The Shrapnel Academy [Hardcover]

Fay Weldon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Versatile Weldon, British author (The Life and Loves of a She-Devil and playwright, is in her element with this fiendish satire, inviting comparison with Swift's acid condemnation of homosupposedlysapiens in Gulliver's Travels. The Shrapnel Academy memorializes Henry Shrapnel, inventor of the exploding cannon ball. In his honor, chatelaine Joan Lumb plays hostess to a group headed by Gen. Makeshift, who will lecture on the Battle of Wellington, and other military experts. Present also are the general's sexy secretary-mistress, Bella Morthampton, lusted after by husbands and lovers of other female guests. Known as Medusa (Mew), a reporter for the Woman's Times attends because Lumb thinks Mew is from the London Times. While the guests apostrophize epic battleswhich Weldon describes slashingly from the Age of Muscle B.C. through recent inventions of push-button carnagemutiny is brewing below stairs. Acorn the butler presides over hundreds of illegal aliens, hidden by the servants, an army Acorn plans to turn loose on the white oppressors. The story's end is unpredictable; the author's aim is unmistakably a gravamen charge of stupidity.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The Shrapnel Academy, named after Henry Shrapnel, inventor of the exploding cannonball, is the setting for a modern-day Victorian house party. The occasion is the yearly observance of Wellington Weekend, attended by a curious assortment of visitors who stay in rooms named for military notables and are waited upon by a number of equally unusual Third World servants. All the ingredients are here for a witty romp, and the romp Weldon delivers culminates in absolute ridiculousness. The parallel essays on military history delivered by the narrator will be appreciated more by some readers than others. Weldon's latest may not be as popular as some earlier titles ( Puffball , LJ 9/1/80; Praxis , LJ 11/1/78; The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, LJ 11/1/84) but should be well received by public libraries. Mary K. Prokop, CEL Regional Lib., Savannah, Ga. .,
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 186 pages
• Publisher: The Viking Press; 1st edition (April 13, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670814822
• ISBN-13: 978-0670814824
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,251,278 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very funny - Defines term Mordant Wit, March 24, 2005

By 

Omnivorous Reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Shrapnel Academy (Hardcover)

This book was a delightful examination of attitudes to war over history and misunderstandings among cultures - within the typical English country house motif. In this case the country house is a military academy. The characters are the usual ill-assorted group.

The book also examines the issue of the exploitation by Western developed countries of refugees from underdeveloped countries as domestic staff. While I was reading it I went to a reception where, naturally, all the wait staff was minority and immigrant. Weldon's insights caused me to re-examine that experience and implied relationships.

The book is also an exemplar of the world-power-in-decline writing that is typically English. Given our frittering away of world political leadership and credibility and the constant slide of the dollar against the Euro, perhaps we should read these books for clues to the future or a bad example.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unpleasant, November 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Shrapnel Academy (King Penguin) (Mass Market Paperback)

Let me tell you what I liked about the book:

Okay, now that that's done...
I couldn't finish this book, so I'll avoid a precis of the plot. The writing is tedious. The author thinks that it's okay to directly address the readers, but her asides are at best condescending, and at worst puerile. In some cases, as with Martin Amis, it's kind of fun to be directly addressed by the author.

The characters were all cardboard cutouts, at best.

If there were a zero star rating, I'd use that.