Scoop

by Evelyn Waugh
1937

Due to a case of mistaken identity, a mild-mannered columnist on country life, William Boot, is sent as a war correspondent to Ishmaelia, an independent African nation where dissent is brewing between long-time ruling family the Jacksons and anarcho-communist upstarts prompted by German and Russian interests.  Boot, though utterly stymied by the lackadaisical and corrupt Ishmaleian government (as well as his fellow journalists), and through no merit of his own, scoops everyone and returns to an unwelcome hero’s welcome.

The first time I read this was seventeen years ago.  I think I may have appreciated it a bit more this time around – it recalls Wodehouse in its muddled plot and tortuous misadventures of its characters, as well as the brilliant characterization through dialogue.  But Waugh is much more scathing: of the fatuous, ant-brained upper classes, of the bumptious but ultimately useless journalistic set, of the oafish and self-centered country dwellers.  More than a satire of what was then modern journalism, it’s a witty, often hilarious look at the caprices of human nature. 

[read twice: 9/1/93, 6/18/10]

four stars

The Death Of Achilles

Translated by Andrew Bromfield

The fourth Erast Fandorin mystery. The collegiate assessor, recently returned to Russia from Japan now with a fanatically loyal servant in tow, is immediately drawn into an investigation of the death of a military hero, General Sobolev, the “Achilles” of the title. Every new piece of information brings further mystery, however – the general’s retinue is hushing up the incident. It seems to be because he was in flagrante delicto with a lady when he died. But she had a bottle of poison! But she didn’t give it to him. A German spy seems to be involved, and then there’s the matter of a million rubles in a briefcase… Just as everything gets insanely tortuous, Akunin strains the tension to the breaking point as he abruptly shifts scenes in part two, and we are introduced to a killer for hire, and see the events all over again through his eyes. It’s utterly brilliant, totally captivating, pure literary magic. 

five stars