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Rasmus
Rasmus is a pitch-dark satire and a gloriously cynical swipe at a television industry that perhaps well deserves it. As funny as it is disturbing, this is an ambitious ‘State of the Nation’ novel which uses the hyperrealism of exaggerated reality to reflect back at us the often absurd and grotesque horror of 21st century TV and society.
In this dark tale of wrecked morality, a visionary reality TV producer leads the public and his own competition to a point of corruption they never dreamed possible. Along the way, pets stampede, celebrities are eaten, and the world erupts in violence. The story revolves around three central characters – Rasmus, the mysterious visionary; Minty, ambitious TV producer and wannabe first female Director General; and Hugo, affable but bumbling BBC Head of Vision. How these characters interact ultimately determines the course of events and drives the plot towards its shocking conclusion.
Written in three parts, the story is set mainly in London, but also travels far and wide – Russia, China, Africa, Papua New Guinea and South Wales, amongst other exotic locations. Rasmus is an imaginative, unusual and intelligent work that asks some difficult and pertinent questions about the world in which we live. Rasmus is a must-read for all who work in the television industry, as well as all those with a concern about how and where both TV and modern British society are going – and why.
In this dark tale of wrecked morality, a visionary reality TV producer leads the public and his own competition to a point of corruption they never dreamed possible. Along the way, pets stampede, celebrities are eaten, and the world erupts in violence. The story revolves around three central characters – Rasmus, the mysterious visionary; Minty, ambitious TV producer and wannabe first female Director General; and Hugo, affable but bumbling BBC Head of Vision. How these characters interact ultimately determines the course of events and drives the plot towards its shocking conclusion.
Written in three parts, the story is set mainly in London, but also travels far and wide – Russia, China, Africa, Papua New Guinea and South Wales, amongst other exotic locations. Rasmus is an imaginative, unusual and intelligent work that asks some difficult and pertinent questions about the world in which we live. Rasmus is a must-read for all who work in the television industry, as well as all those with a concern about how and where both TV and modern British society are going – and why.
336 pages, Paperback
Published October 28, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 28, 2019
This is a genuinely repulsive book. It feels as if the author was dropped on his head when his mum bought a television licence at the post office and he has borne a grudge against the BBC and all things media ever since. You might call it a "dark" satire if you are amongst the chattering classes of Islington,Highbury Richmond or wherever "media" types hang out these days. On the other hand, and more likely,it is an attempt at revenge by a writer who could not cope with his work being rejected by a television company.
He has stored all the bile created by that rejection and then put pen to paper. All,and I do mean all,the characters have no redeemable qualities. The graphic descriptions of violence and torture go beyond all limits that a quality author would set themselves. PJ is not a man with "subtlety" in his vocabulary. The big surprise here is that Matador thought it was worthwhile publishing.
He has stored all the bile created by that rejection and then put pen to paper. All,and I do mean all,the characters have no redeemable qualities. The graphic descriptions of violence and torture go beyond all limits that a quality author would set themselves. PJ is not a man with "subtlety" in his vocabulary. The big surprise here is that Matador thought it was worthwhile publishing.
December 5, 2016
Más allá del comienzo, el libro se vuelve pronto repetitivo y anodino. Como un episodio ultralargo de Black Mirror con la telerrealidad extrema de premisa pero con dos antagonistas para que hagan "el debate" sobre la televisión
October 25, 2023
Fantastic book which says things exactly as they are. Highly recommended!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews