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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:
Figsandcream · 30/10/2020 16:27

The Beiderbecke Affair - Alan Plater

Baboutheocelot · 30/10/2020 16:25

Would he like Michael Palin? I read his Monty Python diaries and really liked them. He also published his travel diaries.

Sunsetdawn · 30/10/2020 16:23

The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson might suit.

MyUserNameIsHistory · 30/10/2020 16:21

Notwithstanding - Louis de Bernieres?

Original poster
BSJohnson · 30/10/2020 16:21

He's read "Diary of a nobody" - not sure he was a fan. Am frantically scrabbling to look up all the recommendations - thank you!

OP posts:
nongnangning · 30/10/2020 16:20

This is not humour but it is absolutely lovely and very English ...

... A Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks. The author is a sheep farmer in the Lake District and the book is about a year in the life of his farm - but also about the Lake District, working with the weather erc

AlbertCampion · 30/10/2020 16:18

If he likes mysteries at all then I think the Gervase Fenn books by Edmund Crispin are great. Witty, clever and irreverent. They're older, though - 50s and 60s I think.

SenecaFallsRedux · 30/10/2020 16:18

Alexander McCall Smith is very good at gently amusing.

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

Figsandcream · 30/10/2020 16:17

Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

Therollockingrogue · 30/10/2020 16:17

The Innocent Anthropologist by Nigel Barley

Figsandcream · 30/10/2020 16:16

Jeeves and Wooster - P.G. Wodehouse ?

catpoooffender · 30/10/2020 16:16

Just to continue the theme, any/all of the Adrian Mole books.

eddiemairswife · 30/10/2020 16:15

Has he read The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith?Written about the same time as Three Men in a Boat. There is also a sequel to Three Men called Three Men on the Bummel. If I remember correctly, it is about a cycling trip in Germany.

catpoooffender · 30/10/2020 16:15

Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith?

That makes a lot of diary recommendations...

pinkearedcow · 30/10/2020 16:15

What about this, it's just out and looks fun.

www.amazon.co.uk/Windsor-Knot-Elizabeth-investigates-delightfully/dp/1838773169?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Original poster
BSJohnson · 30/10/2020 16:14

And he's read a fair amount of Wodehouse. Lord, this is difficult!

Thinking about it, I feel like he likes observational humour that is a bit sharp at times, so yes to Wodehouse-style. I'm hoping to find something probably from the last 30-40 years, so he's less likely to have read it already/know it as a classic.

OP posts:
MrsIronfoundersson · 30/10/2020 16:13

Diary of a provincial lady by e m delafield? Lovely book and amusing.

Original poster
BSJohnson · 30/10/2020 16:11

He's not a sports fan at all, and I've read and very much enjoyed some Patrick Leigh Fermor, but I'm not sure it's funny enough. Sorry to be picky!
I've also got two Gervase Finn books, and I enjoyed them, but they are more my dm's taste, tbh. Not quite enough edge.

OP posts:
MobLife · 30/10/2020 16:10

I was about to suggest Gervase Phinn! Really lovely stories

Original poster
BSJohnson · 30/10/2020 16:09

I gave him "Little Dribbling" last year, sadly. He's read Herriot, as my mum had them all.

OP posts:
ChessieFL · 30/10/2020 16:08

You could also try Gervase Phinn - he’s written about 5 books about his time as an education inspector in Yorkshire in (I think) the 1980s. They are gently amusing. He’s also written fiction but that features romance which may not be for your dad!

Spudlet · 30/10/2020 16:07

How about the James Herriot books? I used to love them, and they’re pretty gentle - well, they’re vet books so the odd dog or cow comes to an unfortunate end, but really they’re about the foibles of the people, and very funny too.

TheDuchessofDukeStreet · 30/10/2020 16:05

Patrick Leigh Fermor, wonderful vintage travel writing. Fiction, Dorothy L Sayers mysteries, perhaps try him with ‘The Nine Tailors’. Or ‘The adventures of Sally’ by PG Wodehouse. If he liked ‘Three Men In a boat’ he may enjoy this.

titchy · 30/10/2020 15:57

Bill Bryson's Little Dribbling fits perfectly!

JemimaTiggywinkle · 30/10/2020 15:55

If he’s interested in cricket, Penguins Stopped Play is meant to be mildly amusing... tales of village cricketers touring the globe.

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