Understated comedy works better than laugh-hunting
Evidence
At its best her comedy is laconic and muffled, like indecent mirth at a funeral. She doesn’t play for laughs; a twisted smile merely arrives on the page. — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 518
Categorization
- XREF: Parallels the tonal restraint Mantel champions; ‘a twisted smile merely arrives on the page’ is itself a memorable clause worth imitating. — connects to: Comedy emerges from faithful description of misery rather than deliberate humor — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 1044
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 518