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Original poster

Please can you help me find some gentle, very English/UK humour for my elderly dad?

107 replies

BSJohnson · 30/10/2020 15:32

He loved "Travels with Boogie", which I gave him after seeing a recommendation on here, and also "Secrets of a bookseller". He also enjoyed Bill Bryson's books two England books, and "A walk in the woods". I also know he read and enjoyed "three men in a boat" years ago.

He doesn't usually read fiction, but I get the impression he likes gentle, English humour, but clever, not twee. He's sharp as a tack, and grasps contemporary references and modern culture, but doesn't not partake of them! Has anyone got any bright ideas, please? Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
BSJohnson · 30/10/2020 17:03

DF has read "3 men on a bummel" (dm is German!)

OP posts:
Valmur · 30/10/2020 17:02

Brilliant suggestion - That fits the bill perfectly. Also Evelyn Waugh’s Scoop (if he hasn’t already read it).

Original poster
BSJohnson · 30/10/2020 17:01

And I'm sorry I'm not keeping up!
Just saw mention of "a short walk in the Hindu Kush" - read it myself over lockdown; fabulous! Must dig it out of wherever it is, and lend to df!

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Original poster
BSJohnson · 30/10/2020 17:00

Oh, now I want that John O Farrell 2000 years of history book for him too! Df is a WW2 author, AND gave me "1066 and all that"when I was a teen, so it would be nice to return the favour. Grin

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JaJaDingDong · 30/10/2020 16:52

Don't know if it's been mentioned but Three Men in a Boat is one of V the funniest books I've ever read.
Also The Ascent of Rumdoodle.

BertiesLanding · 30/10/2020 16:46

Spanish Steps by Tim Moore. Singularly the funniest book I've read, about a UK journalist attempting to walk the camino with a donkey. In a similar vein to Bryson.

BikeRunSki · 30/10/2020 16:46

@2bazookas

"Salmon fishing in the Yemen" by Paul Torday (I know, unappealing title).

any of the Donna Leon "Brunetti" series set in Venice.

Salmon Fishing is one of my favourite books. Particularly funny/wry if your dad ever worked fir local or national government. I work for the organization the books is dedicated to.
2bazookas · 30/10/2020 16:43

@SenecaFallsRedux

Alexander McCall Smith is very good at gently amusing.

I agree. It's gentle Scottish humor, though, rather than English. Smile

Nothing Scottish about his " No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series. very gentle humour and no violence.
Poppyismyfavourite · 30/10/2020 16:43

If he liked James Herriot, he might like Gerald Durrell's books? He was a naturalist and travelled a lot collecting animals. "My family and other animals" is the best known but there are loads if I remember rightly.

Magissa · 30/10/2020 16:43

One of my all time favourite books is A short walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby. Very witty and so entertaining. A travel book set in the late 50s.

SisyphusDad · 30/10/2020 16:42

How about 'How to be a Brit', and other books by George Mikes, a Hungarian émigré who made his living writing gently satirical observations about the British way of life.

amazon.co.uk/How-Brit-Classic-Bestselling-Guide/dp/024197500X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2JC66CF0FDLR9&dchild=1&keywords=george+mikes&qid=1604075753&sprefix=george+mikes%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-1]]

I credit him with teaching me not to drink tea!

efeslight · 30/10/2020 16:41

The follow up to three man in a boat, three men on a bummel is just as good.
Also Gervase Phinn who writes about his time teaching

2bazookas · 30/10/2020 16:39

"Salmon fishing in the Yemen" by Paul Torday (I know, unappealing title).

any of the Donna Leon "Brunetti" series set in Venice.

Therollockingrogue · 30/10/2020 16:35

I’m sure he’ll enjoy it Smile

Saucery · 30/10/2020 16:35

Shipley is a sweary cat, not a sweaty one. How dare you impugn his memory, autocarrot!

cariadlet · 30/10/2020 16:34

Definitely Thursday Murder Club. I bought it for myself and lent it to my mum; we both loved it.

If he likes sharp humour, he might enjoy John O'Farrell, both his fiction and his history books.

Original poster
BSJohnson · 30/10/2020 16:34

Ooh, I'm currently rereading "Watching the English" to see if df might like it - good call! Didn't know there was an update, either.

I like Stuart Machonie, and will try one of those myself, I think. Df is slightly right-leaning, but eminently tolerant!

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Original poster
BSJohnson · 30/10/2020 16:32

@Therollockingrogue - I think you've got a winner with "The innocent anthropologist". Am getting that. Thank you!

And thank you everyone- I'm also going to get the second "Bookseller" book, and have a careful look through this thread again for a third choice.

Those three, a box of chocolate-covered brazils, and a bottle of whisky, and df should be all set for a great Christmas holiday! Thanks

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Saucery · 30/10/2020 16:31

Tom Cox’s books 21st Century Yokel and Ring The Hill have some gentle humour in them alongside some beautiful descriptions of the countryside he lives in. His Dad TALKS IN CAPITALS all the time, but it’s not overdone and is amusing. Quite a lot about his various cats (Shipley the sweaty one is my favourite ❤️).

SenecaFallsRedux · 30/10/2020 16:28

I see there's an updated version of Watching the English by Kate Fox. The original is very good and quite funny.

LastGoldenDaysOfSummer · 30/10/2020 16:28

honoriaplum.com/2017/03/04/p-g-wodehouse-reading-list-the-blandings-stories/

Blandings - wonderful.

BikeRunSki · 30/10/2020 16:28

How about Stuart McConie’s books about travel round Britain, discovering the culture and politics? Funny, interesting, slightly left leaning.

Please can you help me find some gentle, very English/UK humour for my elderly dad?
giletrouge · 30/10/2020 16:28

If he likes Wodehouse I imagine he'd like E. F. Benson - but he may have already read them. Not modern!
What about the funnier Evelyn Waughs? Scoop, Vile Bodies, etc? Hmm - maybe not gentle enough.

Original poster
BSJohnson · 30/10/2020 16:28

It was df who introduced me to Michael Palin (and Spike Milligan's war diaries), so definitely on the right track!

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Spudlet · 30/10/2020 16:27

Yes, A Shepherd’s Life is great. He has a new book out too - English Pastoral - though I haven’t read it yet.

Again not comedy, but does he like travel books of he likes Bill Bryson? He might like a book called Like a Tramp, Like a Pilgrim by Harry Bucknall - he’s a former soldier who walked the ancient pilgrim route from Canterbury to Rome, all the people he met and things he saw. It’s a nice, gentle sort of book.

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