Tag: Humor

How to Read: A beginner’s guide

A few years back, I purchased a book called “How to Read a Book” by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. It was originally published in 1940, and is described as a “living classic” on the blurb. Yet it fails in one key aspect – How does one learn how to read THIS book? Or, indeed, to select a book like “How to Read a Book” in the first place?

Clearly, this “classic guide to intelligent reading” is, just like the cookbook “How to Boil Water” I reviewed here some time ago, more advanced than it lets on.

Continue reading →

The Growing Impossibility of Book Perving

One of the few perks of utilizing public transport has always been a spot of book perving. A discreet but leering glance to the side. An ogle from behind the pages of one’s own book, to discern the title and appraise the cover art of another’s. (I don’t go in much for reading-over-the-shoulder though, unless in dire circumstances.)

eReaders and liberation from book perving

It was awareness of my own propensity to indulge in book perving that made me somewhat shy about what I chose to read in public. eReaders, have, of course, changed all this. Now, freed of fear I’ll be the target of a subtle (or even not-so-subtle) book perve, I find myself reading books I would not otherwise have been caught dead reading in public.

Self-help books (that divulge my weaknesses to potential foes). High-brow books. Low-brow books. All these, I avoided in the past (at least, when out and about), in order to escape derision and/or conversation. eReaders have truly freed me.

But what a price there is to pay!

Continue reading →

Is Satire Mean? Parody, satire – and being rude!

Satire must rank among the most misunderstood genres. So often, books and memes and shows that are merely snarky or rude are labeled as ‘satirical’. My guess is this is an attempt to make them seem clever, or less mean.

Good satire, says Carl Hiaasen, comes from anger. ‘It comes from a sense of injustice, that there are wrongs in the world that need to be fixed.’

Satire is also often confused with parody. While both are funny (or at least, are intended to be!) they are quite different in their aims.

Continue reading →

How to Boil Water: An Uncommonly Commonsense Guide

The sound of the kettle boiling in the background has gotten me thinking about the best drink to accompany a read. Although I am, as a rule, a coffee drinker, for some reason, tea particularly appeals to me when I’m reading.

Of course, whether you prefer tea or coffee, the most important ingredient is boiled water.

Fortunately, there there is a book called with this very title. “How to Boil Water”. I kid you not. Unfortunately, however, this book does not actually contain instructions on how to boil water.

Continue reading →