132,564
edits
Changes
From TheBookbag
Jump to navigationJump to searchRasmus: A Television Tale by PJ Vanston (view source)
Revision as of 08:32, 2 December 2016
, 08:32, 2 December 2016no edit summary
It's all about the ratings in the world of TV. Therefore the BBC, part of the British televisual establishment since TV was invented, feels it has nothing to fear from a new internet channel. However those in control don't understand what – and who – is behind this new phenomenon. The mysterious Rasmus has a plan and some savagely innovative ideas; nothing can stand in his way.
English born and Welsh adopted [[:Category:PJ Vanston|P J Vanston]] has a broad writing CV to be proud of including the a Welsh football team song for the 2016 Euros, the biting academic satire of [[Crump by PJ Vanston|Crump]] and the sweet, fun story that is [[A Cat Called Dog by Jem Vanston|A Cat Called Dog]]. Now, with ''Rasmus…'' he goes back to satire and brings us something that's bold, bloody and possibly even scarily prophetic.
PJ gradually draws us into a tale about an obscure online TV station that dares compete against the BBC. Rasmus' brainchild is lean, media manipulative and technologically savvy. Pitted against the BBC, a respected organisation that's lasted decades, our money would be on the Corporation however Auntie Beeb isn't what she was.
PJ rips off the BBC's fascia to show us the guts of a regulation-heavy, beleaguered leviathan haemorrhaging money and losing market share. The world has moved on since Lord Reith and Rasmus has his finger on the zeitgeist: people are ready for old fashioned entertainment…historically very old fashioned in fact.
This isn't a novel to enjoy. Actually if you did enjoy it, your loved ones would worry about you yet that doesn't stop this as being a good novel that demands reading. PJ – and Rasmus - increases the heat from chapter to chapter bringing us to a horrific crescendo after a series of stomach churning episodes. Each is a natural step from the previous level and so, although increasingly caricature-ish, we wonder if this could become reality.
One wonders whether PJ enjoyed writing the shock elements just a little too much as he seems to wallow in places. Yet as each scenario is revealed we're almost invited to step over or create new lines of decency. Would we watch this on TV? Yes? Well, how about this?
