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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
An incisive satire on the moral bankruptcy of the Bright Young Things in the interwar period. The book was written as a backstory to an earlier short story about a man reading Dickens aloud to his captor in Brazil. The alternate ending, where Tony has returned to resume his life amongst his awful friends, is somehow not any less grim. The book is an effective takedown of the degeneracy of the rich and idle in Britain's classist system.
Other readers have criticized the late shift in setting to Brazil, but I found that it fit with the absurdist direction of the book. The author successfully lampoons the Bright Young Things set; there is not a single likeable major character in the book, except John Andrew (one of the more interesting child characters I've come across lately).
The writing is razor sharp and the prose is crisp, and there is not a word out of place. It is crackling with wit, and it is easy to see why people say that this book is Evelyn Waugh at his finest.
Summary: Tony and Brenda Last have been happily married for several years, living at Hetton Abbey, an unsightly Gothic estate, with their son John Andrew. Tony is perfectly content as a provincial aristocrat, while Brenda is increasingly bored. On a whim, Tony invites John Beaver, a directionless twentysomething social climber, to visit Hetton. Brenda is immediately taken with Mr. Beaver. After meeting him again in London, she takes an apartment in town so that she can spend more time with him. Brenda and Mr. Beaver openly swan about London, and their relationship is well known, although Tony remains unaware. Brenda does not visit Hetton frequently, so Tony decides to visit her in London. She refuses to see him because she has other friends. Tony meets their friend and Brenda's former suitor, Jock Grant-Menzies, for a drink. They turn up drunk to Brenda's apartment but she refuses to see them. Tony is embarrassed of his behavior, but Brenda is pleased that he has been dissuaded from visiting her unannounced. To keep Tony occupied, Brenda decides to set Tony up with her friend Jenny Abdul Akbar, the wife of a Moroccan notable. Tony does not take a liking to her. Jock goes to Hetton for a hunting weekend, where John Andrew dies in an accident. Jock goes to London to break the news that John has died to Brenda. Brenda is initially relieved that it is John Andrew who died and not John Beaver. After the funeral, Brenda leaves a letter with Tony informing him that she is leaving him for Mr. Beaver. To meet the requirements for a divorce, Tony takes a woman he met in a bar (and her daughter) to a hotel on the seaside. At Mr. Beaver's insistence, Brenda and her family demand alimony payments that would force Tony to sell his beloved Hetton. He refuses, and says he will go away for six months, and if Brenda still wants a divorce when he returns, he will grant it. Tony meets Dr. Messinger at a club and decides to join his expedition to the Amazon to find a lost city. He meets and has a brief romance with Therese, a Trinidadian woman, on the ship to Brazil, but she shuns him when she finds out he is married. Tony and Dr. Messinger travel into the Amazon, guided by a group of Native Americans. The guides refuse to continue into the territory of a neighboring tribe, and abandon them when Dr. Messinger tries to barter a mechanical mouse for their support. Dr. Messinger and Tony continue alone, until Tony comes down with a fever. Dr. Messinger goes further down the river to seek help, but drowns. Tony stumbles into the home of an illiterate British Guyanan, Mr. Todd, who nurses him back to health. When Tony has recovered, Mr. Todd asks him to read Dickens to him. Tony realizes that Mr. Todd is holding him captive to read aloud to him indefinitely. Tony sends a message with a gold panner who passes through the village. An English search party arrives looking for Tony, but Mr. Todd has drugged him and given the searchers his watch, implying that Tony is dead. Meanwhile, Mr. Beaver has lost interest in Brenda and goes to America. Assuming that Tony is dead, his cousins take over Hetton and erect a memorial for him. Brenda marries Jock.
Other readers have criticized the late shift in setting to Brazil, but I found that it fit with the absurdist direction of the book. The author successfully lampoons the Bright Young Things set; there is not a single likeable major character in the book, except John Andrew (one of the more interesting child characters I've come across lately).
The writing is razor sharp and the prose is crisp, and there is not a word out of place. It is crackling with wit, and it is easy to see why people say that this book is Evelyn Waugh at his finest.
Summary: Tony and Brenda Last have been happily married for several years, living at Hetton Abbey, an unsightly Gothic estate, with their son John Andrew. Tony is perfectly content as a provincial aristocrat, while Brenda is increasingly bored. On a whim, Tony invites John Beaver, a directionless twentysomething social climber, to visit Hetton. Brenda is immediately taken with Mr. Beaver. After meeting him again in London, she takes an apartment in town so that she can spend more time with him. Brenda and Mr. Beaver openly swan about London, and their relationship is well known, although Tony remains unaware. Brenda does not visit Hetton frequently, so Tony decides to visit her in London. She refuses to see him because she has other friends. Tony meets their friend and Brenda's former suitor, Jock Grant-Menzies, for a drink. They turn up drunk to Brenda's apartment but she refuses to see them. Tony is embarrassed of his behavior, but Brenda is pleased that he has been dissuaded from visiting her unannounced. To keep Tony occupied, Brenda decides to set Tony up with her friend Jenny Abdul Akbar, the wife of a Moroccan notable. Tony does not take a liking to her. Jock goes to Hetton for a hunting weekend, where John Andrew dies in an accident. Jock goes to London to break the news that John has died to Brenda. Brenda is initially relieved that it is John Andrew who died and not John Beaver. After the funeral, Brenda leaves a letter with Tony informing him that she is leaving him for Mr. Beaver. To meet the requirements for a divorce, Tony takes a woman he met in a bar (and her daughter) to a hotel on the seaside. At Mr. Beaver's insistence, Brenda and her family demand alimony payments that would force Tony to sell his beloved Hetton. He refuses, and says he will go away for six months, and if Brenda still wants a divorce when he returns, he will grant it. Tony meets Dr. Messinger at a club and decides to join his expedition to the Amazon to find a lost city. He meets and has a brief romance with Therese, a Trinidadian woman, on the ship to Brazil, but she shuns him when she finds out he is married. Tony and Dr. Messinger travel into the Amazon, guided by a group of Native Americans. The guides refuse to continue into the territory of a neighboring tribe, and abandon them when Dr. Messinger tries to barter a mechanical mouse for their support. Dr. Messinger and Tony continue alone, until Tony comes down with a fever. Dr. Messinger goes further down the river to seek help, but drowns. Tony stumbles into the home of an illiterate British Guyanan, Mr. Todd, who nurses him back to health. When Tony has recovered, Mr. Todd asks him to read Dickens to him. Tony realizes that Mr. Todd is holding him captive to read aloud to him indefinitely. Tony sends a message with a gold panner who passes through the village. An English search party arrives looking for Tony, but Mr. Todd has drugged him and given the searchers his watch, implying that Tony is dead. Meanwhile, Mr. Beaver has lost interest in Brenda and goes to America. Assuming that Tony is dead, his cousins take over Hetton and erect a memorial for him. Brenda marries Jock.
dark
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Mixed feelings. I enjoyed the story of the affair but when Tony travelled to the Carribbean I was less interested.
Waugh is an experience, to be sure. His style, witty, bitting, and tragic all at once, is both weird and wonderful. This particular novel takes the reader from high-class London to the jungles of Brazil. The apparent phlegmatic nature of each character is sad and hilarious in the light of the circumstances that surround them. A romping read, at least.
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No