tedious searches suitable job, the years of study at the Humanitarian University of the Non-Black Earth Region and the Central Russian Upland seemed to her already a fleeting and insignificant event of her past life. She was in seventh heaven with happiness - she managed to get a long-awaited job in a new city newspaper. There, at first, Angela dealt with SMS complaints from citizens that were received by this publication. She received them, sorted them, processed them and prepared them for printing...

Vanka Zhukov 2

Vanka Zhukov or simply Wayne Sukoff, a twenty-two-year-old undergrowth, after paid and useless training at the volost business school of the district branch of the provincial branch of the new capital University for Bubble Inflating, was given to the people by his beloved grandfather, and ended up in a run-of-the-mill metropolitan office, where he gained experience and comprehended the life of office plankton.

Wayne Sukoff was almost an orphan and was raised in the village by his grandfather, but he looked like a smart guy and worked tirelessly. However, the rude office manager, who was also the owner of the office furniture and non-residential chambers, bullied him as he wanted, while violating labor laws and not paying overtime...

YouTube star

The little girl learned that crocodiles do not fly from her grandmother, who soon died. A year later, the baby was babbling in the gadget that her mother gave her, and the child really wanted to hear a “little humorous story” from this device.

Time passed, and the cutie girl learned that there are not only terrible crocodiles, but also kind domestic geese and ducks. The girl grew up, learned about the world, learned to pronounce words correctly, and now she liked to listen to short “humorous stories” on the Internet...

Labrador Petya

On this gloomy day, an albino Labrador named Pyotr Ivanovich wandered through deserted courtyards filled with cars, looking at his feet and not paying attention to what was happening around him. And only when crossing alleys and streets, he looked around so as not to fall under the wheels of passing incompetents and reckless drivers.

Near one house, relatively new, with a landscaped yard, he noticed a high entrance porch with tiled walls. Several inscriptions written in blue aerosol were clearly visible on them, among which two stood out: “Vanya is bullshit...” and “SAM SUCKER!”...

National question

Karavaikin-son asks Karavaikin-father:

Dad, is it true that we descended from monkeys, huh?

Who told you this, son?

Romka Abramovich from our class.

Dad scratched his head and said:

It’s true, son, it’s true... We all came from them: Jews, Georgians, Russians, Uzbeks, and Kyrgyz... Everything!

And his son does not lag behind him: - How is this, how?!..

Wedding donkey

Lepyokhin always remembered his childhood when he heard one oriental name or an old joke about an old man from a distant village who was going to go by train to his relatives in the city with his beloved donkey. The old man and the donkey were, of course, not allowed into the carriage. Then he tied the obedient animal to the last carriage. And when the train arrived a day later at the desired station, the old man went to the rear of the train to fetch his donkey. But instead I saw on the rope only one donkey’s head with protruding ears and big eyes, bulging with horror and madness...

About love, sex and plagiarism

Karavaikin-son, towards the evening, began to look closely at Karavaikin-father and noticed that today his father good mood, asked him:

What is the difference between love, attraction and just sex?

Karavaykin's father looked at his son in bewilderment and, remembering that his son had turned sixteen in the spring, answered, restraining himself from dissatisfaction: “Why do you need this?”

“They gave me such a topic for an essay,” Karavaikin’s son calmly answered...

Optimistic tragedy 2

This was not the fat-assed vixen from the TV channel for visually impaired fans of TV series, and not the blonde lahudra with silicone tits ala Pamela from the WhatDamn channel, and not even the bitchy prostitute Klasha-BI with a flesh-colored latex ass from the WhatDamn-Plus channel. And this was a natural, corpulent woman, and she, like a statue of Corpulence, towered on the main square of the Earth.

She looked into the distance proudly, but not too purposefully, because she knew for sure that most admirers of portly women...

Unity Day

Sidorov woke up with a heavy head.

“Apparently, I slept…” he thought, but, looking at the ticking alarm clock, he muttered: “Yes, no, it looks like I didn’t sleep…”

Before waking up, he had an amazing dream... In a supermarket, he saw three-liter jars of vodka, in which pimply cucumbers were appetizingly green.

“Only in a dream can one dream of vodka in three-liter jars, and even with pickles..." - Sidorov reasoned soberly and even neighed quietly, like a horse from the smell of juicy hay...

Dog thoughts

Pyotr Ivanovich loved new year holidays... Garbage cans were emptied less often these days - they overflowed and looked richer than at other times. And there was no need to scour for a long time - you could profit from something without much effort.

Running along a slushy path, he stopped near a familiar house. There was a police car parked there and a small group of onlookers nearby, discussing something. Soon an ambulance arrived at this place, and the intrigued Pyotr Ivanovich approached the people...

God's gift

Hello, dear President!

A resident of our and your country is writing to you. A long time ago, when I lived in my native village called Bolshaya Derevnya and worked as a groom at the state farm “Path to Communism,” I wrote to your grandfather in Moscow - dear Leonid Ilyich.

There is no state farm now - the state farm has died, just like our village... We now live in the city, as they say now, in New Moscow... That's right!.. Everything, as our grandfathers said, has come true: “Moscow is a Big Village!”

Thank you and your grandfather - we are now “Muscovites” and we have nothing to do with communism, you can say that it’s just a stone’s throw away! about this - I want to talk about our infection, about this very corruption that does not allow the people to breathe. I was especially outraged by the last incident about your minister bribing 20 kilos worth of dollars...

The Tale of Kuzma Mamai

Previously, back in Soviet time, Apollon Petrov worked as a journalist in a newspaper, and then as an editor in a book publishing house, so he knew the price artistic expression in all senses.

Now, already retired, Apollon Petrov, under the pseudonym Kuzma Mamai, published couplets, quatrains and aphorisms on the Internet, flavored with obscenities, without receiving any fees for his verbal art, but at the same time experiencing great moral satisfaction.

“Brevity is the sister of talent, and swearing is his older brother! "- Petrov was now talking...

I invite you to become a member and subscriber of the community "Short stories and stories of the 21st century" In contact with. If you want to be an author or reader of modern Russian prose without empty fantasy, glamour, philological turbidity and pseudo-intellectual gibberish, then click on this link.

About the genre of short humorous stories

Small, short stories, irony as a stylistic figure, and ironic prose itself are an expression of ridicule or slyness through allegory, when a word or statement takes on a meaning in the context of speech that is opposite or negating its literal meaning.

Humor - special kind comic, combining ridicule and sympathy, an externally comic interpretation and internal involvement in what seems funny. Unlike the “destructive laughter” of satire and the “laughter of superiority” (including irony), in humor, under the guise of the funny, there is serious attitude to the subject of laughter, and even an excuse for the “eccentric”, which provides humor with a more holistic reflection of the essence of the phenomenon. Such humor, such irony, as a rule, are contained in small, short stories of ironic prose.

But about self-irony in encyclopedic dictionaries there is almost nothing, but I believe that everything is already clear here. In essence, this is the same irony, but only directed at oneself. Although most often self-irony, as an expression of one’s attitude towards one’s own personality in all senses, is rarely heard out loud, and if it is heard, it is usually done without witnesses.

Both the sense of humor and self-irony, especially when spoken out loud, are undoubtedly higher than ordinary irony, which sometimes turns into sarcasticness. There are many shades of humor and self-irony, but similar human qualities Not many people have it... It’s like a talent, like a special gift.

There are plenty of forms for expressing all this wealth of human culture: this catchphrases, sayings, proverbs, aphorisms, anecdotes, miniatures, novellas, small, short stories, novellas... There are enough examples, samples, one might say, standards of such creativity - there is no point in listing them all. True, there is clearly expressed forms and delightful passages in such works as, for example, the novels of Ilf and Petrov, small, short stories by Averchenko, Zoshchenko, and more deeply hidden texts, but no less enchanting to the reader, such as, for example, in the works of Babel or Andrei Platonov. In my opinion, all these concepts do not require an encyclopedic definition... Here, as they say, everything is clear to a hedgehog. Irony and humor are friends, so they can’t live without each other. They are like a sandwich, like bread and butter - always together, and if there is also a thin layer of self-irony, then it is almost like caviar added to this sandwich - extraordinary yummy!

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07.02.13 16:21

Tired of serious literature? Do you want to read, or better yet, laugh for your own pleasure, but don’t know which book to choose?

Nothing could be easier! Fancy Journal prepared for you top humorous literature of all times and peoples!

“Monday begins on Saturday”, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

This book can without a doubt be called a classic of humorous fiction. Soviet period. Even for those who have not yet read this sparkling story, its plot is familiar from the beloved New Year's film"Sorcerers".

« A fairy tale for researchers younger age “, and this is exactly what the Strugatsky brothers jokingly called the work; it can be read in one breath thanks to its original ideas and gentle humor. Why does Monday begin on Saturday for the characters in the book? Because happiness, according to the authors, does not lie in a thoughtless and unbridled cycle of impressions, but in meaningfulness, in creative creation, and love not for oneself, but for other people.

Discworld, Terry Pratchett

An enchanting parody of second-rate fantasy and news feed last decades. Terry Pratchett himself admitted that the series was conceived as an antidote to bad science fiction, but grew into a kind of journalistic genre.

« Flat world» currently consists of 40 books, the last of which was written in 2011. Subtle humor and philosophical reflections, without which more than one worthy work of literature cannot exist, have made the series very popular all over the world. Based on the plots of various books, television versions have been filmed, cartoons and computer games have been created.

Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding

A witty and very sincere work, which, in diary format, tells about the attempts of the funny and awkward Bridget to become the mistress of her destiny. Disarming authenticity main character, her mental world, consisting of complexes, quotes from psychological books and attempts to find a man who “will love her for who she is,” provide an excellent opportunity to look at herself from the outside. The special appeal of the heroine is that her femininity is invincible and cannot fit into the framework prescribed by feminism or other modern ideologies.

“The Sword Without a Name”, “The Thief of Baghdad”, Andrey Belyanin

Two series of books by a famous Russian author, which combine similar adventurous plots. The main characters of the series become chosen ones of other worlds, in which they must fulfill their high mission. IN " Sword without a name"The artist Andrey ends up in the United Kingdom and saves its inhabitants from evil forces. In The Thief of Baghdad, assistant prosecutor Lev Obolensky turns out to be a contemporary of Khoja Nasreddin and Omar Khayyam. The action develops dynamically and cheerfully, with many comic moments.

"Three in a Boat and a Dog" by Jerome K. Jerome

This book has been used by more than one generation of people different countries considered and still consider their tabletop due to one feature - raising your mood to the highest degree. If you also want to always have a cure for despondency at hand and bad mood– discover “ Three in the boat, not counting the dog" In the book, three very funny English gentlemen go on a journey along the Thames. Along the way they will fall into comic situations and encounter hilarious misunderstandings, but British equanimity will always allow them to get away with it.

“Legends of Nevsky Prospect”, Mikhail Weller

Into the loop famous writer included stories told about people of different professions: military men and black marketeers, doctors and prostitutes and many, many others. All stories are imbued with Mikhail Weller's inimitable sense of humor. The author's style is light and ironic, sometimes with notes of nostalgia about the recent past. Storylines unpredictable and fascinating, and the narration is so convincing that anecdotes, historical stories and legends are perceived as real reality.

“12 Chairs”, “Golden Calf”, Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov

The best humorous works of all times. The inimitable character of the charming adventurer and romantic Ostap Bender has long become popular. Other heroes are no less popular and loved. These books are divided into quotes: “Don’t teach me how to live”, “I am a man tormented by Narzan”, “Musik, where is my goose?”, and many, many others. The phenomenon of the effervescence of these books, written in the terrible 20-30s of the 20th century, has not been studied. Maybe the whole point is that in order to survive, you need to be able to laugh contagiously?

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