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Scoop cover art

Scoop

By: Evelyn Waugh
Narrated by: Simon Cadell
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Summary

Lord Copper, newspaper magnate and proprietor of the Daily Beast, has always prided himself on his intuitive flair for spotting ace reporters. That is not to say he has not made the odd blunder, however, and may in a moment of weakness make another.

Acting on a dinner party tip from Mrs. Algernon Stitch, Lord Copper feels convinced that he has hit on just the chap to cover a promising war in the African Republic of Ishmaelia.

So begins Scoop, Waugh's exuberant comedy of mistaken identity and brilliantly irreverent satire of the hectic pursuit of hot news. Evelyn Waugh's tale of an innocent abroad is a hilarious satire on journalism set amidst the powerful currents of the 1930s and contains a memorable collection of comic creations.

©1938 Evelyn Waugh (P)2015 Hachette Audio

What listeners say about Scoop

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

the fantastic Beast - and where to find it

What did you like most about Scoop?

Perhaps THE classic satire of newspapers and newspapermen. Riotously funny, beautifully written and unerringly accurate.

What did you like best about this story?

Written in 1938, Scoop ostensibly portrays a vanished world. Yet to anyone still working in national newspapers in 2017, the remarkable thing is how little the industry itself has changed!

What about Simon Cadell’s performance did you like?

Cadell is brilliant - diffident, quietly expressive and a pleasure to listen to.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

When the Beast put the Boot in

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Waugh strikes again

Waugh's prose fill me the sense and intellect, I feel is lost of literature today. His story one of typical tragedy, quasi-victory and self-deprecatory humour make scoop a novel of glorious reading. His depictions of Ishmalia are comical and the political situation strangely close to home.
However. Waugh never ties all his loose ends, which naturally leaves the audience relying a little more- perfectly hungry for their next dose of his great writing.

Simon Calder has done a wonderful job, his voice fitting, his depiction of characters in voice, convincing and brings the text alive. He has done particularly well given the variety of accents necessary for this work, but some where a little difficult to understand and distinguish (hence the 4 stars).
Generally, a wonderful book and I'm glad I have heard it. My favourite part has to be the first 5 minutes of chapter 6.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Does this need editing?

Any additional comments?

This is an entertaining listen but, and it is an enormous but, the thing is ghastly racist. The central section in Africa is full of jokes at the expense of Africans which made me cringe.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

real life journalism from mid 30''s where news was news not opinions or leaks. Humorous and at times surreal with character creation

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Days of the Past?

However amusing and downright funny, this novel is best taken as a product very much of its time and with care and judgement needed as to the narrative as it unfolds and some of the unacceptable language used in our days. The satire of the workings of the press needs no qualification, however, and as much holds true today as it did then. If not more so. This is consistently funny. Even though the novel is written with a colonial take on things, we can now see that there is the clear fact that the treatment of developing countries by those that would exploit them is evidenced in this novel and is not rejected. Waugh’s characters often amuse and this will please all listeners/readers. The novel has the daftness of P G Wodehouse in quantity. I enjoyed the opening and closing sections of the novel by far. Waugh was clearly stimulated in writing by his friend that transforms into Julie Stich and her sections are irresistibly funny regardless of her assumptions about the rightness of her behaviour. The Audible performance by the late Simon Cadell is pitch-perfect and a true joy to listen to. My ratings on this novel reflect the body of this personal review. Overall it is 4 stars afforded by the humour, not the story.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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I found the racist language unacceptable

I have enjoyed other books by Evelyn Waugh and I fully appreciate that this is 'of its time' but personally, I could not continue to listen with such casualu use of offensive and racits language. It is a pity as the book is amusing otherwise.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Hilarious

I laughed out loud throughout but Chapter 12 in particular was hilarious! Marvellous story telling by Waugh whose consummate command of English never fails to astound. Highly recommended situation comedy.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very amusing and satirical.

Reviewers who slammed this book for racism should consult a dictionary for the meaning of satire.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, did not like the narration personally

Deeply satirical. “Other nations use force… Britain alone uses might.” (Not an exact quote, I fear). Still feels relevant. As if The Beast is the Daily Mail in this book’s fictional setting.

The reading was a little too fast-paced in my opinion. I listened to it at 0.8x speed, and even then the cadence fell oddly upon my ears. Just my personal preference, perhaps.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Classic and consistently funny

Simon Cadell's reading of Scoop is pitch perfect. Waugh's comedy lends itself more to the written than to the spoken word, so the audio version lacks the laugh-out-loud factor of the printed book, but this is still a fabulous use of a credit. Highly recommended.

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