A Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of Tears

Title: A Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of Tears
Author: Jules Feiffer
Major Themes: Quests, Fantasy
Synopsis: Prince Roger makes people laugh too much, so he is sent on a quest in the hopes that he will come back more level-headed.

I was intrigued, when A Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of Tears first arrived at our house, to read the back cover copy and see that one of the reviews said that it would appeal to people who enjoyed The Phantom Tollbooth. My brothers and I all greatly enjoyed The Phantom Tollbooth—I read it for school one year, and soon thereafter read it aloud to my siblings. I love that story, and with a recommendation like that, I knew I wanted to read this book. So recently when we were trying to decide what book to read aloud together next, I brought this one up and we decided to try it. From the first chapter—which had us in stitches laughing—I knew that it would likely be a story we’d all enjoy.

Prince Roger had a problem with a capital “P”. No matter what was going on around him, he thought it was funny. And whenever anyone else was anywhere near him, all they could do was laugh, too. They would laugh so much, in fact, that no one could have a conversation with him most of the time, because they were laughing too hard. In the end, J. Wellington Wizard came up with a plan—to send Roger on a quest that would end up with him returning to the kingdom more level-headed. Or at the least, hopefully not quite so prone to send people into spasms of laughter, anyway. So Roger set off on his quest—into the Forever Forest (which took him three years to disentangle himself from), across the Dastardly Divide, through the Valley of Vengeance, and on from there, all the time trying to figure out what his real quest actually was (and helping others fix their problems along the way).

It’s hard to know how to describe A Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of Tears. It’s ridiculous, crazy, absolutely outrageous, and a whole pile of fun. I was trying to come up with a one-or-two-sentence description of the book, and found it quite difficult, because it’s such a wacky story. Even the genre is hard to pin down! It’s fantasy crossed with fairy tales, old fables, and legends, crossed with a huge dose of humor and the weirdest (but also most delightful) literary devices. For example, throughout most of the book, the author is “fighting” with one of the characters, trying to get them to leave the book. The character ended up walking in and out of the book at will, turning up just in time to try to wreak havoc in whatever was going on then. I enjoy that kind of randomness—when an author takes something expected and turns it into something completely unexpected and fun.

I didn’t enjoy A Barrel of Laughs quite as much as The Phantom Tollbooth, but I suspect this is going to become a well-loved book in our family. Some of my brothers really seemed to enjoy it, and several days after we finished reading the story together, Mom messaged me and said, “Winnie the Pooh is walking in and out of the book M is reading to me.” Obviously, my three-year-old sister was listening to the story, too, and enjoyed it! If you’re looking for a fun adventure story that will give you a good laugh and a unique take on quests, I’d highly recommend this one.

WARNING: Chapter 2: darn. Chapter 3 (and through the end of the book): a wizard who could cast spells, and change people into different things. Chapter 7: the wizard speaks an incantation: “Abracadabra”. Chapter 8: darn 3x. Chapter 13: my goodness, people taking vengeance on each other. Chapters 19 and 21: a sorceress. Chapter 23: someone kisses a man. Chapter 24: “thank heavens”. Chapter 25: a fight, with no one hurt.