It probably takes an extensive reading background in English classical literature to fully grasp the subtle intellectual irony of a modern English writer's prose, and we're not just talking about Frye. If a reader's piggy bank is missing Shakespeare, Dickens, Golding, Woodhouse and a host of English poets, be it Eliot, Wordsworth, Kipling, etc., etc., etc., the whole zyme will be left out. - all the zeitgeist will be left out of the perception. I confess to be honest, my piggy bank in this matter is half full (or is it empty?). However, my acquaintance with English "literature-culture" was enough to really enjoy the novel "Hippopotamus".
Stephen John Fry is an English comedian, writer, actor, humourist, novelist, poet, columnist, filmmaker, television personality and technophile. As one half of the Fry and Laurie double act with his comedy partner, Hugh Laurie, he has appeared in A Bit of Fry and Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster. He is also famous for his roles in Blackadder and Wilde, and as the host of QI. In addition to writing for stage, screen, television and radio he has contributed columns and articles for numerous newspapers and magazines, and has also written four successful novels and a series of memoirs.
Fry's prose, imbued with subtle irony that turns into caustic sarcasm, made me smile for 50 pages until my facial muscles, not ready for such a load, went into a cramp. It is this (I'm talking now about hidden irony and sarcasm) that I am deeply convinced is the essence of the concept of "English humor" (something like "Jeeves and Wooster"), and not the black, dull and unfunny that they often try to impose on us (or is it just me?) under this label.
The main character's (=author's) reflections on everything in the world occupy a weighty part of the novel. Undoubtedly social themes prevail: family, child-rearing, conservatism of English society, Jews and anti-Semitism (are there any books without this theme?!), feminism and in general the role of women anywhere (this is given a lot of space in the novel. Thank you, Stephen, that's so nice of you!). A red thread runs through, to put it in the language of the school program, the classic theme of "the poet and poetry":
"take the woes of the poor, lousy poet. The poet has no stock of materials, he has no unique harmonies. He has nothing but words, the same instrument that the whole bloody world uses to figure out how to get to the nearest restroom, through which people drum out apologies for the clumsy betrayals and inane overtures that fill their mediocre lives; the poet has nothing but the same, all the same words that are used daily, in a million guises and phrases, to swear, pray, insult, flatter, and lie."
"...the composition of poetry does not begin with a desire to express some thought of Purity, or Love, or Beauty - every word is necessarily capitalized. Poems are made of real words and real things. You repel from the lowly physical world and from your own lowly physical self. If something significant or beautiful emerges in the process, that, I believe, is the wonder and comfort that art gives us."
I won't say anything at all about the plot. It's good. The ending is unexpected.
I will say a few words about the main characters. Ted Wallace, the poet. Want to torture me, but I imagined Ted Wallis as Stephen Fry, well, with a few minor adjustments. By my naive reader logic: Ted looks, acts, and thinks like the author. That's why he's as charming as the incomparable Jeeves (are my notes about SF playing Jeeves in the Woodhouse adaptation needed at this point?) and I love him.
Davy is a very heartfelt and accurate description of a teenager (Salinger? - no, I haven't heard of him...), as if the author remembers exactly what he was like as a teenager "very proud and very vulnerable". Once again I can't help but project the character onto the author, so convincing is this image! Simon and the other secondary characters are painted like butter: clearly and meticulously. This is not a blurry "smear" of supporting characters - each plays his unique role, without which there would be no finished canvas.
Now a paragraph for moralists, puritans, and other wonderful people. I have nothing against sex scenes in literature (even with animals, honestly!) if the literature is truly good.
Stephen Fry's novel is my strongest "reading shock" (c), in a good way, of course. I discovered a wonderful English writer. I should note: not an artist, a showman, a journalist who writes novels in his spare time, but a writer with a capital "P".
This article was sponsored by Anthony Bommarito
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