Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
London : Arrow, 1995.
Description
Ted Wallace is an old, sour, womanising, cantankerous, whisky-sodden beast of a failed poet and drama critic, but he has his faults too. Fired from his newspaper, months behind on his alimony payments and disgusted with a world that undervalues him, Ted seeks a few months repose and free drink at Swafford Hall, the country mansion of his old friend Lord Logan. But strange things have been going on at Swafford. Miracles. Healings. Phenomena beyond the comprehension of a mud-caked hippopotamus like Ted. With this funny and deliciously readable novel, Stephen Fry takes his place as one of the most talented comic novelists of his generation.
User reviews
LibraryThing member cayzers
Best book Stephen Fry has written. Wonderfully crafted, a good understanding of human nature - and just plain funny.
LibraryThing member isabelx
Insanely, as if by the power of hypnosis, I found myself asking whether, since I'd shown him mine, he'd show me his.
He blushed like a ripe peach. 'You don't want to see it really,' he said.
'Well, can you recite any? Truly, I'd love to hear some.'
This from Ted Wallace, mind you, who'd been known to
The poem was short, which was good. The poem was sweet, which was good. The poem had form, which was good. The poem was bad, which was bad. The poem was called 'The Green Man', which was unpardonable.
A very clever book - witty, entertaining and surprising. Everyone sees Ted Wallace as a a grumpy drunken old curmudgeon , but underneath it all he has a kind heart, spending time with his godson David (who wrote the poem mentioned above) and going to the East of England show with David's brother Simon, when he couldn't think of anything he'd like less than trudging round a boiling hot field looking at pigs and tractors. He is also the only one to see the truth about what is happening at Swafford Hall, while everyone else succumbs to wishful thinking and sees what they want to see.
He blushed like a ripe peach. 'You don't want to see it really,' he said.
'Well, can you recite any? Truly, I'd love to hear some.'
This from Ted Wallace, mind you, who'd been known to
Show More
hurl himself into moving traffic at the prospect of verse recitation.The poem was short, which was good. The poem was sweet, which was good. The poem had form, which was good. The poem was bad, which was bad. The poem was called 'The Green Man', which was unpardonable.
A very clever book - witty, entertaining and surprising. Everyone sees Ted Wallace as a a grumpy drunken old curmudgeon , but underneath it all he has a kind heart, spending time with his godson David (who wrote the poem mentioned above) and going to the East of England show with David's brother Simon, when he couldn't think of anything he'd like less than trudging round a boiling hot field looking at pigs and tractors. He is also the only one to see the truth about what is happening at Swafford Hall, while everyone else succumbs to wishful thinking and sees what they want to see.
Show Less
LibraryThing member audeline
Sooo much sex
Very funny and witty and well-crafted and all that
but jeez after a while I got grossed out reading about boners.
Very funny and witty and well-crafted and all that
but jeez after a while I got grossed out reading about boners.
LibraryThing member Bookmarque
From the start I thought there was some ‘healing’ bullshit afoot. Lo and behold, Davey is supposed to be some kind of healing angel whose very touch will cure the most stubborn illness. Ted though, doesn’t know why he’s been sent to Swofford, but he’s glad to go. Having rescued Michael
Davey is supposed to be some saintly and pure boy, gifted with the ability to heal. When his method of laying on of hands is revealed to always involve the laying on of penis, things get REALLY suspicious. The conniving little shit. If he weren’t so deluded it would be funnier. The bit about screwing the horse though was a bit much though. I wonder why Fry decided not to give us a blow-by-blow report of his healing of the great queen Oliver, but instead excruciating detail of the female horse’s genitalia and willingness to be fucked by this dear lad. Is bestiality a lesser crime than homosexuality? Are the types who get up in arms about this kind of thing less likely to do so with a horse and her boy than a man and his toy? Strange.
Ted himself is completely revolting, but not without sympathy. His early adherence to the ethos of free love and boozing has resulted in his being entirely alone. He can’t understand the new order of the anti-smoking, everything is bad for you brigade. He says whatever comes into his head and routinely tells wholly unattainable women that he wants no more than to lick them all over and prod them with his cock. Given the fact that he’s a fat, broken down 66-year-old, the thought is completely revolting.
But Ted is amusing and a lot of what he thinks and says is spot-on. The world has become peopled with namby-pambies. People have lost the ability to create anything new and unique. The power of critical thought is largely extinct. Safety governs all. Boredom prevails.
And disease prevails. Davey is not a healer. Shocking.
Show More
(Lord Logan) from bullies at school, he and Ted have bonded as friends ages ago. Ted’s bullshit and whiskey slinging ways don’t exactly check up with the newly-minted Lord’s globe-spanning business genius, but he can’t turn him away. Even when he knows Ted’s only there for some ulterior purpose and general sponging, he can’t turn him away.Davey is supposed to be some saintly and pure boy, gifted with the ability to heal. When his method of laying on of hands is revealed to always involve the laying on of penis, things get REALLY suspicious. The conniving little shit. If he weren’t so deluded it would be funnier. The bit about screwing the horse though was a bit much though. I wonder why Fry decided not to give us a blow-by-blow report of his healing of the great queen Oliver, but instead excruciating detail of the female horse’s genitalia and willingness to be fucked by this dear lad. Is bestiality a lesser crime than homosexuality? Are the types who get up in arms about this kind of thing less likely to do so with a horse and her boy than a man and his toy? Strange.
Ted himself is completely revolting, but not without sympathy. His early adherence to the ethos of free love and boozing has resulted in his being entirely alone. He can’t understand the new order of the anti-smoking, everything is bad for you brigade. He says whatever comes into his head and routinely tells wholly unattainable women that he wants no more than to lick them all over and prod them with his cock. Given the fact that he’s a fat, broken down 66-year-old, the thought is completely revolting.
But Ted is amusing and a lot of what he thinks and says is spot-on. The world has become peopled with namby-pambies. People have lost the ability to create anything new and unique. The power of critical thought is largely extinct. Safety governs all. Boredom prevails.
And disease prevails. Davey is not a healer. Shocking.
Show Less
LibraryThing member rrriles
I can only seem to read Stephen Fry in a deck chair or on vacation, which I think qualifies his work as light reading. That said, it's usually pretty good light reading.
LibraryThing member verenka
At first I was quite surprised how the main character tells the story in letters, diary entries, etc. I only read one other book by Stephen Fry and it just sounded so completely different. But I got used to the voice and I quite enjoyed the story. I also liked the ending - everyone seated at the
Show More
dinner table, a heated discussion and the solution presented in the typical "whodunnit" fashion. Show Less
LibraryThing member ofstoneandice
There's a tangible improvement here from his first book, The Liar. The plot was a solid thread throughout the story, which is always a plus. But what I'd like to know is how I'm always surprised when Mr. Fry divulges on an unscrupulous taboo? Perhaps it's that suggestion of tweed-ness that his
Show More
appearance and manner emanates; it's so misleading. And yet I can't help myself from delighting in his daring. The voice of Ted Wallace was particularly chuckle-invoking. Show Less
LibraryThing member subbobmail
It's a good thing Stephen Fry is adorable, because otherwise this actor/writer/comedian/director/technogod/pundit/British national treasure would inspire a lot of bilious envy. "The Hippopotamus" is the best proof that Fry is no dilettante as a novelist. It blends the country-estate milieu of
Show More
Wodehouse, the biting wit of Waugh, and the lilting wordplay of Wilde. Past-his-prime poet Ted Wallace accepts a commission from his god-daughter to stay in the country for a while and spy on his old friends...curious events soon unfold, allowing Fry to demonstrate that his plots are as supple as his language. Greedy swot, that Fry, hogging all the talent... Show Less
LibraryThing member Neilsantos
Yes, THAT stephen Fry. This was a very good book. The first 20 pages are rough, because the hippopotamus is pretty vicious (like they are) and he talks alot about the state of modern british theatre (one of the few areas I know little and care less about). I almost gave up on it before I got past
Show More
that, to when the actual story begins. It's worth it. He isn't laugh aloud like Chris Moore; he's more like, oh how wicked, as if Quentin Tarantino directed Hamlet. Show Less
LibraryThing member MinaIsham
-- Some people advise to leave a book if it doesn't grab your attention at start. One reason I read is to expand my knowledge. I'm glad I didn't close Stephen Fry's THE HIPPOPOTAMUS permanently after reading first few chapters. I am usually rewarded when I struggle at beginnning of novels.
Show More
Structure, plot, & characters are interesting as they are revealed. I'm glad I invested some time early in THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. Fry is a great British writer as well as actor. This novel is a modern classic. -- Show Less
LibraryThing member mumoftheanimals
Sharply written narrative of freeloading elderly poet that covers English upper classes, God and death. It's PG Wodehouse with sex (rather too much in my prudish opinion). It is the best of his I have read.
LibraryThing member kousouna
It's laugh out loud funny!
LibraryThing member fist
An earlier work by Stephen Fry, it is set in the classical huis clos of an English country estate. No murders occur, but there is a whodunit atmosphere that is expertly announced on its first pages and keeps you wondering until the denouement (which takes a few pages too many, if truth be told). Mr
Show More
Fry's wit and erudition are on fine display here, though not as finely measured as in his later work. The use of recondite vocabulary is a bit - dare I say - unctuous, and would be annoying for lesser personalities than Mr Fry's. Rather unsettlingly, the author deftly inserts unorthodox and non-PC views in the narrative, eg on international jewry and on sex with underage boys. All in all, a nice holiday read. Show Less
LibraryThing member Moem
I greatly enjoy Fry's language use, which shows tremendous skills. He's often very funny.
Of course, as his books are apparently likely to do, the book features a flamboyant homosexual. He is one of the funniest characters in the book, mainly because of the way his manner of speaking is
The story is entertaining enough and I was quite satisfied with the ending, too. Sometimes, I had a bit of trouble keeping all the characters apart.
Of course, as his books are apparently likely to do, the book features a flamboyant homosexual. He is one of the funniest characters in the book, mainly because of the way his manner of speaking is
Show More
portrayed.The story is entertaining enough and I was quite satisfied with the ending, too. Sometimes, I had a bit of trouble keeping all the characters apart.
Show Less
LibraryThing member AMQS
This was a hilarious audio, and an epistolary English comedy-of-manners turned rather indelicately on its head by the randy, foul-mouthed, curmudgeonly narrator. Ted Wallace is a failed poet. After being sacked as a theatre critic in a well-publicized episode, he is approached by his long-lost
Audiobook narrated by the autho
Show More
goddaughter (he was fired as godfather at her baptism) and hired to observe the goings-on at her extended family's country estate. He records his observations in long, rambling musings, gradually solving the "mystery" of a young man's seemingly magical healing powers. This book is hilarious. It is also unexpectedly touching, and outrageously, irreverently ribald. Reader, beware -- and enjoy.Audiobook narrated by the autho
Show Less
LibraryThing member Gingermama
Very, very funny -- Mr. Fry really has a way with words. The plot centers around a teenage boy who may or may not have a miraculous gift for healing, and the narrator is his curmudgeonly, washed-up poet of a godfather. I listened to an audio version, read by the author, and highly recommend it.
LibraryThing member MiaCulpa
Stephen Fry is humorous in person but I've found his prose to be less than enthralling. "Hippopotamus" covers an aging, broke lothario poet's time at a friend's country house and his relationships with the inhabitants, particularly one young lad who apparently has the powers to heal animals. Turns
I kept thinking "this surely is about to get really interesting, but, bar a few moments (like discovering exactly how the lad heals animals), I was left unimpressed.
Show More
out the lad's modus operandi is unorthodox and our protagonist almost gets into a hell of a spot.I kept thinking "this surely is about to get really interesting, but, bar a few moments (like discovering exactly how the lad heals animals), I was left unimpressed.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Sucharita1986
I had high hopes with The Hippopotamus by Stephen Fry, but found it so hard concentrating on the book. The plot was considerably good but after a few pages it seemed like nothing is happening. Over the more, the language is so hard that it was really difficult to concentrate. I already read Troy by
I would like to give 3 stars to the book. I think I need to read the book again to understand it in full.
Show More
Stephen Fry which was marvelous. But, did not expected this book to be a flop. May be the book was just not for me.I would like to give 3 stars to the book. I think I need to read the book again to understand it in full.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Dabble58
I’ll admit I am a shameless fan of Stephen Fry, that amazing polymath of a person. I watch QI regularly and am astounded at his acting in other venues.
In a just world I would live around the corner from him and meet up regularly for witty banter filled conversations, laden with odd bits of
However, the restraining order forbids that so I am left with his writing.
This book is filled with amazing tarantellas of language, wrapped up in an ever so vaguely naughty and unapologetically not politically correct plot. I loved it and found myself having to drop the book to allow for great washes of laughter as it ran along. Main character Ted Wallace, blocked poet, newly fired from his job reviewing plays, is sent on a mysterious quest by his goddaughter. He’s to go to a country home and look about and let her know what he thinks.
About what? he wonders, but, fortified with significant amounts of single malt, he gradually teases out the truth of what is going on.
Along the way he runs into ex-partners, old school chums, a fellow ne’er do well, his mysterious godson, and a horse named Lilac.
It’s all good fun, and unlike many stories, there’s a happy ending (not THAT sort of happy ending…well, actually there ARE those…)
An enjoyable read, particularly for the verbal gymnastics. I’ll be saving this for a re-read whenever I feel blue.
In a just world I would live around the corner from him and meet up regularly for witty banter filled conversations, laden with odd bits of
Show More
knowledge.However, the restraining order forbids that so I am left with his writing.
This book is filled with amazing tarantellas of language, wrapped up in an ever so vaguely naughty and unapologetically not politically correct plot. I loved it and found myself having to drop the book to allow for great washes of laughter as it ran along. Main character Ted Wallace, blocked poet, newly fired from his job reviewing plays, is sent on a mysterious quest by his goddaughter. He’s to go to a country home and look about and let her know what he thinks.
About what? he wonders, but, fortified with significant amounts of single malt, he gradually teases out the truth of what is going on.
Along the way he runs into ex-partners, old school chums, a fellow ne’er do well, his mysterious godson, and a horse named Lilac.
It’s all good fun, and unlike many stories, there’s a happy ending (not THAT sort of happy ending…well, actually there ARE those…)
An enjoyable read, particularly for the verbal gymnastics. I’ll be saving this for a re-read whenever I feel blue.
Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1994
Physical description
356 p.; 17.8 cm
ISBN
0099189615 / 9780099189619
Other editions
Virtahepo by Stephen Fry (Paperback)