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校锌邪写芯泻 懈 褉邪蟹褉褍褕械薪懈械
袟芯谢芯褌褘械 写胁邪写褑邪褌褘械.
袥芯薪写芯薪, 褌芯谢褜泻芯 褔褌芯 芯锌芯屑薪懈胁褕懈泄褋褟 芯褌 褍卸邪褋芯胁 胁芯泄薪褘 懈 褉邪蟹褉褍褏懈, 芯写械褉卸懈屑 褋褌褉邪褋褌褜褞 泻 褉邪蟹胁谢械褔械薪懈褟屑. 袦芯褉邪谢褜? 袝械 斜芯谢褜褕械 薪械褌! 协褌懈泻邪? 袨薪邪 褍褋褌邪褉械谢邪! 袪械谢懈谐懈褟? 袩褉芯褋褌芯 褋屑械褕薪芯.
袦芯谢芯写褘械 锌褉芯卸懈谐邪褌械谢懈 卸懈蟹薪懈 褋芯褉械胁薪褍褞褌褋褟 胁 锌芯泻邪蟹薪芯屑 褑懈薪懈蟹屑械 懈 谢械谐泻芯屑褘褋谢懈懈 褋芯 褋胁芯懈屑懈 锌芯写褉褍谐邪屑懈.
袗 屑械谢褜褔邪泄褕懈泄 薪邪屑械泻 薪邪 懈褋泻褉械薪薪芯褋褌褜, 胁械褉薪芯褋褌褜 懈谢懈 谢褞斜芯胁褜 褋褔懈褌邪械褌褋褟 胁 懈褏 泻褉褍谐褍 胁 谢褍褔褕械屑 褋谢褍褔邪械 褔褍写邪褔械褋褌胁芯屑, 邪 胁 褏褍写褕械屑 - 薪邪褋褌芯褟褖懈屑 锌褉械褋褌褍锌谢械薪懈械屑...
袥芯薪写芯薪, 褌芯谢褜泻芯 褔褌芯 芯锌芯屑薪懈胁褕懈泄褋褟 芯褌 褍卸邪褋芯胁 胁芯泄薪褘 懈 褉邪蟹褉褍褏懈, 芯写械褉卸懈屑 褋褌褉邪褋褌褜褞 泻 褉邪蟹胁谢械褔械薪懈褟屑. 袦芯褉邪谢褜? 袝械 斜芯谢褜褕械 薪械褌! 协褌懈泻邪? 袨薪邪 褍褋褌邪褉械谢邪! 袪械谢懈谐懈褟? 袩褉芯褋褌芯 褋屑械褕薪芯.
袦芯谢芯写褘械 锌褉芯卸懈谐邪褌械谢懈 卸懈蟹薪懈 褋芯褉械胁薪褍褞褌褋褟 胁 锌芯泻邪蟹薪芯屑 褑懈薪懈蟹屑械 懈 谢械谐泻芯屑褘褋谢懈懈 褋芯 褋胁芯懈屑懈 锌芯写褉褍谐邪屑懈.
袗 屑械谢褜褔邪泄褕懈泄 薪邪屑械泻 薪邪 懈褋泻褉械薪薪芯褋褌褜, 胁械褉薪芯褋褌褜 懈谢懈 谢褞斜芯胁褜 褋褔懈褌邪械褌褋褟 胁 懈褏 泻褉褍谐褍 胁 谢褍褔褕械屑 褋谢褍褔邪械 褔褍写邪褔械褋褌胁芯屑, 邪 胁 褏褍写褕械屑 - 薪邪褋褌芯褟褖懈屑 锌褉械褋褌褍锌谢械薪懈械屑...
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1928
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13045 people want to read
About the author
Evelyn Waugh
331听books2,806听followersEvelyn Waugh's father Arthur was a noted editor and publisher. His only sibling Alec also became a writer of note. In fact, his book 鈥淭he Loom of Youth鈥� (1917) a novel about his old boarding school Sherborne caused Evelyn to be expelled from there and placed at Lancing College. He said of his time there, 鈥溾€he whole of English education when I was brought up was to produce prose writers; it was all we were taught, really.鈥� He went on to Hertford College, Oxford, where he read History. When asked if he took up any sports there he quipped, 鈥淚 drank for Hertford.鈥�
In 1924 Waugh left Oxford without taking his degree. After inglorious stints as a school teacher (he was dismissed for trying to seduce a school matron and/or inebriation), an apprentice cabinet maker and journalist, he wrote and had published his first novel, 鈥淒ecline and Fall鈥� in 1928.
In 1928 he married Evelyn Gardiner. She proved unfaithful, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1930. Waugh would derive parts of 鈥淎 Handful of Dust鈥� from this unhappy time. His second marriage to Audrey Herbert lasted the rest of his life and begat seven children. It was during this time that he converted to Catholicism.
During the thirties Waugh produced one gem after another. From this decade come: 鈥淰ile Bodies鈥� (1930), 鈥淏lack Mischief鈥� (1932), the incomparable 鈥淎 Handful of Dust鈥� (1934) and 鈥淪coop鈥� (1938). After the Second World War he published what is for many his masterpiece, 鈥淏rideshead Revisited,鈥� in which his Catholicism took centre stage. 鈥淭he Loved One鈥� a scathing satire of the American death industry followed in 1947. After publishing his 鈥淪word of Honour Trilogy鈥� about his experiences in World War II - 鈥淢en at Arms鈥� (1952), 鈥淥fficers and Gentlemen鈥� (1955), 鈥淯nconditional Surrender" (1961) - his career was seen to be on the wane. In fact, 鈥淏asil Seal Rides Again鈥� (1963) - his last published novel - received little critical or commercial attention.
Evelyn Waugh, considered by many to be the greatest satirical novelist of his day, died on 10 April 1966 at the age of 62.
See
In 1924 Waugh left Oxford without taking his degree. After inglorious stints as a school teacher (he was dismissed for trying to seduce a school matron and/or inebriation), an apprentice cabinet maker and journalist, he wrote and had published his first novel, 鈥淒ecline and Fall鈥� in 1928.
In 1928 he married Evelyn Gardiner. She proved unfaithful, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1930. Waugh would derive parts of 鈥淎 Handful of Dust鈥� from this unhappy time. His second marriage to Audrey Herbert lasted the rest of his life and begat seven children. It was during this time that he converted to Catholicism.
During the thirties Waugh produced one gem after another. From this decade come: 鈥淰ile Bodies鈥� (1930), 鈥淏lack Mischief鈥� (1932), the incomparable 鈥淎 Handful of Dust鈥� (1934) and 鈥淪coop鈥� (1938). After the Second World War he published what is for many his masterpiece, 鈥淏rideshead Revisited,鈥� in which his Catholicism took centre stage. 鈥淭he Loved One鈥� a scathing satire of the American death industry followed in 1947. After publishing his 鈥淪word of Honour Trilogy鈥� about his experiences in World War II - 鈥淢en at Arms鈥� (1952), 鈥淥fficers and Gentlemen鈥� (1955), 鈥淯nconditional Surrender" (1961) - his career was seen to be on the wane. In fact, 鈥淏asil Seal Rides Again鈥� (1963) - his last published novel - received little critical or commercial attention.
Evelyn Waugh, considered by many to be the greatest satirical novelist of his day, died on 10 April 1966 at the age of 62.
See
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,198 reviews
September 24, 2019
Oh, silly, silly Brits! So eager to defend "honour", "custom", "decency". As if these concepts actually even existed! They did not exist then, just as they sure as hell don't exist now. (Instead, we mingle with the complex & the pseudo-complex.)
Like Jude (of "The Obscure" fame), our main man struggles to live within a system (in the novel, prep schools and jails are synonymous) which rules his existence. But this awful society is prettied up so, and the irony (and comedy) derives from the fact that all characters are o-so ignorant. Of the roles they play, of their important or negligible lives, of the upstairs/downstairs never ending bullshit... The masterful touches of a true novelist like Waugh (one of the quintessential writers of British lit.) though, lie in the factual certainty that the real world of today and tomorrow is pretty much the same as 1920's-30's England, with all its citizens perpetually cast in chicken-minus-head roles roaming about on a fickle pyramid. But who wouldn't be stupid enough to fall for dreams of love, glory or riches?
Like Jude (of "The Obscure" fame), our main man struggles to live within a system (in the novel, prep schools and jails are synonymous) which rules his existence. But this awful society is prettied up so, and the irony (and comedy) derives from the fact that all characters are o-so ignorant. Of the roles they play, of their important or negligible lives, of the upstairs/downstairs never ending bullshit... The masterful touches of a true novelist like Waugh (one of the quintessential writers of British lit.) though, lie in the factual certainty that the real world of today and tomorrow is pretty much the same as 1920's-30's England, with all its citizens perpetually cast in chicken-minus-head roles roaming about on a fickle pyramid. But who wouldn't be stupid enough to fall for dreams of love, glory or riches?
April 15, 2025
This wonderfully whimsical (unusual for waspish Waugh) coming of age lark cheered me immensely in Sophomore Year after my own Decline & Fall into disrespect.
The previous year, a free year for me to recuperate after extensive medical attention, I hit rock bottom.
I Declined & Fell through the cracks of polished respectability, a persona non grata. To my on-again-off-again girlfriend Maria, I was just a laughable sorta bum.
So I had to start life ALL OVER AGAIN on my quest to recover, like Rodney Dangerfield, a modicum of respect. Rodney, of course, earned his the hard way:
Through Self-Abasement.
And I was not yet ready for that - no, not by a long shot. With my fellow hippies, I laughed at the establishment.
Wrong play, Shakespeare!
So hard knocks followed mercilessly.
Was Waugh to blame?
Surely not. ALL coming of age stories are like his. But watch how you use that cookie cutter, Fergus...
So now I see my mistake.
Instead of following him directly back to Orthodoxy, I continued to drown in my own soggy slough.
Sauve qui peut -
But (guess what?) call in the God of Rugged Orthodoxy, my friends -
And he鈥檒l do it FOR YOU...
Guaranteed - and with no Strings attached!
A warning, though: He'll give you a Lifetime Cross, for which you'll pay "not less than everything."
It's worth it.
Believe me.
The previous year, a free year for me to recuperate after extensive medical attention, I hit rock bottom.
I Declined & Fell through the cracks of polished respectability, a persona non grata. To my on-again-off-again girlfriend Maria, I was just a laughable sorta bum.
So I had to start life ALL OVER AGAIN on my quest to recover, like Rodney Dangerfield, a modicum of respect. Rodney, of course, earned his the hard way:
Through Self-Abasement.
And I was not yet ready for that - no, not by a long shot. With my fellow hippies, I laughed at the establishment.
Wrong play, Shakespeare!
So hard knocks followed mercilessly.
Was Waugh to blame?
Surely not. ALL coming of age stories are like his. But watch how you use that cookie cutter, Fergus...
So now I see my mistake.
Instead of following him directly back to Orthodoxy, I continued to drown in my own soggy slough.
Sauve qui peut -
But (guess what?) call in the God of Rugged Orthodoxy, my friends -
And he鈥檒l do it FOR YOU...
Guaranteed - and with no Strings attached!
A warning, though: He'll give you a Lifetime Cross, for which you'll pay "not less than everything."
It's worth it.
Believe me.
November 20, 2014
AN UNPLEASANT ENCOUNTER, OR, THE N WORD IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY
Bowling along in this droll farce about the upper classes 鈥� if you imagine a line with PG Wodehouse (utter lollery) at one end and Edward St Aubyn (still funny, but black, bitter and bleak) at the other 鈥� then Decline and Fall is towards the Wooster end of the spectrum - and then on page 77, there鈥檚 a sports day organised at the minor public school where our wan young defenestrated undergrad Paul Pennyfeather is now teaching. Gliding soundlessly into the grounds of the school comes an enormous limousine of dove-grey and silver and debouching therefrom
like the first breath of spring in the Champs-Elysees came Mrs Beste-Chetwynde 鈥� two lizard-skin feet, silk legs, chinchilla body, a tight little black hat pinned with platinum and diamonds, and the high invariable voice that may be heard in any Ritz hotel from New York to Budapest.
She says to the host 鈥淚 hope you don鈥檛 mind my bringing Chokey鈥� and Dr Fagan
for the moment was at a loss for words of welcome, for 鈥淐hokey鈥�, though graceful of bearing and irreproachably dressed, was a Negro.
There follows four or five pages of fun with 鈥渢he Negro鈥�, but the term used is the n word. Waugh鈥檚 intention is to pillory a few dreadful attitudes :
"I think it鈥檚 an insult bringing a n----- here鈥�, said Mrs Clutterbuck. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an insult to our own women.鈥� 鈥淣------s are all right,鈥� said Philbrick. 鈥淲here I draw the line is a Chink, nasty inhuman things.鈥�
You can tell Waugh is having fun at the expense of the racists, but I fear this kind of fun is no longer to our taste, and occupies the same cultural position as a tarantula on a slice of angel cake. You don鈥檛 want to see it, and when it鈥檚 gone, you don鈥檛 want to remember it was there.
BOWDLER 鈥� UNBOWDLER - REBOWDLER
But our nearly one-hundred-years-later sensibilities also need questioning too. We don鈥檛 want to find ourselves in a contest to see who has the thinnest skin. It leads to the ridiculous idea of publishing a bowdlerised version of Huckleberry Finn.
Some books may well have had the strange experience of being Bowdlerised in the 19th century, un-Bowdlerised in the 20th, and re-Bowdlerised, for different reasons, in the 21st. This is nonsense.
THE SUN HAS GOT HIS HAT ON
In May this year a 68-year-old BBC DJ resigned after 32 years at the BBC because he鈥檇 played Ambrose and his Orchestra鈥檚 version of "The Sun has Got His Hat On", a song written and recorded four years after Decline and Fall. This jolly, innocuous song goes as follows
The sun has got his hat on, hip-hip-hip-hooray!
The sun has got his hat on and he's coming out today
Now we'll all be happy, hip-hip-hip-hooray
The sun has got his hat on and he's coming out today
He's been tanning n------s out in Timbuktu
Now he's coming back to do the same to you
So jump into your sunbath, hip-hip-hip-hooray
The sun has got his hat on and he's coming out today
The poor DJ was completely unaware of the n word in the song. But apparently, he had to go.
And six years after "The Sun Has Got his Hat On", Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day was published, another charming satirical comedy. Miss Pettigrew on page 162 of that book offers some advice to Miss LaFosse, who is trying to choose between two suitors :
"Now the first one, he was kind too," said Miss Pettigrew earnestly, "but well, my dear. I wouldn't advise marrying him. I don't like to jump to conclusions but I think there was a little Jew in him. He wasn't quite English. And, well, I do think when it comes to marriage it's safer to stick with your own nationality."
"Certainly," said Miss LaFosse, demurely.
Oh yes, that came 12 pages after this 鈥� here's one of the suitors speaking :
"Now Delysia's a little devil and there's times I could flay her alive, and obviously she needs a little physical correction, but I'm the only right man to do it."
(Those interested may wish to compare these cases with that of "Smack My Bitch Up", a No 8 hit in Britain by The Prodigy in 1997, - plus 莽a change, plus c'est la m锚me chose. The BBC banned The Prodigy.)
Well, what are we going to do? Not read books older than 1990 for fear of outraging ourselves? Obviously not. But this is a wilderness, there are no rules except the ones you make up yourself. (We are never allowed to forget that Ezra Pound was himself a fascist, but books have been written about TS Eliot in which his profound anti-Semitism is nowhere to be found. I guess the greater you are the more leeway you get.)
The act of reading is a pasodoble between the author and the reader in which sometimes the author stumbles and sometimes the reader and sometimes they鈥檙e both flat on their backs.
BUT ANYWAY
Decline and Fall doesn鈥檛 break the 4th P Bryant Rule of Novels which says Authors Under Thirty Do Not Write Great Books (Waugh was 25 when he wrote this). It starts off great and then half-way through starts to get sillier and sillier. But 鈥� shows great promise! I sort of kind of quite liked it.
January 4, 2012
SUMMARY:
A skewed and satirical version of Lemony Snickets Series of Unfortunate Events for grown-ups including a similar line-up of comedy death scenes and improbably named characters.
THE LONG WINDED VERSION:
Oh Mr Waugh, you're a cad, a bounder and pithier than a bushel of oranges. Why, I do believe that without you the 30s would have been quite insufferably dull. Lets face it, with one war over and another one gestating quietly in the wings, what better way to pass the time than by disemboweling the braying upper classes, armed only with a scalpel-sharp wit.
A cast of ridiculously named, vaguely vapid and generally insufferable middle and upper class buffoons rub shoulders between the pages and try gamely not to tip caviare and absinthe over each others haute couture, while generally taking advantage of those poor gullible middle class types who'll do anything for an extra shilling (including the facilitating of people trafficking and sex slavery apparently). Of course the ultimate irony in this "sending up" of the weak chinned, inbred upper classes is that Waugh himself was in the possession of a not undistinguished lineage, was Oxbridge educated and harboured secret longings to be fully accepted into the Upper Classes.
Still wryly amusing now, but I have trouble imagining how this book was received when it was first published as the buying of books was beyond the means of many working and middle class households at the time and I doubt the upper classes, perched in their wing-back chairs in the library would be slapping their leg, wiping a tear from their eye and ringing for butler to bring them another sherry while they mused on the satirical dissections of their class put forward by young Mr Waugh.
As an aside, it occurred to me while reading this that David Mitchell (he of the Cloud Atlas) probably bloody loved this book, simply for the way all the characters are interwoven and keep cropping up again in different roles and different locations. Wowed by Waugh were we, Mr Mitchell?
A skewed and satirical version of Lemony Snickets Series of Unfortunate Events for grown-ups including a similar line-up of comedy death scenes and improbably named characters.
THE LONG WINDED VERSION:
Oh Mr Waugh, you're a cad, a bounder and pithier than a bushel of oranges. Why, I do believe that without you the 30s would have been quite insufferably dull. Lets face it, with one war over and another one gestating quietly in the wings, what better way to pass the time than by disemboweling the braying upper classes, armed only with a scalpel-sharp wit.
A cast of ridiculously named, vaguely vapid and generally insufferable middle and upper class buffoons rub shoulders between the pages and try gamely not to tip caviare and absinthe over each others haute couture, while generally taking advantage of those poor gullible middle class types who'll do anything for an extra shilling (including the facilitating of people trafficking and sex slavery apparently). Of course the ultimate irony in this "sending up" of the weak chinned, inbred upper classes is that Waugh himself was in the possession of a not undistinguished lineage, was Oxbridge educated and harboured secret longings to be fully accepted into the Upper Classes.
Still wryly amusing now, but I have trouble imagining how this book was received when it was first published as the buying of books was beyond the means of many working and middle class households at the time and I doubt the upper classes, perched in their wing-back chairs in the library would be slapping their leg, wiping a tear from their eye and ringing for butler to bring them another sherry while they mused on the satirical dissections of their class put forward by young Mr Waugh.
As an aside, it occurred to me while reading this that David Mitchell (he of the Cloud Atlas) probably bloody loved this book, simply for the way all the characters are interwoven and keep cropping up again in different roles and different locations. Wowed by Waugh were we, Mr Mitchell?
Read
March 7, 2019This was Waugh's first novel and was received with great acclaim, even by my old favourite . However I find it like eating whipped cream. It goes down easy, but doesn't fill me up.
Clearly I lack the required level of sensibility to appreciate Waugh. Which is to say an addiction to the riotous upper classes. If you think there is nothing better than a snazzily dissolute aristocrat then this is the comedy for you.
It romps from Bullingdon Club style antics at Oxford via cut price private schools, to white slavery, to prison and back again. The hero learns nothing, but is simply spun round full circle on Fortune's wheel.
What is earnest is for Waugh laughable and comes in for punishment or abuse whether that be the League of Nations or Prison reformers. But the rakish, so long as they are blue-blooded, will survive and thrive.
Being of a tragically earnest disposition myself Waugh sharpens my appreciation for Madame Guillotine as an agent for social improvement. But it would be a sad world if we all thought alike.
I think you can see why he ended up a Catholic in this novel, nothing else could give him a fixed and reliable set of values, certainly he found nothing to value in a secular and Parliamentary world.
Clearly I lack the required level of sensibility to appreciate Waugh. Which is to say an addiction to the riotous upper classes. If you think there is nothing better than a snazzily dissolute aristocrat then this is the comedy for you.
It romps from Bullingdon Club style antics at Oxford via cut price private schools, to white slavery, to prison and back again. The hero learns nothing, but is simply spun round full circle on Fortune's wheel.
What is earnest is for Waugh laughable and comes in for punishment or abuse whether that be the League of Nations or Prison reformers. But the rakish, so long as they are blue-blooded, will survive and thrive.
Being of a tragically earnest disposition myself Waugh sharpens my appreciation for Madame Guillotine as an agent for social improvement. But it would be a sad world if we all thought alike.
I think you can see why he ended up a Catholic in this novel, nothing else could give him a fixed and reliable set of values, certainly he found nothing to value in a secular and Parliamentary world.
August 21, 2024
鈥業 don鈥檛 believe,鈥� said Mr Prendergast, 鈥榯hat people would ever fall in love or want to be married if they hadn鈥檛 been told about it. It鈥檚 like abroad: no one would want to go there if they hadn鈥檛 been told it existed. Don鈥檛 you agree?鈥�
Vicious鈥攄eath has never been more efficient or undemanding鈥攁nd hilarious and absurd, but not without one or two objectionable scenes concerning race. Uncomfortable to read? Yes. But representative of the time period in which it was written? Certainly, even if we like to pretend that it isn鈥檛 so. Isn鈥檛 it nice to be able to recognize how far society鈥�most of society鈥攈as come? That aside, I still cannot help but feel that the book fizzled out towards the end. Parts One, Two, and Three, are so divergent, even if the characters remain largely the same, and the book progresses at such breakneck speed, that you reach the end feeling as if you鈥檝e just binge watched seasons one, two and three of it on Netflix. I cannot say that I didn鈥檛 enjoy it, but I still feel as if I鈥檝e inadvertently overindulged.
December 4, 2023
芦校锌邪写芯泻 懈 褉邪蟹褉褍褕械薪懈械禄 - 褝褌芯 褋邪褌懈褉懈褔械褋泻懈泄 褉芯屑邪薪 芯 薪褉邪胁邪褏 懈 谐芯褋褍写邪褉褋褌胁械薪薪褘褏 懈薪褋褌懈褌褍褌邪褏 胁 袗薪谐谢懈懈 1920-褏 谐芯写芯胁. 小邪屑芯 薪邪蟹胁邪薪懈械 谐芯胁芯褉懈褌 芯 褌芯屑, 褔褌芯 锌芯褋谢械胁芯械薪薪芯械 芯斜褖械褋褌胁芯, 薪邪褉褟写褍 褋 薪邪褔邪胁褕懈屑褋褟 锌褉芯褑械褋褋芯屑 泻褉褍褕械薪懈褟 懈屑锌械褉懈懈, 锌械褉械卸懈胁邪谢芯 褍锌邪写芯泻 薪褉邪胁褋褌胁械薪薪芯褋褌懈, 写械谐褉邪写邪褑懈褞 芯斜褖械褋褌胁械薪薪褘褏 褑械薪薪芯褋褌械泄, 锌褉懈胁芯写懈胁褕懈屑 泻 褟胁谢械薪懈褟屑, 芯锌懈褋邪薪薪褘屑 胁 泻薪懈谐械, 褌邪泻懈屑, 泻邪泻, 薪邪锌褉懈屑械褉, 锌芯锌芯泄泻懈 蟹芯谢芯褌芯泄 屑芯谢芯写械卸懈 胁 褍薪懈胁械褉褋懈褌械褌械, 胁褘谢懈胁邪胁褕懈泄褋褟 胁 褎锟斤拷褉屑械薪薪褘泄 褉邪蟹谐褉芯屑, 锌芯锌芯褉褌懈胁 屑械斜械谢褜, 泻芯胁褉褘 懈 泻邪褉褌懈薪褘. 袧芯 褍 锌褉械锌芯写邪胁邪褌械谢械泄, 薪邪斜谢褞写邪褞褖懈褏 褋泻胁芯蟹褜 芯泻薪芯 斜械褋薪褍褞褖褍褞褋褟 懈 胁械褋械谢褟褖褍褞褋褟 褌芯谢锌褍 褔械谢芯胁械泻 褝写邪泻 胁 50, 胁芯蟹薪懈泻邪褞褌 褋芯胁褋械屑 写褉褍谐懈械 屑褘褋谢懈. 袨写懈薪, 褋 谐芯胁芯褉褟褖械泄 褎邪屑锟斤拷谢懈械泄 袩芯斜邪谢写械泄 (胁 邪薪谐谢懈泄褋泻芯屑 胁邪褉懈邪薪褌械 褋泻芯褉械械 胁褋械谐芯 写褉褍谐邪褟, 薪芯 褝泻胁懈胁邪谢械薪褌薪邪褟 锌芯 褋屑褘褋谢褍) 锌芯写褋褔懈褌褘胁邪械褌, 褋泻芯谢褜泻芯 褕褌褉邪褎芯胁 胁褘锌懈褕褍褌 褋褌褍写械薪褌邪屑, 写褉褍谐芯泄, 褋胁褟褖械薪薪芯褋谢褍卸懈褌械谢褜, 谐芯胁芯褉懈褌: 芦袚芯褋锌芯写懈, 褋写械谢邪泄 褌邪泻, 褔褌芯斜褘 芯褋泻胁械褉薪懈谢懈禄. 协褌懈 写械薪褜谐懈 锌芯泄写褍褌 薪邪 锌芯锌芯泄泻褍 褋邪屑懈褏 锌褉械锌芯写邪胁邪褌械谢械泄. 孝邪泻 薪邪褔懈薪邪械褌褋褟 褝褌芯褌 褉芯屑邪薪.
袚谢邪胁薪褘屑 谐械褉芯械屑 褟胁谢褟械褌褋褟 袩芯谢褜 袩械薪薪懈褎懈蟹械褉, 泻芯褌芯褉褘泄 锌芯褋褌褉邪写邪谢 胁 褝褌芯泄 锌褜褟薪芯泄 胁邪泻褏邪薪邪谢懈懈, 斜褍写褍褔懈 芯褌褔懈褋谢械薪薪褘屑 芦蟹邪 薪械锌褉懈褋褌芯泄薪芯械 锌芯胁械写械薪懈械禄 褋 褌褉械褌褜械谐芯 泻褍褉褋邪. 袧邪 褋邪屑芯屑 写械谢械, 泻芯薪械褔薪芯, 芯薪 斜褘谢 泻芯蟹谢芯屑 芯褌锌褍褖械薪懈褟, 锌芯褌芯屑褍 褔褌芯 斜褘谢 斜械写械薪 懈 薪械 屑芯谐 蟹邪锌谢邪褌懈褌褜 褕褌褉邪褎.
袝屑褍 锌褉懈褏芯写懈褌褋褟 锌褉芯泄褌懈 屑薪芯谐芯械 鈥� 褋薪邪褔邪谢邪, 械谐芯, 薪械写芯褍褔懈胁褕械谐芯褋褟 褋褌褍写械薪褌邪, 锌褉懈薪懈屑邪褞褌 薪邪 褉邪斜芯褌褍 褍褔懈褌械谢械屑, 锌褉懈褔械屑 褋褉邪蟹褍 锌芯 薪械褋泻芯谢褜泻懈屑 屑邪谢芯褋胁褟蟹邪薪薪褘屑 写懈褋褑懈锌谢懈薪邪屑, 胁 褌芯屑 褔懈褋谢械, 芯斜褍褔械薪懈械 薪械屑械褑泻芯屑褍 褟蟹褘泻褍, 泻芯褌芯褉芯谐芯 芯薪 胁芯芯斜褖械 薪械 蟹薪邪械褌. 袧懈泻芯谐芯 褝褌芯 薪械 褋屑褍褖邪械褌, 锌芯褌芯屑褍 褔褌芯 锌褉械锌芯写邪胁邪褌械谢懈 褝褌芯泄 褕泻芯谢褘 褌芯卸械 邪斜褋芯谢褞褌薪芯 薪械泻芯屑锌械褌械薪褌薪褘. 袙 泻芯薪械褔薪芯屑 懈褌芯谐械, 袩芯谢褞 锌褉懈褕谢芯褋褜 写邪卸械 芯斜褍褔邪褌褜 懈谐褉械 薪邪 芯褉谐邪薪械.
袠胁谢懈薪 袙芯 泻褉懈褌懈泻褍械褌 褋薪芯斜懈蟹屑, 褉邪褋懈蟹屑, 谐谢褍锌芯褋褌褜, 谢懈褑械屑械褉懈械 懈 褏邪薪卸械褋褌胁芯. 袝褋谢懈 褉芯屑邪薪 薪邪褔懈薪邪械褌褋褟, 泻邪泻 褋邪褌懈褉邪, 写邪谢械械 芯薪 锌芯褋谢械写芯胁邪褌械谢褜薪芯 褉邪蟹胁懈胁邪械褌褋褟 胁 谐褉芯褌械褋泻薪芯-褎邪褉褋芯胁芯屑 薪邪锌褉邪胁谢械薪懈懈, 锌芯褋褌械锌械薪薪芯 锌褉械胁褉邪褖邪褟褋褜 胁 锌芯谢薪褘泄 邪斜褋褍褉写.
袩芯 褋邪褌懈褉懈褔械褋泻懈屑 锌褉芯懈蟹胁械写械薪懈褟屑 屑芯卸薪芯 褍蟹薪邪褌褜, 褔褌芯 褟胁谢褟械褌褋褟, 锌芯 屑薪械薪懈褞 邪胁褌芯褉邪, 褋邪屑褘屑懈 薪邪斜芯谢械胁褕懈屑懈 锌褉芯斜谢械屑邪屑懈. 协褌芯褌 褉芯屑邪薪 锌芯泻邪蟹褘胁邪械褌 褍褌褉邪褌褍 写褍褏芯胁薪芯褋褌懈, 薪褉邪胁褋褌胁械薪薪褘褏 褑械薪薪芯褋褌械泄 懈 锌芯写屑械薪褍 懈屑懈 锌芯谐芯薪懈 蟹邪 屑邪褌械褉懈邪谢褜薪褘屑懈 斜谢邪谐邪屑懈, 褍褋锌械褏芯屑 胁 芯斜褖械褋褌胁械,
袧械 屑芯谐褍 褋泻邪蟹邪褌褜, 褔褌芯 褟 胁 锌芯谢薪芯屑 胁芯褋褌芯褉谐械 芯褌 褝褌芯泄 泻薪懈谐械. 袙芯蟹屑芯卸薪芯, 锌芯 锌褉懈褔懈薪械 芦薪邪屑 斜褘 袙邪褕懈 锌褉芯斜谢械屑褘禄, 懈 懈蟹-蟹邪 褝褌芯谐芯 胁芯蟹薪懈泻邪械褌 芯褖褍褖械薪懈械 薪械写芯褋褌邪褌芯褔薪芯泄 芯褋褌褉芯褌褘 泻褉懈褌懈泻懈, 屑械谢泻芯褋褌懈 褌械屑.
袚谢邪胁薪褘屑 谐械褉芯械屑 褟胁谢褟械褌褋褟 袩芯谢褜 袩械薪薪懈褎懈蟹械褉, 泻芯褌芯褉褘泄 锌芯褋褌褉邪写邪谢 胁 褝褌芯泄 锌褜褟薪芯泄 胁邪泻褏邪薪邪谢懈懈, 斜褍写褍褔懈 芯褌褔懈褋谢械薪薪褘屑 芦蟹邪 薪械锌褉懈褋褌芯泄薪芯械 锌芯胁械写械薪懈械禄 褋 褌褉械褌褜械谐芯 泻褍褉褋邪. 袧邪 褋邪屑芯屑 写械谢械, 泻芯薪械褔薪芯, 芯薪 斜褘谢 泻芯蟹谢芯屑 芯褌锌褍褖械薪懈褟, 锌芯褌芯屑褍 褔褌芯 斜褘谢 斜械写械薪 懈 薪械 屑芯谐 蟹邪锌谢邪褌懈褌褜 褕褌褉邪褎.
袝屑褍 锌褉懈褏芯写懈褌褋褟 锌褉芯泄褌懈 屑薪芯谐芯械 鈥� 褋薪邪褔邪谢邪, 械谐芯, 薪械写芯褍褔懈胁褕械谐芯褋褟 褋褌褍写械薪褌邪, 锌褉懈薪懈屑邪褞褌 薪邪 褉邪斜芯褌褍 褍褔懈褌械谢械屑, 锌褉懈褔械屑 褋褉邪蟹褍 锌芯 薪械褋泻芯谢褜泻懈屑 屑邪谢芯褋胁褟蟹邪薪薪褘屑 写懈褋褑懈锌谢懈薪邪屑, 胁 褌芯屑 褔懈褋谢械, 芯斜褍褔械薪懈械 薪械屑械褑泻芯屑褍 褟蟹褘泻褍, 泻芯褌芯褉芯谐芯 芯薪 胁芯芯斜褖械 薪械 蟹薪邪械褌. 袧懈泻芯谐芯 褝褌芯 薪械 褋屑褍褖邪械褌, 锌芯褌芯屑褍 褔褌芯 锌褉械锌芯写邪胁邪褌械谢懈 褝褌芯泄 褕泻芯谢褘 褌芯卸械 邪斜褋芯谢褞褌薪芯 薪械泻芯屑锌械褌械薪褌薪褘. 袙 泻芯薪械褔薪芯屑 懈褌芯谐械, 袩芯谢褞 锌褉懈褕谢芯褋褜 写邪卸械 芯斜褍褔邪褌褜 懈谐褉械 薪邪 芯褉谐邪薪械.
袠胁谢懈薪 袙芯 泻褉懈褌懈泻褍械褌 褋薪芯斜懈蟹屑, 褉邪褋懈蟹屑, 谐谢褍锌芯褋褌褜, 谢懈褑械屑械褉懈械 懈 褏邪薪卸械褋褌胁芯. 袝褋谢懈 褉芯屑邪薪 薪邪褔懈薪邪械褌褋褟, 泻邪泻 褋邪褌懈褉邪, 写邪谢械械 芯薪 锌芯褋谢械写芯胁邪褌械谢褜薪芯 褉邪蟹胁懈胁邪械褌褋褟 胁 谐褉芯褌械褋泻薪芯-褎邪褉褋芯胁芯屑 薪邪锌褉邪胁谢械薪懈懈, 锌芯褋褌械锌械薪薪芯 锌褉械胁褉邪褖邪褟褋褜 胁 锌芯谢薪褘泄 邪斜褋褍褉写.
袩芯 褋邪褌懈褉懈褔械褋泻懈屑 锌褉芯懈蟹胁械写械薪懈褟屑 屑芯卸薪芯 褍蟹薪邪褌褜, 褔褌芯 褟胁谢褟械褌褋褟, 锌芯 屑薪械薪懈褞 邪胁褌芯褉邪, 褋邪屑褘屑懈 薪邪斜芯谢械胁褕懈屑懈 锌褉芯斜谢械屑邪屑懈. 协褌芯褌 褉芯屑邪薪 锌芯泻邪蟹褘胁邪械褌 褍褌褉邪褌褍 写褍褏芯胁薪芯褋褌懈, 薪褉邪胁褋褌胁械薪薪褘褏 褑械薪薪芯褋褌械泄 懈 锌芯写屑械薪褍 懈屑懈 锌芯谐芯薪懈 蟹邪 屑邪褌械褉懈邪谢褜薪褘屑懈 斜谢邪谐邪屑懈, 褍褋锌械褏芯屑 胁 芯斜褖械褋褌胁械,
袧械 屑芯谐褍 褋泻邪蟹邪褌褜, 褔褌芯 褟 胁 锌芯谢薪芯屑 胁芯褋褌芯褉谐械 芯褌 褝褌芯泄 泻薪懈谐械. 袙芯蟹屑芯卸薪芯, 锌芯 锌褉懈褔懈薪械 芦薪邪屑 斜褘 袙邪褕懈 锌褉芯斜谢械屑褘禄, 懈 懈蟹-蟹邪 褝褌芯谐芯 胁芯蟹薪懈泻邪械褌 芯褖褍褖械薪懈械 薪械写芯褋褌邪褌芯褔薪芯泄 芯褋褌褉芯褌褘 泻褉懈褌懈泻懈, 屑械谢泻芯褋褌懈 褌械屑.
October 22, 2017
This is my first and I will be reading more, although I suspect the author finds salvation through religion more than I.
This was the author's first published novel. It was published in 1928 and is a satire of British society of the 1920s. The humor is accusatory, as most satirical humor is. Social norms, cultural differences, education, religion, bureaucracy, prisons, marriage, sex, love, honor - all of these themes are mercilessly poked at, to such an extent that the book could be classified as a farce. This book is meant to make us laugh. I did laugh, but that the humor is stretched to the level of a farce is why I cannot rate it higher.
We are meant to consider where the central character starts and where he is at the end. What does this say about human nature? Keep in mind that what we first see may be deceptive. Look at the title. I do appreciate novels given titles relevant to the book's message.
The book draws on the author's own school years, undergraduate studies and years as a teacher at Arnold House in northern Wales.
Do not listen to the audiobook narrated by Michael Maloney, as I did! This is the most important element of my whole review. I absolutely hated the narration, and tell me, is it easy to laugh when the narrator's intonations infuriate you? I do not think it is fair to lower a book's rating because the audiobook narration is poor. However, it was a pure struggle to concentrate only upon the author's written words and ignore the lousy narration. Maloney's reading has an uneven tempo. One minute he is screaming and the next he is whispering. Names are snot spoken clearly. Women sound like men and men as women. He over-dramatizes. There is a frantic neuroticism in the tone and tempo. I have listened to this narrator read other books. None were done as poorly as this.
This was the author's first published novel. It was published in 1928 and is a satire of British society of the 1920s. The humor is accusatory, as most satirical humor is. Social norms, cultural differences, education, religion, bureaucracy, prisons, marriage, sex, love, honor - all of these themes are mercilessly poked at, to such an extent that the book could be classified as a farce. This book is meant to make us laugh. I did laugh, but that the humor is stretched to the level of a farce is why I cannot rate it higher.
We are meant to consider where the central character starts and where he is at the end. What does this say about human nature? Keep in mind that what we first see may be deceptive. Look at the title. I do appreciate novels given titles relevant to the book's message.
The book draws on the author's own school years, undergraduate studies and years as a teacher at Arnold House in northern Wales.
Do not listen to the audiobook narrated by Michael Maloney, as I did! This is the most important element of my whole review. I absolutely hated the narration, and tell me, is it easy to laugh when the narrator's intonations infuriate you? I do not think it is fair to lower a book's rating because the audiobook narration is poor. However, it was a pure struggle to concentrate only upon the author's written words and ignore the lousy narration. Maloney's reading has an uneven tempo. One minute he is screaming and the next he is whispering. Names are snot spoken clearly. Women sound like men and men as women. He over-dramatizes. There is a frantic neuroticism in the tone and tempo. I have listened to this narrator read other books. None were done as poorly as this.
April 3, 2018
Decline and Fall is an amusing story, told with great wit, and filled with astute social commentary. Unfortunately the commentary is quite particular to its place and time period. I could not really sustain my interest and enjoyment beyond about a third of the way through. It all got a bit too much.
August 4, 2024
Saw the TV adaptation some years back and can still visualise David Suchet as Dr Fagan. This farce like story has Paul Pennyfeather losing his life as a monied gent when sent down from University. He is debagged by drunken yahoos and thrown out for running naked through the cloisters. He has to become a teacher at a low key public school. Where the gross characters and farcical situations kick off.
Waugh lampoons race, colour, creed, religion, class鈥verything 鈥n a wicked manner (ie politically incorrect as of today).
The monologue about the Welsh is side splitting - unless you are Welsh of course 馃槈I was going to quote some of them but I reflected that might be rash.
Perhaps one for our American cousins I can get away with:
Lady Circumference talking about WW1 and if we are fighting the Americans next time:
鈥榃e had German prisoners on two of the farms. That wasn鈥檛 so bad, but if they start putting Americans on my land, I鈥檒l just refuse to stand it.鈥�
Other great quotes about class:
鈥業 should think by the look of them, they were exceedingly cheap cigars,鈥� added Mr Prendergast sadly. 鈥楾hey were a pale yellow colour.鈥� 鈥楾hat makes it worse,鈥� said the Doctor. 鈥楾o think of any boy under my charge smoking pale yellow cigars in a lavatory! It is not a gentlemanly fault.鈥�
鈥楩or generations the British bourgeoisie have spoken of themselves as gentlemen, and by that they have meant, among other things, a self-respecting scorn of irregular perquisities. It is the quality that distinguishes the gentlemen from both the artist and the aristocrat. Now I am a gentleman. I can鈥檛 help it: it鈥檚 born in me. I just can鈥檛 take that money.鈥�
Only my second Waugh after 鈥楤rideshead Revisited鈥� I look forward to more.
Waugh lampoons race, colour, creed, religion, class鈥verything 鈥n a wicked manner (ie politically incorrect as of today).
The monologue about the Welsh is side splitting - unless you are Welsh of course 馃槈I was going to quote some of them but I reflected that might be rash.
Perhaps one for our American cousins I can get away with:
Lady Circumference talking about WW1 and if we are fighting the Americans next time:
鈥榃e had German prisoners on two of the farms. That wasn鈥檛 so bad, but if they start putting Americans on my land, I鈥檒l just refuse to stand it.鈥�
Other great quotes about class:
鈥業 should think by the look of them, they were exceedingly cheap cigars,鈥� added Mr Prendergast sadly. 鈥楾hey were a pale yellow colour.鈥� 鈥楾hat makes it worse,鈥� said the Doctor. 鈥楾o think of any boy under my charge smoking pale yellow cigars in a lavatory! It is not a gentlemanly fault.鈥�
鈥楩or generations the British bourgeoisie have spoken of themselves as gentlemen, and by that they have meant, among other things, a self-respecting scorn of irregular perquisities. It is the quality that distinguishes the gentlemen from both the artist and the aristocrat. Now I am a gentleman. I can鈥檛 help it: it鈥檚 born in me. I just can鈥檛 take that money.鈥�
Only my second Waugh after 鈥楤rideshead Revisited鈥� I look forward to more.
March 17, 2025
An improbable, but comic, tale of Paul Pennyfeather, wrongly sent down (expelled) from Oxford, and his subsequent adventures as a teacher in a very dubious private school, love with an older heiress, prison and Reggie-Perrin style "death".
This was Waugh's first novel, but in places it's like a caricature of his (not yet written) Brideshead Revisited, which I reviewed more thoroughly than this, HERE.
This was Waugh's first novel, but in places it's like a caricature of his (not yet written) Brideshead Revisited, which I reviewed more thoroughly than this, HERE.
May 18, 2024
鈥淲hat an immature, self-destructive, antiquated mischief is man! How obscure and gross his prancing and chattering on his little stage of evolution! How loathsome and beyond words boring all the thoughts and self-approval of his biological by-product! this half-formed, ill-conditioned body! this erratic, maladjusted mechanism of his soul: on one side the harmonious instincts and balanced responses of the animal, on the other the inflexible purpose of the engine, and between them man, equally alien from the being of Nature and the doing of the machine, the vile becoming!鈥�
Waugh鈥檚 first novel. It is a comic and satirical novel. Waugh satirises what he sees around him: it isn鈥檛 just gentle, it鈥檚 brutal.
The plot is simple and circular. Paul Pennyfeather is a shy and retiring theology student at Oxford. One evening the Bollinger Club is having a party (there is an actual real life equivalent, The Bullingdon Club: previous members include two of our former Prime Ministers: Cameron and Johnson. Let鈥檚 not even mention the ritual with the pig鈥檚 head) and Paul is at the wrong place at the wrong time. Being found without his trousers he is sent down for indecency. The only job he can get is in a minor public school in North Wales. Cue some dubious jokes about the Welsh:
鈥淔rom the earliest times the Welsh have been looked upon as an unclean people. It is thus that they have preserved their racial integrity. Their sons and daughters rarely mate with humankind except their own blood relations.鈥�
If you like this form of humour you may like this (I don鈥檛).
The Masters at the school are a rather odd bunch with some odd habits. The boys do pretty much what they like. At various functions, including a rather disastrous sports day (races started with a real gun 鈥� you know where that鈥檚 going) Paul meets the mother of one of his pupils and is invited to be his tutor during the summer. There he falls in love with the mother, not realising she runs a worldwide string of brothels amongst other things. She decides she wants to marry him. He is sent to Marseille to bribe some policemen who won鈥檛 let some of her 鈥済irls鈥� on a ship. Paul is charged with trafficking women and is sent to prison for seven years. Cue some more jokes about the similarities between prison and public schools.
In prison he meets most of the masters from his school. His wife to be marries a government minister and arranges for Paul to be spirited away to Greece. He grows a beard and returns to his theological studies at Oxford as a cousin of his former self.
The plot is mostly incidental and all the action pretty preposterous. There are echoes of Wodehouse:
鈥淥ld boy," said Grimes, "you're in love."
"Nonsense!"
"Smitten?" said Grimes.
"No, no."
"The tender passion?"
"No."
"Cupid's jolly little darts?"
"No."
"Spring fancies, love's young dream?"
"Nonsense!"
"Not even a quickening of the pulse?"
"No."
"A sweet despair?"
"Certainly not."
"A trembling hope?"
"No."
"A frisson? a Je ne sais quoi?"
"Nothing of the sort."
"Liar!" said Grimes.鈥�
Pure Wodehouse, but yet it really isn鈥檛, there is malice in this. There is some very striking racism and misogyny. The satire does have humour and as always with Waugh it is well written, but it鈥檚 pretty soulless.
Waugh鈥檚 first novel. It is a comic and satirical novel. Waugh satirises what he sees around him: it isn鈥檛 just gentle, it鈥檚 brutal.
The plot is simple and circular. Paul Pennyfeather is a shy and retiring theology student at Oxford. One evening the Bollinger Club is having a party (there is an actual real life equivalent, The Bullingdon Club: previous members include two of our former Prime Ministers: Cameron and Johnson. Let鈥檚 not even mention the ritual with the pig鈥檚 head) and Paul is at the wrong place at the wrong time. Being found without his trousers he is sent down for indecency. The only job he can get is in a minor public school in North Wales. Cue some dubious jokes about the Welsh:
鈥淔rom the earliest times the Welsh have been looked upon as an unclean people. It is thus that they have preserved their racial integrity. Their sons and daughters rarely mate with humankind except their own blood relations.鈥�
If you like this form of humour you may like this (I don鈥檛).
The Masters at the school are a rather odd bunch with some odd habits. The boys do pretty much what they like. At various functions, including a rather disastrous sports day (races started with a real gun 鈥� you know where that鈥檚 going) Paul meets the mother of one of his pupils and is invited to be his tutor during the summer. There he falls in love with the mother, not realising she runs a worldwide string of brothels amongst other things. She decides she wants to marry him. He is sent to Marseille to bribe some policemen who won鈥檛 let some of her 鈥済irls鈥� on a ship. Paul is charged with trafficking women and is sent to prison for seven years. Cue some more jokes about the similarities between prison and public schools.
In prison he meets most of the masters from his school. His wife to be marries a government minister and arranges for Paul to be spirited away to Greece. He grows a beard and returns to his theological studies at Oxford as a cousin of his former self.
The plot is mostly incidental and all the action pretty preposterous. There are echoes of Wodehouse:
鈥淥ld boy," said Grimes, "you're in love."
"Nonsense!"
"Smitten?" said Grimes.
"No, no."
"The tender passion?"
"No."
"Cupid's jolly little darts?"
"No."
"Spring fancies, love's young dream?"
"Nonsense!"
"Not even a quickening of the pulse?"
"No."
"A sweet despair?"
"Certainly not."
"A trembling hope?"
"No."
"A frisson? a Je ne sais quoi?"
"Nothing of the sort."
"Liar!" said Grimes.鈥�
Pure Wodehouse, but yet it really isn鈥檛, there is malice in this. There is some very striking racism and misogyny. The satire does have humour and as always with Waugh it is well written, but it鈥檚 pretty soulless.
December 29, 2007
I've just finished this book and look, read it. It is a delight from start to finish. In an odd way it reminds me of O Lucky Man - the Lindsay Anderson film. It also reminded me of Monty Python at their best, no, at their very best. Ok, so perhaps some of the social stereotypes don't really exist anymore, but that would be like not reading Wodehouse because no one has a man servant anymore. The architect is comic genius in its purest form - I may have even laughed out loud (though never lol) when he decided that he would have to put a staircase into the building but complains something along the lines of, what is the matter with people that they have to move around so much? Why can't they just sit still and work? And his saying that we should divide people into dynamic and static rather than male and female is just inspired.
By reading this book you will learn, among much else, that a course of action is worse than criminal behaviour (I think this may be becoming my favourite quote of all time), why people from public schools have an easier time in prison than those from slums, why it is best not to announce too loudly that you no longer have your appendix and how doubting Ministers of religion should not loose their heads over prison reform.
All delivered in straight-faced English deadpan. It doesn't get any better than this.
A romp, a riot - read it.
By reading this book you will learn, among much else, that a course of action is worse than criminal behaviour (I think this may be becoming my favourite quote of all time), why people from public schools have an easier time in prison than those from slums, why it is best not to announce too loudly that you no longer have your appendix and how doubting Ministers of religion should not loose their heads over prison reform.
All delivered in straight-faced English deadpan. It doesn't get any better than this.
A romp, a riot - read it.
August 7, 2019
"Decline and Fall" is an entertaining satire of British society in the 1920s. A quiet Oxford Divinity student, Paul Pennyfeather, is set upon by some alcohol-fueled members of the Bollinger Club and loses his trousers. Pennyfeather is expelled for indecent conduct. As he is leaving the university the porter says to him, "I expect you'll be becoming a schoolmaster, sir. That's what most of the gentlemen does, sir, that gets sent down for indecent behaviour."
Evelyn Waugh satirizes the public schools and the good old boy network of helping each other out of "the soup". Humorous situations poke fun at the lifestyles of the rich and titled, inept government officials, modern architecture, and more. I enjoyed Waugh's deadpan black humor as we see Pennyfeather involved in a year of improbable situations to come full circle in his life.
Evelyn Waugh satirizes the public schools and the good old boy network of helping each other out of "the soup". Humorous situations poke fun at the lifestyles of the rich and titled, inept government officials, modern architecture, and more. I enjoyed Waugh's deadpan black humor as we see Pennyfeather involved in a year of improbable situations to come full circle in his life.
January 23, 2016
"Decline and Fall" has served as my introduction to Evelyn Waugh, and I am satisfied. This biting satire has deadpan dark humor, a protagonist whose detached observations serve the plot well, and an ending that is depressingly stark in its view of our human nature.
This novel reminds me greatly of Voltaire's "Candide" in its themes, plotting, and characterization. The novel zips along and sweeps the reader into a plethora of events, each more outrageous than the last, until it dumps you at the end with a sad realization about this "ship of fools" we call life on earth. Don't get me wrong, the novel won't depress you, but it will leave you with a lot to mull over once you close it. However, Waugh makes the journey bearable through some of the most outrageously funny lines I have encountered in literature. I laughed out loud often while reading this text.
This is a book that can easily be misread. One could read it on the surface level and get a funny story with a dope of a lead character. You would enjoy it, put it down, and move on. And that is fine. However, this novel is such a text and much more. Waugh has an innate ability to combine biting and relevant observations about society into the most ridiculous conversations between his characters. Read this text for the humor, but stay alert to the nuggets just beneath the surface and you will get a fuller experience.
Some readers may have trouble with the British colloquialisms that Waugh uses, but most can be figured out from context.
I will be exploring more of this writer. I can pay him no higher compliment that that.
This novel reminds me greatly of Voltaire's "Candide" in its themes, plotting, and characterization. The novel zips along and sweeps the reader into a plethora of events, each more outrageous than the last, until it dumps you at the end with a sad realization about this "ship of fools" we call life on earth. Don't get me wrong, the novel won't depress you, but it will leave you with a lot to mull over once you close it. However, Waugh makes the journey bearable through some of the most outrageously funny lines I have encountered in literature. I laughed out loud often while reading this text.
This is a book that can easily be misread. One could read it on the surface level and get a funny story with a dope of a lead character. You would enjoy it, put it down, and move on. And that is fine. However, this novel is such a text and much more. Waugh has an innate ability to combine biting and relevant observations about society into the most ridiculous conversations between his characters. Read this text for the humor, but stay alert to the nuggets just beneath the surface and you will get a fuller experience.
Some readers may have trouble with the British colloquialisms that Waugh uses, but most can be figured out from context.
I will be exploring more of this writer. I can pay him no higher compliment that that.
March 16, 2024
Evelyn Waugh may have been an arch-reactionary but this novel is one of the most lethally funny satires of British society you could hope to find. Waugh held up this mirror in 1928 but the Britain reflected in these pages seems uncannily like the one of today.
The misfortunes of Paul Pennyfeather, our Candide-like hero, begin when he is debagged by the privileged yahoos of the Oxford University Bollinger Club, an elite group of vandals and bully-boys dedicated to destruction and mayhem on an extensive scale. The ensuing chain of events allow Waugh to skewer the public schools, the aristocracy and the penal system with a joyously savage brio that reminded me of the films of Lindsay Anderson.
Decline and Fall is short, sharp and very funny. In fact it鈥檚 that literary rarity, your actual comic masterpiece.
The misfortunes of Paul Pennyfeather, our Candide-like hero, begin when he is debagged by the privileged yahoos of the Oxford University Bollinger Club, an elite group of vandals and bully-boys dedicated to destruction and mayhem on an extensive scale. The ensuing chain of events allow Waugh to skewer the public schools, the aristocracy and the penal system with a joyously savage brio that reminded me of the films of Lindsay Anderson.
Decline and Fall is short, sharp and very funny. In fact it鈥檚 that literary rarity, your actual comic masterpiece.
June 11, 2024
I cordially hated this! Cordially because I still feel kindly to Evelyn Waugh, but this was not at all my style of humor. It's way too ridiculous. The only thing I liked about it was Paul Pennyfeather as a character, but he is not enough to make me ever want to read this again. I'm probably missing some of what the humor is making fun of, but I don't really care after reading it.
November 9, 2014
Ugh how great is this? Waugh's biting satire of his time and class is just *heart eyes emoji*. This is a lot funnier than I expected it so be, although it is very much British humour (which I love) so it may be lost on a lot of people. It's sort of like a comical Clockwork Orange mixed with Anderson's If.... Basically it's a Malcolm McDowell film (but nothing like Caligula). It's really very good. It's my first Waugh and I need more! He may be a new favourite.
May 19, 2021
Decline and Fall is an amusing satire that skewers many aspects of British society in the 1920s. Waugh takes special aim at the foibles and pretensions of the upper classes and their institutions. Neither Oxford nor public school education escapes his pen. Nor does the 鈥渆nlightened鈥� penal system. And Waugh makes sure that the Welsh come in for their fair share of caricature.
The book is home to a collection of characters memorable for their silliness, with Philbrick, Captain Grimes, and Lady Margot Beste-Chetwynde being among my favorites. The book is fun to read, although some of the satire has lost its edge over time. I鈥檓 sure I would have loved it had I been an Englishman reading it in 1928.
The book is home to a collection of characters memorable for their silliness, with Philbrick, Captain Grimes, and Lady Margot Beste-Chetwynde being among my favorites. The book is fun to read, although some of the satire has lost its edge over time. I鈥檓 sure I would have loved it had I been an Englishman reading it in 1928.
May 25, 2010
was 's first novel, and the first novel of his (that's right, Kelly, Evelyn's a man) that I read. It wasn't at all what I expected.
I expected a weighty, gloomy, hopeless, depressing love letter to the British upper crust. I expected the kind of book Merchant-Ivory would be happy to film amidst overcast skies and lush lawns. I expected Masterpiece Theatre during a PBS funding push.
I didn't expect scathing satire, a sort of with fangs, nor did I expect to laugh as much as I did. I was genuinely surprised by what I found, and while I did enjoy the surprise, I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. My enjoyment of suffered from my preconceptions, which were actually misconceptions.
What I wanted to read, what I was hoping to read, was something a bit more like . The whole experience was like eating a hamburger when craving roast beef. I still enjoyed the hamburger, but I longed for the beef, and my disappointment was unavoidable.
Peter Pennyfeather's journey from school to teaching to prison and back again is funny without sacrificing Waugh's acidic burn. And the funny rarely descends into the silly like Jeeves and Wooster are wont to do (not that there's anything wrong with silly). maintains its focus, delivers its critique, and does so with purpose. It really is an excellent little novel. Too bad I can't like it more.
If I'd known what I was getting into when I cracked the book, I would have liked it immensely, but unfulfilled expectations -- like mine with -- can be the death of any piece of entertainment. This time they were more like a grand mal seizure, but that was enough to diminish the experience for me.
I expected a weighty, gloomy, hopeless, depressing love letter to the British upper crust. I expected the kind of book Merchant-Ivory would be happy to film amidst overcast skies and lush lawns. I expected Masterpiece Theatre during a PBS funding push.
I didn't expect scathing satire, a sort of with fangs, nor did I expect to laugh as much as I did. I was genuinely surprised by what I found, and while I did enjoy the surprise, I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. My enjoyment of suffered from my preconceptions, which were actually misconceptions.
What I wanted to read, what I was hoping to read, was something a bit more like . The whole experience was like eating a hamburger when craving roast beef. I still enjoyed the hamburger, but I longed for the beef, and my disappointment was unavoidable.
Peter Pennyfeather's journey from school to teaching to prison and back again is funny without sacrificing Waugh's acidic burn. And the funny rarely descends into the silly like Jeeves and Wooster are wont to do (not that there's anything wrong with silly). maintains its focus, delivers its critique, and does so with purpose. It really is an excellent little novel. Too bad I can't like it more.
If I'd known what I was getting into when I cracked the book, I would have liked it immensely, but unfulfilled expectations -- like mine with -- can be the death of any piece of entertainment. This time they were more like a grand mal seizure, but that was enough to diminish the experience for me.
May 18, 2013
'Decline and Fall' is the sort of merciless social satire about Oxford and its elitist characters I expected to find when I bought 'Zuleika Dobson' by Max Beerbohm.
Whereas the latter left me utterly disappointed - to the point I left that book half-read - this novel turned out to be far more brilliant than I thought.
It's funny to notice how Mr. Beerbohm was chiefly a caricaturist who toyed with literature while young Evelyn Waugh was exactly the opposite.
And I believe both men made the right choice in sticking to what they did best later in their life.
'Decline and Fall' was published in 1928 as an 'illustrated novelette', but Waugh's sparse cartoons are amateurish and clumsy when compared to his brilliant flourished words.
In fact, among the novelists I have been reading, only the Swiss author Friedrich Durrenmatt had a worse inclination to figurative art than Waugh did.
So much for Evelyn Waugh's early aborted career as an awful cartoonist.
Shall we focus on his writing? Oh yes, indeed!
Mind you, this novel is the very first published by Waugh and it is better than a household name of British humour like P.G. Wodehouse in my humble opinion.
Am I partial to Mr. Waugh?
Well, to be honest, I don't think I am. And let me tell you why.
This guy was a conservative at heart, a converted Roman Catholic and an incurable reactionary.
Had he lived in these years, Evelyn Waugh would have probably had his weekly column in The Times or The Telegraph attacking the UE and flirting with the UKIP.
I hardly doubt his harangues would have spared harsh words on Eastern and Southern European immigrants alike invading the UK.
Had we met in person, Mr. Waugh would have probably been condescending in talking to me, found my English pronunciation disgraceful and my social manners uncouth.
But still, I'm not bitter about him. Not a bit.
No hard feelings, Evelyn.
True, Mr. Waugh changed and developed his writing style quite a lot, but the joyous, sadistic pleasure that you can find in this early novel of his is unsurpassed in his later - and more accomplished - works.
After all, this is the same author who delivered novels such as 'A Handful of Dust', 'Brideshead Revisited' and 'Scoop' which are staple food for many an English literature fan. And yet, all those books were just too perfect to blow me away completely.
'Decline and Fall' might be a juvenile work, but it does have power, anarchy, courage.
What I'm trying to say is that this novel is spontaneous and authentic to the point that you can easily imagine its author giggling at his own jokes and making fun of its own characters.
The downside of this novel is that there is plenty of racism in it. Which is hardly surprising thinking that Waugh is the same guy who entitled one of his novels 'Black Mischief'.
Actually, if you are a black person, an Italian, a Frenchman, a Welshman or have Jewish heritage chances are you will be either deeply offended or bitterly amused by this book.
And if you're a woman things won't improve that much. Female characters here are pompous matrons, coquettish posh bitches and prostitutes (Waugh plays the prudish by calling them 'entertainers').
But then again Waugh here is pitiless in his scorn for everyone and every social class, from aristocracy to the bourgeoisie passing through Bauhaus-inspired architects, butlers, schoolmasters and pub-owners.
If there is one thing Mr Waugh is excellent at it's in despising people and the way he does that is terribly funny.
'Decline and Fall' is a 'Candide Revisited' without the wit of Voltaire, but with much more enjoyable cruelty. Waugh didn't need to stage the Lisbon earthquake to raze to the ground the times he lived in.
Whereas the latter left me utterly disappointed - to the point I left that book half-read - this novel turned out to be far more brilliant than I thought.
It's funny to notice how Mr. Beerbohm was chiefly a caricaturist who toyed with literature while young Evelyn Waugh was exactly the opposite.
And I believe both men made the right choice in sticking to what they did best later in their life.
'Decline and Fall' was published in 1928 as an 'illustrated novelette', but Waugh's sparse cartoons are amateurish and clumsy when compared to his brilliant flourished words.
In fact, among the novelists I have been reading, only the Swiss author Friedrich Durrenmatt had a worse inclination to figurative art than Waugh did.
So much for Evelyn Waugh's early aborted career as an awful cartoonist.
Shall we focus on his writing? Oh yes, indeed!
Mind you, this novel is the very first published by Waugh and it is better than a household name of British humour like P.G. Wodehouse in my humble opinion.
Am I partial to Mr. Waugh?
Well, to be honest, I don't think I am. And let me tell you why.
This guy was a conservative at heart, a converted Roman Catholic and an incurable reactionary.
Had he lived in these years, Evelyn Waugh would have probably had his weekly column in The Times or The Telegraph attacking the UE and flirting with the UKIP.
I hardly doubt his harangues would have spared harsh words on Eastern and Southern European immigrants alike invading the UK.
Had we met in person, Mr. Waugh would have probably been condescending in talking to me, found my English pronunciation disgraceful and my social manners uncouth.
But still, I'm not bitter about him. Not a bit.
No hard feelings, Evelyn.
True, Mr. Waugh changed and developed his writing style quite a lot, but the joyous, sadistic pleasure that you can find in this early novel of his is unsurpassed in his later - and more accomplished - works.
After all, this is the same author who delivered novels such as 'A Handful of Dust', 'Brideshead Revisited' and 'Scoop' which are staple food for many an English literature fan. And yet, all those books were just too perfect to blow me away completely.
'Decline and Fall' might be a juvenile work, but it does have power, anarchy, courage.
What I'm trying to say is that this novel is spontaneous and authentic to the point that you can easily imagine its author giggling at his own jokes and making fun of its own characters.
The downside of this novel is that there is plenty of racism in it. Which is hardly surprising thinking that Waugh is the same guy who entitled one of his novels 'Black Mischief'.
Actually, if you are a black person, an Italian, a Frenchman, a Welshman or have Jewish heritage chances are you will be either deeply offended or bitterly amused by this book.
And if you're a woman things won't improve that much. Female characters here are pompous matrons, coquettish posh bitches and prostitutes (Waugh plays the prudish by calling them 'entertainers').
But then again Waugh here is pitiless in his scorn for everyone and every social class, from aristocracy to the bourgeoisie passing through Bauhaus-inspired architects, butlers, schoolmasters and pub-owners.
If there is one thing Mr Waugh is excellent at it's in despising people and the way he does that is terribly funny.
'Decline and Fall' is a 'Candide Revisited' without the wit of Voltaire, but with much more enjoyable cruelty. Waugh didn't need to stage the Lisbon earthquake to raze to the ground the times he lived in.
April 8, 2023
Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
Sent down from Oxford for indecent behaviour, Paul Pennyfeather embarks on a series of bizarre adventures.
Historian writer Andrew Roberts said this was one of his favourite books as well as Edwards Gibbon's Decline and Fall which has the same title. So I decided to give this a whirl and was somewhat disappointed. The first few chapters were promising but then it kind of lost its way. The racial slurs used on chapter 8 can also be off putting. It was witty at times but nothing like PG Wodehouse, he was the best at it.
.
I do have Vile bodies on the shelf by Waugh which I might give a go in the future but not anytime soon.
Sent down from Oxford for indecent behaviour, Paul Pennyfeather embarks on a series of bizarre adventures.
Historian writer Andrew Roberts said this was one of his favourite books as well as Edwards Gibbon's Decline and Fall which has the same title. So I decided to give this a whirl and was somewhat disappointed. The first few chapters were promising but then it kind of lost its way. The racial slurs used on chapter 8 can also be off putting. It was witty at times but nothing like PG Wodehouse, he was the best at it.
.
I do have Vile bodies on the shelf by Waugh which I might give a go in the future but not anytime soon.
April 14, 2017
Description: Expelled from Oxford for indecent behaviour, Paul Pennyfeather is oddly unsurprised to find himself qualifying for the position of schoolmaster at Llanabba Castle. His colleagues are an assortment of misfits, including Prendy (plagued by doubts) and captain Grimes, who is always in the soup (or just plain drunk). Then Sports Day arrives, and with it the delectable Margot Beste-Chetwynde, floating on a scented breeze. As the farce unfolds and the young run riot, no one is safe, least of all Paul. Taking its title from Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Evelyn Waugh's first, funniest novel immediately caught the ear of the public with his account of an ing茅nu abroad in the decadent confusion of 1920s high society.
31.03.2017: this BBC production is fabulous fun!
June 7, 2023
Komiksin Evelyn Waugh, valla komiksin. Fla艧 Haber'deki kadar y眉ksek perdeden kahkahalar att谋rmad谋ysan da yine g眉zel e臒lendirdin beni. 脟眉nk眉 yani hayatta 陌ngiliz mizah谋 diye bir ger莽eklik var, de臒il mi?
1928 tarihli Gerileyi艧 ve 脟枚k眉艧, 眉nl眉 陌ngiliz yazar Evelyn Waugh'nun ilk eserlerinden biri. Bizdeki 莽evirisi ise yazar谋n 1961 y谋l谋nda g枚zden ge莽irdi臒i hali. Kitap, ad谋n谋 眉nl眉 tarih莽i Edward Gibbon'谋n k眉lt eseri "Roma 陌mparatorlu臒u'nun Gerileyi艧 ve 脟枚k眉艧 Tarihi"nden al谋yor.
Konunun Roma'yla ilgisi yok tabii. Y眉zy谋l ba艧谋 Britanya's谋nday谋z, Paul Pennyfeather ad谋ndaki kahraman谋m谋z谋n hayat 枚yk眉s眉n眉 okuyoruz. Paul, nas谋l desem, yani d眉md眉z bir abimiz. Yazar da zaten fark谋nda, bir noktada bize 艧枚yle sesleniyor: "Okurun 艧imdiden fark谋na varm谋艧 oldu臒u 眉zere, Paul Pennyfeather'dan asla bir kahrama 莽谋kmayaca臒谋 bellidir, onunla ilgili merak uyand谋racak tek 艧ey, g枚lgesinin 艧ahit oldu臒u bu s谋rad谋艧谋 olaylardan kaynaklanmaktad谋r."
Olaylar 莽ok s谋rad谋艧谋 sahiden ve son derece de abs眉rt. Paul'眉n ba艧谋na gelen manas谋zl谋klar silsilesini 莽ok e臒lenceli bi莽imde anlat谋yor yazar, 眉stelik tam o s谋rada kurulan Milletler Cemiyeti'nin (bug眉n眉n Birle艧mi艧 Milletler'i malumunuz) g眉nl眉k hayata etkilerini filan da m眉thi艧 sarkastik bi莽imde kitaba ekliyor ki bu a莽谋dan yazar谋n 莽ok sevdi臒im kitab谋 Fla艧 Haber'le benzerlikler ta艧谋yor diyebiliriz. Paul'un Oxford'dan at谋lmas谋, bir okulda hocal谋臒a ba艧lamas谋, orada tan谋艧t谋臒谋 tuhaf tipler, derken kendini hapishanede bulmas谋 vs... Bir abs眉rtl眉kler silsilesi bu kitap.
Ben sevdim. Bay谋ld谋m, 枚ld眉m diyemem ama 莽ok tatl谋 vakit ge莽irten, ak谋c谋, e臒lenceli bir kitap kendisi. Arz ederim. 艦u harika al谋nt谋yla bitireyim:
"陌nsanlar谋n b枚yle bir 艧eyden haberleri olmasayd谋 芒艧谋k olacaklar谋na ya da evlenmek isteyeceklerine inanm谋yorum. Yurtd谋艧谋 gibi t谋pk谋: Var oldu臒undan haberleri olmasayd谋 kimse yurtd谋艧谋na 莽谋kmak istemezdi. Ayn谋 fikirde de臒il misiniz?"
脟ok tatl谋s谋n Evelyn Waugh. 鉂わ笍
1928 tarihli Gerileyi艧 ve 脟枚k眉艧, 眉nl眉 陌ngiliz yazar Evelyn Waugh'nun ilk eserlerinden biri. Bizdeki 莽evirisi ise yazar谋n 1961 y谋l谋nda g枚zden ge莽irdi臒i hali. Kitap, ad谋n谋 眉nl眉 tarih莽i Edward Gibbon'谋n k眉lt eseri "Roma 陌mparatorlu臒u'nun Gerileyi艧 ve 脟枚k眉艧 Tarihi"nden al谋yor.
Konunun Roma'yla ilgisi yok tabii. Y眉zy谋l ba艧谋 Britanya's谋nday谋z, Paul Pennyfeather ad谋ndaki kahraman谋m谋z谋n hayat 枚yk眉s眉n眉 okuyoruz. Paul, nas谋l desem, yani d眉md眉z bir abimiz. Yazar da zaten fark谋nda, bir noktada bize 艧枚yle sesleniyor: "Okurun 艧imdiden fark谋na varm谋艧 oldu臒u 眉zere, Paul Pennyfeather'dan asla bir kahrama 莽谋kmayaca臒谋 bellidir, onunla ilgili merak uyand谋racak tek 艧ey, g枚lgesinin 艧ahit oldu臒u bu s谋rad谋艧谋 olaylardan kaynaklanmaktad谋r."
Olaylar 莽ok s谋rad谋艧谋 sahiden ve son derece de abs眉rt. Paul'眉n ba艧谋na gelen manas谋zl谋klar silsilesini 莽ok e臒lenceli bi莽imde anlat谋yor yazar, 眉stelik tam o s谋rada kurulan Milletler Cemiyeti'nin (bug眉n眉n Birle艧mi艧 Milletler'i malumunuz) g眉nl眉k hayata etkilerini filan da m眉thi艧 sarkastik bi莽imde kitaba ekliyor ki bu a莽谋dan yazar谋n 莽ok sevdi臒im kitab谋 Fla艧 Haber'le benzerlikler ta艧谋yor diyebiliriz. Paul'un Oxford'dan at谋lmas谋, bir okulda hocal谋臒a ba艧lamas谋, orada tan谋艧t谋臒谋 tuhaf tipler, derken kendini hapishanede bulmas谋 vs... Bir abs眉rtl眉kler silsilesi bu kitap.
Ben sevdim. Bay谋ld谋m, 枚ld眉m diyemem ama 莽ok tatl谋 vakit ge莽irten, ak谋c谋, e臒lenceli bir kitap kendisi. Arz ederim. 艦u harika al谋nt谋yla bitireyim:
"陌nsanlar谋n b枚yle bir 艧eyden haberleri olmasayd谋 芒艧谋k olacaklar谋na ya da evlenmek isteyeceklerine inanm谋yorum. Yurtd谋艧谋 gibi t谋pk谋: Var oldu臒undan haberleri olmasayd谋 kimse yurtd谋艧谋na 莽谋kmak istemezdi. Ayn谋 fikirde de臒il misiniz?"
脟ok tatl谋s谋n Evelyn Waugh. 鉂わ笍
June 6, 2020
One of Evelyn Vaugh's first novels, he wrote it at 25, and hence lacking in arch and depth but ...it is funny. Vaugh skewers society (England in the 1920's) by launching his main character -Pennyfeather on to a voyage through everywhere from Oxford to boarding school to high society to prison and back. He is hapless and aims for nothing but finding something to "stick" to. I the end, he just aspires to be left alone and comfortably static. Sure, the world has changed since then but it is the scalpel that matters. Vaugh's disillusion is pervasive, with only a dry humor to coerce some surprise. The stakes are low, it is true, as the events start to become ever more absurd and everyone remains sheltered by class and well-sconced expectations but the banter keeps flowing and it is witty and fun to observe.
November 16, 2023
144th book of 2023.
I went off Waugh as a strong-minded university student because he was a young Tory boy who had been educated at the giant school down the road (figuratively) from my parents' house where, on occasions, I would be taken to their indoor swimming pool for kayaking lessons (that's how big the pool was). As I got older I realised two things about life: (1) art and the artist are separate and (2) that ignoring my hatred for their political persuasion, those with right-wing beliefs are generally funnier than those with the left.
I went off Waugh as a strong-minded university student because he was a young Tory boy who had been educated at the giant school down the road (figuratively) from my parents' house where, on occasions, I would be taken to their indoor swimming pool for kayaking lessons (that's how big the pool was). As I got older I realised two things about life: (1) art and the artist are separate and (2) that ignoring my hatred for their political persuasion, those with right-wing beliefs are generally funnier than those with the left.
April 1, 2018
It's funny, but the racism ruins it.
July 15, 2019
Evelyn Waugh鈥檚 social satire that makes buffoons of the English upper-class system, particularly hard on the education sector. I wish we could say none of this rings true, but alas beneath the farcical facade is an element of truth--as indeed there must be if satire is to work at all.
About midway of this novel, there is a scene set at a boy鈥檚 school sports day. I could picture this event perfectly...the children of the wealthy and prestigious, not an athlete among them, taking all the honors and awards in races that make no sense whatsoever.
This is Waugh鈥檚 first novel and it achieves what he set out to do, I鈥檓 sure. Being a huge fan of his Brideshead Revisited, a more straightforward look at the English privileged, I found this not able to compete. On the other hand, this is where the groundwork was laid for the great writing to come, and as satire goes, this one works.
About midway of this novel, there is a scene set at a boy鈥檚 school sports day. I could picture this event perfectly...the children of the wealthy and prestigious, not an athlete among them, taking all the honors and awards in races that make no sense whatsoever.
This is Waugh鈥檚 first novel and it achieves what he set out to do, I鈥檓 sure. Being a huge fan of his Brideshead Revisited, a more straightforward look at the English privileged, I found this not able to compete. On the other hand, this is where the groundwork was laid for the great writing to come, and as satire goes, this one works.
March 10, 2023
3.5, rounded up.
I took a half star off since - although this is largely a comic delight - the rampant racism and frequent use of the 'N' word I found to be quite distasteful (although considering this was written in 1928, I suppose some allowance should be made). The silliness of the book and characters reads quite contemporary, however - with the incorrigible Dr. Grimes being the standout character (he's played with hilarious fervor by Douglas Hodge in the inevitable miniseries).
I took a half star off since - although this is largely a comic delight - the rampant racism and frequent use of the 'N' word I found to be quite distasteful (although considering this was written in 1928, I suppose some allowance should be made). The silliness of the book and characters reads quite contemporary, however - with the incorrigible Dr. Grimes being the standout character (he's played with hilarious fervor by Douglas Hodge in the inevitable miniseries).
February 13, 2018
A puredee delight. One of the funniest novels I've ever read.
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