Classics You Didn't Know Were So Funny |

Is Jane Austen's Emma a comedy? Is David Copperfield as funny as it looks from the movie trailer with Dev Patel? A new generation of film adaptations are showing off quite how funny classic books can be.
Check out Book Break on Instagram: / bookbreakuk
VISIT Jarndyce Books: bit.ly/2GVcqFt
WATCH Our Unpopular Jane Austen Opinions: bit.ly/2uP6ZVv
WATCH How to Get into Jane Austen: bit.ly/2OvcPm6
WATCH a Jane Austen tour of Bath: bit.ly/2OtRxFf
WATCH How to Get into Charles Dickens: bit.ly/36YZoRG
WATCH a Seaside Adventure Vlog featuring many of Charles Dickens's favourite places: bit.ly/2vRYFFb
WATCH Forgotten Classics: bit.ly/31qiiQe
WATCH Guess the Classic: bit.ly/3bfLr56
BUY David Copperfield by Charles Dickens: bit.ly/2SlfXSl
BUY The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens: bit.ly/2SxrK0r
BUY A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: bit.ly/39e3RBp
BUY Emma by Jane Austen: bit.ly/2GVAAPV
BUY Catch 22 by Joseph Heller: bit.ly/383yN7A
BUY Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons: bit.ly/3766J28
BUY Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith: bit.ly/2uoE7Ua
BUY Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh: bit.ly/382BgPr
BUY The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer: bit.ly/2UqGpgd
Find us on Twitter:
Pan Macmillan: / panmacmillan
Emma: / drinkbymyshelf
Got a suggestion for future #BookBreak episodes? Well, why not have your say on the videos we shoot by filling out our google feedback & requests form? We want to hear from you: goo.gl/forms/K8VUK9eqYYp8FvmK2

[@dianapalenzuela5298]

I love this idea!! I find the Spanish 'picaresca' to be v funny, as it was intended. The Quixote is a reeeally fun satire about medieval knight stories, it you are daunted by the length you can always read parts of it, feels like a compilation of short stories

[@OrcmanRepugnant]

I absolutely love your humour and wonderful happiness and spirit!! You are a wonderful tonic for a bad day. Thank you for your exquisite presence!

[@DramaLlama2310]

Nice list! I would have say P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves series is my favourite and if you listen to the Jonathan Cecil audiobooks you'll love it even more!

[@sashahawkins]

I looove so many of these! Cold Comfort Farm is a delight. I'm so excited for the new David Copperfield movie too. I think any PG Wodehouse is genuinely a hilarious treat.

[@BookBreak]

Agreed, I love PG Wodehouse! Never fails to make me laugh out loud.

[@LaurenAndTheBooks]

I went to see David Copperfield last week and was remembering our trip to the Trotwood house and all those handsome pictures of Charles D on the wall! X

[@BookBreak]

Hahahah YES I could not stop thinking about that either! What a HANDSOME man

[@robertashields6713]

Don't miss the very short, but very funny, "George, don't do that" by Joyce Grenfell. Totally lets you in to the comic world of a nursery where the adult tries to maintain control amidst the chaos. I laughes so hard reading it I walked in to a lamp post.

[@sophie6067]

I've still never read Vile Bodies, but love the film!

[@LiterallyJasmine]

Cold Comfort Farm is one of my favourite classics, and the movie adaptation is even better! 😍

[@BookBreak]

Ooh I didn't even know there was a film!

[@LiterallyJasmine]

Book Break yeah! It has Stephen Fry in it! And Ian McKellen!

[@ToddSmith23]

Catch 22 is the funniest book I have ever read

[@RoisinsReading]

I just finished David Copperfield and I thought it was really comic whilst I was reading it. Mr Micawber, Betsy Trotwood and Barkis are all so comic. Yes there's seriousness in it but it's definitely the opposite of bleak.

[@BookBreak]

My favourite types of funny books are often the ones that are quite sad stories told in a comical way!

[@RoisinsReading]

@@BookBreak like Roddy Doyle books

[@nicholasoulton8489]

Right, I'm off to get Cold Comfort Farm - how come I've never read that?

[@BookBreak]

It seems right up your alley!

[@vilstef6988]

Cold Comfort Farm was a hilarious film! Gotta read the book.

[@BookBreak]

I've actually never seen the film!

[@vilstef6988]

@@BookBreak I saw it on a double bill in the theater and don't remember what the other film was. It was released in 1995 and the cast included Kate Beckinsale, Joanna Lumley and Ian McKellen. Kate played Flora, and her rural relatives were an amazing pack of eccentrics.