Are there any exceptions to this rule? Nearly every great novel has bits of humor in it somewhere. Shakespeare is a laff riot if you understand the constant puns and plays with language (James Joyce, ditto).

Actually, I can think of a few examples of humorless “classics” like Wuthering Heights and D.H. Lawrence, but that’s to their detriment, and I put classics in quotes because I found those works overrated and overwrought.