Tom Sharpe

[andrewlee]

My girlfriend is not that keen on fiction, but reckons TS is a great writer. I've not read any yet, but do AB's have any thoughts on his works?

[Buenchico]

Most of Tom Sharpe's early works are easily accessible and wonderfully funny. The plots, of course, are pretty far-fetched but he managed to write in such a way that each step, in the development of the plot, seemed to be a reasonable progression from what had gone before.

His most recent work however (e.g. 'Wilt in Nowhere') doesn't match the quality of his earlier writing. In particular, the plots have become so fantastic that it's hard for the reader to feel 'involved' with the story.

Read the early stuff (e.g. 'Wilt' or 'Riotous Assembly') for a good laugh but leave his more recent works on the shelf. Then, if you enjoy humour, try some Douglas Adams. No, I'm not referring to the wonderful 'Hitchhiker' series but the lesser known 'Dirk Gently' stuff. (Try 'Dirk Gently's Hoilistic Detective Agency'. It can take a chapter or two to get into it properly but you'll soon be hooked. The other two books in the series are 'The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul' and ' The Salmon of Doubt').

Chris

[Buenchico]

er... it seems I can't spell. It should be 'Holistic' in that title.

Chris

[mycatis]

I enjoyed Tom Sharpes books, though I had to stop reading them on the bus, after an unfortunate incident with some juice, the back of someones neck and snorting with laughter at a bit in "Ancestral Vices"

The Salmon of Doubt isnt really so much a Dirk Gentle novel though, it's a collection of things that were found of DA's after he sadly died.

[jaberwocky]

brilliant funny writer.as the others have said, wilt,ancestral vices or my favourite the throwback.