Title Laughter
Author Henri Bergson
Year Published 1900
Kind of Book Philosophy/Essay
How strongly I recommend it 10/10
My Impressions Incredible. This completely changed the way I think about humor and the social function of laughter. It is pretty dense, but well worth the read.
Date Read January 2023
What question is the author trying to answer?
"What does laughter mean?
"What is the basal element in the laughable?"
What common ground can we find between the grimace of a merry-andrew, a play upon words, an equivocal situation in a burlesque and a scene of high comedy?
What method of distillation will yield us invariably the same essence from which so many different products borrow either their obtrusive odour or their delicate perfume? Pg.1
Big Ideas
Listen to my podcast unpacking the ideas to this essay here
Unknown Terms
The Comic Spirit: Henri Bergson's term for 'Funniness'