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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
I needed to read a book about a journalist. This one was recommended as one of the top books of the last century.
I found it to be tedious, and the snobbishness and ignorance of the wealthy characters was almost too much to take. I know it is satire, but with the state of our news today, I didn't find it to be humorous.
Lord Copper is persuaded to hire a reporter on the advice of a wealthy woman, Mrs. Algernon Smith. He hires this inexperienced person to cover a war in the African Republic of Ishmaelia. It pokes fun at the relentless pursuit of being first with the news.
I found it to be tedious, and the snobbishness and ignorance of the wealthy characters was almost too much to take. I know it is satire, but with the state of our news today, I didn't find it to be humorous.
Lord Copper is persuaded to hire a reporter on the advice of a wealthy woman, Mrs. Algernon Smith. He hires this inexperienced person to cover a war in the African Republic of Ishmaelia. It pokes fun at the relentless pursuit of being first with the news.
"Scoop" by Evelyn Waugh (published in 1938) still stands up as a satire of journalism and colonial Africa.
Very enjoyable read, light and funny and great to read purely for enjoyment.
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An entertaining farce of the wrong person in the wrong place. That said it has aged terribly and may be the most racist book I have been unfortunate to read.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism
challenging
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
medium-paced
Really difficult to rate this one because if I could cut out all the casual racism I’d say it is funny and delightful. Granted, this was written in the 30s in imperialist England. And granted it is satire and pokes a lot of “fun” at posh white supremest type characters. But even while trying to read this through the lens of the cultural and literary context the ease and frequency of racial slurs and the overall picture of anyone black being a savage or barbarian is pretty hard to stomach. Detracts from the humor a bit.
That being said, this reads like a journalism version of Catch 22. Everything is absurd and outlandish. All the characters are caricatures, who act extremely stupidly despite (and because of) their deep fear of appearing stupid. Our reluctant hero, a homebody countryman named William Boots who gets mistaken for a fashionable novelist by the same last name is sent to an African country called Ishmaelia as a foreign correspondent to write about the German and Russian and British tussles in the area. Nothing is actually happening however and all the European journalists are sitting around in the middle of nowhere Africa making up political shenanigans to send back home to a mostly apathetic audience. Except in the end William accidentally has the real scoop fall in his lap, which is essentially everything the journalists had fabricated. The president had been unlawfully imprisoned, the Germans and Russians both had agents in the country, the government gets otherthrown and then re-overthrown in a single day and William Boots, the fumbling inept fool who just wants to go home and write about the Great Crested Grebe and live with his eccentric relatives again, makes journalism history by doing absolutely nothing right.
I was also disappointed to find out that Evelyn Waugh was a man. Was Evelyn usually a male name back then??? I was reading Kätchen’s character as a bit more satirical when I was under the impression that the author was female. She’s the only developed female character, the not-wife of a disappeared German, child-like in her selfishness and peevishly superficial. She easily and greedily manipulates Boot and unabashedly takes his money throughout the narrative. Hahaha women am I right?
That being said, this reads like a journalism version of Catch 22. Everything is absurd and outlandish. All the characters are caricatures, who act extremely stupidly despite (and because of) their deep fear of appearing stupid. Our reluctant hero, a homebody countryman named William Boots who gets mistaken for a fashionable novelist by the same last name is sent to an African country called Ishmaelia as a foreign correspondent to write about the German and Russian and British tussles in the area. Nothing is actually happening however and all the European journalists are sitting around in the middle of nowhere Africa making up political shenanigans to send back home to a mostly apathetic audience. Except in the end William accidentally has the real scoop fall in his lap, which is essentially everything the journalists had fabricated. The president had been unlawfully imprisoned, the Germans and Russians both had agents in the country, the government gets otherthrown and then re-overthrown in a single day and William Boots, the fumbling inept fool who just wants to go home and write about the Great Crested Grebe and live with his eccentric relatives again, makes journalism history by doing absolutely nothing right.
I was also disappointed to find out that Evelyn Waugh was a man. Was Evelyn usually a male name back then??? I was reading Kätchen’s character as a bit more satirical when I was under the impression that the author was female. She’s the only developed female character, the not-wife of a disappeared German, child-like in her selfishness and peevishly superficial. She easily and greedily manipulates Boot and unabashedly takes his money throughout the narrative. Hahaha women am I right?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated