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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
Possibly the most funny out of everything I've read by Eeeeeeeeevlyn Waugh and I find journalists boring.
Biting and cruel and ever so Waugh, this read aged well enough in its characters and mostly well in the events that illuminate them. I read this about 35 years ago, alongside [b:Waugh in Abyssinia|260435|Waugh in Abyssinia|Evelyn Waugh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347742181s/260435.jpg|2493337], for a journalism course. I am sure that's the reason I liked the book as well as I did, since I disliked William Boot with vigorous and vitriolic epithetry.
Lord Copper, the vile capitalist, was Falstaffian fun, but I suspect I'd find him less so in my own old-manhood. All in all, a slightly-too-small armchair from younger, more limber days, yet always among my mental furniture.
Lord Copper, the vile capitalist, was Falstaffian fun, but I suspect I'd find him less so in my own old-manhood. All in all, a slightly-too-small armchair from younger, more limber days, yet always among my mental furniture.
For me, this book didn't really become funny or remotely interesting until about halfway through. Also, for the modern reader the terms the author uses for minorities and Africans were quite jarring. The book was clearly a product of British imperialist mindsets. It would've been less irritating if the words and descriptions had come from a character meant to be portrayed as a caricature of British patronizing behavior but it seems to be the belief of the author himself tainting the narrative. Plus, it was a bit of a slog to get through the first half.... not for me but not a total waste of time as I learned some nifty 30's slang and jargon.
This was read as part of my book group and to be honest I started off not liking it, but it grew on me as I progressed.
The story was certainly amusing and the characters were the result of some remarkably astute observations. However, I did find the attitudes to other counties and their inhabitants very racist, for example certain words were used in conversation which would not be at all acceptable today. Scoop, written in 1938, is a product of its time, not just the casual racism but also of attitudes towards class and gender.
That aside, this story of mistaken identity, professional incompetence, calling in favours and the 'old boy network' was entertaining and still very worth reading. I particularly loved the language of the telegrams - brief to the point of incomprehension - and the behaviour of the taxi drivers, cheerfully driving every foreigner straight to the Swiss Embassy because they could act as interpreters.
The story was certainly amusing and the characters were the result of some remarkably astute observations. However, I did find the attitudes to other counties and their inhabitants very racist, for example certain words were used in conversation which would not be at all acceptable today. Scoop, written in 1938, is a product of its time, not just the casual racism but also of attitudes towards class and gender.
That aside, this story of mistaken identity, professional incompetence, calling in favours and the 'old boy network' was entertaining and still very worth reading. I particularly loved the language of the telegrams - brief to the point of incomprehension - and the behaviour of the taxi drivers, cheerfully driving every foreigner straight to the Swiss Embassy because they could act as interpreters.
Scoop is a hoot to read and is a brilliant bit of work from Waugh. Very lighthearted comedy of errors that never ceases to entertain, I would recommend this to anyone with a sense of humour.
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Lovely, gently funny book about impoverished upperclass countryman who gets sent to Africa by mistake as newspaper’s foreign correspondent
Beware! This book will have you laughing out loud. even on public transport.
Waugh is a master of the darkly comic.
LOVE
Waugh is a master of the darkly comic.
LOVE
From BBC Radio 4:
Dramatisation by Jeremy Front of Evelyn Waugh's satirical 1938 novel.
Episode 1:
Hapless journalist William Boot is mistakenly sent to report on a war in Africa.
Episode 2:
William finds life as a war correspondent somewhat tedious, but he does fall in love and find himself in the middle of a revolution.
Dramatisation by Jeremy Front of Evelyn Waugh's satirical 1938 novel.
Episode 1:
Hapless journalist William Boot is mistakenly sent to report on a war in Africa.
Episode 2:
William finds life as a war correspondent somewhat tedious, but he does fall in love and find himself in the middle of a revolution.
Party Monty Python, part Graham Greene, this novel of mistaken identity and pre-WWII politics is a brilliant satire of journalism and politics that still holds true today. At times the humor was a bit over the top, but still a fantastic book.