Who says finding humour in potentially offensive subjects is outdated? Written before the time of thinking about what you say before you say it (and thereby not saying it), Blott on the Landscape is a triumph of British humour. Comfortably at home with vulgarity, class distinction, implacable revenge and dirty deeds, author Tom Sharpe also manages to encompass wrongful imprisonment, private-life deviations and a disintegrating marriage, not to mention casual if arguably accidental murder.
Sharpe sets his story in a stately home with its main characters in turmoil over a proposed new motorway that may or may not be directed to run through the property. Written in 1975 the book is still funny 45 years later, with the subject of compulsory government acquisition of property in the name of whatever passes for progress (in this case the new motorway) remaining as topical as ever.
Taking repeated pot-shots at local government and petty bureaucracy, while managing not to get bogged down in the intricacies of overly officious decision-making, Sharpe creates a set of characters whose intent to do each other down almost rises above the initial problem. Deciding what to do about the possible loss of their home leads the characters into some hilarious situations.
The aptly-named main characters, the unhappily married Lady Maud and her politician husband Sir Giles Handyman, strive to destroy each other in the confines of the ancestral home Handyman Hall and its adjacent Cleene Gorge, both now under threat. Resident gardener Blott (played by actor David Suchet in the televised version of the book), a leftover POW from the not too distant World War II, has his own plans that develop as he realises he is in love with Lady Maud.
After various shenanigans involving the local planning authority, including motorway construction head Dundridge who is intent on creating as much destruction as he possibly can, added to the unfortunate if foreseeable fate of Sir Giles, the scene is set for a happy ending.
While keeping the action on the level of farce, Sharpe nonetheless makes some pointed observations about greed, self-interest and ambition. Using a multitude of plots and counter-plots, Sharpe brings to life the opportunities inherent in a rural setting, local bureaucracy and deceitful use of public relations, and has created a funny and entertaining novel whose relevance extends well beyond its origins in the maybe not-so-distant 1970s.
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Author
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Blott on the Landscape by Tom Sharpe