Modern Library Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century (34)
I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or you shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
-The
Wasteland (T.S. Eliot 1888-1965)
In what many consider his greatest novel, Evelyn Waugh--fueled by the
essence of this quote from the Wasteland, the failure of his own marriage,
a chance meeting with a British expatriate in South American and his own
conversion to Catholicism--creates a savage satire of modern Britain.
Tony Last (presumably the last of his tribe) is a member of Britain's
declining landed gentry. He's barely managed to hold the family estate
together but he has a successful marriage (or so he believes) and a wonderful
son. Then, in short order, the boy is killed in a horse riding accident,
his wife leaves him for a callow youth and Tony travels to the Amazon on
an ill-fated expedition. In the end, Tony finds himself stranded
in the jungle with a reclusive Englishman who makes him read the works
of Dickens aloud.
From the wife who casually abandons her marriage, to the member of Parliament
whose greatest achievement is a new regulation on pork bellies to the similarities
Tony finds between the civilized British and the Amazon savages, Waugh
depicts a Britain that is sunk in amorality and has abandoned all pretense
of greatness. Long before WWII brought down the final curtain on
the Empire, he presents a despairing portrait of a society bereft of any
moral bearings. The final image, of the decent Englishman reciting
the greatest of England's cultural achievements into the wilderness, is
an especially poignant metaphor for what Waugh felt his country had been
reduced to in the Modern age.
(Reviewed:)
Grade: (B)
Websites:
Evelyn Waugh Links:
-Evelyn
Waugh (1903-1966)(kirjasto)
-The
Columbia Encyclopedia: Sixth Edition. 2000: Waugh, Evelyn Arthur
St. John
-FEATURED
AUTHOR: Evelyn Waugh (NY Times Archives)
-OBIT:
Evelyn Waugh, Satirical Novelist, Is Dead at 62 (Special to The New
York Times, April 11, 1966)
-TOP
100 CATHOLICS OF THE CENTURY: #97 Evelyn Waugh (DAILY CATHOLIC)
-BIO:
Evelyn Waugh--Catholic Convert & Writer (St. Joseph Messenger)
-Doubting
Hall : A Guided Tour Around Evelyn Waugh
-PROFILE
: Evelyn Waugh : The Best and the Wost ( Charles J. Rolo, Atlantic
Monthly, 1954)
-PROFILE
: Evelyn Waugh : The Height of His Powers (L.E. Sissman, Atlantic Monthly,
1972)
-ESSAY:
from The Road to Damascus: The Spiritual Pilgrimage of Fifteen Converts
to Catholicism (Evelyn Waugh)
-ESSAY:
St. Helena Empress (Evelyn Waugh)
-ESSAY:
The Capture of Campion (Evelyn Waugh)
-LETTER:
Evelyn Waugh on the Changes in the Mass (1965, Latin Mass Magazine)
-EXCERPTS:
Waugh Diaries (Aquinas Cafe)
-INTERVIEW:
An Interview With Evelyn Waugh (HARVEY BREIT, NY Times, March 13, 1949)
-Evelyn
Waugh: The Loved One
-ESSAY: Deadly Satire, Saving Grace: The Faith & Work of Evelyn Waugh (James E. Person, Jr., June 2005, Touchstone)
-Doubting
Hall: site dedicated to the works of the English novelist Evelyn Waugh
(1903-1966)
-Evelyn
Waugh World Wide Resources
-Brideshead
Revisited
-ESSAY:
St. Evelyn Waugh (George Weigel, First Things)
-REVIEW ESSAY: THE PERMANENT ADOLESCENT: The vices of Evelyn Waugh are what made him a king of comedy and of tragedy. (Christopher Hitchens, May 2003, The Atlantic)
-ESSAY
: Wealth, Privilege and Decline and Fall : Evelyn Waugh was a
staunch critic of social privilege, says Derek Copold (Spintech)
-ESSAY: David Lodge: Waugh's
Comic Waste Land (NY Review of Books)
-ESSAY:
An Eccentric Novelist in the War (Paul Burdett, HistoryNet)
-ESSAY:
A Handful of Dust: Return to Guiana (V.S. NAIPAUL, NY Review of Books)
-ESSAY:
EVELYN WAUGH: Wife left scars (The Straits Times)
-ESSAY:
"Evelyn Waugh- That's What's Wrong with England" (Patrick Adcock, Professor
of English)
-ESSAY:
Declaration of Waugh: How Evelyn Waugh's 'late lunacy' was triggered
by a conversation with Alan Brien at White's Club... (The Oldie)
-ESSAY:
“The consecration of the heart”: Ronald Knox reconsidered
(Paul Dean, New Criterion)
-STUDY
GUIDE: Evelyn Waugh A Handful of Dust (1934) (plot summary, etc)
-DISCUSSION:
Libertarian Pop Culture Forum: Evelyn Waugh and Aldous Huxley
-ETEXT: A Companion to Evelyn Waugh's Sword of
Honour (David Cliffe)
-ESSAY: The Crouchback tendency:
Sword of Honour enthralled millions of television viewers but it overlooked a profound truth about wars (Neal Ascherson, January 7, 2001, The
Observer)
-ESSAY: Evelyn Waugh on War And Honor (Milton
Batiste, LewRockwell.com)
-ESSAY: Evelyn Waugh: The Best and the Worst (Charles
J. Rolo, October 1954, The Atlantic Monthly)
-ESSAY: Put Out More Flags (Charlotte Hays, Fall 2001,
Independent Women's Quarterly)
-REVIEW: of The Sword of Honour Trilogy by Evelyn
Waugh (Michael Dirda, The Crisis)
-REVIEW:
of The Loved One (Orville Prescott, NY Times)
-REVIEW:
of Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh's Finest Novel (JOHN K. HUTCHENS,
NY Times)
-REVIEW:
of A Handful of Dust (Anatole Broyard, NY Times)
-REVIEW:
of A Handful of Dust (Nicholas Lezard, London Guardian)
-REVIEW
: of The Sword of Honor Trilogy by Evelyn Waugh : A Maverick Historian
: Rarely has comedy of manners been so artfully infused with pathos
as in Evelyn Waugh's recently reissued Sword of Honour trilogy: "the finest
work of fiction in English," our author argues, "to emerge from World
War II" (Penelope Lively , Atlantic Monthly)
-REVIEW:
of Decline and Fall By Evelyn Waugh (A.E.C., London Guardian,
Friday October 12, 1928)
-REVIEW:
John Gross: Waugh Revisited, NY Review of Books
A Little Learning by Evelyn
Waugh
-REVIEW:
D.A.N. Jones: Waugh Revisited, NY Review of Books
Basil Seal Rides Again by
Evelyn Waugh
-REVIEW:
of The Complete Stories of Evelyn Waugh (Algis Valiunas, American Spectator)
-REVIEW:
of The Complete Stories of Evelyn Waugh (ROGER GATHMAN, Austin Chronicle)
-REVIEW:
of 'Stories of Evelyn Waugh' shows why the author is known for his
novels (Clarence Brown, The Seattle Times)
-REVIEW:
of The Diaries of Evelyn Waugh (FRANK KERMODE, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
Nigel Dennis: Fabricated Man, NY Review of Books
The Diaries of Evelyn Waugh
edited by Michael Davie
-REVIEW:
Robert Craft: Too Little Waugh, NY Review of Books
Evelyn Waugh: A Little Order
A Selection From His Journalism
-REVIEW:
of The Life of Evelyn Waugh by Douglas Lane Patey (Kenneth R. Craycraft,
Jr., First Things)
-REVIEW:
Conor Cruise O'Brien: Nobs and Snobs, NY Review of Books
Evelyn Waugh: The Early
Years, 1903-1939 by Martin Stannard
-REVIEW:
of Martin Stannard's "Evelyn Waugh: The Early Years, 1903-1939," (Edmund
Morris, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
Wilfrid Sheed: Portrait of the Artist as a Self-Made Man, NY review
of Books
Evelyn Waugh: The Later
Years 1939-1966 by Martin Stannard
-REVIEW:
of Martin Stannard's "Evelyn Waugh: The Later Years, 1939-1966," (Penelope
Fitzgerald, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
Clive James: Waugh's Last Stand, NY Review of Books
The Letters of Evelyn Waugh
edited by Mark Amory
-REVIEW:
of "The Letters of Evelyn Waugh and Diana Cooper" (William F. Buckley,
NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of Blood, Class and Nostalgia: Anglo-American Ironies by Christopher Hitchens
(Stewart Donovan, Antigonish Review)
-REVIEW:
of The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh (James Campbell, Paradigm
Magazine)
-REVIEW:
of THE LETTERS OF NANCY MITFORD & EVELYN WAUGH (Katherine Knorr,
International Herald Tribune)
-REVIEW:
of Selina Hastings' "Evelyn Waugh: A Biography," (Hugh Kenner,
NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of Evelyn Waugh: A Biography by Selina Hastings (John Banville, London
Guardian)
-REVIEW: The
Possessed (NOEL ANNAN. NY Review of Books)
-REVIEW: of At War with Waugh by WF Deedes (Diana Mosley, Evening Standard)
-BOOKLIST:
Editor's pick Michael Korda, editor of Jacqueline Susann and
Tennessee Williams, picks his five favorite novels of the past 40 years
(MICHAEL KORDA, Salon)
-BOOKLIST:
Thomas Swick's top 10 travel books of the 20th century (Salon)
GENERAL:
-ESSAY:
England's
Doubt: When Christianity in England reformulated itself in the 18th
century as a scientific hypothesis, it became vulnerable to scientific
refutation. (Prospect)
-ESSAY:
The Necessity for Christianity (Professor Paul Johnson)
-ESSAY:
The Making of the English Middle Class: Under Margaret Thatcher and
now under Tony Blair, Britain has become markedly less class-bound. How
did this happen? (Geoffrey Wheatcroft, The Atlantic)
Book-related and General Links:
-Evelyn
Waugh (1903-1966)(kirjasto)
-ENCYCLOPAEDIA
BRITANNICA: Your search: "evelyn waugh"
-The
Columbia Encyclopedia: Sixth Edition. 2000: Waugh, Evelyn Arthur
St. John
-FEATURED
AUTHOR: Evelyn Waugh (NY Times Archives)
-OBIT:
Evelyn Waugh, Satirical Novelist, Is Dead at 62 (Special to The New
York Times, April 11, 1966)
-TOP
100 CATHOLICS OF THE CENTURY: #97 Evelyn Waugh (DAILY CATHOLIC)
-BIO:
Evelyn Waugh--Catholic Convert & Writer (St. Joseph Messenger)
-ESSAY:
from The Road to Damascus: The Spiritual Pilgrimage of Fifteen Converts
to Catholicism (Evelyn Waugh)
-ESSAY:
St. Helena Empress (Evelyn Waugh)
-ESSAY:
The Capture of Campion (Evelyn Waugh)
-LETTER:
Evelyn Waugh on the Changes in the Mass (1965, Latin Mass Magazine)
-EXCERPTS:
Waugh Diaries (Aquinas Cafe)
-INTERVIEW:
An Interview With Evelyn Waugh (HARVEY BREIT, NY Times, March 13, 1949)
-Evelyn
Waugh: The Loved One
-Doubting
Hall: site dedicated to the works of the English novelist Evelyn Waugh
(1903-1966)
-Evelyn
Waugh World Wide Resources
-Brideshead
Revisited
-ESSAY:
St. Evelyn Waugh (George Weigel, First Things)
-ESSAY: David Lodge: Waugh's
Comic Waste Land (NY Review of Books)
-ESSAY:
An Eccentric Novelist in the War (Paul Burdett, HistoryNet)
-ESSAY:
A Handful of Dust: Return to Guiana (V.S. NAIPAUL, NY Review of Books)
-ESSAY:
EVELYN WAUGH: Wife left scars (The Straits Times)
-ESSAY:
"Evelyn Waugh- That's What's Wrong with England" (Patrick Adcock, Professor
of English)
-ESSAY:
Declaration of Waugh: How Evelyn Waugh's 'late lunacy' was triggered
by a conversation with Alan Brien at White's Club... (The Oldie)
-ESSAY:
ìThe consecration of the heartî: Ronald Knox reconsidered
(Paul Dean, New Criterion)
-STUDY
GUIDE: Evelyn Waugh A Handful of Dust (1934) (plot summary, etc)
-DISCUSSION:
Libertarian Pop Culture Forum: Evelyn Waugh and Aldous Huxley
-REVIEW:
of The Loved One (Orville Prescott, NY Times)
-REVIEW:
of Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh's Finest Novel (JOHN K. HUTCHENS,
NY Times)
-REVIEW:
of A Handful of Dust (Anatole Broyard, NY Times)
-REVIEW:
of A Handful of Dust (Nicholas Lezard, London Guardian)
-REVIEW:
of Decline and Fall By Evelyn Waugh (A.E.C., London Guardian,
Friday October 12, 1928)
-REVIEW:
John Gross: Waugh Revisited, NY Review of Books
A Little Learning by Evelyn
Waugh
-REVIEW:
D.A.N. Jones: Waugh Revisited, NY Review of Books
Basil Seal Rides Again by
Evelyn Waugh
-REVIEW:
of The Complete Stories of Evelyn Waugh (Algis Valiunas, American Spectator)
-REVIEW:
of The Complete Stories of Evelyn Waugh (ROGER GATHMAN, Austin Chronicle)
-REVIEW:
of 'Stories of Evelyn Waugh' shows why the author is known for his
novels (Clarence Brown, The Seattle Times)
-REVIEW:
of The Diaries of Evelyn Waugh (FRANK KERMODE, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
Nigel Dennis: Fabricated Man, NY Review of Books
The Diaries of Evelyn Waugh
edited by Michael Davie
-REVIEW:
Robert Craft: Too Little Waugh, NY Review of Books
Evelyn Waugh: A Little Order
A Selection From His Journalism
-REVIEW:
of The Life of Evelyn Waugh by Douglas Lane Patey (Kenneth R. Craycraft,
Jr., First Things)
-REVIEW:
Conor Cruise O'Brien: Nobs and Snobs, NY Review of Books
Evelyn Waugh: The Early
Years, 1903-1939 by Martin Stannard
-REVIEW:
of Martin Stannard's "Evelyn Waugh: The Early Years, 1903-1939," (Edmund
Morris, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
Wilfrid Sheed: Portrait of the Artist as a Self-Made Man, NY review
of Books
Evelyn Waugh: The Later
Years 1939-1966 by Martin Stannard
-REVIEW:
of Martin Stannard's "Evelyn Waugh: The Later Years, 1939-1966," (Penelope
Fitzgerald, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
Clive James: Waugh's Last Stand, NY Review of Books
The Letters of Evelyn Waugh
edited by Mark Amory
-REVIEW:
of "The Letters of Evelyn Waugh and Diana Cooper" (William F. Buckley,
NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of Blood, Class and Nostalgia: Anglo-American Ironies by Christopher Hitchens
(Stewart Donovan, Antigonish Review)
-REVIEW:
of The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh (James Campbell, Paradigm
Magazine)
-REVIEW:
of THE LETTERS OF NANCY MITFORD & EVELYN WAUGH (Katherine Knorr,
International Herald Tribune)
-REVIEW:
of Selina Hastings' "Evelyn Waugh: A Biography," (Hugh Kenner,
NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of Evelyn Waugh: A Biography by Selina Hastings (John Banville, London
Guardian)
-REVIEW: The
Possessed (NOEL ANNAN. NY Review of Books)
-BOOKLIST:
Editor's pick Michael Korda, editor of Jacqueline Susann and
Tennessee Williams, picks his five favorite novels of the past 40 years
(MICHAEL KORDA, Salon)
-BOOKLIST:
Thomas Swick's top 10 travel books of the 20th century (Salon)
GENERAL:
-ESSAY:
England's
Doubt: When Christianity in England reformulated itself in the 18th
century as a scientific hypothesis, it became vulnerable to scientific
refutation. (Prospect)
-ESSAY:
The Necessity for Christianity (Professor Paul Johnson)
-ESSAY:
The Making of the English Middle Class: Under Margaret Thatcher and
now under Tony Blair, Britain has become markedly less class-bound. How
did this happen? (Geoffrey Wheatcroft, The Atlantic)
Comments:
Orrin welcomes reader comments on his reviews.
Add yours here.
