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A Bit of (Stephen) Fry and (Hugh) Laurie

L

lies

New Member
I'm sure I'm not the only one who was ever drawn to a book because they knew the author through something "unliterary". For example, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, who became relatively famous through comedy shows (Jeeves and Wooster, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, etc. and their roles in BlackAdder, The Young Ones, etc.), both went on to write novels.

Hugh Laurie
  • The Gun Seller (1996);
  • The Paper Soldier (due in 2006/7?).

Stephen Fry

(Fiction)
  • The Liar (1991);
  • The Hippopotamus (1994);
  • Making History (1996);
  • The Stars' Tennis Balls (2000).
(Non-Fiction)
  • Paperweight (1992);
  • Moab Is My Washpot (1997);
  • Rescuing the Spectacled Bear (2002);
  • Stephen Fry's Incomplete and Utter History of Classical Music (2004).

I've read The Gun Seller and The Stars' Tennis Balls myself and enjoyed them for what they were (or what I think they were). I've been meaning to pick up another Fry book (The Hippopotamus, maybe?), but haven't gotten around to it yet. (Or maybe I just need someone to recommend one to me?)
 
Stephen Fry is of course the Greatest Living Englishman, an all-round polymath and good egg, but as a novelist I think he makes, well, a great all-round polymath and good egg. I've read The Liar, The Hippopotamus, The Stars' Tennis Balls, some of Paperweight and all of Moab is My Washpot, the last of which was the best.

More importantly, when oh when can we expect the DVD box set of all four series of A Bit of Fry & Laurie??
 
Shade said:
More importantly, when oh when can we expect the DVD box set of all four series of A Bit of Fry & Laurie??
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I don't know. I do know Jeeves & Wooster will be available on DVD again soon (in a box, that is).
 
Oh oh oh I love these two. I've read The Gun Seller (not so great) and all of Fry except Tennis Balls and Moab (eh), but I haven't minded so much because they are so talented in other ways!

Hugh Laurie, IMO, is one of the greatest physical comedians alive, really in the spirit of the 30s and 40s when pure fun was considered enough (sans pathos and cruelty). And Stephen Fry, as Shade said, is an all-round interesting personality, knowledgeable, and the perfect foil for Laurie.

I've been renting Jeeves videos from my library system for the past couple of weeks. Love the way Lauries plays piano in them. I've never seen his American show House, but I think it's gotten good reviews.
 
novella said:
I've never seen his American show House, but I think it's gotten good reviews.
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I expect you'll find House a bit of a departure for Mr. Laurie. It's not like anything I've seem him do before. I saw many commercials for the series before I finally recognized him.

Another English actor who seems to have taken a new direction in his career since arriving on these shores is Ian McShane. His role as Al Swearengen in the HBO drama series Deadwood is about as great a contrast as one can imagine to the debonair antiques dealer Lovejoy.
 
I've liked all of Stephen Fry's books but never really understood the title of Moab.
I particularly liked the five "ands" in a row in one sentence in Paperweight.
 
I have "The Gun Seller" sitting on my to be read pile. I came across it at an IKEA store of all places. They had loads of books with titles in Swedish taking space on shelves for display. And I kept seeing Laurie's name on it. So I got curious and opened one to the back flap and was pleasantly surprised.

Like other here, I got it solely because my wife and I have loved his work from Blackadder to House. Not sure when I will get around to reading it though.
 
I didn't know that these two had written books, so this is a wonderful discovery!! I shall endeavor to read some of them, as I love the Blackadder series' (Watched a "Blackadder Goes Forth" marathon last night on BBC America), and Jeeves and Wooster!!
 
Bluraven said:
Jeeves and Wooster!!
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My brother got me the complete Jeeves and Wooster set and I'm really looking forward to watching it -- I've never seen any of the episodes, but I like Wodehouse, Fry and Laurie, so there shouldn't be a problem.
 
I think that, as a duo, they really work very well. I have read most of Stephen Fry's books, except The Stars' Tennis Balls. Is Hugh Laurie as good a writer?
 
BenjaminDixon said:
I think that, as a duo, they really work very well. I have read most of Stephen Fry's books, except The Stars' Tennis Balls. Is Hugh Laurie as good a writer?
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I can't remember that much about it but 'The Stars' Tennis Balls' is not his best book.
 
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