Extract from The Weekly Digest
Book Review by Ray Waters, Projects Director,
Finance Division, University College
London
The book quickly drew me into the main plot and also managed to weave in
some of the intricacies of the Research Assessment Exercise and the Pay
Framework Agreement. Although this would mean more to an academic audience
it was explained simply enough for any reader.
A sixty year old Professor of Christian Ethics, Harry Gilbert, is falsely
accused of sexual harassment and the University authorities, keen to pension him
off and replace him with a younger cheaper alternative, try to use the
allegations and various other dirty tricks to force him to go.
People who have worked in Universities may recognise many of the
characters and situations: the insecure but over powerful Dean, the ineffectual
Vice Chancellor, and the devious Registrar. Strangely Finance Directors get off
lightly with barely a mention in the book. Why I wonder?
In the end Harry gets another job but finds that the grass is not as green
as he thought that it would be. A fair reflection on life perhaps.
The book has some very good points and some echoes of the humour in Tom Sharpe's
works. The description of Wanda Catnip as a bossy-boots Dean is
great. I also particularly liked the references to Jenny Sloth, the
Registrar's wife who is an Assistant Librarian and who joins in the campaign
against Professor Gilbert. A warning about the dangers of employing spouses and
allowing them to work closely together.
There are also situations where nepotism comes to the fore and the books
highlights the power of external donors to influence University decisions.
Also if you ever get into a situation like Harry then friends in high places can
make a big difference. The book came slightly too early for there to be
references to the new age discrimination laws. They would have made a good
additional theme.
I found at times there was rather a lot of descriptive detail, especially
about people's clothing. I know the author was trying to set the scene but for
me it was overdone in places. I was sympathetic to Harry's plight and he
was clearly victimised but I didn't feel that I fully got to know his inner
character or that of his rich wife. Although he was a Professor of Christian
Ethics there was little about religion in the book.
There are some very good lines, for example during one of Charles' visits to the
US there is a great description of the difference between the British
and American culture "The assembled company then stood up and, with
extraordinary fervour, they all sang the college song. Victoria and I felt very
embarrassed and British".
Perhaps it reflects my age but I find that I can nearly always see more than one
side of an argument these days and even Morris the Union representative
says towards the end "You know your VC is not as evil as you think.
He's entirely at the mercy of the government who have starved Universities of
funds for years. He is forced to take more and more students and he has to
educate them on less and less money".
Overall I enjoyed the book and I would highly recommend it to both academic
readers and the general public.
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