Pratchett is a good model for mixing slapstick comedy and tragedy. The important thing, as Beth said, is to foreshadow. Drop in moments of seriousness throughout, so the final big change of direction doesn't give anyone whiplash.
Comedy ...... with a Serious Ending ???
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Wow thanks again Everybody these posts are so helpful ........ they have really helped me to separate the issues surrounding the OP and look at it from a different perspective. The whole notion of a letter in a letter could have been completely overwhelming and also run the risk of taking the reader to a place they didnt really anticipate nor necessarily want to be. I guess by keeping the first letter completely in character and writng the letter as a scripted piece of dialogue where the MC anticipates and then answers the recipients of the letter's ??? then it is already keeping the humour level fairly consistent.The only time the Letter is completely serious is when the reader is shown the letter from the past that was written 42 years ago it is at this point that the Novel entertains a tragic tone but then it gradually rises back up to where the reader was before ..... ie via the original letter before the tradgedy was revealed and leaves the reader in a position of relative safety with something to chuckle about at the end of it all
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Of what I've read (Vile Bodies, Handful of Dust, The Loved One) he is well worth the slow parts, especially Handful. Even the tragic ending fits with the satire of the rest of the book.
Shoot, I might have to read that one again. . .
I think if you hint at the darker parts as you progress through the story, then it can work out well.
There’s even a name for this very thing on TvTropes:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CerebusSyndrome
(Be careful in there!)
There’s even a name for this very thing on TvTropes:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CerebusSyndrome
(Be careful in there!)
I'm going to have to go with James on this one. If it's knee-slapping, grab your ribs, roll across the floor funny and then you slap a serious ending on it, it's gonna be hard to make it work. You'll rish losing readers. There needs to be some undertone of seriousness throughout. And really, isn't that the point of satire? To poke fun and create awareness in a humorous way about the social/religious/political/etc. things around us?
As for the Tyler Perry reference ... can I respectfully disagree? His movies are poorly written and horribly uneven. Please don't use his format as a way to decide how to balance laugher and tears ...
As for the Tyler Perry reference ... can I respectfully disagree? His movies are poorly written and horribly uneven. Please don't use his format as a way to decide how to balance laugher and tears ...
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A Handful of Dust is the one I had in mind - the trajectory is perfect. I can't actually get past halfway in Brideshead because I can't stand the trip.
One of the only comedy episodes that simultaneously made my jaw hurt from laughing, and my heart hurt at the same time.
The ending of Abigail's Party (Mike Leigh's stage play which had a huge audience for its TV adaptation) is a punch in the gut, but it's certainly properly built up to amongst the laughs.
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Hahahaha ...... yes totally agree I've always wished one of the other stooges would knock his block off or do something wicked to Mo ..... it is a bit like that in my novel in that the character Horatio (the one who is double crossed in the end) is really smug and totally stingy and has no empathy whatsoever for his friend Algernon's current state of financial ruin ..... although Horatio doesnt really feature too much throughout the novel (due to being away at an ecclesiastical conference) he certainly features heavily in the last two chapters and has a significant impact on the ending of the novel ..... I better not add anything more ........ I dont want to give too much away !!!
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