BoB: I think farce is just not my cup of oolong.

[Robert of Dale]

I enjoyed the book at the same level that I enjoyed Hitchhikers Guide; tepidly. The only farcical book that I really had fun reading was Good Omens, but I can't place what made it so much more enjoyable for me than BoB or HG... it's not like I lack a background in SciFi to enjoy HG, and BoB does have some beautiful imagery and some poignant tragedy. I even thought the godly deus ex machina was justified and executed well throughout the book, making me feel better about many of the coincidental events throughout the plot.

I guess it's because the characters in these books seem so cartoonish that I can't get invested in their fates. When people die, it has the same impact on me as when Wiley E. Coyote gets smashed by an metric ton of boulders: barely any at all.

It makes me sad to not be able to really enjoy this kind of story, but this slight flaw in my character makes reading a story like Bridge of Birds feel kind of dull. *sigh*

Does anyone else suffer from this lack of appreciation for farce?

[Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth]

Yes, a lot of people have mentioned this in the thread 'a flaw in my reading'.

Incidentally, I have generally found that when it comes to books I will enjoy, characters are the most crucial thing. If I don't find one I can connect with and care about, I won't be able to connect with the story.

[Robert of Dale]

All that being said, I do recall enjoying the imagery of Henpecked Ho riding on the back of the Ancestress, having obviously snapped, but in a darkly comic way. It tickled the part of my brain that has me enjoying things like Quest for the Holy Grail, even if those things never make me laugh (another sadness of my existence. The more farcical the movie, the less the humor has any impact upon me).

Despite my lack of laughing out loud, there were bright spots in the book that were meant to be funny, in addition to the pretty imagery. But like Ruth, I do find it more difficult to get into a book where none of the characters touch my sympathies. Number Ten Ox comes close, but he's so strong and capable, despite his self-effacing attitude, that he kind of reminds me of the Road Runner, especially when you ad in Master Li's wacky attitude toward certain death.

There's a lot to like in the story. I can see why Aaron likes it so much.

[P. Aaron]

I would suggest that the farcical elements enhance (& are enhanced by) the darker, serious moments in the novel ( the tale of Bright Star, the tragedies behind Miser Shen and Doctor Death, the fearsome evil of the Old Man of the Mountain...).

Contrast, in this case, is the secret to the book's strength. It's why Dirk Gently is better than Hitchiker's Guide.

Oo. I just found my next whiteboard.