True. It's bad that these books are usually read by only young people. I remember reading Steppenwolf for the first time since teens and only then I realized how funny it was all around. Dostoevsky's The Devils is hilarious too, being very dark at the same time.

The same goes for basically all higher culture. Popular culture is usually unfunny because humor is considered a commercial risk.

> Popular culture is usually unfunny because humor is considered a commercial risk.

Depends very much on your definitions. There's lots of low budget popular culture.