Why I’ve Always Loved Reading Comic Fiction & RomComs
Marina Lewycka | Lecturer, Novelist
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12th October
Starting on a personal note, I’ve always loved reading comic fiction, and yes, romcoms in particular.
And I should pretty much confess that I’ve nayver been a big fan of the horror genre and these supernatural thrillers at any point of time – books (or even movies for that matter!) that tend to ‘create’ a sense of fear through frightening situations!
To me, reading comic fiction goes beyond its mere entertainment quotient!
It is real therapy – a mini-vacation to the pressured soul, a super-fast recharge for the battery within, a soulful sip of coffee on a rainy day, and that well-deserved pause in the pressure cooker! 😊😊😊
One reason why I’ve always revelled in - and relied on - the power of comedy / humour as a real stress-buster.
Scupin Richard, the eminent critic says that, reading humorous books trigger the release of endorphins and dopamine, the body’s natural “feel-good” chemicals dose, which in turn regulate our mood, motivation, feelings of pleasure, and sense of well-being.
Yes! Our ‘feel-good’ chemicals dose!
And dose would stand for the ‘feel-good chemicals’ -
Dopamine (drives motivation)
Oxytocin (fosters love)
Serotonin (stabilises
mood)
Endorphins (relieves pain)
A power-DOSE really! 😊
In fact, comic fiction also features characters who deal with crises, conflicts and challenges in their lives! However it’s their perspective to their crises, conflicts and challenges that tends to differ!
The characters in a comic fiction tend to view them all in a comedic light. This lovely perspective proves to be real therapy, as it helps the reader to see their own crises, conflicts and challenges in their personal lives also, in a similar ‘lighter’ vein!
And that’s hence, I’ve personally felt that, writers of humorous fiction are of a different breed altogether - as it is the most difficult of genres – in all the world! Indeed - humorous writing requires that perfect sense of timing, relies entirely on the comic sense, the funny, the punny and the creation of absurd scenarios – that prove a natural stress buster.
I’ve also observed this - people who read comic fiction and humorous novels, have this tendency to take life in a happier, lighter vein, not laughing at others for their foibles, but like Chaucer – laughing with others, thereby indirectly suggesting a shared human experience that’s non-judgmental – in good-natured amusement rather than bitter condemnation! One reason his works remains so enduringly popular across ages.
In that vein, one of my all-time personal favourites is P. G. Wodehouse.
He was also my mentor Professor Natarajan’s personal favourite.
He is also cricketer Navjot Singh SIdhu’s personal favourite!
He is also eminent writer R. K. Narayan’s favourite!
He is also Sashi Tharoor’s personal favourite.
In fact, Tharoor has been very vocal about his love for Wodehouse! As a student, he was the president of the P. G. Wodehouse Society at St. Stephen’s College, New Delhi, it seems.
Douglas Adams, Orwell, Amis, Tolkien, Rowling, are among a host of other celebrity writers who are part of the Wodehouse fan base across the world.
And one thing that unites them all is the fact that they all are known for handling life and people in a very light-hearted and cheerful manner. In fact, they don’t get irritated or angry with others! They don’t judge others! They don’t speak bad about others!
That’s because they believe in the shared human experience – wherein the flaws of others are so relatable and hence forgivable! 😊 One reason why they are able to practice that graceful and gentle, empathetic humour on their fellow human beings!
There’s power in humour, you see! 😊
On a related vein, me thought of presenting a lady-Wodehouse – akin to the likes of Khanna or Kher (Twinkle Khanna or Jean Kher, discussed on our July 2019 post HERE) –
Presenting Marina Lewycka, ladies and gentlemen…
[On an aside, Marina Lewycka is also the Winner of the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic writing, 2005].
What’s more… the legendary Wodehouse’s birthday is just three days away – on 15th October!
One unique feature of Marina’s writing is her ability to treat even such serious themes as war, grief, conflict or the immigrant experience in a highly comic vein.
Her narrative voice is described as unsettling, eyebrow-raising, with a flair for that much-needed empathetic humour!
She’s known for her genuinely funny stories – in a style that blends humour with social commentary – through the use of linguistic jokes, malapropisms and mispronunciations from her characters!
Let’s take for example –
Marina Lewycka’s The Good, the Bad and the Little Bit Stupid which is a humorous embodiment of “Brexlit fiction” - inspired by the UK’s departure from the EU.
George Pantis is the “little bit stupid,” academic!
His marital breakdown, the central conflict in the plot, literally happens on Referendum night with George (Leave) leaving his wife Rosie (Remain) for “Brexit Brenda”.
There’s also Brenda the hairdresser, and Rosie, a teacher who are the personifications of the ‘Leave’ and ‘Remain’ camps, respectively, who are in a ‘forced’ partnership to ‘rescue’ George.
Well, to sum it up then, Marina’s novels are high renowned for successfully mixing humour and pathos with pressing social and political issues of her time. No wonder then, that her ‘hilarious debut novel’ titled, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian is described as a “comic masterpiece” that also deals with the “tragic history” of Ukraine.
May Marina’s tribe increase!
