dann@wxlvax.UUCP (06/21/83)
Book Suggestions: The Thirteen Clocks The White Deer both by James Thurber I decided to look up The Thirteen Clocks after the fortune program dumped the following bit of doggeral on my screen: Hark, Hark, the dogs do bark, The duke is fond of kittens, He likes to take their insides out, And use their fur for mittens. Well, the duke seemed like my type of guy, so I took the book out of the library (mind you, the children's section) and found that it was very similar to The White Deer which I read years ago. Both books are fairy tales in the more or less traditional fashion involving princes on a quest for princesses (should this be in net.singles?) written in a very tongue-in-cheek manner. What makes the books worth reading is Thurber's use of style, especially alliteration and rhymes. These are books which should probably be read aloud (they're both fairly short) just for the effect. If you've been wondering why so much of the 'literature' at the local paperback mill seems so uninteresting; it's probably because so few authors like to play with the language as much as Thurber does. ***************************************************** Robert Benchly is also good. A 192* humorist and writer of light pieces. The Benchly Roundup contains some of his better material. ***************************************************** dann