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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If the Downton Abbey was a dark comedy... A Handful of Dust is a short and enjoyable read.
Set in the pre-WWII years, the novel gives the reader a glimpse of what life looks like under the dusty carpets of glamor and extravagance, and introduces us to a of host characters struggling to keep the dying ways of the British aristocrats alive. Both humorous and poignant, this book leaves you feeling utterly sorry for the fate of its main characters.
Set in the pre-WWII years, the novel gives the reader a glimpse of what life looks like under the dusty carpets of glamor and extravagance, and introduces us to a of host characters struggling to keep the dying ways of the British aristocrats alive. Both humorous and poignant, this book leaves you feeling utterly sorry for the fate of its main characters.
slow-paced
Last chance: Waugh's pin-sharp, bitter, stylish satire charts snobbery and decay, pitting the outmoded shire aristocracy against the stylish but vacuous Belgravia set. It's a hammock of a book, the first part, up to the sudden and merciless dispatch of Little Lord Fauntleroy and the third movement - dead among the pampas - as quixotic, hilarious and unforgivingly observant as anything Waugh ever wrote. The middle stanza sags (Waugh's overt racism, all the worse because he knew of what he spoke, drags the enterprise down). Flawed, sparkling, a pen portrait of a society in terminal throes, a wasteland, but glorious indeed.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
n word used in latter half
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Evelyn Waugh is so sharp - clever, pointed and terribly cutting. He writes about British society in the 30s in such a way that the glamour is stripped and people's hearts laid bare. I love the setting, the dialogue, the characters (John Andrew!) and all of the ridiculous behaviour. So good.
A little too farcical of an ending but not unexpected for Waugh. It’s not Vile Bodies or Brideshead, but I did love portions of it and worth the read.