Balls and Walnuts
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Honesty, humor, and SERIOUS fiction
Only one point to make here, people: SERIOUS fiction (all caps because, you know, these literary fiction writers are SERIOUS, unlike us genre writers) does not have a monopoly on honesty.
I thought about this while listening to my new Gogol Bordello CD, Voi-La Intruder. The song is called “God-Like” and here are the first few stanzas:
You and I resemble god
made by him to come after him
everything in us resembles god
except for one thingEverything in us resembles god
except for one thing.
Everything in us resembles god
except for one thing.I am a liar you are a cheater
I am a thief and you are a traitor
I’m downright stupid
and you are paranoid
haha, there’s more than oneWell let’s just keep going, then;
When I screw
I don’t care for the beauty.
I drape myself over hands that are crookedWhen I’m hurting myself
I just try to hurt you
you respond with tears
but they are never true
Read the rest of the lyrics here.
When I first listened to this song, I felt a strange pleasure rushing through me as I recognized that unique mixture of honesty and humor, something buoyed up from the well of emotion found in a real, loving-and-hating relationship. I realized that it doesn’t matter whether you’re writing lyrics, genre lit, or literary lit. If the honesty isn’t there, the writing is crap.
Remember these lyrics?
I need you, babe
To put through the shredder
In front of my friends
Ooooh Babe.
Dont leave me now.
How could you go?
When you know how I need you
To beat to a pulp on a Saturday night
Ooooh Babe.
How could you treat me this way?
Karen and I have always loved that song for its honesty. The protagonist is a creep, an abuser, but he’s honest enough to bare it all and expose himself to universal contempt. Also, as painful as this song is, black humor abounds.
I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that humor can be taken as an index of honesty in writing. I’m not saying humorless writing is dishonest — but if the author hasn’t mined the humor from a situation, he hasn’t done the full job.
What do you think?
D.
I love Gogol Bordello.
And Everything is Illuminated with that guy’s fantastic voice and the music –
I
Whoops. You really need a “preview.” (okay I’m the one who needs the preview.)
I *heart* you, Doug!
My preference for humor in my reading isn’t due to shallowness, but depth. Great theory. I’ll buy it. 😉
Seriously, though, it seems that the best (most honest?) humor has a core of seriousness or emotional pain. Crusie explained it really well, but I’m too tired/lazy to go look it up. It makes sense that the opposite would be true–that an honest portrayal of something serious or painful would include the humor.
Yup, Darla, my thought exactly. And if you ever do get a chance to find the Crusie quote, I’d really like to see it.
Thanks, Sam. I agree. Hutz is da bomb. I keep meaning to grow out my moustache just like his 😉
Just occurred to me . . . a lot of the humor in the GB song comes from the fact that Hutz sings alternate lines with a female vocalist beginning with “I am a liar you are a cheater”.
Eh, you just have to hear it for yourselves 😉
I, too, prefer writing where the author adds a touch of humor. That’s not to say there isn’t some awfully good writing out there that’s more or less humor-free, but I think it says something when the great bard himself added some comedic moments to even his darkest of plays.
So I see where you’re coming from, but I’m not sure I agree that humor adds honesty. To me, it can add a more human touch to a subject, it can more it more personal and help the reader identify better, but that’s subtly different from making it more honest.
I don’t think we really know why some things are funny, but it seems to me that most humour (or humor, as y’all say) contains an element of pain of some sort.
Humour goes to the heart of what it is to be human, and for that reason I think that I agree with you.
Gosh its SO great to hear of other Gogol fans. I hope you got a chance to see them this tour!!! idk where you live but I got to for the first time and WOW best show ever!! If you haven’t had the chance to see Everything is Illuminated yet, DEF check it out. Buy it on amazon. You won’t regret it! 😀 Thanks for some info into the lives of. I loved the band for a little while now but didn’t know so much about the members themselves. From one fan to another!