“‘The Midden’ and Sharpe’s Humour” by Isabel
“THE MIDDEN” AND SHARPE’S HUMOUR
Tom Sharpe was a comic novelist considered one of England’s funniest writers and praised for his use of satire. Nevertheless, his novel “The Midden” was criticized, especially among American readers, for being too harsh and brutish.
One possible explanation for the lack of consensus about this author could be the fact that British humour is different and probably only British people are able to fully enjoy it. Irony, sarcasm and self-deprecation are some of its main traits, but what probably best defines it is its pervasiveness: humour is used all the time and with any topic, something that can bother the non-British.
In my case, I felt upset while reading the book due to how Sharpe twists every situation up to the point of most of them being so exaggerated that they become unbelievable and, above all, due to the detailed and graphic description of some of those situations. A clear example is the issue of the group of specialists in child abuse and all related jokes, something that made me feel pretty uncomfortable.
After having only read “The Midden”, probably not his best comic novel, and not being able to completely judge him as a writer, I would position myself closer to those thinking his humour lacks a bit of subtlety and has too much bile.
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