The funniest opening chapter in fiction
|
|
Waugh is wickedly, mercilessly amoral; the horror in his books is the blank hollow indifference to his characters' fates at the core. The opening chapter twists and turns, each new reversal having its own power to shock. If you're willing to have your bubble of political correctness pricked, read the opening; if you're willing to have it shredded utterly, finish the book.
|
|
Great author. Dreadful novel.
|
I thought this was a terrible book. All political considerations aside (as far as one ever can do that), this is a badly written, unfunny and over-long novel from a novelist whom I normally find brilliantly entertaining, acute and enjoyable.
It's accepted by most readers that Waugh's output was patchy (some people can't stand "Brideshead Revisited", others go white at the idea of "The Sword of Honour" trilogy): and to me, this is the low point in Waugh's oeuvre. If you haven't read them, go for the flawless "Decline and Fall", "Scoop", "Vile Bodies" and "The Loved One". If you're hoping that "Black Mischief" will live up to those, then I (although I appear to be a lone voice) would suggest that you'll be very, very disappointed by this piece.
|
|
|
A Spoof on 'civilised colonialism' and 'native barbarity'
|
|
Waugh transfers his deadly wit and insight from the vacuuous parties of the youthful London society to the African Jungle with disastrous and hugely amusing results. Waugh manages to parody the eccentricities of the English, the French and tribal Africans in a magnificient muddle that makes the wild jungle look tame. Be prepared for Waugh's trademark combination of pathos and hilarity; this book makes you rock with laughter before you fully realise the horrific situations that a typically unmerciful Waugh is making you laugh at. A fantastic insight into our very worst fears of colonial consequences.
|
|
|
Classic Waugh
|
|
I thought about this book and Waugh's other comic African novel, "Scoop," after reading Michela Wrong's "Looking for Mr. Kurtz." While most of the news arising from sub-Saharan Africa today is tragic, behind these stories are tales that would be comic if not for their horrible endings. In "Black Mischief," Waugh tells the tale of a mythical African king whose English university education instills in him the desire to hammer the values and ethics of his nation into Western molds. He seeks the aid of a university classmate, Basil Seal, but Seal, upon his arrival, finds himself in the middle of a civil war. While the characters and dialogue seem drawn from a cartoon, and upon a superficial reading, racist, they ultimately ring true, and even at times compassionate, especially when measured against events in central Africa in the past ten years. Do not read this book though for a lesson in political science. It's a grand romp, and a sure page turner.
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada