Indecent Exposure

Piemburg #2

by Tom Sharpe

In Piemburgem, the deceptively peaceful-looking capital of Zululand, Kommandant van Heerden, Konstabel Els and Luitenant Verkramp continue to terrorise true Englishmen and even truer Zulus in their relentless search for a perfect South Africa.

Kommandant van Heerden, that great Anglophile, gropes his way towards attaining true 'Englishness' in the company of the eccentric Dornford Yates Club. But Luitenant Verkramp, whose hatred of all things English is surpassed only by his fear of sex, sets in motion an experiment in mass chastity (with the help of a lady psychiatrist), which has remarkable and quite unforeseen results.

Genres: Humor, Fiction, Comedy, Satire, Africa, British Literature, Modern

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Tom Sharpe was an English satirical author, born in London and educated at Lancing College and at Pembroke College, Cambridge. After National Service with the Royal Marines he moved to South Africa in 1951, doing social work and teaching in Natal, until deported in 1961.

His work in South Africa inspired the novels Riotous Assembly and Indecent Exposure. From 1963 until 1972 he was a History lecturer at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology, which inspired his "Wilt" series Wilt, The Wilt Alternative, Wilt on High and Wilt in Nowhere.

His novels feature bitter and outrageous satire of the apartheid regime (Riotous Assembly and its sequel Indecent Exposure), dumbed- or watered-down education (the Wilt series), English class snobbery (Ancestral Vices, Porterhouse Blue, Grantchester Grind), the literary world (The Great Pursuit), political extremists of all stripes, political correctness, bureaucracy and stupidity in general. Characters may indulge in bizarre sexual practices, and coarser characters use very graphic and/or profane language in dialogue. Sharpe often parodies the language and style of specific authors commonly associated with the social group held up for ridicule. Sharpe's bestselling books have been translated into many languages.

Reviews

[Glenn Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Farcical and preposterous - Monty Python slapstick, anyone? Recall the year 1973 as the heyday of John Cleese, Terry Gilliam and the Pythons. There must have been something in the air or water back then since Indecent Exposure, British author Tom Sharpe’s second novel set in South Africa featuring a Pythonesque send-up of the country’s police force, published in the same year.

The book’s two main characters (and they are characters, you can be sure of that!) are the top ranking police officers from Piemburg, small South African capital city of Zululand: chief of police Kommandant van Heerden, a puffed up buffoon who fantasizes he’s a proper English gentleman and Luitenant Verkramp, a sadistic, power-hungry nitwit. So as not to spoil a reader’s experience of the bends and curves in Tom Sharpe’s well-constructed plot, in the spirit of “and now for something completely different,” I’ll shift to the following batch of scenes and themes:

SKEWERING CONSERVATIVE BRITISH AUTHOR
Kommandant is a white South African, an Afrikaner or what some term a Boer. But he dearly wishes to be an English Gentleman. To this end, the Kommandant reads the stories of Dornford Yates and, when in the privacy of his home, practices British upper class phrases and ways of speaking. It is well to note Dornford Yates was a British author of a series of humorous romances about the English upper classes with their grand houses and powerful motor cars. These Berry books serve as something of an elegy for a bygone upper-class way of life. Throughout Indecent Exposure, Dornford Yates with his nostalgic eye for the "good old days" is a prime target for Tom Sharpe's serious lampooning.

BUGGER BUGS
Luitenant Verkramp attempts to catch the Kommandant engaged in seedy sexual practices or compromising, subversive conversations. And for a very specific purpose: to get the chief of police fired so he can take over as top man. To this end, Verkramp sends a crew out to plant bugs throughout the Kommadant’s house. One of the more hilarious bits in the book. He might as well have sent Laurel and Hardy and The Three Stooges. There’s all sorts of misfires and catastrophes but the Luitenant and his men do have a bug planted successfully in the bedroom and listen in as Kommandant practices his English upper class phrases by repeating them over and over. Headphones in place, Verkramp figures his Kommandant is either going crazy or has turned religious and is repeating a mantra. I read this section repeatedly, howling with laughter each time. Tom Sharpe’s comic writing is such fun.

CLOCKWORK ORANGE REDUX
Luitenant Verkramp swings into action yet again when left in charge while Kommandant goes on vacation. This time it’s a new technique for correcting bad behavior: a combination of drugs and electric shock therapy while showing the patient slides. The problem: most members of the all-white police force are lowering themselves by having sex (raping) black women. Verkramp subjects over one hundred police officers to continuous torture complete with slides of black nudity. Of course, torture is anything but humorous but Tom Sharpe’s comedy comes through at various points, for example: Verkramp’s henchmen driving their patty wagon into the black district to round up good looking girls to be photographed naked. Among the unanticipated results: a number of dead and wounded leading to a race riot. Damn, Verkramp reflects, don’t those black people realize what we're doing is for their own good? Did I mention the Luitenant was a nitwit? Perhaps I should have used stronger language.

ANTI-MARXIST MADNESS
Will Luitenant Verkramp smoke out all those dirty Communist terrorists just waiting for their opportunity to overthrow the government? You bet he will. Now that he’s in command he can set aside conventional restrains that have always held him back; he goes on the attack: a personal blitzkrieg involving imprisoning and interrogating dozens of city leaders, including the mayor and a bank president. He also organizes an undercover network to contrive citywide explosions to finally catch those scheming Commies. In keeping with Tom Shapre's over the top aesthetic, the fallout of the Luitenant’s maneuvering results in, among other ludicrous mishaps, exploding ostriches. Yes, that's right - ostriches blowing up bridges and other vital city works. The details are the stuff of Monty Python. Why, oh why wasn’t Indecent Exposure made into a film? Where's Terry Gilliam when you need him most?

INTELLECTUAL TURN
Meanwhile, oblivious to the chaos in Piemburg, Kommandant van Heerden is off on vacation. He meets up with an instructor of English literature at his lodging. Ah, someone in the novel with some brains! The ensuing conversations between van Heerden and Mr Mulpurgo are priceless. At one point the scholar makes a fau pas and asks if the Kommandant is as black as the newspapers represent him. In reply, the Kommandant yells: “I’m as white as the next man. And if I hear anyone say any different I’ll rip the balls off the swine. Do you hear me? I’ll castrate the bugger. Don’t let me hear you saying such a thing again.” I strongly suspect those lines are not found in Dornford Yates. So much for refinement in our would-be English gentleman.

TRUE BLUE BRITISH
The Kommandant’s choice of vacation spot revolves around his invitation to the estate of Rolls-Royce driving Mrs. Heathcote-Kirkoon, a genuine British upper-class lady. She also invites him to dinner at none other than at the Dornford Yates Club. Initially, her husband, a Colonel Heathcote-Kilkoon, objects: “Don’t you realize it’s Berry Night? We can’t have some damned stranger sitting in on the Club dinner.” Objection overruled. As it transpires, one of the wildest dinners imaginable. As is the fox hunt the following day. Here’s a snatch of action: “In the next few moments Kommandant van Heerden began to think that she must be right. What the great English lady was doing to him must be some result of brain damage. As she stood above him and unbuckled her skirt he knew he was seeing things. I’d better just lie still until it passes over, he thought and shut his eyes.”

POTPOURRI
Psychiatrist Dr. von Blimenstein shows up at the apartment of Luitenant Verkramp wearing a red dress leaving nothing to the imagination (She’s the buxom beauty at the bottom right in the above illustration); Mrs. Heathcote-Kirkoon wears her top hat at all times while horseback riding and other forms of riding (she’s also in the above illustration - the lady with the black hat. You can’t miss her); likewise Kommandant van Heerden and his horse set a record for jumping over walls; last but hardly least, the explosion pictured above is the grade finale, such a fitting climax for Mr. Sharpe's outrageous novel. Sound appealing? If so, you found your author and book.


English satirical novelist, Tom Sharpe, 1928-2013

"I am going fox hunting like a real Englishman, he thought as he dug his heels in a second time. It was the last coherent thought he had for some time. With a demonic lurch the great black horse shot out of the yard and into the garden. As the Kommandant desperately clung to his seat it was apparent that wherever he was going it wasn't hunting." - Tom Sharpe, Indecent Exposure

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is the sequel to Riotous Assembly and really keeps up the scathing and farcical attacks on the Apartheid regime. It is Tom Sharpe at what i think his most cutting, as through the jokes and ridiculous situations you can his views on such a deplorable system and the society that acted as if it was totally acceptable.
There is really no way to describe the storyline - apart from my golden rule that I dont give away the plot or that there are no doubt far better reviewers than myself out there - the situations the various characters find themselves in is totally impossible to describe (while keeping any sense of reality), yet when you read the story they make perfect sense, for me this is a style that the likes of Douglas Adams made famous but is not the soul exponent of, this is vintage Sharpe.
Okay the world has moved on, Apartheid in its public form no long exists (although we all know it hides behind other names and other faces now) in fact the Africa depicted in these books has now be consigned to the history books, yet still it is a fun read while reminding you of a much important message.

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outrageous and totally hilarious. It's no wonder that Tom Sharpe was thrown out of South Africa by the regime he ridiculed. Great stuff.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This hilarious depiction of the stupidity and brutality of the old South African Police is one of the funniest books I have read in quite a while. It will certainly never be picked as the assigned book for Afrikaaner Pride Week (and the Enlish don't come out so great either), but it is one of those laugh-out-loud funny books that you should think twice before reading it in public, lest the folks around you think that you are a bit touched.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel is what you get when you combine racism, police and electro-shock therapy in South Africa.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wet your pants funny! Its been to long since we have been able to make fun of apartide.

[Fabio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Satira invecchiata male
Libro che molti trovano irresistibile, almeno stando alle recensioni. A me è risultato più che altro irritante, salvato solo dall'interessante ambientazione, il Sudafrica flagellato dall'apartheid.

Al tempo della pubblicazione, inizio anni '70, deve aver colpito e divertito molto il pubblico, per il coraggio nell'affrontare un argomento delicato come quello del regime sudafricano. Ma ciò che era accettabile mezzo secolo fa, oggi risulta disturbante: cambia la società, cambia la mentalità - non sono più i good old times rimpianti dai personaggi del libro. Starò scivolando nella mentalità buonista oggi ben diffusa, ma non ho trovato particolarmente divertente un libro che gioca con razzismo, brutalità delle forze dell'ordine, nazionalismo esasperato, stupro come prassi accettabilissima, omosessualità da barzelletta. Per qualcuno potrebbe essere ancora divertente - qualcuno molto più abile di me a calarsi nell'atmosfera del 1973, o qualcuno con idee conservatrici. Molto conservatrici.

Peccato, perché la satira di Sharpe poteva risultare tagliente (ah, Sharpe, sharp: che fine umorista!), in particolare nel delineare i complicati rapporti tra inglesi e boeri, nel dipingere la fobia nei confronti del diverso (per razza, orientamento sessuale, religione, fede politica...). E ci sono struzzi esplosivi.

In memoria di Stephen Biko https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrfUd...

[Jay Daze · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a satiric take-down of racist white society in arphatide South Africa this is a top rate book, but time is merciless and the book is greatly eroded by homophobia and rape jokes.

At one time is probably was the height of yuks to have white policemen raping black women turned into flaming gays through shock treatment, but it falls with a resounding thud today. A french lesbian is buggered by an almost mythical creature of chaos and if not turned straight, is almost whistful about the experience. Another female character is raped by cabby, and seems to think it is what she has coming.

Gah! Unfortunately I can see this is totally acceptable for 1971, but almost ruins the book for me, probably does ruin it totally for others. So either I am being too sensitive or not sensitive enough. I always find books written from around the 50s to the 80s particularly hard to forgive what is of their times, precisely because it is (relatively) close to our own (I was born in the late 60s).

If this book was written in the 19th century I'd be far more forgiving or at least able to accept it as a different time. If it was written in the last 20 years I'd have thrown it across the room.

All this obscures a book that I would compare to someone like Terry Pratchett on his top game. But Sharpe is writing against something far more evil and complicated and fraught. In the 70s I'm not sure how many people were writing so bitingly funny and entertainly against apartide. The book should be read for that while castigated for its apalling gender and sexual politics.

[Jana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious. Satire re the South African police that is full of innuendos that had me laughing harder than I have in a long time. This is his followup to Riotous Assembly. I look forward to reading that book in the future.

[Carye Yanko · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really good satire. And the story construction is excellent.

[George De Keijzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarisch

[Chris Mayor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I literally cried laughing

[Maurice A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talk about “black humor” (or not) this book is truly funny. It would not have been funny when it was first published and apartheid existed in South Africa, but I found it hilarious.
After reading the efforts of the Lt. to bug his bosses house, I was literally laughing out loud. That sequence was one of the best I have read in some time and it set the pattern for the rest of the book.
I recommend it to folks who can enjoy great writing without taking the subject matter seriously.

[James Manders · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Wilt a couple of years ago so I already knew that I liked Tom Sharpe's writing.

I often find that I notice simplistic writing styles more with books written in the 3rd person, but Indecent exposure never feels simplistic, it is well crafted throughout and is a joy to read from start to finish.

It's hilarious too, events escalate to incredible and unbelievable extremes, then seemingly continue to escalate even further, all from a few bad decisions from characters placed in a position of power and authority whose ambition and self belief massively outweigh their knowledge and abilities.

I like the way the characters and their opinions are presented, quite horrific things are said, often as quite throwaway comments which pass by completely without question, often quite racist things which is obviously quite deep seeded in the culture and so the opinions are seemingly just accepted by the characters as a kind of twisted truth.

Tom Sharpe never stops to point out that these people are wrong or that you should think a certain thing while reading it, he just presents it as it is and allows you to make your own judgements, in that way it reminds me of the film 'This is England', in that I imagine that a racist could quite well read this book and miss the pint of it entirely.

[Gopal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Black Humor. That term is redefined by this Tom Sharpe novel. Set in apartheid SA, the quest for perfect White SA by Lt. Verkamp, the bumbling Kommadent van Hardeen's dream to be treated as true blueblood British & the maniacal Dr. vom Bliemstein's passion for turning any ordinary situation into a psychartist lesson leaves the reader in splits.

Tom Sharpe managed to keep in splits while simultaneously shaking my head and asking myself can this really happen? Sometimes a bit over the top, the basic understanding a person must have before reading this book is to keep common sense out of the door.

Rip-roaring comedy.

[Felix Marwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to think in this day and age that someone in the 1970's could write a comedy about apartheid in South Africa. This is a masterful piece of satire that neatly skewers the absolute ridiculous and twisted nature that was the South African state.

Written while Sharpe was at the peak of his powers this novel is laugh out loud hilarious. Though I suspect it'll have more impact with older readers - those who were able to observe the farce and disgrace that was South Africa's apartheid regime

[Geraud · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'ai adoré, je me suis tordu de rire. vive tom sharpe et son humour fracassant !

[Graeme · Rating 3 out of 5]

The police department in the fictional city of Piemburg, Zululand, South Africa is tasked with "defending the republic" from communists, liberals, homosexuals, blacks, British, and non-Christians.
Kommandant Van Heerden, the chief of police, wants to be an Englishman, which is suspicious to his colleagues. Especially to his second in command, the ambitious Luitenant Verkramp.
When Van Heerden takes two weeks off to stay with a well to do British family, his Luitenant takes advantage of his spell in charge to further his career. Sadly for him, he is the epitome of incompetence.

I read a few Tom Sharpes in my teens and thought they were hilarious. Thirtysomething years later I decided to revisit with one I had not read before.
Either my sense of humour has changed in the intervening years, or perhaps the theme of this book is so different to the ones I know. I suspect the latter. Either way, I was disappointed.

The most obvious thing I noticed was the book is very dated. The humour is of the kind I can imagine in British comedies of that era.
That's fine by me. I like that kind of thing, but some would say it is politically incorrect.
There were some scenes which had me laughing out loud. The sex scene between the overenthusiastic, over sized, and under sexed Doctor Von Blumenstein and the inexperienced, overwhelmed, and finally terrified Verkramp, so reminded me of Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques, only very much more blue.
There were ostriches fed explosives and sent into town to cause damage, instead following the terrorists themselves and chasing them through the streets. Like something from Monty Python.
There were also homosexual policemen who took to wearing wigs and dresses and carrying handbags, like Dick Emery in his prime.
These highlight were very funny indeed, but there were not enough of them for me.

I think the main problem I had was my lack of knowledge about 1970s South Africa, which made the story hard for me to relate to and, sad to say, very boring to read.
348 pages in my version of the book. Forty or so had me chuckling away. The other three hundred had me yawning.

[Ro Alvarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

En la línea de Thom Sharpe, este libro es uno de los más acertados. Revestido de una crítica social brutal, las contextualizaciones y partes ajenas a la trama como tal, no se hacen nada cargantes (como en el caso de Becas Flacas) y tiene un ritmo bastante ligero.
La trama de por sí engancha, tiene situaciones absurdas que se enrevesan al más puro estilo sharpe, ayuda mucho o quizás era de esperar, que los fallos de entendimiento del idioma entre los protagonistas den lugar a equívocos, aunque es un recurso que tampoco se usa demasiado, algo que también veo acertado, porque así consigue que funcione mejor cuando se usa.
El humor es ácido, no se puede leer con un prisma moralista porqque algunas veces resultaría hasta incómodo, (hoy día sacar este libro estaría muy cuestionado). Y es que contiene mucha crítica (o quiero pensar que lo es) racista, homófoba, sexual y clasista enfocada con humor, más que sobre los personajes, sobre los arquetipos que representan, supongo que en una época de apartheid donde eran incluso más marcados.
Desconozco si esta trama estaría inspirada en algún caso remotamente real, pero me resulta creíble que sistemas de poder colonos en dicho apartheid tengan prácticas para-con los que viven allí similares a las del libro.
Parte de la premisa de una zona sudafricana colonizada por gran bretaña, donde hay cismas raciales y de poder, muchos estereotipos y un elenco de personajes muy bien dibujado que te hace disfrutar con la subtrama de cada uno.
A destacar el fragmento donde el Comandante visita la casa de los ''sirs'' ingleses y el comandante en funciones desata el caos en su campamento base, es sin duda el punto climax de la novela. El final está bien resuelto y a mi parecer no fue tan predecible, algo que se agradece.

[Jack T · Rating 4 out of 5]

“He went out on to the parade ground and wandered miserably among the inmates cursing the irony of fate that had saved him from the consequences of Verkramp’s deliberate attempts to oust him only to destroy him now.” (237)

This was absolutely hilarious. What started as a critique of bureaucracy and the tiered racism of South Africa blossomed into a demonstration of the unintended results of a life modeled by literature, or one of grandiose aims of conquest.
So fucking clever and raunchy. The ironic depiction of hate was done consistently well. The overlap between the British literature that moved the kommandant and the scenes of arrogance of the British was amazingly surreal.

The Kommandant began as an ignorant man obsessed with higher society and transformed into one of self confidence. It is quite funny how a man with surface level aims can retrieve immense knowledge by sheer coincidence, all the while another who is moved by lust and envy for power is brought down to reality by, once again, circumstance.

Terry Gilliam would love this.

[Marce Oh Marce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Segunda y última parte de la serie "Zululandia", la cual puede leerse perfectamente de forma independiente a la primera, titulada "Reunión tumultuosa".

La sátira de Tom Sharpe al régimen sudafricano del Apartheid continúa, como es costumbre del autor con momentos brillantes y personajes surrealistas, tales como el Kommandant van Heerden, la Dra. von Blimenstein o el Luitenant Verkramp, entre varios otros, con los cuales consigue ridiculizar a los victimarios de tamaña barbarie racista y provocar las risas entusiasmadas de la mayoría de los lectores.

Como otras tantas de Tom Sharpe, una novela humorística inteligente, irónica y absolutamente recomendable.

[Indranil Mukherjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sequel to the uproariously and darkly funny Riotous Assembly, this one is as mad a madcap caper. Kept me in splits and amazed at the scathing commentary on the life and times in the times of Apartheid in Suid Afrika.
Oh, by the way, my nth repeat read... perhaps the fifth or sixth read, and as enjoyable as ever with, I am convinced, fresh insights as well! To be sure, I read it first soon after reading Riotous Assembly, back in 1984-85, borrowed from the then The British Library, Ranchi, India (now rebranded as the International Library and Cultural Centre).
I bought this copy in 2010 as my efforts in building my Tom Sharpe collection (still w.i.p, I'm afraid). But will get there. :-)

[Richard Spindle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A unique reading experience that would make the head spin of anyone under 40 years of age. This book is spectacularly unacceptable in 2024. It's only saving grace is that it is lampooning Apartheid South Africa, and it is unrestrained in doing so. The story itself is a classic British farce in the comic mold of Terry Pratchet or maybe Douglas Adams. It is certainly funny in parts but felt ridiculous throughout.
Although I would not recommend it to anyone it was worth reading as an education and a window into the past, where the written word was much more free, but possibly not always for the better.

[Pippa Catterall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although published in 1973 and set in apartheid South Africa, this book seems worryingly topical in some ways in 2025. The racism and homophobia and absurd forms of white ‘Christian’ nationalism are all too apparent amongst the Far Right in North America and Europe, even if exploding ostriches are not. And the mind control techniques of the appalling Dr von Blimenstein have been realised by the manipulation of electorates through profiling and gaslighting. We need a contemporary Tom Sharpe to skewer the blimpish absurdities of the Faragists as thoroughly as he punctures the pretensions of the Little Englanders in this rollicking and irreverent novel.

[Sonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pesar del estilo del autor, que me gusta mucho, este me ha costado un poco más. Me sigue encantando su humor, y hay escenas geniales. Pero es complicado no horrorizarte con muchas cosas que pasan en el libro. Está basado en Sudáfrica, en los 60, y con el Apartheid, relata cosas demasiado fuertes para hacer broma para mi gusto… Por eso le he bajado la nota, aunque ya sé que es una denuncia hacia ello, pero era difícil que no se te removiera el estómago…

[M.S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a follow-up to Riotous Assembly, must say I didn't find this sequel quite so enjoyable. With fewer laughs, longer chunks where nothing of any interest seemed to be happening, it seemed like Sharpe wasn't as engaged with Kommandant Van Heerdan's exploits this time around and just plodding along to the end.
This hasn't put me off however, and I remain a fan. Still have another 4 of his books to read yet and forever hopeful the laughs will keep on coming.

[Nešo Shonery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nova avantura sa veselom ekipom u gradiću u Južnoafričkoj republici. Šef policijske stanice odlazi na godišnji, gde će mu se put ukrstiti sa nekom plemenitom ekipom (Britancima, naravno, sumnjivih seksualnih sklonosti, takođe). Sa druge strane, u njegovom gradu će se pojaviti teroristička ekipa. Naravno, i ovde ćemo imati brojne iščašene likove i sitacije, koje su na grancici smisla. Vrlo smešno i zabavno.

[Toby Muse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Satire that hates, we need more of that. Funny plot of the counter terrorism campaign being entirely responsible for all the terrorism in the town. Good themes of the white supremacist South African police officer being looked down upon by snobbish British (who themselves are frauds).
A good indictment of a whole society.

[Chris Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly funny

Tom Sharpe used his exceptional sense of humour to bring his contempt for apartheid to the world and like Chaplins Great Dictator film succeeded in destroying the image of a blot on mankind’s humanity

[Will Redman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looooool. That was me. Every evening as I was reading it. Trying desperately to keep the chortling to a minimum to prevent waking Alyssa up.

I'm convinced that Peggy Parish was the true literay inspiration for Tom Sharpe. That and Freud. Which makes for one whacky Amelia Bedelia.