Galactic Pot-Healer. Philip K. Dick.

Galactic Pot-Healer.
Philip K. Dick.
Berkley: 1969

I guess this could be classified as a humorous tragedy.  Joe Fernright is a "pot-healer"--he fixes ceramic pots in a distant future communist society, which means he's fairly useless.  An immensely powerful & almost godlike alien creature contacts him (as well as others from various planets) to him him (the alien) raise a cathedral which has sunk in the sea.

Once on the planet, Joe and his new girlfriend Mali dive underwater to discover that there are two cathedrals--the cathedral, and the anti-cathedral.  Also, this alien the Glimmung, has an anti-Glimmung--a dark one, who is part and parcel of being a Glimmung--and who wants to detroy it.  Joe also sees his future corpse down there under the sea.  His corpse advises him to raise the cathedral.

Glimmung and dark one fight, Glimmung is badly injured & envelops all his employees who now must truly commune to help him.  All along, Dick makes references to Glimmung as Faust, so we are surprised to see that he/they do actually raise the cathedral.  Joe and one other opt to leave Glimmung but the rest--including Mila--choose to stay as part of him.  Joe attempts to create a pot rather than heal one; and succeeds only in making a really bad one.

Fairly decent novel, but certainly not his best.  The strange plot & world make about as much sense as do most dreams--there's some sort of over-arching sense to the whole thing, even if it is composed of parts which are utter nonsense.

Wilt. by Tom Sharpe

Wilt.
Tom Sharpe.
Pan: 1976.

Unlike Pratchett who is able to work in some satire along wtih his humour, Sharpe is just funny with no intention of "deep thoughts."  This is more akin to Wodehouse humour: ridiculous people in increasingly ridiculous situations.  The book has some very funny scenes in it, but I'm not sure if I'll be reading the sequel.

Stereotypical emasculated British husband fantasizes about murdering his wife, who meanwhile has inadvertently gotten mixed up with a lesbian swinger.  After being publicly humiliated--and while drunk--he "practices" murdering his wife by "murdering" a blow-up doll.  He throws it down a construction site hole that will be filled with concrete.  Unfortunately, "she" is seen just before the concrete is poured, and the police think that there's been a real murder.

Wilt, in the end, is a bit revitalized and on better footing with his wife.  Funny but mindless.