Customer Reviews

Puckoon

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(0)
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This is probably the funniest book i have ever read. Spike's surreal, zany homour didn't always hit the mark but when it did....pure genious! and "Puckoon" definately hits the mark.
e,g. Mrs. Doonan tried to get a divorce from her husband and the solicitor says..."But Mrs. Doonan, just because you don't like him, that's no grounds for separation."
"Well, make a few suggestions," she said.
"Has he ever struck you?"
"No. I'd kill him if he did."
"Has he ever been cruel to the children?"
"Never."
"Ever left you short of money, then?"
"No, every Friday on the nail."
"I see." The solicitor pondered. "Ah, wait, think hard now, Mrs. Doonan, has he ever been unfaithful to you?"
Her face lit up. "By God, i tink we got him there, I know for sure he wasn't the father of me last child!"
Spike manages to find humour and hillarious characterization set amongst the unlikely backdrop of the creation of the state of Northern Ireland, and "Any hostility to the Boundary Commissioners will be penalized with fines from a shilling up to death..."
The border just happens to fall right through the centre of "Puckoon"!
If you like wry, askew and slightly silly jokes...buy this book!

It has been many years since I last saw my well-thumbed copy of Puckoon. Now, exiled in the United States, I am searching Amazon.com for that perfect gift for my wife. She's one of those Americans who thinks she's Irish. Puckoon would be the perfect gift for her. I still remember laughing until I cried at the antics of the characters in Puckoon. There is no doubt that Spike Milligan has written one of the funnies books ever written about Ireland. I hope that my children will one day be able to both read and appreciate this book. Spike Milligan has written many books, all of them good, but Puckoon will always stand out in my mind. Reading Puckoon is like having your own personal Spike Milligan in the room with you. Rick Barnes.

Puckoon is a book, so funny, that thirty years later, I still quote from the book. Unfortunately, I loaned it out and it was never returned. I first read it on a train between London, England and Edinburg, Scotland. After a short while I started gigling. This soon progressed to out-of-control laughter. Eventually, I fell off my seat in the train compartment, much to the horror of my fellow passengers. I writhed on the floor convulsed in pain and laughter, tears ran down my face. Eventually I half composed myself and regained my seat. I dared not read anymore; Puckoon was too funny to read in public. However, at regular intervals, while thinking about the book, I lost my composure and fell into uncontrolable laughter again, much to the discomfort of my fellow passengers. Eventually, I pointed to a passage and pushed the book into the hands of a fellow passenger. In a short while, he too was stricken with convulsive laughter. The book was passed around from passenger to passenger. Before long the entire members of the compartment were laughing and crying with glee. Between snorts, people would quote a passage and we would all break up into out-of-control laughter again. The train eventually rolled into Waverly staion. Quite weak, and still trying to control our luaghter; eyes red from crying we alighted onto the platform.

Puckoon is by far the funniest book I have ever read, or am likely to ever read in the future. This book is definitely not those prone to heart attacts. I must locate another copy.

I first read this book on a friend's recommendation over thirty years ago. While I am a great Goon fan (Spike wrote all of the 150 or so scripts) I didn't always find his other work such as Beachcomber on TV as funny, but this book did not disappoint me one iota. It should be prescribed reading for all those people that have the nerve to say that Monty Python was the natural successor to the Goons or Spike. They didn't even come close (by about a thousand miles!) to the absolute brilliance of his writing.

I have just bought this book through Amazon (via bestbooksbrought2you - thanks Teresa, great service) for a friend's birthday. Even now, I can open the book at ANY page and break down in uncontrollable laughter at the visions he creates on every one. My wife and I still use some of the catch phrases from the book ('Caw!' said the crow - 'B*lls' said Milligan). The world lost a true genius when he died almost three years ago (Feb 2002) and this is shown in his chosen engraving on his tombstone - 'I told you I was ill'......

This book is quite simply the funniest book ever written.

My Father tried to read this book to me, as a bedtime tale when I was 8 years old. He used to get about 2 pages before falling off the end of the bed laughing. This, to an 8 year old was funnier than the book. To those over 8 who have read this book, nothing is funnier, ever.

I read it first, when I was 14. I laughed so hard and so loudly that I woke up everyone in the house. To this day,the lines (and I paraphrase here, forgive me) "Thank god the ground broke my fall." "Yes its handy for that." sends me into spasms of laughter. I dare you to read this book in a public place and not laugh out loud.

I can only endorse and agree with everybodies praise for this piece of work. I first read this in my early teens and now at 43 I'm on my third copy. I'd love to know why this has never been made into a film, although judging by the laughter count while you read it I guess it would be almost impossible to act it.

This book is about the bizarre characters in the Irish village of Puckoon.
Adjectatives like surreal and zany don't really explain the sometimes mad humour of Spike Milligan, although they go part of the way to explain him. A man who like all the cliched comics of history suffered with depression and most people didn't understand him, including his wives.
His style of comedy is not for all peoples tastes I remember watching one of his "Q" TV shows in the 70's when my father came in, and his comment of, "What the hell are you watching", has stuck with me all this time.
Comedy I guess is a generational thing!
He had once quipped that he wanted his headstone to bear the words "I told you I was ill."
For lovers of, "zany" "left field" comedy or whatever way you want to describe it, this book is one of Milligans best.
On sale at amazon.co.uk

The New Tain... without the bulls, the Hound, Fergus or Meave. However, there is, a wild panther, Roman Centurions, wild bike ridss, a Chinee policeman and the worlds most sophisticated commode. All these threads (and more) are woven together by a master storyteller, hilarity ensues. Hilarity in the truest sense of the word, this is not a book you would read in public as the resulting howls of laughter are sure to draw unwanted attention. I'm new to Spike Milligan, having read only one other book, and I'm glad I discovered him. A truly talented writer who has written a truly memorable work.

The book is a solid 5 stars for good reason.

But you'll especially love it if you read it while in Ireland. There is a subtle cheekiness about the style of writing and the plot as a whole that embodies the nature of Ireland itself. Ummm... okay, so basically, it's an easy read, it will make you laugh, you'll end up writing your own 5-star review afterward.

Spike Milligan was born in India, the son of an Irish father who was serving in the British Indian Army. He spent most of his life in England and served in the British Army in World War II - though he took Irish citizenship. Milligan was an undoubted comedy genius and was the principal writer of The Goon Show. He was one of the few people who could get away with referring to a member of the British Royal Family - Prince Charles - as a "little grovelling b@$t@rd" on live television.

The story is set in Puckoon, a fictional village located a few miles northeast of Sligo . Dan Milligan probably the closest thing to a central character we get - and is, presumably, based a little on Spike himself. Dan lives in one of the Peat Cutters' Cottages - although he isn't actually a peat-cutter. (He's a skiver through and through. The peat ran out several years previously, and the peat-cutters didn't take long in doing the same. The Free State Government then awarded the cottages to those who'd fought for Irish independence). Milligan the character is, naturally, at the centre of much of the book's daftness : for a start, he can hold a conversation with Milligan the author. He isn't at all impressed with Spike's writing abilities, and is particularly unimpressed with his own legs. In an attempt to even things up a little, Spike gives Dan a magical word - squorrox - that'll get him out of any trouble. (Dan could've used that word on his wedding day - his wife's a fearsome looking creature, and is described by some as a "danger to shipping". Dan's two brothers had arrived with his wedding suit, just in time for him to make it to the church...he never forgave them).

Dan's wife sends him to the church to try and find some work - the grass needs cut, and Father Rudden, despite his own good health, is obviously too busy with religious matters to deal with the problem himself. (It's the first time Dan's been to church since his baptism, but at least it'll be a little money for him. Well, it would if the parish wasn't broke - there are so many buttons going into the collection plate, it's a miracle how the faithful can walk to mass without their trousers falling down).

However, Milligan and money aren't Fr Rudden's only problems. Although the majority of Ireland has now wriggled free from the United Kingdom , part of the country is staying put - which means a new border has to be drawn up. Unfortunately, thanks to a group of idiotic bureaucrats, the border gets drawn right through the church grounds. The chapel is in the new Free State , the graveyard is in the UK - which, being a Spike Milligan book, leads to all sorts of complications with Dan Doonan's funeral.

While it is (unsurprisingly) a hugely funny and very daft book, there is the very occasional touch of sadness here and there. (The story of Farmer O'Mara particularly stands out, probably because it contrast so much with the rest of the book). Totally recommended.