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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
3.5 stars
I'm not entirely sure why this is considered Waugh's magnum opus (I much prefer Brideshead), but it is worth the read. It was much darker than I had anticipated, and also a very fast read, which I hadn't been expecting.
I'm not entirely sure why this is considered Waugh's magnum opus (I much prefer Brideshead), but it is worth the read. It was much darker than I had anticipated, and also a very fast read, which I hadn't been expecting.
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
First book I've read by this author but probably won't be the last. Understated humor that you read and almost have to read again to realize the words were meant for a laugh.
Without good knowledge of the era or the historical-cultural context (that is, I don't have them), I suppose it is difficult to see what Waugh is satirising about. Nonetheless, the story on its own is quite good, it is indeed comical (though not necessarily in the jokey way) and tragic.
I wasn't sure if A Handful of Dust would be my type of book but I was happily surprised to find I really enjoyed it.
La alta burguesía inglesa de entreguerras retratada con ironía y una pizca de mala idea; una historia que en algunos momentos resulta cruel y en otros, absurda y delirante.
So, mostly I wished I was reading some Wodehouse, who has such a light and fluffy and fundamentally optimistic mood about human meaninglessness instead of Waugh who was here writing a humorous book that is secretly in despair over the meaninglessness of his characters' lives. But on the other hand, such an appalling thing happens to Tony at the end that I kept thinking about it for days.
A book of two halves. I thoroughly enjoyed the slow deterioration of married life between Tony and Brenda in the first half. Tony ignorantly staying his ancestral pad, while Brenda tries to insert some rather dubious excitement to her life in London. And the twist, it really did make me gasp. Brenda was appalling at this point.
The second half was a little odd, though engaging. The adventures of Tony didn't seem to fit with the character we'd met previously. Looking forward to reading more Waugh.
The second half was a little odd, though engaging. The adventures of Tony didn't seem to fit with the character we'd met previously. Looking forward to reading more Waugh.
I had forgotten how pleasurable reading Evelyn Waugh is, this is an enjoyable classic. A Handful of Dust is funny in a biting, satirical way (this is not Jeeves) but with surprising empathy and sinister twists, in turn.