Oral Tradition ~

The Old Brewery Bay Leacock's Home Orillia

"The most striking aspect of Leacock's style is the illusion of a speaking voice, which is so strong in all his works.  Like his masters, Dickens and Mark Twain, Leacock was a great lecturer and raconteur, and many of his pieces must be read aloud or recited for their full effect.  North American humour has always been rooted in the oral tradition...
"Much of the humour of his best pieces comes from their modesty of tone.  They seem to be recounted, as simply and straightforwardly as possible, by someone who is not intending to amuse us and would probably find our amusement puzzling."

~ The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature 2nd ed., Eugene Benson & Wm. Toye, 1997. Oxford University Press Canada.
(Leacock photos:  lbwalker)