This abbreviation is all over the internet. Someone posts a funny video clip on FaceBook and it’s common for a response to be LOL. Someone posts a new status and 3 people give them a thumbs up and 2 others may LOL.

I started reading a new book a couple of days ago and suddenly realized that, as I read, I am LOL. The book was recommended to be by Iris, who said that she thought I’d enjoy it. And I am. The book is Rob Stennett’s  The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher. It’s a novel, but more than fiction, it’s funny. Rarely do authors write humor into the storyline. The “Great American Novel” is usually serious, full of metaphors and lessons that are timeless. But they typically are NOT funny. Why not? Sure, we all have those moments of trial and tribulation. Sure, we want a hero or heroine who inspires us. But when did we get soooo serious. Life is serious business, so don’t we need the balance of humor to help us get through the tough times? And can’t lessons be woven amongst the humor?

We call novels “classics” when they fit into the serious category. We love the idea that the story is based on an intense human event or setting. But literature rarely falls into a seriously funny format.

For example:

A Tale of Two Cities~not funny, some consider it “stuffy”

Anna Karenina~not funny

To Kill a Mockingbird~not funny, thought provoking

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest~a couple of funny moments thanks to Jack Nicholson’s performance in the movie by the same name, but basically very serious

Lord of the Flies~not funny, stressful, disastrous, murder is never funny

Grapes of Wrath~not funny, desperate, heartbreaking Nobel Prize winner for Literature in 1962

War and Peace~really not funny

In fact, often the title is a dead giveaway for the seriousness of the content. The words, War, Wrath, and Kill scream, “I AM NOT FUNNY” from the bookstore shelves. Really, it almost seems that unless a book reduces us to tears, it’s not really a novel, not really a classic.

Love Story~not considered classic, but captured the essence of grief, which is crucial to most classics; is to literature as Rod McKuen’s Listen to the Warm is to poetry. Coincidentially, both were very popular with the general public.

Catcher in the Rye~funny in places, JD Salinger had a style that allowed for humor to be used judiciously. Thanks, JD.

So I started reading Ryan Fisher, which is the story of a guy who has lost interest in being a realtor until he discovers the Christian real estate market. The book jacket says, “It’s like they’re begging for affordable but classy starter homes.”

Once he begins attending church regularly, Ryan goes from being “realtor to Christians,” to becoming a self-appointed pastor deciding to “plant a church,” which means start a new one. Unfortunately, the only place willing to let him offer a worship service on Sunday morning is the kids’ pizzeria, Chuck E. Cheese.

I’m only about 1/3 of the way through the book, but I find the text to be infused with humor—like Ryan’s wife, Katherine having a crush on the town karaoke star, Cowboy Jack; like the hospitality table at the back of the “church” being stocked with bagels and Apple Jacks cereal; like Sheriff Somersby’s line in the diner, “Carl, don’t make me call in a code aquamarine on you.”

Now these are classic scenes from literature!

JK. LOL. (Just kidding. Laughing out loud.)

Posted on August 17, 2010

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