description The Hippopotamus Overview
The Hippopotamus is a 1994 comic novel by British author Stephen Fry. The protagonist is Ted Wallace, a washed-up, alcoholic poet and former drama critic who is sent to investigate reports of miraculous healings at a country estate in Suffolk. The novel is written partly in the form of letters and diary entries and combines satire, farce, and mystery. It was adapted into a 2017 British film directed by John Jencks, starring Roger Allam as Wallace.
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What is Ted Wallace investigating in The Hippopotamus?
Disgraced poet and theater critic Ted Wallace is sent to the country estate of his old friend Michael Logan to investigate reports of miraculous healing. His skepticism drives the mystery as increasingly strange claims gather around Logan's teenage son, David.
Why is Stephen Fry's novel called The Hippopotamus?
The title reflects Ted Wallace's bulky, irritable, alcohol-soaked persona and his own self-image as an ungainly outsider. It also suits the novel's comic interest in appetite, bodily indignity, and cultivated bad behavior.
Is The Hippopotamus a detective novel or a comedy?
It is both a comic country-house mystery and a picaresque satire. Published in 1994, it uses Ted's investigation to mock aristocratic manners, spiritual credulity, literary pretension, and his own failures.
Was The Hippopotamus adapted into a film?
Yes, a film adaptation starring Roger Allam as Ted Wallace was released in 2017. Matthew Modine and Fiona Shaw also appear in the adaptation, which was directed by John Jencks.
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