Devoid of humor?

[RichardX]

King's books often seem completely devoid of any humor. My impression is that humor plays an important bonding role between the characters in his books - often sharing some type of inside joke - but from the readers perspective there is rarely anything that comes across as intentionally humorous. Not a criticism but just an observation. King is obviously not a humorist like Richard Russo but I was trying to think of even a single instance where there is some type of humor directed to the reader. There might have been some more of that in MrM trilogy. I have seen him many times in person where he is very funny. So it stands in contrast to his books.

 

[carrie's younger brother]

"My impression is that humor plays an important bonding role between the characters in his books - often sharing some type of inside joke"

Exactly. I've always felt like SK lets his characters be the "stooges" while he just tells the story.

 

[mal]

Not completely devoid of humour. There were a lot of jokes in 'The Plant' also the Trivial Pursuit session with Eddies brother in the Gunslinger series was a hoot. I've laughed out loud more than once throughout the years while reading a Stephen King book.

 

[Doc Creed]

I have to disagree on this one. King is hilarious, I think (whether intentionally or by second nature or in interviews or on the page: he's funny) but I will say it all depends on what each reader finds funny. He writes characters he knows and they all make me laugh. There's the wise-cracking old timers, the loud mouth drunks, and many townsfolk that seem to have stepped out of Keillor's Lake Wobegone; Even his penchant for gross-out scenes and repulsive scenes can have ribald humor or riddled with winking sophomoric jokes.
His darker novels, like Pet Sematary, contain some humor, too, albeit black humor. Misery is another book that was a nail-biting thriller and quite serious but full of humor and surreal wackiness. I'm trying to think of a single book where he's not funny. Hmmm...Again, I think this is simply a case of the differences of what one thinks is funny.

 

[Out of Order]

I thought Pet Sem was a scream!

 

[Spideyman]

Dunken Fireworks in BOBD was hilarious.

 

[Dana Jean]

i always find humor in his books.

 

[Dana Jean]

I thought Pet Sem was a scream!

What are we going to do with you?

 

[GNTLGNT]

...I gotta go with Doc's assessment....it depends on what one finds or terms "funny".....King is sometimes baldly comical with his writing, others-it's very sly-but once the inference is determined the guffaws ring out....

 

[muskrat]

I have to disagree on this one. King is hilarious, I think (whether intentionally or by second nature or in interviews or on the page: he's funny) but I will say it all depends on what each reader finds funny. He writes characters he knows and they all make me laugh. There's the wise-cracking old timers, the loud mouth drunks, and many townsfolk that seem to have stepped out of Keillor's Lake Wobegone; Even his penchant for gross-out scenes and repulsive scenes can have ribald humor or riddled with winking sophomoric jokes.
His darker novels, like Pet Sematary, contain some humor, too, albeit black humor. Misery is another book that was a nail-biting thriller and quite serious but full of humor and surreal wackiness. I'm trying to think of a single book where he's not funny. Hmmm...Again, I think this is simply a case of the differences of what one thinks is funny.

Yeah, ditto. King always cracks me up. Sometimes it's just subtle humor, such as certain characters and their colloquial language, other times it's those all-out 'holy crap!' moments that, I suppose, aren't really suppose to be funny, but just rip me up. And The Dark Tower has so many laugh out loud moments, too many to count. Under the Dome was a laugh-a-minute riot--Big Jim, Chef and Andy, heck, even Junior had his moments.

Spoiler

How about ol Tom Cullen getting a bad case of 'green apple splatters' in The Stand? Dolores Claiborne trying to catch that old lady before she could poop the bed? Oh man, that had me in tears. Ben kicking Henry in the pills in It?Sheemie?

King not funny? Are we reading the same guy?

 

[Doc Creed]

Yeah, ditto. King always cracks me up. Sometimes it's just subtle humor, such as certain characters and their colloquial language, other times it's those all-out 'holy crap!' moments that, I suppose, aren't really suppose to be funny, but just rip me up. And The Dark Tower has so many laugh out loud moments, too many to count. Under the Dome was a laugh-a-minute riot--Big Jim, Chef and Andy, heck, even Junior had his moments.

Spoiler

How about ol Tom Cullen getting a bad case of 'green apple splatters' in The Stand? Dolores Claiborne trying to catch that old lady before she could poop the bed? Oh man, that had me in tears. Ben kicking Henry in the pills in It?Sheemie?

King not funny? Are we reading the same guy?

Yeah, exactly. The Tom Cullen moments is another great example, as you point out. You're right, maybe he's reading the Writer Who Shall Not Be Named. Just kidding, RichardX, lol.

 

[Ebdim9th]

"I metaphor sex but she slapped me in the face and walked away." - Eddie Dean; The Waste Lands

 

[not_nadine]

From my first read of 'Salems Lot. Scared the heck out of me. But I could not explain to others how I can go from being terrified and cracking up the next few pages. Or a paragraph? The Shining did that for me too . Heck, they all do.

I have smiled, snorted and laughed out loud. Every single one of his books, no matter how dark.. Has moments. Lot's of them.

So, I don't see what you are saying there, Richard X

 

[Kurben]

I gotta go with the majority here. King has his humorous moments put in most books.

 

[Connor B]

I think Joss Whedon said it best: "Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then, for the love of God, tell a joke."

 

[fljoe0]

Yeah, ditto. King always cracks me up. Sometimes it's just subtle humor, such as certain characters and their colloquial language, other times it's those all-out 'holy crap!' moments that, I suppose, aren't really suppose to be funny, but just rip me up. And The Dark Tower has so many laugh out loud moments, too many to count. Under the Dome was a laugh-a-minute riot--Big Jim, Chef and Andy, heck, even Junior had his moments.

Spoiler

How about ol Tom Cullen getting a bad case of 'green apple splatters' in The Stand? Dolores Claiborne trying to catch that old lady before she could poop the bed? Oh man, that had me in tears. Ben kicking Henry in the pills in It?Sheemie?

King not funny? Are we reading the same guy?

I think the story The Fair Extension in Full Dark No Stars is very dark comedy. I have no idea if that's what SK intended but I look at it as great black comedy. It doesn't really start to hit you as funny until about 2/3 of the way through but SK just keeps piling on the poor victim and I remember thinking, what else can he do to this guy, and laughing. I have a picture in my mind of SK laughing about all the hell he caused that guy.

I find SK very funny. He's not Tom Robbins kind of funny but he has a subtle humor that mostly comes from the way he creates the characters.

 

[Doc Creed]

I think the story The Fair Extension in Full Dark No Stars is very dark comedy. I have no idea if that's what SK intended but I look at it as great black comedy. It doesn't really start to hit you as funny until about 2/3 of the way through but SK just keeps piling on the poor victim and I remember thinking, what else can he do to this guy, and laughing. I have a picture in my mind of SK laughing about all the hell he caused that guy.

I find SK very funny. He's not Tom Robbins kind of funny but he has a subtle humor that mostly comes from the way he creates the characters.

That story hit me the same way, FlowJoe! I didn't laugh uproariously but it gave me a few chucks, as Richie Tozier would say.

 

[Walter Oobleck]

Annie, in Misery,

Spoiler

she'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes! she'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes! she'll be riding six white horses she'll be riding six white horses!...so on and so forth and scoobie doobie do do.

Something in Danse Macabre, too, 'bout horror and humor lying side-by-side...he has his father's eyes...Rosemary's Baby. And that last story has some black humor...the hard-working couple, trying times. Dunno what to make of the idea that it is devoid of humor. Time for a re-read I'm thinkin. That short...'bout the bathroom and the tiger.

 

[muskrat]

Oh yeah, and the short stories...so many chuckalicious ones. L.T.'s Theory of Pets? The Lawnmower Man? And, heck, even though it's horrible, Survivor Type cracks me right up.

Sure, it's dark humor, like in E.C. Horror comics, but it's humor all the same. You either laugh or go insane.

King not funny? Puhhhh leeaaase.

 

[skimom2]

Not the same experience for me. Mr. King makes me laugh easily and often.