Quite a while ago, I did a blog on The Joy of Satire. My beloved and chosen literary style. I read all kinds of books: spy novels (such as Frederick Forsyth), chick lit (such as Jennifer Weiner), historical fiction (such as Wilbur Smith and James Michener), science fiction (Such as Arthur C. Clark), fantasy (such as JRR Tolkien), medical thrillers (such as Patricia Cornwell), psychological detective thrillers (such as Jonathan Kellerman) and lots of Comedy (such as Janet Evanovich).
Sometimes finding comedy in other genres can be great, sometimes it seems out of place and disappointing. It seems that if you are going to write comedy, just admit it, and try it out.
So satire in Literature: it is found easily and often. Also, like other media, it is found in places you may not be looking. Charlaine Harris is basically an fantasy author, but she is also very funny, and her Sookie Stackhouse books are subtle satire, with vampires and other scary creatures of the night.
But that does not mean you can't find satire only in “adult” type books. Two of my favorite stories from my youth are also satiric in nature: The Emperor's New Clothes (by Hans Christian Andersen) and Animal Farm by George Orwell, are stories for children and young adults.
I thought the earliest written satire would be from those wacky Greeks. But actually (according to Wikipedia) the first evidence of satire is found in Egyptian writing starting at 2000 B.C. I guess it goes to show you that snarky humor has been around quite a while. This is despite many teenagers who feel they are inventors of sarcasm and the like. Ah, to be young and think you are original.
One of my favorite American authors, though in all honesty, I need to read more of his work, is Mark Twain. Or the author formally known as Samuel Clemens. His book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, truly influenced me as young person and inspires my writing now. Another cool thing about Mr. Twain, he was a contemporary and friend of Nikola Tesla. They would often hang out in Tesla's lab. That friendship would make one hell of a story – to me.
A more recent author has taken satire, as well as many other literary styles and has made it his own, then he left our planet, making it a poorer place. David Foster Wallace was a challenging writer, when you delve into his work, you have to be read for his “juggernaut of words”. In reading his essays, you find yourself lost in a sea of commas but not much other punctuation. This stream-of-consciousness type writing genuinely brings you into the characters thoughts, which adds so much more satire. No one wants others to know what they think, that would be embarrassing. I bought Infinite Jest a little while ago, but I am not in the right frame of mind to read it yet.
The author I will end this blog on is kind of like the one I started it with. Terry Pratchett took fantasy characters, magic, a whole lot of humor, and created the Discworld series. On this flat world there are wizards, witches, dwarfs, dragons, fairies, giants, but there are also ordinary human characters who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. His fanciful play on characters and situations have given me insights into our world, including making you think about very human issues like prejudice, greed and love. My husband and I especially love his books about the Watch (sort-of mid-evil police) and the Tiffany Aching series about a young witch finding her place in her world. It is very sad that Mr. Pratchett may have to put down his pen soon, as he has early onset Alzheimer's Disease. His work is quite famous in the United Kingdom, but he is not very well known in the United States. It is thanks to my husband and his family that I found this author. I hope many others in the US will give his work a look, it is well worth it.
What I am reading right now is a satire called A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. It won the Pulitzer Prize and I am finding it quite goofy. The anti-hero, Ignatius Reilly, is sort of a Comic Book Guy (if your a fan of the Simpsons) but even more lazy, opinionated and willing to argue the most absurd viewpoint just to hear himself talk. This book also gives a much different view of New Orleans, a city that other authors view as scary, mystical and troubled. Mr. Toole shows New Orleans to be troubled, but a rather silly place, mind you I am only one quarter into reading this book.
It also seems that I have a lot of other reading I should do, from Twain and Wallace to reading Game of Thrones. One of the nice things about being an author is checking out other people's work. The key is not to be intimidated, just to be inspired.
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