Black Mischief (1932)

A simply uproarious book. There are things at which Waugh is tops. For humor, I'll take Waugh. Nearly drove my roommates, Fred and Jerry, to distraction laughing over it. ( )

This is a moderately entertaining comical farce written by early 20th century British writer Evelyn Waugh. Its centerpiece is a fictional island off the eastern coast of Africa near Somalia named Azania. This fictional island contains two local tribes as well as a collection of Arab merchants and European functionaries.

The island has been united under the rule of a local tribesman who has sent his son to study at Oxford. The patriarch dies, as does his sole surviving legitimate heir, a daughter. The daughter’s husband seeks to assume control of the country, but the Oxford educated son returns and engages the country in a civil war, assisted by an English colonel who heads up his army.

Ultimately, the grandson, Seth, prevails and has as his goal the advancement and modernization of his country. Unfortunately, he is hopelessly idealistic, completely unrealistic, and ultimately childlike and devoid of any shred of common sense. He is surrounded by opportunistic Europeans and local nobility who are no better than savages.

The entire book is little more than an indictment of both the local inhabitants (portrayed as hopelessly corrupt and stupid) and the colonial forces who seek to profit from their corruption and stupidity. While there are moments of amusement, it actually becomes quite tiresome after about a hundred pages. There is actually not much to recommend it. ( )

De ce roman où l'on voit Basil Seal (sans doute la créature préférée de Waugh) aider son ami Seth, empereur d'Anzanie, à instaurer un nouvel ordre dans ce pays d'Afrique où la sauvagerie le dispute à la corruption, Jean Giraudoux a dit : 'Je veux, en vrai douanier, que ses personnages puissent pénétrer en France les poches pleines de ces denrées et objets suspects et non répertoriés qui sont sa cruauté, son acidité et aussi je ne sais quel nouveau sourire'.

Very funny. Big caveat with this one is the racism - Waugh is unabashedly racist, and the terminology he uses, while presumably common in 1932, grates pretty heavily now. That said, while none of the characters comes out of the book with any credit, it's the westerners who come off by far worst, both in manipulating the country for their own ends and in being the source of the forced modernity that is such a disaster. Really, Waugh just didn't like anyone... ( )

Another comical novel by Waugh, with similar humour to Decline and Fall, but a bit more focused on the satire. This novel will provide substantial relief to those stuggling to bear the current climate of political correctness. He writes things that modern authors would not dare to say, which is a reflection more of the current state of society than of its writers. Waugh wrote this book after a trip into Africa, and it is at least partly based on his experiences. He describes things as he found them, bluntly, but polished to be entertaining. If what he writes is funny, then it is funny because there is truth in it, even if it is not wholly accurate.
I would have enjoyed the story more if it was a bit longer, and if it was resolved in a better manner, but this is no reason to be put off reading this. ( )