Evelyn Waugh was a master satirical novelist whose works offered sharp commentary on social mores and human foibles. His writing is characterized by incisive wit, irony, and precise observation, often reflecting his own experiences and a critical view of the world. Waugh fearlessly tackled themes of class, religion, and the transience of life, earning a reputation as one of his era's most significant British novelists. His distinctive style and unflinching gaze at modern life make him an author whose works continue to resonate with readers seeking profound yet entertaining literature.
These stories have all Waugh's characteristically brilliant, savage wit and reproduce his unmistakable world in miniature. They also constitute a vital supplement to the major novels, while being significant works in their own right
Guy Crouchback, a Catholic and a gentleman is commissioned into the Royal Corps of Halberdiers during the war years 1939-45. High comedy - in the company of Brigadier Ritchie-Hook or the denizens of Bellamy's Club - is only part of the shambles of his war. When action comes in Crete and in Yugoslavia, he discovers not heroism, but humanity.
(Book Jacket Jacketed)In honor of the hundredth anniversary of Evelyn Waugh’s birth, four of the master’s most wickedly scathing comedies are here brought together in one volume.Black Mischief is Waugh at his most mischievous–inventing a politically loopy African state as a means of pulverizing politics at home. In Scoop , it is journalism’s turn to be drawn and quartered. The Loved One (which became a famously hilarious film) sends up the California mortuary business. And The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold is a burst of fictionalized autobiography in which Pinfold goes mad, more or less, on board an ocean liner.Here in four short–very different–novels are the mordant wit, inspired farce, snapping dialogue, and amazing characters that are the essence of everything Waugh ever wrote.
Evelyn Waugh was a loving Husband, a wise and affectionate father and the funniest English novelist of the century. This selection of letters does full justice to these splendid attribute's " Phillip Toynbee.
"Paul Pennyfeather, innocent victim of a drunken orgy, is expelled from Oxford College, which costs him a career in the church. He turns to teaching, frequently the last resort of failures, and at Llanabba Castle meets a friend, Beste-Chetwynde. But Margot, Beste-Chetwynde's mother, introduces him to the questionable delights of high society. Suddenly, and improbably, he is engaged to marry Margot. Just as they are about to say "I do, " Scotland Yard arrives and arrests Peter for his involvement in Margot's white slave-trading ring."--Amazon.
This title starts with a detailed description of Emperor Haile Selassie I's coronation and follows with travels across Africa, showcasing interactions between locals, eccentric expatriates, settlers, Arab traders, dignitaries, and monks.
The story of Guy Crouchback, whose career as an officer in the royal corps of Halberdiers is chequered and strewn with blunders and botched encounters. It is also rich in such indelibly funny characters as Colonel Ritchie-Hook and Apthorpe.
Evelyn Waugh kept a diary almost continuously from the age of seven until a year before his death in 1966, and extracts from the diaries caused sensation when they were published by in The Observer. Providing the background to the novels which made Waugh famous, these diaries are a sharp and baleful view of the social history of our times.
