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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
Just left me a bit cold, didn't find it particularly funny, enjoy any of the characters or care about the plot. I'm sure I'm missing the point, but it's not for me.
This was a very funny and entertaining read. It was headed for 5 stars until the ending which was a bit abrupt for me. Also, it turns out Evelyn Waugh is a man! Who knew?!
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I've been wanting to read this book for ages - Evelyn Waugh's famous satire on journalism. While still very enjoyable, its bite is now a lot less incisive than it might once have been.
The plot is a rollicking good comedy of errors, displaying a lot of the fatigued disenchantment of mid-20th century Britain so evident in (particularly) comedies of that period. There are plenty of beautifully timed comic moments (particularly in the first half of the book), and grotesque characters.
The casual racism and total disinterest in anyone below the very upper middle-classes is perhaps to be expected, but less to be celebrated. Well, there may be a case that this is just Waugh's misanthropy, rather than actual basic bigotry, but nonetheless renders the book rather two-dimensional (just like most of the foreign and working class characters).
The depiction of the journlist's trade is more affectionate than would be expected these days - they are mostly feckless rather than ruthless and incompetent not outright dishonest. If they influence the news it is more accident than design.
For me, Scoop is more interesting as a period piece than a vital piece of satire.
The plot is a rollicking good comedy of errors, displaying a lot of the fatigued disenchantment of mid-20th century Britain so evident in (particularly) comedies of that period. There are plenty of beautifully timed comic moments (particularly in the first half of the book), and grotesque characters.
The casual racism and total disinterest in anyone below the very upper middle-classes is perhaps to be expected, but less to be celebrated. Well, there may be a case that this is just Waugh's misanthropy, rather than actual basic bigotry, but nonetheless renders the book rather two-dimensional (just like most of the foreign and working class characters).
The depiction of the journlist's trade is more affectionate than would be expected these days - they are mostly feckless rather than ruthless and incompetent not outright dishonest. If they influence the news it is more accident than design.
For me, Scoop is more interesting as a period piece than a vital piece of satire.
William Boot's sister changes a carefully composed account of the habits of badgers for a nature column in the "Daily Beast" by substituting "the crested grebe" whenever a badger is mentioned. (Genius!) So when the summons come forth from London William finds himself on the way to be a war correspondent in Ishmaelia. Mistaken identities, missed messages and misunderstandings, and all other trappings that make a farce are all here but the delight really comes from the satire aimed at the journalists and their pursuit of that all important scoop for their newspaper. It is all very ridiculous, but also funny, and I suddenly understand a few more references people make...a proper comedy of errors. There is a lot of Waugh's racism on display, and a sense of his time travelling in north Africa, and some of Scoop made a bit more sense when I read up on a bit of history (re: Liberia's first president). WE read this at book club because we wanted something light and funny and there was a good discussion afterward recounting our favourite bits and phrases as well as wandering into discussing politics and life in Rhodesia...
Feather-footed through the plashy fen passes the questing vole...
Feather-footed through the plashy fen passes the questing vole...
I have read Evelyn Waugh every December for the passed three years, but this is the first time I read him and laughed constantly. (Last year was a coincidence; this year makes it a tradition.)
This book was hilarious. I haven't laughed so hard while reading in a while. It's not as powerfully moving as Brideshead Revisited, but then again, it wasn't supposed to be.
While it is an obvious satire of sensationalism in journalism, one needn't have any real interest in the news to find the comedy pertinent. As Corker said, 'News is what a chap who doesn’t care much about anything wants to read.'
Luckily, I read it while mostly alone, so I didn't look like a cackling idiot in front of an unknowing public.
This book was hilarious. I haven't laughed so hard while reading in a while. It's not as powerfully moving as Brideshead Revisited, but then again, it wasn't supposed to be.
While it is an obvious satire of sensationalism in journalism, one needn't have any real interest in the news to find the comedy pertinent. As Corker said, 'News is what a chap who doesn’t care much about anything wants to read.'
Luckily, I read it while mostly alone, so I didn't look like a cackling idiot in front of an unknowing public.
