Cold comfort farm author

I agree with Dowland: there's more to this than spoofery. But like Blazing Saddles, Cold Comfort Farm is a parody that also manages to say something original. If a parody has nothing to say other than to mock a certain style which is current (and which has probably had its day, mostly by inferior copies of a once vibrant original), then it won't outlive the original. It's a bit like Three Men in a Boat or The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the works they make fun of are mostly forgotten now, but the work stands on its own … You really don't need to know Lawrence or Webb's work to enjoy the book, since the characters and dialogue are so good.

The reason why CCF has survived so well is that it's a splendid book in its own right. There are other reasons Cold Comfort Farm endures, as a contributor called Dowland pointed out: Mary Webb and friends are increasingly distant memories, after all, and you don't need to read a parody to see the funny side of DH Lawrence's novels.

Last week, I described Cold Comfort Farm as a virtuoso send-up of early 20th century "loam and love child" books.