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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
A Handful of Dust is the story of a marriage going sour. Tony and Brenda Last drift apart slowly at first, and then quickly as Brenda takes first a lover and then a flat in London, hardly spending any time at the family estate. Waugh's delightful wit and subtle absurdities keep the reader smiling even as he throws tragedy into the plot and drives Brenda and Tony irreparably apart.
The book takes a bizarre twist at the end, which I won't go into so as to preserve its novelty for future readers, but the further the book progressed toward its end, the more I wavered on a book I started out liking Very Very Much. I do think Waugh is at his best while he is writing about London society, and some of the later chapters suffered somewhat in my mind by moving away from that milieu. (The dangerous Dickens-loving madman nearly made up for the change in scenery, though!)
A friend described A Handful of Dust as a whole book set up for one joke, and maybe that's the best way to interpret the change of scene and focus at the end. Waugh brings Tony to an absurd end and then throws in a small suggestion that history has a way of repeating itself. The ending doesn't sit quite right with me, not in comparison to the fabulous momentum of the bulk of the book, and I found it interesting to discover just now that Waugh actually wrote two different endings to the book. Apparently the other has Tony returning to England and carrying out his own infidelities, which would result in a completely different kind of social commentary on the part of the book. Tony is an innocent character, so bland that in the beginning the reader's sympathies lie with Brenda, but Waugh deftly and subtly pulls the reader's sympathies into Tony's camp, and having Tony exacting revenge would be a much more cynical conclusion than just saying that the world is a bit screwy and shows no inclination of straightening out anytime soon. I'll take screwy over vindictive any day.
The book takes a bizarre twist at the end, which I won't go into so as to preserve its novelty for future readers, but the further the book progressed toward its end, the more I wavered on a book I started out liking Very Very Much. I do think Waugh is at his best while he is writing about London society, and some of the later chapters suffered somewhat in my mind by moving away from that milieu. (The dangerous Dickens-loving madman nearly made up for the change in scenery, though!)
A friend described A Handful of Dust as a whole book set up for one joke, and maybe that's the best way to interpret the change of scene and focus at the end. Waugh brings Tony to an absurd end and then throws in a small suggestion that history has a way of repeating itself. The ending doesn't sit quite right with me, not in comparison to the fabulous momentum of the bulk of the book, and I found it interesting to discover just now that Waugh actually wrote two different endings to the book. Apparently the other has Tony returning to England and carrying out his own infidelities, which would result in a completely different kind of social commentary on the part of the book. Tony is an innocent character, so bland that in the beginning the reader's sympathies lie with Brenda, but Waugh deftly and subtly pulls the reader's sympathies into Tony's camp, and having Tony exacting revenge would be a much more cynical conclusion than just saying that the world is a bit screwy and shows no inclination of straightening out anytime soon. I'll take screwy over vindictive any day.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"A Handful of Dust" is sort of like the British version of the Great Gatsby, but with no redeemable or likable characters. The novel follows a wealthy married couple, Tony and Brenda Last, who live in a wealthy estate in Britain in the 1920s. Tony is a dumbfounded bloke and Brenda is a bored, pitiful wench. Let's just say things don't go to great for them because of their own lack of self-awareness.
The novel is described as a witty satire. I didn't find it to be a "witty" but more critical in a obvious matter. I found myself disgusted at the shallowness and callousness of the society portrayed. Brenda Last is one of the most despicable and least likable characters I have ever read about. Beaver, Tony Last, and the whole lot of them aren't much better either. Poor Waugh must of had a very terrible view of society. I'd like to think that humanity hasn't (or wasn't) ever this full of shit!
That being said, Waugh has a way with words. The story floats off the page and uses a lot of great descriptive words. He describes his settings and characters very well even though his characters are so full of terrible qualities. Waugh is especially good at writing dialogue.
I tried to root for Tony Last or find a way to really be on his side, but he just screws himself in the end. And that ending -- Can we just talk about that ending? Can we? Ya know what I'm talking about... what was that?!
I know this is satire, but I don't know enough about British society in the 20s to really know what Waugh is getting at. Also, I'm not an English Lit. Teacher (surprise), so I don't really know what Waugh was trying to infer by that last bit either. One thing is crystal clear though: Waugh very much disapproved of the stupid, pointless, and self-loving British Upper Class.
The novel is described as a witty satire. I didn't find it to be a "witty" but more critical in a obvious matter. I found myself disgusted at the shallowness and callousness of the society portrayed. Brenda Last is one of the most despicable and least likable characters I have ever read about. Beaver, Tony Last, and the whole lot of them aren't much better either. Poor Waugh must of had a very terrible view of society. I'd like to think that humanity hasn't (or wasn't) ever this full of shit!
That being said, Waugh has a way with words. The story floats off the page and uses a lot of great descriptive words. He describes his settings and characters very well even though his characters are so full of terrible qualities. Waugh is especially good at writing dialogue.
I tried to root for Tony Last or find a way to really be on his side, but he just screws himself in the end. And that ending -- Can we just talk about that ending? Can we? Ya know what I'm talking about... what was that?!
I know this is satire, but I don't know enough about British society in the 20s to really know what Waugh is getting at. Also, I'm not an English Lit. Teacher (surprise), so I don't really know what Waugh was trying to infer by that last bit either. One thing is crystal clear though: Waugh very much disapproved of the stupid, pointless, and self-loving British Upper Class.
Written with Waugh's typical dry humour, this book cleverly satirises the foibles of the upper class England of the early to mid 19th century. It has humour, adventure, tragedy and an ultimate creepiness and I couldn't put it down. Surprisingly I found the main protagonist to be a rather sympathetic character and ended up being miffed at Waugh's cavalier treament of him, so the ending was a bit of a let down for me.
This is easily one of the best books I’ve ever read - an ultimate favourite !
I’m not giving the book five stairs purely because I disagree with many of the running themes in the text (it is pretty racist), as it is definitely a reflection of its time. I would never want to excuse racism, but it is also unclear whether the racism comes from the character of Tony himself or Waugh. It is very important to read this text with an understanding of the idea of Waugh’s dystopia - never to excuse the racism but to somewhat explain it.
But I love the way Waugh writes. The story was incredible and I think biographical and background information really heightens my understanding of the text and made my experience so much better!
Would highly recommend, but big warning for racism - it runs though the entire text but the third part of the book is explicitly racist.
I’m not giving the book five stairs purely because I disagree with many of the running themes in the text (it is pretty racist), as it is definitely a reflection of its time. I would never want to excuse racism, but it is also unclear whether the racism comes from the character of Tony himself or Waugh. It is very important to read this text with an understanding of the idea of Waugh’s dystopia - never to excuse the racism but to somewhat explain it.
But I love the way Waugh writes. The story was incredible and I think biographical and background information really heightens my understanding of the text and made my experience so much better!
Would highly recommend, but big warning for racism - it runs though the entire text but the third part of the book is explicitly racist.
adventurous
dark
funny
sad
medium-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
Pretty good classic. I’ve never read or even heard of Evelyn Waugh before this year and book and this was completely delightful.
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What did I just read? I... I'm so confused.
It feels like Evelyn Waugh just needed to let off some steam after his divorce and decided he wanted to write about divorce so wrote about it without coming up for a real reason for a divorce. Sure, Brenda's bored, but she largely wants to get divorced because the plot needs her to. I know, that's kind of the point but that's also kind of lazy writing.
Then Evelyn Waugh decided his divorce wasn't enough, he also needed to put his trip into the book... making it extremely disjointed. Yes, I understand why Tony went on the trip, but the tonal shift was so jarring. And the end? It literally came out of nowhere. I am so confused.
It feels like Evelyn Waugh just needed to let off some steam after his divorce and decided he wanted to write about divorce so wrote about it without coming up for a real reason for a divorce. Sure, Brenda's bored, but she largely wants to get divorced because the plot needs her to. I know, that's kind of the point but that's also kind of lazy writing.
Then Evelyn Waugh decided his divorce wasn't enough, he also needed to put his trip into the book... making it extremely disjointed. Yes, I understand why Tony went on the trip, but the tonal shift was so jarring. And the end? It literally came out of nowhere. I am so confused.