Scoop

By: Evelyn Waugh

Narrated by: Simon Cadell

In Scoop, surreptitiously dubbed "a newspaper adventure", Waugh flays Fleet Street and the social pastimes of its war correspondants as he tells how William Boot became the star of British super-journalism and how, leaving part of his shirt in the claws of the lovely Katchen, he returned from Ishmaelia to London as the "Daily's Beast's" more accoladed overseas reporter.

©1966 Evelyn Waugh (P)2012 Hachette Audio

Perfect match of narrator & story

Hilarious satire of the British press and society of days gone by. If I could choose only three audio books to have, this would be one, along with J. R. by William Gaddis and, third, Don Quijote.

Dated but Fun

There were some great moments but I am sure I missed ones that were more topical for its' time. But all in all it was enjoyable. The narrator did a fine job.

Over the Top and Spot-On

Evelyn Waugh had an uncanny gift for writing breathtakingly over-the-top satire that is always, somehow, completely true to life. And Simon Cadell has the gift of performing Waugh’s prose perfectly.

Waugh at his finest!

Simply delightful! Thoroughly enjoyed this audio book. It's a must in every person's library. Characters well developed and delightfully played out.

Fantastic dialogue

Evelyn Waugh is a master of dialogue, and the narrator captured every intonation and accent perfectly. A great story drawing upon Waugh’s time in Africa.

Well Written & Funny but Lacking

Scoop is a well written and humorous novel which is quite enjoyable, but is not sublime. The prose are excellent, and the humor wry, but in the end, truly great humorous novels must have poignancy to transcend. This is great writing and kept me entertained until the end, and there are moments of exceptional writing, yet it did not wow me. Perhaps at the time this was written the novel’s humor challenged society more than it seems in retrospect.

The narration was excellent, expressing the subtle humor beautifully.

I enjoyed this book, but certainly don’t plan to read it again.

Wonderful Story/Satire!

Let me begin with the narration. Simon Cadell is simply outstanding. I’d be quite pleased to read virtually any novel he reads.

The same pretty much goes for Waugh as the writer. What a fine craftsman of story and line!

The satire is superb. I found myself laughing a lot. I can’t imagine how funny it was to people of the time who read it.

I know something about the history of journalism, up from those times to ours. If this topic interests you, you’re bound to both enjoy and find value.

That the events were taking place in a distant land abroad where a coup or civil war was perhaps taking place with all the possibilities, it was especially set up for a fun story.

I loved it!

Hilarious!...

Classic British Humor that 80 years has not dulled....Sharp language and characters...Journalism that is greatly missed..

Lucretius

A lively and entertaining comedy. Evelyn Waugh at his funniest and best. Very well read.

Delicious humor

This was a delightful book, hilariously scathing, and well read. I wonder how much of the more subtle humor flew over my head or under my feet?