Ancestral Vices

This is the second time I've read this book. The first occasion was more than thirty years ago and has always sat in the back of mind as an enjoyable read. I was not disappointed the second time around.

The story is beyond all reality but totally enjoyable and funny. The characters may be caricatures but that is what makes it so enjoyable. It is definitely black comedy and sure to be offensive to some, that is in part what the book pokes fun at.

This was the first Tom Sharpe novel I ever read and because of it I have gone on to read nearly all his other books.

Even despite the rushed ending, this is one of the absolute best farces I've ever read.

A rich, ruthless and capitalistic old man Lord Petrefact decides to take revenge on his family for apparently no reason by exposing the dubious family history. For this purpose he hires a eccentric and socialist professor Mr. Yapp. Yapp lands up in Buscott, the town from which the family fortunes originated, and creates chaos in the town. He is later implicated in the murder of the town dwarf.

We don't always get when the author is trying to be funny and when he is bemoaning the plight of the lower classes. This is a a strictly ok read.

How can so much go so terribly wrong? Tom Sharpe wrote an adicting book describing how one's intentions can be misinterpreted and every action lead to the opposite end.

A left wing Professor set his goals on ruining a Tycoon's reputation but ended up in prison with a life sentence himself, through a series of misunderstangings.

One of the funniest books I have read, a brilliant laugh out loud tale of families, misfortune and 'PORGS'!

La historia comienza el día en que un magnate inglés decide dar rienda suelta a su retorcida maldad para dirigirla nada menos que contra sus propios parientes y socios de la multinacional que él preside. Para ello utilizará los servicios de quien en teoría es su principal enemigo, un profesorzuelo universitario de ideología izquierdista y notable ingenuidad para las cosas de la vida, a quien encarga la redacción de una historia de su familia. Pero si el arranque ya es disparatado, el desarrollo será la locura. La silla de ruedas automática con la que se desplaza el viejo Lord Petrefact adquirirá vida propia; el catedrático se sentirá estimulado eróticamente por una subnormal que adorna su cocina con fotos de hombres show more musculosos; alguien cometerá un crimen involuntario y todos los indicios señalarán a un inocente. Y esto no es más que un breve resumen de la serie de dislates que se suceden en esta historia de venganzas maquiavélicas y pasiones reprimidas, de confusiones y tropiezos, caídas y desastres, en la que Tom Sharpe demuestra encontrarse en plena forma, tan capaz como siempre de tejer la trama más descabellada y conducirla hasta el más rocambolesco final. show less