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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
I rate simply: 5 = liked it, 3 = meh, and 1 = didn't like it.
He felt like a Roman legionary, heavily armed, weighted with the steel and cast brass of civilization, tramping through forests beyond the Roman pale, harassed by silent, elusive savages, the vanguard of an advance that had pushed too far and lost touch with the base ... or was he the abandoned rearguard of a retreat; had the legions sailed?
Nice to see that Gibbon's influence on Waugh extends beyond Decline and Fall, he pops up now and again in his imagination. Waugh's pessimistic satire (contra mundum) may be at home among the Church Fathers but Catholic worldview always implicit, never stated. William Boot a Holy Fool defeating the "Beast" entirely by accident.
Nice to see that Gibbon's influence on Waugh extends beyond Decline and Fall, he pops up now and again in his imagination. Waugh's pessimistic satire (contra mundum) may be at home among the Church Fathers but Catholic worldview always implicit, never stated. William Boot a Holy Fool defeating the "Beast" entirely by accident.
A comic gem that was very entertaining. Boot of the Beast is my new hero.
The kinda book you know felt pertinent at the time but too many of the criticisms felt like I didn’t have the context. Also an air of Waugh punching down at people doing the same things as him in a way he didn’t like.
This may not have the best intro to Evelyn Waugh that I could have chosen. This is a comic critique of pre WWII Europe's attitude to and interference in African countries, especially from the press. The trouble is that even as it's making it's critique, it's attitude toward Africans is problematic.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Outdated and clumsy, racist and elitist. Starts as a biting satire, ends up in a complete send-up. The satire of the upper class innocence and ignorance is well written, as is that of incompetence and nepotism in journalism. Of its time to put it kindly.
Odd book really. Very dated language and ideas. Didn't see any of the humour, but the irony was laid on in spades
A send-up of British journalism in the 1930s--some very funny moments, although a tad predictable at times and especially toward the end.
What I found most interesting was the portrayal of fascism, Germans, and politics in general in the years just before WWII broke out.
I enjoyed it, but I would definitely recommend Waugh's other works first--Brideshead Revisited, for example. Here Waugh succeeds in being funny, but even at his funniest he tends to be Wodehousian, and NOBODY does that better than Wodehouse, so why even try?
What I found most interesting was the portrayal of fascism, Germans, and politics in general in the years just before WWII broke out.
I enjoyed it, but I would definitely recommend Waugh's other works first--Brideshead Revisited, for example. Here Waugh succeeds in being funny, but even at his funniest he tends to be Wodehousian, and NOBODY does that better than Wodehouse, so why even try?