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Black Mischief
"Black Mischief," Waugh's third novel, helped to establish his reputation as a master satirist. Set on the fictional African island of Azania, the novel chronicles the efforts of Emperor Seth, assisted by the Englishman Basil Seal, to modernize his kingdom. Profound hilarity ensues from the issuance of homemade currency, the staging of a "Birth Control Gala," the rightful ruler's demise at his own rather long and tiring coronation ceremonies, and a good deal more mischief.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1932
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3028 people want to read
About the author
Evelyn Waugh
335 books2,924 followersEvelyn Waugh's father Arthur was a noted editor and publisher. His only sibling Alec also became a writer of note. In fact, his book “The Loom of Youth” (1917) a novel about his old boarding school Sherborne caused Evelyn to be expelled from there and placed at Lancing College. He said of his time there, “…the whole of English education when I was brought up was to produce prose writers; it was all we were taught, really.” He went on to Hertford College, Oxford, where he read History. When asked if he took up any sports there he quipped, “I drank for Hertford.”
In 1924 Waugh left Oxford without taking his degree. After inglorious stints as a school teacher (he was dismissed for trying to seduce a school matron and/or inebriation), an apprentice cabinet maker and journalist, he wrote and had published his first novel, “Decline and Fall” in 1928.
In 1928 he married Evelyn Gardiner. She proved unfaithful, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1930. Waugh would derive parts of “A Handful of Dust” from this unhappy time. His second marriage to Audrey Herbert lasted the rest of his life and begat seven children. It was during this time that he converted to Catholicism.
During the thirties Waugh produced one gem after another. From this decade come: “Vile Bodies” (1930), “Black Mischief” (1932), the incomparable “A Handful of Dust” (1934) and “Scoop” (1938). After the Second World War he published what is for many his masterpiece, “Brideshead Revisited,” in which his Catholicism took centre stage. “The Loved One” a scathing satire of the American death industry followed in 1947. After publishing his “Sword of Honour Trilogy” about his experiences in World War II - “Men at Arms” (1952), “Officers and Gentlemen” (1955), “Unconditional Surrender" (1961) - his career was seen to be on the wane. In fact, “Basil Seal Rides Again” (1963) - his last published novel - received little critical or commercial attention.
Evelyn Waugh, considered by many to be the greatest satirical novelist of his day, died on 10 April 1966 at the age of 62.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_W...
In 1924 Waugh left Oxford without taking his degree. After inglorious stints as a school teacher (he was dismissed for trying to seduce a school matron and/or inebriation), an apprentice cabinet maker and journalist, he wrote and had published his first novel, “Decline and Fall” in 1928.
In 1928 he married Evelyn Gardiner. She proved unfaithful, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1930. Waugh would derive parts of “A Handful of Dust” from this unhappy time. His second marriage to Audrey Herbert lasted the rest of his life and begat seven children. It was during this time that he converted to Catholicism.
During the thirties Waugh produced one gem after another. From this decade come: “Vile Bodies” (1930), “Black Mischief” (1932), the incomparable “A Handful of Dust” (1934) and “Scoop” (1938). After the Second World War he published what is for many his masterpiece, “Brideshead Revisited,” in which his Catholicism took centre stage. “The Loved One” a scathing satire of the American death industry followed in 1947. After publishing his “Sword of Honour Trilogy” about his experiences in World War II - “Men at Arms” (1952), “Officers and Gentlemen” (1955), “Unconditional Surrender" (1961) - his career was seen to be on the wane. In fact, “Basil Seal Rides Again” (1963) - his last published novel - received little critical or commercial attention.
Evelyn Waugh, considered by many to be the greatest satirical novelist of his day, died on 10 April 1966 at the age of 62.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_W...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 277 reviews
May 27, 2025
Waugh's third published novel, at the time was intended as an absurdist satire of Colonialism and the colonialists in Africa, set in Azania, a fictional independent African island swarming with multiple Colonial interests. The island's newly ascended Oxford educate Emperor sets on a rapid modernisation of the nation alongside a fellow English Oxford graduate. In the 2020s, and debatably even when it was first printed is crueller and more mocking of the Africans than the Europeans. There's little recommend ither than it's historical value of being Waugh's third published novel. A One Star, 2 out of 12.
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September 1, 2013
Although this is not my favourite novel by Waugh, it is undoubtedly an outrageously un-politically correct tale, set in an imagined African state. Waugh wrote the novel after a winter spent in East and Central Africa, which also resulted in a non-fiction work Remote People (Penguin Modern Classics). The imaginary state of Azania may be remote, but new Emperor, Seth, has been Oxford educated and is desperate to bring modernity to his confused population. "I am the New Age. I am the Future" he declares, as his troops are locked in a decisive battle with the usurper Seyid.
Do not imagine for one moment that Evelyn Waugh has written this in an attempt to show that Europeans are, in some way, superior to Africa or that they should be involved in running a country they have no understanding of. Indeed, it is certainly the Europeans on which his sharpest satire is aimed. At the capital Debra Dowa, the diplomatic powers are utterly ridiculous. The English 'Envoy Extraordinary' is more concerned with growing asparagus and playing in the bathtub than any official papers; while attache the Hon William Bland has forgotten the outcome of the battle between hearing the news and climbing the stairs. The French are involved in attempting to discover what the English are up to; imagining all sorts of plots and ciphers which don't exist, and corruption and incompetence are everywhere When Basil Seal, always "in revolutions and murders and things" decides he is bored with London, he uses a vague aquaintance with Seth to become his right hand man. This book is absolutely outrageous, very funny and shows why Evelyn Waugh is still one of the greatest writers this country has ever produced.
Do not imagine for one moment that Evelyn Waugh has written this in an attempt to show that Europeans are, in some way, superior to Africa or that they should be involved in running a country they have no understanding of. Indeed, it is certainly the Europeans on which his sharpest satire is aimed. At the capital Debra Dowa, the diplomatic powers are utterly ridiculous. The English 'Envoy Extraordinary' is more concerned with growing asparagus and playing in the bathtub than any official papers; while attache the Hon William Bland has forgotten the outcome of the battle between hearing the news and climbing the stairs. The French are involved in attempting to discover what the English are up to; imagining all sorts of plots and ciphers which don't exist, and corruption and incompetence are everywhere When Basil Seal, always "in revolutions and murders and things" decides he is bored with London, he uses a vague aquaintance with Seth to become his right hand man. This book is absolutely outrageous, very funny and shows why Evelyn Waugh is still one of the greatest writers this country has ever produced.
January 26, 2015
Its a hoot from the very first page. Sustained hilarity from the first page to the last. A riot! An uproar! A scream! Its going on my 'laugh-out-loud' list.
You rarely see this level of comedy displayed in a novel. Its like one long, erudite, madcap Monty Python sketch. Narrated with utterly taut deadpan restraint. 'Black Mischief' is the very last word in making fun of colonialism. If you ever thought the English dry or humorless; read Waugh. This is truly the pillar underlying all the British wit you've ever encountered.
Every single page has something to grin over. Really, almost every paragraph has something to to make one crack a wry smile and shake your head in wonder.
What makes it all the more toothsome is knowing how many modern readers are upset and wringing-their-hands over this kind of thing (oh you tragic, scandalized, fan-fluttering Gertrudes and Henriettas..please stay in the drawing-room where you can be safe from books like this).
This one book..you could toss out all the straight-faced history books and rest everything on just this one, lampooning interpretation. Seriously! 'Black Mischief' gives you the essence of what it all was, conveys the concise gist of what it was all about. Hammers out the innermost kernel of stupidity behind the whole Empire-building age.
You rarely see this level of comedy displayed in a novel. Its like one long, erudite, madcap Monty Python sketch. Narrated with utterly taut deadpan restraint. 'Black Mischief' is the very last word in making fun of colonialism. If you ever thought the English dry or humorless; read Waugh. This is truly the pillar underlying all the British wit you've ever encountered.
Every single page has something to grin over. Really, almost every paragraph has something to to make one crack a wry smile and shake your head in wonder.
What makes it all the more toothsome is knowing how many modern readers are upset and wringing-their-hands over this kind of thing (oh you tragic, scandalized, fan-fluttering Gertrudes and Henriettas..please stay in the drawing-room where you can be safe from books like this).
This one book..you could toss out all the straight-faced history books and rest everything on just this one, lampooning interpretation. Seriously! 'Black Mischief' gives you the essence of what it all was, conveys the concise gist of what it was all about. Hammers out the innermost kernel of stupidity behind the whole Empire-building age.
March 4, 2019
I guess I didn't find the profound hilarity that the description of this book promised.
Reading this and Vile Bodies, I'm wondering if creating lots of idiotic straw man characters and having them do and say ridiculous things is really satire or just a lazy way to create 'profound hilarity'.
google!
Reading this and Vile Bodies, I'm wondering if creating lots of idiotic straw man characters and having them do and say ridiculous things is really satire or just a lazy way to create 'profound hilarity'.
google!
October 18, 2017
I have previously really enjoyed 'Scoop', 'A Handful of Dust', and 'Decline and Fall', and had heard good things about this book. Primarily I had heard that it was very funny. Whilst it certainly has a few moments of laugh out loud hilarity overall I thought it was a somewhat incoherent and inconsistent read.
One of the most striking things for a modern reader is the incessant casual racism that peppers the book. That said it's mainly just racist epithets, although there are a few obvious stereotypes that would have been widely accepted at the time the book was written. Overall though, at heart this is a satirical novel and much of the satire still rings true. The book also powerfully evokes Africa, and specifically the East of the continent where the fictitious island country of Azania is located.
The funniest parts of the book arise from the suspicions on the part of the French about the intentions of the British. The reports that the French receive invariably misinterpret the most innocent activities. There is also a very funny scene involving a couple of animal rights activists who are misconstrued as being in favour of animal cruelty.
Curiously the very best writing occurs right at the end of the book, when the main protagonist, who starts the tale as a shallow socialite, is forced to confront his traumatic experiences, which are brought into sharp relief when he reunites with some "bright young thing" friends.
Overall though I was slightly disappointed and would recommend 'Scoop', 'A Handful Of Dust', and 'Decline & Fall' over this book for a newcomer to Evelyn Waugh's work. Inexplicably I have still to read 'Brideshead Revisited' so cannot say where that fits into his work - though expect that it is very good, and probably another title to read before 'Black Mischief'.
3/5
EDIT (18 Oct 2017)...
Picking up on my final paragraph, and having read more novels by Evelyn Waugh, here is how I rank the books I've read so far...
1. Sword of Honour
2. Brideshead Revisited
3. A Handful of Dust
4. Scoop
5. Decline and Fall
6. Put Out More Flags
7. Black Mischief
One of the most striking things for a modern reader is the incessant casual racism that peppers the book. That said it's mainly just racist epithets, although there are a few obvious stereotypes that would have been widely accepted at the time the book was written. Overall though, at heart this is a satirical novel and much of the satire still rings true. The book also powerfully evokes Africa, and specifically the East of the continent where the fictitious island country of Azania is located.
The funniest parts of the book arise from the suspicions on the part of the French about the intentions of the British. The reports that the French receive invariably misinterpret the most innocent activities. There is also a very funny scene involving a couple of animal rights activists who are misconstrued as being in favour of animal cruelty.
Curiously the very best writing occurs right at the end of the book, when the main protagonist, who starts the tale as a shallow socialite, is forced to confront his traumatic experiences, which are brought into sharp relief when he reunites with some "bright young thing" friends.
Overall though I was slightly disappointed and would recommend 'Scoop', 'A Handful Of Dust', and 'Decline & Fall' over this book for a newcomer to Evelyn Waugh's work. Inexplicably I have still to read 'Brideshead Revisited' so cannot say where that fits into his work - though expect that it is very good, and probably another title to read before 'Black Mischief'.
3/5
EDIT (18 Oct 2017)...
Picking up on my final paragraph, and having read more novels by Evelyn Waugh, here is how I rank the books I've read so far...
1. Sword of Honour
2. Brideshead Revisited
3. A Handful of Dust
4. Scoop
5. Decline and Fall
6. Put Out More Flags
7. Black Mischief
September 8, 2023
I think I need to give up on black satire.
The first chapter I was lost.
The war made no sense. Modernising an island of natives cannot just happen.
I felt sorry and appalled at the same time for Seth's father and Prudence.
The Black B_t_h is just too much.
Attitudes of the time were just awful in my after thought, but Waugh exaggerates them to make them look even more out of line...ridiculous.
I am sure it was funny to some and I admit at times it was (French and British), but overall I think this should not have been my first read of Waugh.
The first chapter I was lost.
The war made no sense. Modernising an island of natives cannot just happen.
I felt sorry and appalled at the same time for Seth's father and Prudence.
The Black B_t_h is just too much.
Attitudes of the time were just awful in my after thought, but Waugh exaggerates them to make them look even more out of line...ridiculous.
I am sure it was funny to some and I admit at times it was (French and British), but overall I think this should not have been my first read of Waugh.
August 26, 2016
Azania is the name of the country...a hot-diggity satire on the modern world which should, I hope, offend the Politically Correct...whose brains went into the cannibal pot. Now, can we pray ?
April 3, 2013
Dearest Evelyn, what to make of your uneven and thoroughly racist Black Mischief? Your apologists claim that it lampoons everyone, usually adding: "especially the Europeans", but there's a more than a shade of difference between aloof & irrelevant (Sir Sampson et al) and too stupid to civilize (Seth et al).
The quality of your writing is wonderful and there's plenty of laughs to be had in the first two thirds. Ultimately, however, the work collapses once you have to find some way to move to a conclusion... Basil Seal, your stand-in, is the flattest of all your quasi-protagonists and the narrative lacks any real drive owing to the endless introduction of new characters who never amount to more than a few tossed-off witticisms.
Ultimately you had very little to say apart from "Africa is full of n*s and a few deluded Europeans who haven't yet noticed that fact." Somehow, you still made it mostly amusing which is a credit to your talent, if not your empathy.
The quality of your writing is wonderful and there's plenty of laughs to be had in the first two thirds. Ultimately, however, the work collapses once you have to find some way to move to a conclusion... Basil Seal, your stand-in, is the flattest of all your quasi-protagonists and the narrative lacks any real drive owing to the endless introduction of new characters who never amount to more than a few tossed-off witticisms.
Ultimately you had very little to say apart from "Africa is full of n*s and a few deluded Europeans who haven't yet noticed that fact." Somehow, you still made it mostly amusing which is a credit to your talent, if not your empathy.
July 28, 2023
Azania may sound like the Trumpian (mis)pronunciation of a real African country, but it is in fact an entirely fictional East African island nation created by Evelyn Waugh. Azania is ruled by Oxford-educated Emperor Seth, who is in love with Progress and the New Age. You know, tanks and birth control. Enter Basil Seal--to help him achieve this, of course.
Casual racism abounds (it was published in 1932), along with a preoccupation with cannibalism, but subtler implications linger and ended up leaving me a little less comfortable with the following sentence (as written in my original review): Waugh is an equal opportunity satirist and everyone, the British Legation and the French included, is a target. No Europeans end up eating leather shoes for lack of knowing any better, for example. But how sad yet true that nearly 100 years later a civil war in certain parts of the world would still receive less news coverage than summer's hottest fashion trends. As far as Waugh's fictional countries go, Azania is much more successfully conceived than Neutralia.
Casual racism abounds (it was published in 1932), along with a preoccupation with cannibalism, but subtler implications linger and ended up leaving me a little less comfortable with the following sentence (as written in my original review): Waugh is an equal opportunity satirist and everyone, the British Legation and the French included, is a target. No Europeans end up eating leather shoes for lack of knowing any better, for example. But how sad yet true that nearly 100 years later a civil war in certain parts of the world would still receive less news coverage than summer's hottest fashion trends. As far as Waugh's fictional countries go, Azania is much more successfully conceived than Neutralia.
February 5, 2018
-Hoy nuestra tarea es mucho más fácil que lo habría sido hace cincuenta años. Si hubiéramos tenido que modernizar entonces un país, habríamos tropezado con la monarquía constitucional, la legislatura bicameral, la representación proporcional, el sufragio femenino, la judicatura independiente, la libertad de Prensa, los referéndums...
-¿Qué es todo eso? -preguntó el emperador.
- Unas cuantas ideas que han dejado de ser modernas.
-¿Qué es todo eso? -preguntó el emperador.
- Unas cuantas ideas que han dejado de ser modernas.
April 14, 2010
What those who object to this book seem to miss is that NO ONE is immune to Waugh's satire. Everybody, apart from poor Seth, going mad amidst the chaos, is mercilessly ridiculed. It seems such a shame to miss the fun of the menu for the ball (with all the vitamin groups covered), and life in the diplomatic compound, for what seems to me to be a knee-jerk reaction.
July 13, 2008
BLACK MISCHIEF
Waugh’s third novel is a departure from his first two classic satires of British society. For one thing, Black Mischief is largely set on the fictional East African island nation of Azania, although most of the characters are Brits. Second, Waugh actually has a plot that can be neatly summarized; namely that Basil Seal is a bit of a wastrel MP who travels to Azania where he hooks up with the Oxford educated Azanian Emperor Seth, who wants to bring Progressive Soviet-style government to his tribal subjects.
In his earlier and later works, Waugh tends to mock the social mores of the British upper crust. Here, the focus of Waugh’s satire is different; he is mostly pricking at the liberal pieties of his day: animal rights, centralized planning, birth control, and the overall goal of Progress and Modernity. Waugh doesn’t really criticize these ideas, so much as he searches out the wide gap between ideals and practice. In Waugh’s view, progressive ideals are little more than abstract playthings of the rich, which fundamentally uninteresting to those on whose behalf the activists claim to be acting. Waugh also makes sure to have a couple of mercenary characters that are frankly interested in Progress because they can make a buck off of it.
What really makes this a departure for Waugh is the richness in the storytelling. His previous books had largely been dialogue driven. “Black Mischief” shows him to be much more adept at creating a fictional universe. His descriptions of Azanian history and society are remarkably detailed. Events in the book such as native feasts, tribal wars, and an aborted coup are vividly rendered, demonstrating that one ofWaugh’s other career was as a travel writer. In many ways this is a good old fashioned travelogue of Europeans travelling through the Dark Continent.
Despite all of this, some of the old Waugh humor still shines through. One of the many subplots involve the back and forth between the French and English ambassadors to Azania. The place is a backwater, and the British ambassador is an appropriately querulous fuddy-duddy. The French ambassador, however, carries on as if he were engaged in an East African version of the Great Game. A lot of the book’s humor comes through in these sections.
As in Waugh’s other books, there is a dark edge among all of the humor. There is a revolution, and most of the main characters either flee or are killed. A young proto-feminist with Joycean literary pretensions comes to an especially horrifying end, supporting Waugh’s thesis that England’s leading modernists were fatally ignorant of the savagery that often lurks at the edges of the world. Azania finally becomes a League of Nations protectorate, and the last word is given to a pair of British diplomats strolling through the now-quiet streets of Azania, firmly but foolishly convinced that they have brought order to chaos.
Waugh’s third novel is a departure from his first two classic satires of British society. For one thing, Black Mischief is largely set on the fictional East African island nation of Azania, although most of the characters are Brits. Second, Waugh actually has a plot that can be neatly summarized; namely that Basil Seal is a bit of a wastrel MP who travels to Azania where he hooks up with the Oxford educated Azanian Emperor Seth, who wants to bring Progressive Soviet-style government to his tribal subjects.
In his earlier and later works, Waugh tends to mock the social mores of the British upper crust. Here, the focus of Waugh’s satire is different; he is mostly pricking at the liberal pieties of his day: animal rights, centralized planning, birth control, and the overall goal of Progress and Modernity. Waugh doesn’t really criticize these ideas, so much as he searches out the wide gap between ideals and practice. In Waugh’s view, progressive ideals are little more than abstract playthings of the rich, which fundamentally uninteresting to those on whose behalf the activists claim to be acting. Waugh also makes sure to have a couple of mercenary characters that are frankly interested in Progress because they can make a buck off of it.
What really makes this a departure for Waugh is the richness in the storytelling. His previous books had largely been dialogue driven. “Black Mischief” shows him to be much more adept at creating a fictional universe. His descriptions of Azanian history and society are remarkably detailed. Events in the book such as native feasts, tribal wars, and an aborted coup are vividly rendered, demonstrating that one ofWaugh’s other career was as a travel writer. In many ways this is a good old fashioned travelogue of Europeans travelling through the Dark Continent.
Despite all of this, some of the old Waugh humor still shines through. One of the many subplots involve the back and forth between the French and English ambassadors to Azania. The place is a backwater, and the British ambassador is an appropriately querulous fuddy-duddy. The French ambassador, however, carries on as if he were engaged in an East African version of the Great Game. A lot of the book’s humor comes through in these sections.
As in Waugh’s other books, there is a dark edge among all of the humor. There is a revolution, and most of the main characters either flee or are killed. A young proto-feminist with Joycean literary pretensions comes to an especially horrifying end, supporting Waugh’s thesis that England’s leading modernists were fatally ignorant of the savagery that often lurks at the edges of the world. Azania finally becomes a League of Nations protectorate, and the last word is given to a pair of British diplomats strolling through the now-quiet streets of Azania, firmly but foolishly convinced that they have brought order to chaos.
April 19, 2023
A witty, satirical, absurdist, farcically funny novel set in Azania, a fictional east coast of Africa, island. Seth is a young, clueless, English educated Emperor of Azania. All the characters are oddballs. Seth somehow remains in power whilst his subordinates plot Seth’s overthrow. Basil Seal, one of Seth’s Oxford friends arrives in Azania, helping Seth in administering the country. Basil is quite the cad.
The English population in Azania are all doddering old fools who care more about the latest gossip and their life style comforts, oblivious to what is happening around them. They witness an attempted coup from the top of their hotel without fully understanding what is actually occurring.
Readers who delight in Waugh’s written comedy should find this novel an enjoyable, entertaining reading experience.
This book was first published in 1932.
The English population in Azania are all doddering old fools who care more about the latest gossip and their life style comforts, oblivious to what is happening around them. They witness an attempted coup from the top of their hotel without fully understanding what is actually occurring.
Readers who delight in Waugh’s written comedy should find this novel an enjoyable, entertaining reading experience.
This book was first published in 1932.
May 1, 2008
Totally hilarious but kind of embarassing to read on the bus in Oakland.
July 5, 2017
As much as I liked Waugh's Scoop I just didn't enjoy this. He writes well but Basil, Seth and Ballon never grabbed me and I found myself bored in and with Azania.
April 14, 2020
An interesting book to read as a product of its time, and of course also a product of the extremely right wing values and attitudes of Evelyn Waugh. The tone is set before the story starts, with a Preface which Waugh wrote in 1962. Its final paragraph reads:
"Thirty years ago it seemed an anachronism that any part of Africa should be independent of European administration. History has not followed what then seemed its natural course."
However, Waugh's disdain is not confined to "the natives". His portrayal of the British envoy, his family and assorted staff is funny, as is the spying on the British by the French envoy and some splendid conspiracy theories he concocts.
A curious book: worth reading as part of a project to read all of Waugh's books, but probably not one I would want to revisit.
"Thirty years ago it seemed an anachronism that any part of Africa should be independent of European administration. History has not followed what then seemed its natural course."
However, Waugh's disdain is not confined to "the natives". His portrayal of the British envoy, his family and assorted staff is funny, as is the spying on the British by the French envoy and some splendid conspiracy theories he concocts.
A curious book: worth reading as part of a project to read all of Waugh's books, but probably not one I would want to revisit.
January 10, 2016
From the standard of personal enjoyment, I would give this book a negative one star. I disliked and was bored by the "satire", the characters, the entire premise. The only reason I finished Black Mischief was because I was stuck on a plane and this was the only book I had with me.
However, gut instinct aside, I recognize this book has its clever moments. It was well crafted. The writing occasionally caught me up with its wittiness and style.
A total dud read in some ways, but worth more than one star in others.
However, gut instinct aside, I recognize this book has its clever moments. It was well crafted. The writing occasionally caught me up with its wittiness and style.
A total dud read in some ways, but worth more than one star in others.
April 1, 2022
Another entry in the they'd-never-publish-this-today stakes, Black Mischief is ostensibly about the fag-end of colonialism when exhausted British charges d'affaires and regional officers oversaw the dismantling of the Empire. However, the fictional African state of Azania (loosely modelled on Ethiopia) is independent, its new ruler, the Emperor Seth, an enthusiast for all things modern.
The first chapter is an absolute masterpiece of mordant wit, describing the panic and collapse in a capital and a regime when its functionaries see the rebel soldiers approaching to take the capital. Waugh is quite brilliant in the way he captures the fear and uncertainty, and the reactions of the men and women trying to buy their way to keeping their skins. Then, it turns out, the approaching army is made of victorious loyalist troops, the rebellion has been defeated, and Emperor Seth can get on with his plans to turn Azania into a modern, progressive nation. It does not work out as he wished, despite his employment of Basil Seal, the feckless English emigre.
It's all too marvellous to convey anything but a tiny hint of the book's glitter: so long as you're willing to put aside modern prejudices - which are just as prejudicial as those on display in the book, only more contemporary - then you will thank me for recommending Black Mischief to you.
The first chapter is an absolute masterpiece of mordant wit, describing the panic and collapse in a capital and a regime when its functionaries see the rebel soldiers approaching to take the capital. Waugh is quite brilliant in the way he captures the fear and uncertainty, and the reactions of the men and women trying to buy their way to keeping their skins. Then, it turns out, the approaching army is made of victorious loyalist troops, the rebellion has been defeated, and Emperor Seth can get on with his plans to turn Azania into a modern, progressive nation. It does not work out as he wished, despite his employment of Basil Seal, the feckless English emigre.
It's all too marvellous to convey anything but a tiny hint of the book's glitter: so long as you're willing to put aside modern prejudices - which are just as prejudicial as those on display in the book, only more contemporary - then you will thank me for recommending Black Mischief to you.
December 8, 2017
Staggers back and forth between funny and offensive until it gobsmacks you with its ending.
July 5, 2018
'...constitutional monarchy, bicameral legislature, proportional representation, women's suffrage, independent judicature, freedom of the press, referendums...
What is all that? asked the Emperor.
Just a few ideas that have ceased to be modern.'
That was fairly fun. A satire about a small nation of complicated culture and history, with a new leader who wants to replace the savagery of barbarism with the savagery of civilization..
I tend to quite like these small country political stories and have read quite a few but this stuff tends to be a backdrop to the main plot.
These elements arn't used here as the setting for the magical realism of One Hundred Years of Solitude, or the hippie utopianism of huxley's Island, nor the personal dramas of South Wind or Palace Without Chairs.
There isn't really even anything you could call main characters. It reads at times more like a moviescript than a novel. There is no greater plot, its just this sketch of the life of the island through the eyes of various random elements.
Nevertheless its well drawn and quite funny and easy to read. Also occasionally quite dark at times especially near the end.
Oh, its also quite un-PC, but not in an aggressive way... although i am an extremely white male so your feelings may vary ;) .
Overall a nicely drawn albeit somewhat shallow satire.
Edit: Better than Scoop not as good as Vile Bodies .
What is all that? asked the Emperor.
Just a few ideas that have ceased to be modern.'
That was fairly fun. A satire about a small nation of complicated culture and history, with a new leader who wants to replace the savagery of barbarism with the savagery of civilization..
I tend to quite like these small country political stories and have read quite a few but this stuff tends to be a backdrop to the main plot.
These elements arn't used here as the setting for the magical realism of One Hundred Years of Solitude, or the hippie utopianism of huxley's Island, nor the personal dramas of South Wind or Palace Without Chairs.
There isn't really even anything you could call main characters. It reads at times more like a moviescript than a novel. There is no greater plot, its just this sketch of the life of the island through the eyes of various random elements.
Nevertheless its well drawn and quite funny and easy to read. Also occasionally quite dark at times especially near the end.
Oh, its also quite un-PC, but not in an aggressive way... although i am an extremely white male so your feelings may vary ;) .
Overall a nicely drawn albeit somewhat shallow satire.
Edit: Better than Scoop not as good as Vile Bodies .
April 24, 2008
Evelyn Waugh’s Black Mischief, published in 1932, recounts the unfortunate attempts of Seth, sovereign of the mythical East African Empire of Azania, to modernise his dominions. In this he is aided (although perhaps aided is the wrong word) by Basil Seal, an unscrupulous an incompetent English adventurer. Black Mischief has been accused of racism but in fact the British and French are lampooned every bit as mercilessly as the Africans. In other books Waugh gleefully ridiculed Americans as well (like the evangelist Mrs Melrose Ape in Vile Bodies) so it’s reasonable to say that no race and no nationality was safe from Waugh’s vitriolic wit. Although Waugh was a devout catholic religion also comes in for some rough handling in this novel. Waugh’s chief target in Black Mischief seems to be the cult of modernity. As in many of Waugh’s novels events spiral increasingly out of control towards the end as the full absurdity of human aspirations is revealed. It’s wonderfully, wickedly (and at times cruelly) funny.
August 22, 2015
I lost my track somewhere in Azania a couple of weeks ago.
Now it's all darkness around me.
What I can recall is that this novel has one of the most exhilarating and sarcastic beginnings I have ever found.
Quoting Waugh:
'We, Seth, Emperor of Azania, Chief of the Chiefs of Sakuyu, Lord of Wanda and Tyrant of the Seas, Bachelor of the Arts of Oxford University, being in this the twenty-fourth year of our life, summoned by the wisdom of Almighty God and the unanimous voice of our people to the throne of our ancestors, do hereby proclaim..."
Ah, the Majestic Plural!
Oh, the catchy exoticism of the "Africanish" names!
Uh, the subtle omission of the Oxford comma!
I can almost hear Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" in the air.
But I can see someone or something approaching in the gloom, starless, and Austral night. A darker spot in the darkened dark out of Debra Dowa.
It's getting closer. It looks like the beginning of Chapter Three:
'Two days later news of the battle of Ukaka...'
These words will lead me back to the track. I will be back. Farewell.
Now it's all darkness around me.
What I can recall is that this novel has one of the most exhilarating and sarcastic beginnings I have ever found.
Quoting Waugh:
'We, Seth, Emperor of Azania, Chief of the Chiefs of Sakuyu, Lord of Wanda and Tyrant of the Seas, Bachelor of the Arts of Oxford University, being in this the twenty-fourth year of our life, summoned by the wisdom of Almighty God and the unanimous voice of our people to the throne of our ancestors, do hereby proclaim..."
Ah, the Majestic Plural!
Oh, the catchy exoticism of the "Africanish" names!
Uh, the subtle omission of the Oxford comma!
I can almost hear Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" in the air.
But I can see someone or something approaching in the gloom, starless, and Austral night. A darker spot in the darkened dark out of Debra Dowa.
It's getting closer. It looks like the beginning of Chapter Three:
'Two days later news of the battle of Ukaka...'
These words will lead me back to the track. I will be back. Farewell.
November 18, 2017
Slightly more fun than being stuck in a lift with Boris Johnson.
March 7, 2018
review of
Evelyn Waugh's Black Mischief
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - February 19-28, 2018
Read the full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...
Africa's a continent. There're bound to be significant differences between the culture of Egypt & the culture of South Africa, between the culture of Liberia & the culture of Nigeria. It's awkward for me to review this bk. I've read so little from &/or about Africa. I haven't read Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth. I have read Melvin B. Tolson's Libretto for the Republic of Liberia, I have read Sony Labou Tansi's The Antipeople, I have read Naguib Mahfouz's Midaq Alley, I have read Fathy Ghanem's The Man Who Lost his Shadow & other bks of, perhaps, lesser relevance such as Isabelle Eberhardt's The Oblivion Seekers, etc..
The point is that reviewing this bk is awkward b/c it's a parody of an imaginary African nation written after Waugh had spent a few mnths in Africa. Africans get made fun of, the British get made fun of, the French get made fun of. It's my impression that everyone gets made fun of equally & that the Africans don't get mocked any more than anyone else concerned. HOWEVER, I'm not African—I don't really know how an African might respond to this. Of course, there're bound to be some Africans who think it's hilarious & others who think it's racist. It was originally copyrighted in 1932. I wonder how differently Waugh might write it today. After all, he's dead so he'd probably have a very different take on things. References to 'nappy heads' or what-not might be passed over in favor of less laden language. From Waugh's 1962 Preface:
"Black Mischief was written after a winter spent in East and Central Africa, an account of which appeared in Remote People and now survives, abridged, in When the Going Was Good.
"The scene of the novel was a fanciful confusion of many territories." - p vii
SO, Waugh wasn't mocking any particular people or country. The opening paragraph below could just as easily be put in the mouth, slightly adapted, of any pompous ruler:
"["]We, Seth, Emperor of Azania, Chief of the Chiefs of Sakuyu, Lord of Wanda and Tyrant of the Seas, Bachelor of the Arts of Oxford University, being in this twenty-fourth year of our life, summoned by the wisdom of Almighty God and the unanimous voice of our people to the throne of our ancestors, do hereby proclaim..."" - p 3
""Do hereby proclaim amnesty and free pardon to all those of our subjects recently seduced from their loyalty, who shall during the eight days subsequent to this date return to their lawful allegiance. Furthermore..."" - p 4
Some history of Seth's predecessor is given:
"Amurath instituted other changes, less sensational than the railway, but nevertheless noteworthy. He proclaimed the abolition of slavery and was warmly applauded in the European Press; the law was posted up prominently in the capital in English, French and Italian where every foreigner might read it; it was never promulgated in the provinces nor translated into any of the native languages; the ancient system continued unhampered but European intervention had been anticipated." - p 10
That just strikes me as realism. Yes, there are African slavers; yes, they want to continue unhampered; yes, such a move is a 'clever' one.
"Now the Empress was dead and Seth had returned from Europe to claim his Empire." - p 14
One of the main characters is an unscrupulous businessman, always venal, always maneuvering for more proft. After he's had a close brush with soldiers, he finds his wife tied up. Typical of his selfishness, he can't be bothered to untie her:
""Krikor, please...you must let me loose...don't you see? I've been like this all night. I'm in such pain..."
""You stay where you are. I can't attend to you now. You're always thinking of yourself. What about me? I'm tired. Don't you hear me?"" - pp 36-37
The cast of characters is an international one. Many or most of them are there because they're too unsavory to get away with what they want to do elsewhere. One of them is General Connolly, the leader of Seth's army, the one who's successfully suppressed the recent uprising. He's a white guy married to a black woman. Seth is uncomfortable with the nickname Connolly has for his wife:
"["]We wish to break down color barriers as far as possible. Your name for Mrs. Connolly, though suitable as a term of endearment in the home, seems to emphasize the racial distinction between you in a way which might prove disconcerting."
""I dare say you're right, Seth. I'll try to remember when we're in company. But I shall always thinks of her as Black Bitch, somehow.["]" - p 48
""Hullo, Black Bitch, what do you suppose this is? Madame Ballon wants us to dine at the French Legation tomorrow."
""You go?"
""But it's for both of us, old girl. The invitation is addressed to you. What d'you think of that?"
""Oh, my! Me dine with Madame Ballon! Oh my, that's good!"
"The Duchess could not contain her excitement; she threw back her head, rolled her eyes, and emitting deep gurgles of pleasure began spinning about the room like a teetotum." - p 157
How wd Waugh write this today? I'm sure it wd be different. & much funnier & more perspicacious than this:
' "Hullo, Strong Symbol of the Future, what do you suppose this is? Madame Ballon wants us to dine at the French Legation tomorrow."
' "Utaenda?"*
' "But it's for both of us, woman of unspecified age. The invitation is addressed to you. What d'you think of that?"
' "O, yangu! Nafasi ya kula na Madame Ballon! Sio tu kutarajia kujifurahisha mwenyewe lakini itanipa fursa ya kumfundisha juu ya masuala ya kisiasa ambayo anachagua kuwa katika kukataa!"**
'The person of eminent integrity chose to not contain her excitement; she expressed her pleasureful anticipation with a talented array of expressive gestures that remained dignified.'
Having already read Waugh's Decline and Fall (see my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ) & Vile Bodies (see my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ) & having then checked out the movie based on the latter by Stephen Fry called Bright Young Things I admit to being enamoured of the partiers depicted therein (not resenting their wealth). I was even glad that Fry gave the movie a happy ending for the Waugh proxy that was lacking from the bk. As such, I was glad to have a bit of that witty playful 'decadence' reappear in Black Mischief:
""Oh, how maddening it is to have no one to make love with except you."
""Sophisticated voice."
""That's not sophisticated. It's my gramaphone record voice. My sophisticated voice is quite different. It's like this."
""I call that American."
""Shall I do my vibrant-with-passion voice?"
""No."" - p 50
A part of what I like about the above is that the 1st sentence might lead you to think that the woman is being very mean. Then the man's reply recontextualizes it as intimate friends playing. There's a pleasant hedonism to it that the Bright Young Things excelled in. The world cd use more of that.
The British Envoy is depicted as the biggest airhead of them all, absolutely detached from any but the most trivial concerns, a person obviously accustomed to being well-taken-care-of w/o bothering himself about much else.
"The Envoy Extraordinary said: "We seem to have tinned asparagus for lucheon every day...I can't think why...I'm so sorry—you were talking about the massacre. Well, I hardly know. I haven't really thought about it...Yes, I suppose there might be one. I don't see what's to stop them, if the fellows take it into their heads. Still I dare say it'll all blow over, you know. Doesn't do to get worried...I should have thought we could have grown it ourselves. Much better than spending so much time on that Dutch garden. So like being on board ship, eating tinned asparagus."" - p 60
He's the British Envoy but he doesn't even know who the Emperor is. I don't suppose that's realistic.
"["]Still, the war's over, William tells me, and I, for one, am glad. It's been on too long. Very upsetting to everything. Let me see, which of them won it?"
""Seth."
""Ah yes, to be sure. Seth. I'm very glad. He was...now let me see...which was he?"
""He's the old Empress's son."
""Yes, yes, now I've got him. And the Empress, what's become of her?"
""She died last year."" - pp 71-72
The story cuts to London & the Bright Young Things where an obnoxious character named Basil appears:
""Look here, Rex," he said, "what I want to know is what you're going to do about Seth?"
""Seth?" Lord Monomark turned an inquiring glance on Sanders. "What am I doing about Seth?""
[..]
"["]I'm probably sailing almost at once. It occurred to me that I might cover it for you in the Excess."
[..]
""I'm afraid I don't interfere with the minor personnel of the paper. You'd better go and see one of the editors about it. But I don't think you'll find him anxious to take on new staff at the moment."
""I'll tell them you sent me." - p 86
[..]
""I'm thinking of going to Azania."
""Oh, were you?—and what'll you do there?"
""Well, Rex Monomark wants me to represent the Excess, but I think as a matter of fact I shall be better off if I keep a perfectly free hand. The only thing is I shall need some money. D'you think our mother will fork out five hundred pounds?"" - p 87
Emperor Seth is leaving with fanfare. He lays down the law about how the populace should act during his departure ceremony:
"No person, irrespective of rank, will be admitted to the platform improperly dressed or under the influence of alcohol." - p 113
& even though he has the power of life & death over them..
"These had not observed the Emperor's instructions to the letter. The Nestorian Metropolitan swayed on the arm of his chaplain, unquestionably drunk; the representative of the Courier d'Azanie wore an open shirt, a battered topee, crumpled white trousers and canvas shoes; the Levantine shipping agent who acted as vice-consul for Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal and Latvia had put on a light waterproof over his pajamas and come to the function straight from bed". - p 116
In short, despite Emperor Seth's vision & severity his plans go awry:
""His Majesty is now ready to start."
[..]
"Then, when all seemed frozen in silence, the engine gave a great wrench, shaking the train coach by coach from the tender to the mule boxes, and suddenly, to the immense delight of the darkies on the roof, shot off by itself into the country."
""The Emperor has given no orders for a delay."
""It is a strange thing I did not foresee," said the stationmaster. "Our only engine has gone away alone. I think I shall be disgraced for this affair."" - p 118
I wonder how many people remember chain letters? Meaning letters that one actually rc'vd in the mail? I made a fake one to put under car windshield wipers once (You can read that here: http://idioideo.pleintekst.nl/W1979.C... ). These days, one can get something similar through messaging & the like but it just ain't the same.
"["]I say, though, here's something interesting, my word it is. It says, 'Good luck. Copy this letter out nine times and send it to nine different friends'... What an extraordinary idea."" - p 120
SO, if you've ever wondered how far back chain mail goes you now know it goes back to at least 1932, the publication date of this bk. According to Mental Floss:
"History can be maddeningly unspecific about certain things, particularly chronology. But when it comes to the history of the chain letter, it’s very possible that Jesus was the first to author one.
"Hundreds of years ago, a story made the rounds that seemed incredible. Fifty-five years after Jesus had been resurrected and ascended into heaven, he decided to author a letter offering wisdom to his human charges. The note was taken to earth and hidden under a rock, which a young and earnest boy was able to lift. From there, the note was copied and circulated, each facsimile bearing a strange warning:
“He that copieth this letter shall be blessed of me. He that does not shall be cursed.”
"As hoaxes go, it wasn’t a bad way to get someone’s attention. Copies of the letter survive from as early as the mid-1700s, proof that people have always had an innate curiosity—and superstition—about chain letters. In the decades that followed, hundreds of thousands of people have received and forwarded letters that promise charity, prosperity, or religious enlightenment.
"The price for not being on board? Usually awful luck. Or death.
"In 1888, a Methodist women’s missionary group was having serious cash flow problems. Additions to their facilities had added up to an astounding $16,000. While the group leaders prayed for assistance, they also acknowledged they might need to take the initiative.
"Just when all hope seemed lost, a woman who had heard of their troubles said that she had a possible solution: Someone had told her that arranging for a chain letter could be a possible avenue to financial reward. Around the same time, the church received a chain letter requesting funds for another now forgotten object, sent to them by someone who thought it would work for this group as well. The head of the congregation, Lucy Rider Meyer, took the suggestions seriously and drafted a letter that contained both a solicitation to send her one dime and to send a copy of the letter to three friends, who would (hopefully) repeat the process.
"Meyer dashed off 1500 copies and waited. The responses came pouring in. The missionaries eventually raised $6000, with many people sending more than a dime and others even using the letter as the inspiration to join their flock. In spirit and cold cash, the chain letter had been a success. Mostly." - http://mentalfloss.com/article/87625/...
Given that I don't believe that Jesus, y'know? the son'a'god n'at?, ever existed (see, e.g., Brian Flemming's 2005 "The God Who Wasn't There" documentary), the idea of 'Jesus' 'inventing the chain letter' is palpably ridiculous (Did he write it on parchment or stone?). However, the idea of chain letters as invented by religious people to try to gouge even more money out of their flocks than they were already getting is believable enuf. I credited my own chain letter as from "a missionary from S. America" & sd the recipient shd send it out "even tho U R not superstitious" & appealed to greed by claiming that "A few days later he won the lottery 4 2 MILLION $s".
The afore-mentioned unscrupulous businessman knows a 'good' thing when he sees it & manipulates his way into the government w/ the aid of the thieving, but productive, Basil:
"["]How about if on your board of directors you had a man of financial status in the country; someone who His Majesty trusts...see what I mean? ... someone with a fair little block of shares allocated to him. He would protect His Majesty's interests and interests of company too...see?"
""That's all very well, Mr. Youkoumian, but it isn't so easy to find anyone like that. I can't think of anyone at the moment."" - p 143
""Unless, of course, you yourself? But I can hardly suggest that. You are far too busy."" - p 144
BINGO!
"Seth was contemplating the wild expedient of employing slave labor to copy his design when Mr. Youkoumian discovered that some years ago an enterprising philanthropist had by bequest introduced lithography into the curriculum of the American Baptist school. The apparatus survived the failure of the attempt. Mr. Youkoumian purchased it from the pastor and resold it at a fine profit to the Department of Fine Arts in the Ministry of Modernization." - p 170
To some, that's just 'good business'; to others, such as myself, that's greed triumphing over civic-mindedness. Seth, on the other hand, is sincerely trying to 'modernize' the country under the influence of his British teachings & is approaching it from the position of someone with unlimited power. His big push is for birth control. Alas, his propaganda poster is interpreted as meaning the opposite of what's intended:
"See: on right hand: there is rich man: smoke pipe like big chief: but his wife she no good: sit eating meat: and rich man he no good: he only one son.
"See: on left hand: poor man: not much to eat: but his wife very good, work hard in field: man he good too: eleven children: one very mad, very holy. And in the middle: Emperor's juju. Make you like that good man with eleven children." - p 172
But Seth is a visionary, not very practical, perhaps, but a visionary — & his vision doesn't stop with trying to get the people to stop reproducing without consideration:
"For your information and necessary action, I have decided to abolish the following:
Death Penalty.
Marriage.
The Sakuyu language and all native dialects.
Infant mortality.
Totemism.
Inhuman butchery.
Mortgages.
Emigration.
Please see to this. Also organize system of reservoirs for city's water supply and draft syllabus for competetive examination for public services. Suggest compulsory Esperanto. Seth." - p 173
Imagine having him for a boss, a boss with the power to have you executed for non-compliance. In general, misunderstanding rules the day. Two people from a society against cruelty to animals have arrived in Azania. Their message seems to've been a tad reversed by their Azanian host as one can see by the feast menu for them:
" Imperial Banquet for Welcoming the English Cruelty to Animals
MENU OF FOODS
________________________________
VITAMIN A
Tin Sardines
VITAMIN B
Roasted Beef
VITAMIN C
Small Roasted Sucking Porks
VITAMIN D
Hot Sheep and Onions
VITAMIN E
Spiced Turkey
VITAMIN F
Sweet Puddings
VITAMIN G
Coffee
VITAMIN H
Jam " - p 198
Read the full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...
Evelyn Waugh's Black Mischief
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - February 19-28, 2018
Read the full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...
Africa's a continent. There're bound to be significant differences between the culture of Egypt & the culture of South Africa, between the culture of Liberia & the culture of Nigeria. It's awkward for me to review this bk. I've read so little from &/or about Africa. I haven't read Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth. I have read Melvin B. Tolson's Libretto for the Republic of Liberia, I have read Sony Labou Tansi's The Antipeople, I have read Naguib Mahfouz's Midaq Alley, I have read Fathy Ghanem's The Man Who Lost his Shadow & other bks of, perhaps, lesser relevance such as Isabelle Eberhardt's The Oblivion Seekers, etc..
The point is that reviewing this bk is awkward b/c it's a parody of an imaginary African nation written after Waugh had spent a few mnths in Africa. Africans get made fun of, the British get made fun of, the French get made fun of. It's my impression that everyone gets made fun of equally & that the Africans don't get mocked any more than anyone else concerned. HOWEVER, I'm not African—I don't really know how an African might respond to this. Of course, there're bound to be some Africans who think it's hilarious & others who think it's racist. It was originally copyrighted in 1932. I wonder how differently Waugh might write it today. After all, he's dead so he'd probably have a very different take on things. References to 'nappy heads' or what-not might be passed over in favor of less laden language. From Waugh's 1962 Preface:
"Black Mischief was written after a winter spent in East and Central Africa, an account of which appeared in Remote People and now survives, abridged, in When the Going Was Good.
"The scene of the novel was a fanciful confusion of many territories." - p vii
SO, Waugh wasn't mocking any particular people or country. The opening paragraph below could just as easily be put in the mouth, slightly adapted, of any pompous ruler:
"["]We, Seth, Emperor of Azania, Chief of the Chiefs of Sakuyu, Lord of Wanda and Tyrant of the Seas, Bachelor of the Arts of Oxford University, being in this twenty-fourth year of our life, summoned by the wisdom of Almighty God and the unanimous voice of our people to the throne of our ancestors, do hereby proclaim..."" - p 3
""Do hereby proclaim amnesty and free pardon to all those of our subjects recently seduced from their loyalty, who shall during the eight days subsequent to this date return to their lawful allegiance. Furthermore..."" - p 4
Some history of Seth's predecessor is given:
"Amurath instituted other changes, less sensational than the railway, but nevertheless noteworthy. He proclaimed the abolition of slavery and was warmly applauded in the European Press; the law was posted up prominently in the capital in English, French and Italian where every foreigner might read it; it was never promulgated in the provinces nor translated into any of the native languages; the ancient system continued unhampered but European intervention had been anticipated." - p 10
That just strikes me as realism. Yes, there are African slavers; yes, they want to continue unhampered; yes, such a move is a 'clever' one.
"Now the Empress was dead and Seth had returned from Europe to claim his Empire." - p 14
One of the main characters is an unscrupulous businessman, always venal, always maneuvering for more proft. After he's had a close brush with soldiers, he finds his wife tied up. Typical of his selfishness, he can't be bothered to untie her:
""Krikor, please...you must let me loose...don't you see? I've been like this all night. I'm in such pain..."
""You stay where you are. I can't attend to you now. You're always thinking of yourself. What about me? I'm tired. Don't you hear me?"" - pp 36-37
The cast of characters is an international one. Many or most of them are there because they're too unsavory to get away with what they want to do elsewhere. One of them is General Connolly, the leader of Seth's army, the one who's successfully suppressed the recent uprising. He's a white guy married to a black woman. Seth is uncomfortable with the nickname Connolly has for his wife:
"["]We wish to break down color barriers as far as possible. Your name for Mrs. Connolly, though suitable as a term of endearment in the home, seems to emphasize the racial distinction between you in a way which might prove disconcerting."
""I dare say you're right, Seth. I'll try to remember when we're in company. But I shall always thinks of her as Black Bitch, somehow.["]" - p 48
""Hullo, Black Bitch, what do you suppose this is? Madame Ballon wants us to dine at the French Legation tomorrow."
""You go?"
""But it's for both of us, old girl. The invitation is addressed to you. What d'you think of that?"
""Oh, my! Me dine with Madame Ballon! Oh my, that's good!"
"The Duchess could not contain her excitement; she threw back her head, rolled her eyes, and emitting deep gurgles of pleasure began spinning about the room like a teetotum." - p 157
How wd Waugh write this today? I'm sure it wd be different. & much funnier & more perspicacious than this:
' "Hullo, Strong Symbol of the Future, what do you suppose this is? Madame Ballon wants us to dine at the French Legation tomorrow."
' "Utaenda?"*
' "But it's for both of us, woman of unspecified age. The invitation is addressed to you. What d'you think of that?"
' "O, yangu! Nafasi ya kula na Madame Ballon! Sio tu kutarajia kujifurahisha mwenyewe lakini itanipa fursa ya kumfundisha juu ya masuala ya kisiasa ambayo anachagua kuwa katika kukataa!"**
'The person of eminent integrity chose to not contain her excitement; she expressed her pleasureful anticipation with a talented array of expressive gestures that remained dignified.'
Having already read Waugh's Decline and Fall (see my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ) & Vile Bodies (see my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ) & having then checked out the movie based on the latter by Stephen Fry called Bright Young Things I admit to being enamoured of the partiers depicted therein (not resenting their wealth). I was even glad that Fry gave the movie a happy ending for the Waugh proxy that was lacking from the bk. As such, I was glad to have a bit of that witty playful 'decadence' reappear in Black Mischief:
""Oh, how maddening it is to have no one to make love with except you."
""Sophisticated voice."
""That's not sophisticated. It's my gramaphone record voice. My sophisticated voice is quite different. It's like this."
""I call that American."
""Shall I do my vibrant-with-passion voice?"
""No."" - p 50
A part of what I like about the above is that the 1st sentence might lead you to think that the woman is being very mean. Then the man's reply recontextualizes it as intimate friends playing. There's a pleasant hedonism to it that the Bright Young Things excelled in. The world cd use more of that.
The British Envoy is depicted as the biggest airhead of them all, absolutely detached from any but the most trivial concerns, a person obviously accustomed to being well-taken-care-of w/o bothering himself about much else.
"The Envoy Extraordinary said: "We seem to have tinned asparagus for lucheon every day...I can't think why...I'm so sorry—you were talking about the massacre. Well, I hardly know. I haven't really thought about it...Yes, I suppose there might be one. I don't see what's to stop them, if the fellows take it into their heads. Still I dare say it'll all blow over, you know. Doesn't do to get worried...I should have thought we could have grown it ourselves. Much better than spending so much time on that Dutch garden. So like being on board ship, eating tinned asparagus."" - p 60
He's the British Envoy but he doesn't even know who the Emperor is. I don't suppose that's realistic.
"["]Still, the war's over, William tells me, and I, for one, am glad. It's been on too long. Very upsetting to everything. Let me see, which of them won it?"
""Seth."
""Ah yes, to be sure. Seth. I'm very glad. He was...now let me see...which was he?"
""He's the old Empress's son."
""Yes, yes, now I've got him. And the Empress, what's become of her?"
""She died last year."" - pp 71-72
The story cuts to London & the Bright Young Things where an obnoxious character named Basil appears:
""Look here, Rex," he said, "what I want to know is what you're going to do about Seth?"
""Seth?" Lord Monomark turned an inquiring glance on Sanders. "What am I doing about Seth?""
[..]
"["]I'm probably sailing almost at once. It occurred to me that I might cover it for you in the Excess."
[..]
""I'm afraid I don't interfere with the minor personnel of the paper. You'd better go and see one of the editors about it. But I don't think you'll find him anxious to take on new staff at the moment."
""I'll tell them you sent me." - p 86
[..]
""I'm thinking of going to Azania."
""Oh, were you?—and what'll you do there?"
""Well, Rex Monomark wants me to represent the Excess, but I think as a matter of fact I shall be better off if I keep a perfectly free hand. The only thing is I shall need some money. D'you think our mother will fork out five hundred pounds?"" - p 87
Emperor Seth is leaving with fanfare. He lays down the law about how the populace should act during his departure ceremony:
"No person, irrespective of rank, will be admitted to the platform improperly dressed or under the influence of alcohol." - p 113
& even though he has the power of life & death over them..
"These had not observed the Emperor's instructions to the letter. The Nestorian Metropolitan swayed on the arm of his chaplain, unquestionably drunk; the representative of the Courier d'Azanie wore an open shirt, a battered topee, crumpled white trousers and canvas shoes; the Levantine shipping agent who acted as vice-consul for Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal and Latvia had put on a light waterproof over his pajamas and come to the function straight from bed". - p 116
In short, despite Emperor Seth's vision & severity his plans go awry:
""His Majesty is now ready to start."
[..]
"Then, when all seemed frozen in silence, the engine gave a great wrench, shaking the train coach by coach from the tender to the mule boxes, and suddenly, to the immense delight of the darkies on the roof, shot off by itself into the country."
""The Emperor has given no orders for a delay."
""It is a strange thing I did not foresee," said the stationmaster. "Our only engine has gone away alone. I think I shall be disgraced for this affair."" - p 118
I wonder how many people remember chain letters? Meaning letters that one actually rc'vd in the mail? I made a fake one to put under car windshield wipers once (You can read that here: http://idioideo.pleintekst.nl/W1979.C... ). These days, one can get something similar through messaging & the like but it just ain't the same.
"["]I say, though, here's something interesting, my word it is. It says, 'Good luck. Copy this letter out nine times and send it to nine different friends'... What an extraordinary idea."" - p 120
SO, if you've ever wondered how far back chain mail goes you now know it goes back to at least 1932, the publication date of this bk. According to Mental Floss:
"History can be maddeningly unspecific about certain things, particularly chronology. But when it comes to the history of the chain letter, it’s very possible that Jesus was the first to author one.
"Hundreds of years ago, a story made the rounds that seemed incredible. Fifty-five years after Jesus had been resurrected and ascended into heaven, he decided to author a letter offering wisdom to his human charges. The note was taken to earth and hidden under a rock, which a young and earnest boy was able to lift. From there, the note was copied and circulated, each facsimile bearing a strange warning:
“He that copieth this letter shall be blessed of me. He that does not shall be cursed.”
"As hoaxes go, it wasn’t a bad way to get someone’s attention. Copies of the letter survive from as early as the mid-1700s, proof that people have always had an innate curiosity—and superstition—about chain letters. In the decades that followed, hundreds of thousands of people have received and forwarded letters that promise charity, prosperity, or religious enlightenment.
"The price for not being on board? Usually awful luck. Or death.
"In 1888, a Methodist women’s missionary group was having serious cash flow problems. Additions to their facilities had added up to an astounding $16,000. While the group leaders prayed for assistance, they also acknowledged they might need to take the initiative.
"Just when all hope seemed lost, a woman who had heard of their troubles said that she had a possible solution: Someone had told her that arranging for a chain letter could be a possible avenue to financial reward. Around the same time, the church received a chain letter requesting funds for another now forgotten object, sent to them by someone who thought it would work for this group as well. The head of the congregation, Lucy Rider Meyer, took the suggestions seriously and drafted a letter that contained both a solicitation to send her one dime and to send a copy of the letter to three friends, who would (hopefully) repeat the process.
"Meyer dashed off 1500 copies and waited. The responses came pouring in. The missionaries eventually raised $6000, with many people sending more than a dime and others even using the letter as the inspiration to join their flock. In spirit and cold cash, the chain letter had been a success. Mostly." - http://mentalfloss.com/article/87625/...
Given that I don't believe that Jesus, y'know? the son'a'god n'at?, ever existed (see, e.g., Brian Flemming's 2005 "The God Who Wasn't There" documentary), the idea of 'Jesus' 'inventing the chain letter' is palpably ridiculous (Did he write it on parchment or stone?). However, the idea of chain letters as invented by religious people to try to gouge even more money out of their flocks than they were already getting is believable enuf. I credited my own chain letter as from "a missionary from S. America" & sd the recipient shd send it out "even tho U R not superstitious" & appealed to greed by claiming that "A few days later he won the lottery 4 2 MILLION $s".
The afore-mentioned unscrupulous businessman knows a 'good' thing when he sees it & manipulates his way into the government w/ the aid of the thieving, but productive, Basil:
"["]How about if on your board of directors you had a man of financial status in the country; someone who His Majesty trusts...see what I mean? ... someone with a fair little block of shares allocated to him. He would protect His Majesty's interests and interests of company too...see?"
""That's all very well, Mr. Youkoumian, but it isn't so easy to find anyone like that. I can't think of anyone at the moment."" - p 143
""Unless, of course, you yourself? But I can hardly suggest that. You are far too busy."" - p 144
BINGO!
"Seth was contemplating the wild expedient of employing slave labor to copy his design when Mr. Youkoumian discovered that some years ago an enterprising philanthropist had by bequest introduced lithography into the curriculum of the American Baptist school. The apparatus survived the failure of the attempt. Mr. Youkoumian purchased it from the pastor and resold it at a fine profit to the Department of Fine Arts in the Ministry of Modernization." - p 170
To some, that's just 'good business'; to others, such as myself, that's greed triumphing over civic-mindedness. Seth, on the other hand, is sincerely trying to 'modernize' the country under the influence of his British teachings & is approaching it from the position of someone with unlimited power. His big push is for birth control. Alas, his propaganda poster is interpreted as meaning the opposite of what's intended:
"See: on right hand: there is rich man: smoke pipe like big chief: but his wife she no good: sit eating meat: and rich man he no good: he only one son.
"See: on left hand: poor man: not much to eat: but his wife very good, work hard in field: man he good too: eleven children: one very mad, very holy. And in the middle: Emperor's juju. Make you like that good man with eleven children." - p 172
But Seth is a visionary, not very practical, perhaps, but a visionary — & his vision doesn't stop with trying to get the people to stop reproducing without consideration:
"For your information and necessary action, I have decided to abolish the following:
Death Penalty.
Marriage.
The Sakuyu language and all native dialects.
Infant mortality.
Totemism.
Inhuman butchery.
Mortgages.
Emigration.
Please see to this. Also organize system of reservoirs for city's water supply and draft syllabus for competetive examination for public services. Suggest compulsory Esperanto. Seth." - p 173
Imagine having him for a boss, a boss with the power to have you executed for non-compliance. In general, misunderstanding rules the day. Two people from a society against cruelty to animals have arrived in Azania. Their message seems to've been a tad reversed by their Azanian host as one can see by the feast menu for them:
" Imperial Banquet for Welcoming the English Cruelty to Animals
MENU OF FOODS
________________________________
VITAMIN A
Tin Sardines
VITAMIN B
Roasted Beef
VITAMIN C
Small Roasted Sucking Porks
VITAMIN D
Hot Sheep and Onions
VITAMIN E
Spiced Turkey
VITAMIN F
Sweet Puddings
VITAMIN G
Coffee
VITAMIN H
Jam " - p 198
Read the full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...
March 31, 2016
If you've ever read something and taken offence at an unpolitcally correct comment and thus been unable to finish said book - please don't read this. It is rather unpolitically correct and delights in playing up to countless stereotypes. The only thing that can be said is that Waugh is fair and no culture, ethnicity or group is free. Everyone is mocked.
There are some funny moments, funny comments and utterly non-pc names (General Connolly's wife for one), and there were a couple of points where I laughed out loud. Out loud laughter at a book doesn't happen often for me. I think in particular of the formal dinner where the Brits are bored and play consequences, and what the French make of the remains. But as a whole, this isn't my favourite Waugh (although the only other one I've read is Scoop) and now I've finished the book I just feel... yeah, whatever.
Published in the 1930s (and I stress the date for consideration of some of the racial words used) this is a dark comedy about an imaginary African island state off the east coast of Africa. There are dignatories from the UK, France and America, and immigriants and merchants from all over the world. The army, made up of natives, is led by General Connolly, who I assumed was also British. The next Emperor has been raised on good old Oxford education, and returns to his homelands with a lot of fine, modern ideas for ways of living which may not always be appropriate to the land. In comes Basil Seal, a parasitic rich party boy who knew Seth at college, and weddles his way into a very good job as the Minister of Modernisation. There's much double dealing, corruption, ridiculous ideas for improvements, all cleverly told and no doubt commenting on the realities of life. Of course, in these troubled, volatile times, with so many different people and different agendas in the pot, it won't be long before things start to blow up again...
There are some funny moments, funny comments and utterly non-pc names (General Connolly's wife for one), and there were a couple of points where I laughed out loud. Out loud laughter at a book doesn't happen often for me. I think in particular of the formal dinner where the Brits are bored and play consequences, and what the French make of the remains. But as a whole, this isn't my favourite Waugh (although the only other one I've read is Scoop) and now I've finished the book I just feel... yeah, whatever.
Published in the 1930s (and I stress the date for consideration of some of the racial words used) this is a dark comedy about an imaginary African island state off the east coast of Africa. There are dignatories from the UK, France and America, and immigriants and merchants from all over the world. The army, made up of natives, is led by General Connolly, who I assumed was also British. The next Emperor has been raised on good old Oxford education, and returns to his homelands with a lot of fine, modern ideas for ways of living which may not always be appropriate to the land. In comes Basil Seal, a parasitic rich party boy who knew Seth at college, and weddles his way into a very good job as the Minister of Modernisation. There's much double dealing, corruption, ridiculous ideas for improvements, all cleverly told and no doubt commenting on the realities of life. Of course, in these troubled, volatile times, with so many different people and different agendas in the pot, it won't be long before things start to blow up again...
March 8, 2017
Evelyn Waugh travelled in several countries in East Africa. This novel is set in the fictitious island country of Azania, which is an amalgamation of several African countries and Waugh's imagination. He remorselessly satirises colonial officials who have no idea what is going on in the countries they are supposed to be administering, inept Western educated African leaders attempting to modernise their countries, corrupt opportunistic businessmen and even the 'bright young things' back home who don't want to hear his travel stories. He doesn't satirise ethnic African traditions, although we might feel rather uncomfortable with his portrayal of them nowadays.
This is mainly the story of Basil Seal and Emperor Seth, although the minor characters provide a lot of the humour. It is very funny, although, of course, since this is Waugh, some of the humour is very dark. It is also more descriptive than some of Waugh's other books and you can see the country he describes.
There are some memorable dining experiences, including European 'gourmet' food out of cans, an attempt at a healthy European style banquet and another banquet which I am not going to give the details of, but you will know which one when you get to it. I laughed, but found I had completely lost my appetite.
There are one or two things which jar in today's more enlightened times. Connolly and his African wife seem genuinely fond of each other and she is accepted as an equal in society, but would anyone really regard 'Black Bitch' as a term of endearment? Then there is that banquet...
This is mainly the story of Basil Seal and Emperor Seth, although the minor characters provide a lot of the humour. It is very funny, although, of course, since this is Waugh, some of the humour is very dark. It is also more descriptive than some of Waugh's other books and you can see the country he describes.
There are some memorable dining experiences, including European 'gourmet' food out of cans, an attempt at a healthy European style banquet and another banquet which I am not going to give the details of, but you will know which one when you get to it. I laughed, but found I had completely lost my appetite.
There are one or two things which jar in today's more enlightened times. Connolly and his African wife seem genuinely fond of each other and she is accepted as an equal in society, but would anyone really regard 'Black Bitch' as a term of endearment? Then there is that banquet...
August 8, 2013
Bit of an odd one, this. One of Waugh’s relatively early novels, you can see the similarities with the excellent Scoop. To the reader today, however, the racism jars. And of course one hopes it is ironic and that the writer is mocking it but, actually, he isn’t, I am afraid. There are many things he is mocking and he does so brilliantly, especially the insouciant complacency of the British upper class. But imperial prejudice against other races is not his target, sadly.
The story is essentially about a rich and idle young man who is looking for some purpose in life and ends up on a whim going to a small African country, called Azania, because someone he knew slightly at Oxford - a caricature of the African coming to the centre of civilisation and returning home with patronisingly comical ideas about bringing it to his homeland - has become ruler there.
There are some funny bits, when he is talking about the stupidity and empty-headedness of the expats. But lots of bits that might have been funny at one time but now seem offensively racist. The ‘darkies’ (his word, not as far as I can tell used with irony) and the stereotypically devious Arabs in the book are two dimensional and, I suppose, fitted with the prejudices of the 1930s. But I expected more from Waugh and was disappointed.
Maybe it has just not aged well. The style is still lovely and smooth but, all in all, I wouldn’t recommend this slight novel.
The story is essentially about a rich and idle young man who is looking for some purpose in life and ends up on a whim going to a small African country, called Azania, because someone he knew slightly at Oxford - a caricature of the African coming to the centre of civilisation and returning home with patronisingly comical ideas about bringing it to his homeland - has become ruler there.
There are some funny bits, when he is talking about the stupidity and empty-headedness of the expats. But lots of bits that might have been funny at one time but now seem offensively racist. The ‘darkies’ (his word, not as far as I can tell used with irony) and the stereotypically devious Arabs in the book are two dimensional and, I suppose, fitted with the prejudices of the 1930s. But I expected more from Waugh and was disappointed.
Maybe it has just not aged well. The style is still lovely and smooth but, all in all, I wouldn’t recommend this slight novel.
December 12, 2021
Re-read 08-September to 13-September-2016. Revised rating to 4 stars, down from 5.
Re-read & finished 11-December-2021. 4-star rating still holds.
Still very funny, still a great satire, but not 'Amazing'.
I read Remote People: A Report from Ethiopia & British Africa 1930-31, an excellent travel book Waugh wrote before Black Mischief, which was clearly mined for information and inspiration in writing this satire.
Another recommended read for you: Waugh in Abyssinia (1936).
Why not go all the way and read Waugh Abroad: Collected Travel Writing.
Re-read & finished 11-December-2021. 4-star rating still holds.
Still very funny, still a great satire, but not 'Amazing'.
I read Remote People: A Report from Ethiopia & British Africa 1930-31, an excellent travel book Waugh wrote before Black Mischief, which was clearly mined for information and inspiration in writing this satire.
Another recommended read for you: Waugh in Abyssinia (1936).
Why not go all the way and read Waugh Abroad: Collected Travel Writing.
February 24, 2018
This book may be unacceptable to young people today as it's about upper class colonial types who ruin a pristine African island/nation in their own little schemes and greedy plots.
But I think it wrong to judge bygone eras by the standards of today and I read these books with an open mind. This one is brilliant, particularly the structure.
It opens in London with a young upper class twit at a loose end. He's wealthy and arrogant, doesn't know what to do with himself and ends up going to Africa where he accidentally ends up running a tinpot African nation.
It's a farce and none of the brilliantly portrayed characters come out of it well. It can be seen as an indictment of colonialism even though nobody says a word against it -- it was so well established that nobody would have. It would be like people questioning our current political system.
As with all Evelyn Waugh books, this one is brilliant. Everything by him and his comrade of the day, on the other side of the left/right divide, George Orwell, is worth reading. They will never go out of date and never lose their relevance.
But I think it wrong to judge bygone eras by the standards of today and I read these books with an open mind. This one is brilliant, particularly the structure.
It opens in London with a young upper class twit at a loose end. He's wealthy and arrogant, doesn't know what to do with himself and ends up going to Africa where he accidentally ends up running a tinpot African nation.
It's a farce and none of the brilliantly portrayed characters come out of it well. It can be seen as an indictment of colonialism even though nobody says a word against it -- it was so well established that nobody would have. It would be like people questioning our current political system.
As with all Evelyn Waugh books, this one is brilliant. Everything by him and his comrade of the day, on the other side of the left/right divide, George Orwell, is worth reading. They will never go out of date and never lose their relevance.
January 15, 2015
Did I finish this book? No, but I stopped reading it ;-(
It was one of those books, that I could not get into at all. I found all the characters very one dimencional, very plain, and very borring.
I thought the story was jumping quite a bit, did not flow easily and sometimes I wondered if I will remember at all what this book is all about....
Did I hate this book? - no
Did I dislike this book? - no
Did I love this book? - no
Did I like this book? - no
and that is were the problem lies.
This book left me cold, without any amotions or feelings.
It was one of those books, that I could not get into at all. I found all the characters very one dimencional, very plain, and very borring.
I thought the story was jumping quite a bit, did not flow easily and sometimes I wondered if I will remember at all what this book is all about....
Did I hate this book? - no
Did I dislike this book? - no
Did I love this book? - no
Did I like this book? - no
and that is were the problem lies.
This book left me cold, without any amotions or feelings.
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