My first reaction to the theme of this month’s blog was ‘Laughter! Don’t they know there’s a pandemic on?’ Quickly followed by ‘I really must get out more.’ I suppose that in my mind I was equating laughter with levity in the face of other people’s personal tragedies. There is not one soul in the world who will feel better for the knowledge that I am miserable, so I need to get over myself on that one. I found it difficult to move on from that, as, like many, I have found the relentless constraints of Covid increasingly difficult to endure, but it was worth the effort.
On to laughter as humour. I like to keep my writing light-hearted and draw on life experiences for the absurdness of daily living. In my first novel, “Irrelevant Women” the embarrassing scene with the naked man is an almost verbatim account of an incident that happened to me and a friend while out walking.
I love the humour of P.G.Wodehouse, loathe slapstick, love Dilbert, and just don’t get some of the “comedy” you find on Netflix. Humour is such a personal and cultural phenomenon, it defies description in just a few words. But we all know that our sense of humour is a sensitive and fragile thing, so when a friend tells a joke that we don’t find funny, we can smile and even chuckle, much as we would if that same friend asked us to admire a hideous hat, or sticky grandchild, and thus, feelings are not hurt.
So, is there a kind of laughter that is universal? I think there is. As I sit at my keyboard, I am imagining a time, hopefully soon, when I will meet up with a good friend after more than a year. We will smile, we will cry, and we will laugh. I know we will, and all before uttering a single word. This is the laughter of joy. I’m smiling now as I imagine the scene; we will spot each other across a crowded car park, hurry towards each other and indulge in the longest hug we’ve ever shared. We will laugh at the sheer relief and joy of being together again, and I’m pretty sure that any stranger witnessing us will smile too.
My name is Alice Rosewell and I live in the city of Bristol in the South West of England (UK), the city where I was born. I write in British English, so I hope that American readers will not be put off by British spelling of some words.
The first story I remember writing was at primary school, about the age of 7. This was followed by a dry spell which latest about 50 years during which I got through University, brought up a couple of kids, and had a successful career in IT.
I had the outline of a story which I’d dreamed up one evening in the pub, but that sat in a folder for about a decade until I got made redundant for the 3rd time in one year! This event coincided with the Kindle becoming mainstream, and Indie publishing an option. I dusted off my few pages of ideas and got to work. For the last few years, I have been writing contemporary women’s fiction, publishing three novels: Irrelevant Women, The Kite Makers, and my latest, An End to Dreaming. A good friend described my writing as intriguing, uplifting, and will not give you nightmares! I think that about sums it up.
4 comments:
Alice, welcome to Romancing The Genres! An intriguing bit about the naked man. I will certainly check out your books as I definitely steer away from "page turner" and "will give you nightmares!" books.
Alice - welcome! I love your friend's description of your work - especially the part about not giving me nightmares. Yes, I think you are right that the laughter of joy is universal. But humor can sometimes backfire, depending on who is on eh receiving end. Fun post!
I agree. What one person finds funny another may not. Like some of my husband's jokes... Interesting post. Welcome to Romancing the Genres.
I'm with you ... so many of the "comedies" on Netflix are just painful to watch. I love the Brits approach to humour and reliance on sarcasm, but that doesn't always travel well across borders! I found that out the hard way, from growing up in the UK and relocating to California.
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