The History Man

Rating:
Summary: Middle-Class Marxist
Review: Bradbury exposes academic socialism by measuring it with its own values and dialectic. Howard Kirk, self-proclaimed revolutionary, is ridden to the core with the middle class values he campaigns against. The "History Man" of the title, he strives to avoid all change in his life despite his progressive stance. "The History Man" is biting satire of British university life, sparing no one, staff and students alike. The book is very funny, but there is nobody to like - just as the characters don't care what happens to each other, it is hard to care what happens to them. The humour is vicious, and if you've ever been part of an institution you won't stop laughing.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent campus satire
Review: Hilarious book, with many shades of humor, from outright farce to gentle satire. Some home truths about academic life and radical chic mixed in. Wonderful characters and situations, but never wordy. Worth reading for the absurd staff meeting alone. I laughed out loud as I was reminded of similar afternoons in the company of not-so-learned colleagues and feckless students.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent campus satire
Review: Hilarious book, with many shades of humor, from outright farce to gentle satire. Some home truths about academic life and radical chic mixed in. Wonderful characters and situations, but never wordy. Worth reading for the absurd staff meeting alone. I laughed out loud as I was reminded of similar afternoons in the company of not-so-learned colleagues and feckless students.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Campus Novel
Review: The campus novel, written both by British and American writers, became a recognized subgenre in the last 50 years. Most of these books, produced by writers with academic appointments, are not very interesting. This book, however, is a real exception. This is simply the best campus novel and a devastating sendup of academic pretense and radical chic. In many ways, this book is also the best novel of the 60s as well. A key feature of this book is that Bradbury's characters are not caricatures; he is very careful to mix real elements of sympathy with his satire.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Campus Novel
Review: The campus novel, written both by British and American writers, became a recognized subgenre in the last 50 years. Most of these books, produced by writers with academic appointments, are not very interesting. This book, however, is a real exception. This is simply the best campus novel and a devastating sendup of academic pretense and radical chic. In many ways, this book is also the best novel of the 60s as well. A key feature of this book is that Bradbury's characters are not caricatures; he is very careful to mix real elements of sympathy with his satire.

Rating:
Summary: great
Review: What a marvellous satire