Black Mischief [Paperback]

Black, Oxford-educated 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")attempts to reform his backward, corrupt African nation with the aid of an amoral Englishman, Basil Seal. This being Waugh, all ends hilariously tragically. All the usual Waugh-like elements are here: the "disappearing hero" (ie non-active protagonist); the comic but desperately tragic fate of the main characters; the utterly misogynistic & unsympathetic view of all mankind; and all written with his usual, biting, elegant, hilarious satire. This novel is not racist. It may be a trifle politically incorrect to our enlightened generation (political correctness of course meaning that we think it but don't say it)but as with all novels more than 20 years old we have to read it in the light of the attitudes and opinions of the era in which it is written and this novel is a very accurate and funny reflection of the attitudes of the 1930's.

Despite the novel's title, the satire is aimed at all races and ethnic groups, with the white British Legation (portrayed as ignorant, inane, out-of-touch idiots) coming in for the bitterest attacks. Indeed, if our sympathies lie anywhere, it is with the well-meaning, likeable but ultimately ill-advised black emperor, Seth. Waugh was possibly the greatest and sharpest satirist of the 20th Century and this is possibly his greatest and sharpest novel.As an Englishman, I feel it is very sad that American readers are denied access to this classic work. ("If we can't stamp out literature in the country we can at least stop it being brought in from outside" - Evelyn Waugh, 'Vile Bodies')

Such advocates of political correctness should perhaps adopt Seth's own slogan for his doomed campaign "We are Progess and the New Age. Nothing can stand in our way." Read this novel - order it from the UK site if necessary - & judge it for yourself. I guarantee you a good read.

This was more than 30 years after I originally read this novel. The portrait of colonialism and the folly of progress shines through quite as much as its utter lack of sentimentality about human beings. If anything, I came away this time with more sympathy for Basil Seal, the Emperor Seth and the savage tribesmen as tragic figures doomed in the first two cases by their own delusions of creating the future and in the last case, the lack of understanding of their inevitable doom. Of course this book should be republished and reread.

A few racist words written in the context of the early 1930s should not deter us from enjoying pure misogynist fun.

The political relevance is so acute that it seems impossible that this was written in 1932. Waugh even seems to have some political consciousness in this book, certainly, he is gentler, on the whole while being enduringly funny. I would definitely place this as my second favorite Waugh. It has a gripping end and is a statement less of bigotry, (of which he probably was one, but who wasn't,) but also of the need to reevaluate what in the name of God all of the colonizing was about.