Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
In “Scoop,” a covertly titled “newspaper adventure,” Waugh mocks Fleet Street and the war correspondents’ social activities as he describes how William Boot rose to prominence in British super-journalism and how, after leaving a piece of his shirt in the lovely Katchen’s grasp, he returned from Ishmaelia to London as the “Daily’s Beast’s” most lauded foreign correspondent. Scoop was a fantastic piece of fiction.
Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
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- Used Book in Good Condition
With tremendous hilarious effect, Evelyn Waugh mixed his own reporting on a conflict in another country with a crazy instance of mistaken identification in Scoop. Unknowingly mistaken for his namesake, country wildlife writer William Boot attempted to gain employment at the newspaper The Beast by using his aunt’s connections. William is sent to cover the revolution in Ishmalia, and while other reporters wander off on tangents, he stumbles across the big story. While Waugh is usually funny, the comedy in Scoop is enhanced by the several supporting stories. This is a fantastic book, and the topic still holds true today.
The (un)workings of journalism served as the primary focus of this comedy, satire, and farce masterpiece, which is why it has a timeless aspect. Avoid getting caught up in the politics of the 1930s or the situation of international relations between the European powers and other countries at the time.
Some may find his critique of the newspaper industry incisive and jabby, but I find it to be forced and fanciful. Was there ever a newspaper that sent reporters on assignment with unrestricted expense accounts, allowing them to make ad hoc purchases like hollowed-out sticks and foldable canoes?
Waugh is a skilled writer who can create beautiful words and construct insightful themes about his plethora of characters. This book’s center is decent—not spectacular, but lively—but it takes 100 pages to get there, and another 50 pages of denouement to reveal how everyone turned out. Aside from getting taken for a ride by a mysterious German woman in one of several subplots that fizzle out before the 321 pages are up, the main character, the rural rube William Boot, is no different after leaving the odd nation of Ishmaelia than he was before.
Boot seems to be a testament to the smugness of the landed elite, and like Waugh’s frequent use of racial slurs against native people and others throughout the book, this leaves an unduly bitter aftertaste. Waugh occasionally had a limited viewpoint, but as a writer, he was typically more contemplative and less reflexive.
Even the central plot of the book, Boot’s epic tale that gives it its name, is handled carelessly. It isn’t really dramatic or funny. I understand that the revolution was put an end in less than half a page when a furious Swede pushed his way through a porch full of pinko grandees.
