Scoop

By: Evelyn Waugh

Narrated by: Simon Cadell

Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

In Scoop, surreptitiously dubbed "a newspaper adventure", Waugh flays Fleet Street and the social pastimes of its war correspondants as he tells how William Boot became the star of British super-journalism and how, leaving part of his shirt in the claws of the lovely Katchen, he returned from Ishmaelia to London as the "Daily's Beast's" more accoladed overseas reporter.

©1966 Evelyn Waugh (P)2012 Hachette Audio

Wonderful Story/Satire!

Let me begin with the narration. Simon Cadell is simply outstanding. I’d be quite pleased to read virtually any novel he reads.

The same pretty much goes for Waugh as the writer. What a fine craftsman of story and line!

The satire is superb. I found myself laughing a lot. I can’t imagine how funny it was to people of the time who read it.

I know something about the history of journalism, up from those times to ours. If this topic interests you, you’re bound to both enjoy and find value.

That the events were taking place in a distant land abroad where a coup or civil war was perhaps taking place with all the possibilities, it was especially set up for a fun story.

I loved it!

Over the Top and Spot-On

Evelyn Waugh had an uncanny gift for writing breathtakingly over-the-top satire that is always, somehow, completely true to life. And Simon Cadell has the gift of performing Waugh’s prose perfectly.

A Wicked Lampoon of Breaking News

I have to remind myself not to flinch too knee jerkedly when I encounter the casual racism of early 20th Century works because, as eye rolling as it may be, this is the way privileged whites did and do talk about the rest of the world. Such is the case with #scoop by #evelynwaugh a farcical send up of the competitive world of early 20th Century newspapers before electronic media competed with the daily rags which could number in the dozens in large cities such as #london where the story originates. As was happening all too often between the two World Wars , fascist and communist movements were contesting for dominance in marginally democratic states in the Third World and major media would spare no expense to dispatch their journalists to the distant and marginally accessible places where war was threatening to erupt. Such was the case of #williamboot , pastoral nature writer for the #dailybeast mistaken by his domineering publisher #lordcopper as an #africa expert, dispatched against his will to fictional #ishmaelia which appears to be a cross between #ethiopia and #liberia, most likely a stand in for #ethiopia where Waugh had similarly been dispatched as a reporter for the #dailymail to cover #mussolini and the Italian invasion of #abyssinia .

The story is ridiculous and terrible too close to true as the world powers compete to dominate a potentially mineral rich African nation through proxy left-right ideological civil wars. It is also terribly funny and an amazingly short novel. I availed myself of the #audible version beautifully read by #simoncadell in one of his last works. At #75 on the #modernlibrarytop100novels , I have had the pleasure of being introduced to a few of Waugh's works on the list. #readtheworld #readtheworldchallenge #globalreadingchallenge #englishnovel #englishliterature

Another great work from Evelyn Waugh!

Another great work from the clever English novelist Evelyn Waugh! C g H dkg h

Amusing Satire

This an amusing satirical novel about newspaper journalism. Quirky, British comedy with tight dialogue, characters living their compartmentalized lives.

Perfect match of narrator & story

Hilarious satire of the British press and society of days gone by. If I could choose only three audio books to have, this would be one, along with J. R. by William Gaddis and, third, Don Quijote.

Dated but Fun

There were some great moments but I am sure I missed ones that were more topical for its' time. But all in all it was enjoyable. The narrator did a fine job.

Waugh at his finest!

Simply delightful! Thoroughly enjoyed this audio book. It's a must in every person's library. Characters well developed and delightfully played out.

Fantastic dialogue

Evelyn Waugh is a master of dialogue, and the narrator captured every intonation and accent perfectly. A great story drawing upon Waugh’s time in Africa.

Well Written & Funny but Lacking

Scoop is a well written and humorous novel which is quite enjoyable, but is not sublime. The prose are excellent, and the humor wry, but in the end, truly great humorous novels must have poignancy to transcend. This is great writing and kept me entertained until the end, and there are moments of exceptional writing, yet it did not wow me. Perhaps at the time this was written the novel’s humor challenged society more than it seems in retrospect.

The narration was excellent, expressing the subtle humor beautifully.

I enjoyed this book, but certainly don’t plan to read it again.