Rating: 
Summary: The best
Review: Waugh's best novel, and arguably the greatest English novel of the Twentieth Century. Can't add to that.
Rating:
Summary: Observant, biting, witty little novel
Review: Waugh's biting little satire on the stultifying rituals of country life and the encroaching corruption of change in the 1930's is just a joy to read. It is the story of Tony Last who is land rich but cash poor - just about every penny goes into keeping his estate running - a typical situation for these large landowners between the wars (1918-39). He is married to Brenda, a beautiful socialite who has settled into country life with him with hardly a backward glance - and they seem very happy. Until an unfortunate meeting brings Mr Beaver to visit.Mr Beaver is also incredibly poor but he lives in high society in London and his mother is designer who converts old houses into new flats for the wealthy and Brenda falls for him despite his treating her rather poorly. Brenda begins an affair with him and Tony's world very slowly and carefully crumbles around him without him knowing what is happening. Waugh doesn't spare his satirical pen and everyone suffers - Tony for his ignorance of thecourse of events, Brenda for her not wishing anyone to rock the boat with a show of emotion, and Mr Beaver for being one of the Noveau class who are part of the change in the class structure and way of life. I believe that Waugh must have read about the adventures of Colonel Fawcett who was lost in the Amazon jungle sometime in the 1920's and I wondered if he read Peter Fleming's marvellous book of an expedition to try to find him "Brazillian Adventure". These were very popular books at the time and may have given Waugh some ideas for the last part of this book is an Amazonian adventure in itself. The ending is interesting for I don't know if any of the characters got what the deserved as they might under the old system of class, in the new order each character is given the fate which they have earned though.
Rating:
Summary: An incredible read
Review: Waugh's genius is never more evident than this masterful tale. Supposedly composed from back to front, Waugh's semi-autobiographical story grabs the reader's attention and deliver's a damning blow to "humanism." The ending is both comical and horrifying. Strongly recommended to all
Rating:
Summary: Discomforting view of humanity, with no comic relief
Review: Written by Evelyn Waugh in 1934, this British novel is a biting satire of the silly lives of the upper class. The author is master of the nuanced barb and he uses them with seeming delight and controlled rage. It is an unpleasant book to read and I know I would hate the author if I met him in person, and yet I can appreciate his skill in creating the discomforting atmosphere, his fascination with things that go wrong, and the dark side of human nature. Tony Last, an aristocrat who devotes himself to the upkeep of his expensive ancestral home is blind to the infidelities of his wife Brenda, who parties in London with her sycophantic lover. There's a whole cast of vapid characters, each exquisitely developed with revealing detail. When tragedy strikes it's like a piece of chalk scraped upon a blackboard, and as the story continues to unfold, and Tony travels to the jungles of Brazil, the plot swerves into a painful absurdity. It's all one big farce and yet there is no comic relief. And by the end of the book, only sadness prevails. I must give this book a high ranking however because of Mr. Waugh's skill and his uncanny ability to uncover some painful human truths that I'd rather not see. I can therefore only recommend it to students of human nature who are willing to be tormented in the same way the author torments his characters. Just be forewarned.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Master's Best
Review: You know that when you see a passage from Eliot's THE WASTE LAND appearing before the title page that you are not headed for 300 pages of fun and games. Sure there is the usual stock of Waugh humor, wit, and snappy dialogue to be had here, but this ranks as amongst his darkest novels. It's tragicomedy at its finest. It's also one of the most beautifully written novels I've ever read, perfect in pitch, cadence, wording, razor sharp characterization, mood, you name it. Like a number of his novels, it is set primarily in England, between the wars, bouncing back and forth between London and an Estate in the country. The plot boils down to the break up of a marriage and the decline and fall of the central character, Lord of the manor and eventual "Explorer," Anthony (Tony) Mast. Tony means well. He really does. It's just that he's so fixated on maintaining Hetton, his hereditary estate, that he doesn't even notice when his lovely wife Brenda engages in an affair with an inconsequential and boorish young society chap to whom Waugh assigns the inglorious name, John Beaver. Waugh's customary drollery comes to the fore as he depicts the cavalier attitudes towards the affair on the part of Tony's and Brenda's social circle. They are rather like actors in a Restoration play, whose moral compasses have become entirely skewed. Though not as moralistic as some of Waugh's late novels, A HANDFUL OF DUST definitely offers a portrait of a very decadent society, indeed. These are not sympathetic characters. Even the two children who enter into the plot are hardly what one would call likeable. This novel definitely takes some unexpected turns, leading us eventually to a denouement in the Amazon Jungle. The ending has to rank as one of the greatest in literature. I can't recommend this book highly enough. The English are greatest satirists and Waugh was the master of the genre amongst 20th century writers. I've got a couple more Waugh books on my list, but will go with VILE BODIES next, as it's already on my shelf. This edition has print large enough that I didn't need my reading glasses. It's the quickest 300 page novel I've ever read. It only took about 6 hrs cover to cover, and I am not a fast reader. I really was so transfixed that I had to read it straight through, which I don't usually do these days.
BEK
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