Nothing is Funny
Nothing is funny…
I mean, it is funny, but in that sad, ironic, sarcastic, sour (and bitter), realistic way…
That’s what emanates from Bojan Ljubenović’s book “Nothing is Funny.”
While we read the stranger’s letters about how he experiences some unusual (but for us ordinary and everyday) situations in Serbia, as well as peasant Todor who kept a diary about happenings in his village, we couldn’t help but laugh (or at least smile) at what we were reading. We’d recognize happenings in our city and village, our society’s mentality, as well as (not exactly desirable) traits found in people around us (and perhaps in ourselves), and it was hilarious to us.
However, the situation changes (mildly) in this book. It is witty and funny, but this is (at least to me) a true satirical book, one that aims for the center (or rather the nerve?) of everything.
What’s it about?
The book “Nothing is Funny” is, unlike the two previously (here) described books, more a collection of short stories from everyday (political, and life) happenings in Serbia, and I’m quite convinced you’ll recognize the vast majority of them (if not all) in events around us. Bitter stories wrapped in the sweetness of humor.
The author didn’t spare people (whom you’ll also probably easily recognize) in his satirical stories. From the very top of political power, through people employed (in higher positions) in state services, criminals, people in sports club managements, famous (and “famous”) personalities, to “ordinary” people who are often full of vanity and arrogance and “small-town” behavior.
You’ll meet a man who looked for his brain at the Lost and Found Bureau (to realize he doesn’t even need it for life in Serbia); a person who died in a traffic accident and who (dead) thinks about everything and anything (because procedures drag on until they bury him); how Lies, Stupidity, Vanity and Envy freely walk the planet, and everyone forgot about Truth (because nobody needs it); how it’s easier to train (political) hacks than dogs; how a drunk driver with two promilles of alcohol ends up at 0.2 because he’s “someone’s son”; how politicians are the biggest addicts; that the coach is asked least about reinforcements in sports clubs (and the reinforcements aren’t even athletes); that results on entrance exams will improve if you replace “old” questions with some current ones on our (reality and entertainment) network; you’ll see that a person isn’t corrupt if they didn’t know the other side in the transaction is a secret service agent (and it can be a secret service agent too, why not); that if you have a conscientious and kind neighbor who respects house rules, you should definitely report them to the police; how to win a tender; that opening a shopping center is the biggest event in a country, as well as many other things…
I must admit to you… while I was reading Ljubenović’s previous books, the smile wouldn’t leave my face (and I’d often laugh out loud)… and now it was a smile. A bit sad, a bit sour, a bit bitter. But not because Ljubenović is no longer witty, quite the opposite. The book is funny, just sadly, sourly and bitterly funny… like true satire.
“Nothing is Funny” is a book that reads very easily and quickly. It’s written in everyday language whose stories are short, but “pull” you to read “just one more,” because you’re interested in which everyday real and life topic in our country the author will address next.
To summarize, a very mature satirical book, truly worth reading.
Nothing is funny, but we must laugh… 😂
And you, dear reader, do you think life is one big satire? 😅
Author’s website
Book price: Laguna | Vulkan | Delfi | Makart
