Book Reviews : The Loss of Eldorado: A History. By V. S. NAIPAUL. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1970)

• Author: Robert S. Lorch
• DOI: 10.1177/106591297002300417
• Published date: 01 December 1970
• Date: 01 December 1970
• Subject Matter: Articles

877

course,

the

tobacco

lobby;

and

about

the

political

combat

among

various

elements

of

the

federal

government

particularly

the

Public

Health

Service,

the

Federal

Trade

Commission,

Congress

and

the

President.

He

describes

how

administrative

rules

(such

as

the

FTC’s

trade

regulation

on

cigarette

labeling

and

advertising)

are

made,

and

how

they

(such

as

that

one)

are

challenged

judicially

and

politi-

cally.

What

this

book

really

tells

us

so

compactly

and

so

skillfully

and

delightfully

is

that

the

Congress

is

no

longer

master

of

administrative

agencies.

Mother

hen

has

lost

control

of

her

chicks.

Congress

is

helpless

without

the

specialized

skills

of

bureaucrats

in

policy-making.

Or,

as

Fritschler

puts

it,

&dquo;The

master-servant

rela-

tionship

between

Congress

and

the

bureaucracy

is

no

longer

tenable....&dquo;

While

Fritschler

leads

us

from

one

climax

to

another

in

the

cigarette

labeling

battle,

he

pauses

along

the

way

to

educate

us

about

such

things

as

rule-making

hearings,

administrative

law

and

procedure,

congressional

oversight

of

agencies,

and,

in

short,

he

pauses

to

tell

us

a

lot

about

how

the

federal

government

actually

works

today,

and

wraps

it

up

in

165

pages

including

index

and

some

fugitive

humor

along

the

way.

University

of

Colorado

ROBERT

S.

LORCH

The

Loss

of

Eldorado:

A

History.

By

V.

S.

NAIPAUL.

(New

York:

Alfred

A.

Knopf,

1970).

One

of

the

dreadful

things

afflicting

college

public

administration

courses

for

youthful

students

is

the

shortage

of

well-written,

dramatic

stories

about

life

in

a

bureaucracy.

It

is

said

that

we

cannot

understand

problems

with

our

mind

until

we

understand

them

with

our

blood.

College

students

who

are

too

young

to

have

struck

the

pavement

of

bureaucracy

(except

the

academic

one)

need

some

litera-

ture

(not

just

erudite

books)

but

literature

that

crashes

into

blood

and

mind,

and

that

illustrates

things

like

&dquo;span

of

control&dquo;

with

some

theatrical

flair.

V.

S.

Naipaul

does

that

in

The

Loss

of

Eldorado.

Of

course,

he

probably

had

no

such

purpose

in

mind

when

he

wrote

it.

The

book

is

subtitled

A

History.

It

is

primarily

a

history

of

Trinidad

(an

island

within

sight

of

the

Venezuelan

coast)

and

a

history

of

the

larger

Spanish

and

English

colonial

presence

in

South

America

and

the

Caribbean,

and

most

particularly

a

history

of

the

tribulations

of

those

who

tried

to

administer

Trinidad

and

the

distress

of

those

who

were

subject

to

its

administration.

Chapter

titles

like

&dquo;Apply

the

Torture,&dquo;

&dquo;The

Executioners,&dquo;

&dquo;The

Victims&dquo;

suggest

the

kind

of

behavior

engaged

in

by

some

of

Trinidad’s

adminis-

trators.

Naipaul’s

pen

had

much

intriguing

drama

to

work

with

including

the

events

which

lead

to

the

trial

of

Governor

Picton.

Naipaul’s

prose

in

The

Loss

of

f

Eldorado

reflects

his

allied

career

as

a

successful

novelist.

&dquo;The

narrative

was

struc-

tured,&dquo;

says

Naipaul,

&dquo;mainly

from

documents ...

in

the

British

Museum,

the

Public

Record

Office,

London,

and

the

London

Library.

Dialogue

occurs

as

dia-

logue

in

the

sources.&dquo;

In

addition

to

being

of

interest

as

literature

in

public

administration,

the

book

should

be

of

interest

to

Latin

Americanists,

and

to

those

who

are

looking

for