A review by ingridostby
Put Out More Flags by Evelyn Waugh

3.0

It took more than a bit of concentration (I reread the first 20 pages over before I understood where I thought it was going--''thought'' being the key word). While it was of course witty and funny and at times divinely written (I even found myself marking pages to record some floral language I loved), there wasn't really a definable plot at all, and the characters didn't go much of anywhere. I wanted to hear more of the misbehaved kids and could swear it would come back into play later in the book. However, like most parts of the book resembling a brewing story, it did not come to fruition. It was a lovely painting of wartime and while, yes, I did catch the satire--i thought the more poignant parts were those that spoke the truth of that era. The last half was increasingly hard to get through, and I almost gave up and surely gave up paying full attention in the last 30 pages or so. It was worth reading for a unique WWII perspective, but more cohesion and plot could've changed this book from several pasted-together character portraits into a very fulfilling novel.