# Puckoon

By Spike Milligan

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/puckoon-87b58689/

An Irish village finds itself on two sides of a newly drawn border. The division separates a church from its cemetery, turning an ordinary funeral into a problem of international paperwork.

## What makes it funny?

The mourners discover that the man they are burying needs a passport to reach his grave. A coffin also looks useful to people hoping to smuggle explosives, so several incompatible plans converge on the same funeral.

### The comedy at work

Milligan starts with an administrative decision and pursues its consequences past common sense. Slapstick and verbal jokes accompany a village’s attempts to deal with officials who treat even the dead as travelers needing documentation.

### Try this if…

Readers who enjoy improbable situations, abrupt jokes and bureaucratic rules followed to ridiculous conclusions may find the village’s predicament appealing.

### Good to know

This 1963 novel contains racist terminology, flagged by the ABCtales reviewer. Its frantic jokes also sit beside lyrical description and darker reflections on death.

## What to expect

- Genre: Classic comedy
- Kind of humor: Absurdism · Farce · Wordplay
- Format: Novel
- Published: 1963

## Sources & further reading

- Review: [ABCtales review](https://www.abctales.com/story/barenib/puckoon-novel-spike-milligan)
- Publisher: [Publisher](https://www.penguin.com.au/books/puckoon-9780140023749)