Scoop is not read
as much today as Evelyn Waugh's other novels, probably because of its
political incorrectness. It is unquestionably racist in its depiction
of the inhabitants of the fictional African state of Ishmaelia. But
Waugh being an unabashed misanthrope, the Europeans don't come off very
well either.
For those who can look past the offensiveness, Scoop provides many
moments of hilarity. It is a satire on the British newspaper business
of the 1930s and was inspired by Waugh's own experiences as a war
correspondent in Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) in 1935.
In Scoop,
the unsophisticated country gentleman William Boot, who writes a nature
column for The Beast of
London, is
mistaken for the up-and-coming novelist John Boot and recruited to go
to Ishmaelia, where a civil war is threatening. Boot knows nothing of
journalism, and his dispatches to his editors are likely to say he's
safe and enjoying the weather. But neither are the seasoned journalists
who are his companions in Ishmaelia admirable, as they fabricate news
to please the editors and owners back home. It's Boot
who bumbles upon the big story — the scoop of the
title — and becomes famous. But he is unfazed and turns down
offers to continue a career as a foreign correspondent, choosing to
return to living with his eccentric relatives in their dilapidated
country home.
The Modern
Library Association included Scoop
on its list of the 100 greatest novels of the 20th century, and the
British newspaper The
Observer ranked it among the 100 best of all time.
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