Bøker av Evelyn Waugh

Brideshead Revisited is Evelyn Waugh's stunning novel of duty and desire set amongst the decadent, faded glory of the English aristocracy in the run-up to the Second World War.The most nostalgic and reflective of Evelyn Waugh's novels, Brideshead Revisited looks back to the golden age before the Second World War. It tells the story of Charles Ryder's infatuation with the Marchmains and the rapidly disappearing world of privilege they inhabit. Enchanted first by Sebastian Flyte at Oxford, then by his doomed Catholic family, in particular his remote sister, Julia, Charles comes finally to recognise his spiritual and social distance from them.'Lush and evocative ... Expresses at once the profundity of change and the indomitable endurance of the human spirit'The Times

'Britain's Great Gatsby' Stephen FryEvelyn Waugh's acidly funny and formally daring satire, Vile Bodies reveals the darkness and vulnerability that lurks beneath the glittering surface of the high life.In the years following the First World War a new generation emerges, wistful and vulnerable beneath the glitter. The Bright Young Things of twenties' Mayfair, with their paradoxical mix of innocence and sophistication, exercise their inventive minds and vile bodies in every kind of capricious escapade - whether promiscuity, dancing, cocktail parties or sports cars. In a quest for treasure, a favourite party occupation, a vivid assortment of characters, among them the struggling writer Adam Fenwick-Symes and the glamorous, aristocratic Nina Blount, hunt fast and furiously for ever greater sensations and the fulfilment of unconscious desires.If you enjoyed Vile Bodies, you might like Waugh's A Handful of Dust, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.'The high point of the experimental, original Waugh'Malcolm Bradbury, Sunday Times'This brilliantly funny, anxious and resonant novel ... the difficult edgy guide to the turn of the decade'Richard Jacobs

One of Evelyn Waugh's most exuberant comedies, Scoop is a brilliantly irreverent satire of Fleet Street and its hectic pursuit of hot news. Lord Copper, newspaper magnate and proprietor of The Daily Beast, has always prided himself on his intuitive flair for spotting ace reporters. That is not to say he has not made the odd blunder, however, and may in a moment of weakness make another. Acting on a dinner party tip from Mrs Algernon Stitch, he feels convinced that he has hit on just the chap to cover a promising little war in the African Republic of Ishmaelia. But for, pale, ineffectual William Boot, editor of the Daily Beast's 'nature notes' column, being mistaken for a competent journalist may prove to be a fatal error...If you enjoyed Scoop, you might like Waugh's Decline and Fall, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.'Waugh at the mid-season point of his perfect pitch'Christopher Hitchens

'It would be a dull world if we all thought alike.'After seven years of marriage, the beautiful Lady Brenda Last is bored with life at Hetton Abbey, the Gothic mansion that is the pride and joy of her husband, Tony. She drifts into an affair with the shallow socialite John Beaver and forsakes Tony for the Belgravia set. Brilliantly combining tragedy, comedy and savage irony, A Handful of Dust captures the irresponsible mood of the 'crazy and sterile generation' between the wars.

Evelyn Waugh, an English author, first published his novel Decline and Fall in 1928. Decline and Fall was Waugh's first published novel; his previous attempt, The Temple at Thatch, was destroyed while still in manuscript form. Waugh's schooling at Lancing College, undergraduate years at Hertford College in Oxford, and experience as a teacher at Arnold House in north Wales all play a role in Decline and Fall. It is a social satire that uses the author's distinctive black humor to mock various aspects of British society in the 1920s. The novel's title is a shortened version of Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. In addition, Spengler's The Decline of the West (1918-1922), which argued that the rise of nations and cultures is inevitably followed by their eclipse, also serves as an allusion in the novel's title.Waugh read Gibbon and Spengler while writing his debut novel. Waugh's satire is unmistakably hostile to much that was popular in the late 1920s, with "themes of cultural confusion, moral disorientation, and social bedlam...both drive the novel forward and fuel its humor." According to Waugh, the "undertow of moral seriousness provides a crucial tension within [Waugh's novels], but it does not dominate them."In his 'Author's Note' to the first edition, Waugh stated, 'Please bear in mind throughout that IT IS MEANT TO BE FUNNY.'

"Decline and Fall" is a satirical novel written by the English author Evelyn Waugh. It was first published in 1928 and is Waugh's first novel. The book is widely regarded as one of the classic works of 20th-century British literature and is known for its sharp wit, dark humor, and satirical take on various aspects of society.Plot Summary:The novel follows the misadventures of its protagonist, Paul Pennyfeather, a quiet and unassuming Oxford student. Paul is mistakenly sent down (expelled) from Oxford after being the victim of a prank involving a group of drunken students. This incident sets the stage for a series of absurd and comedic events that lead Paul into a variety of unconventional situations.After leaving Oxford, Paul finds himself teaching at a second-rate boarding school, encountering eccentric characters and navigating the complexities of British society between the wars. The narrative takes a satirical look at education, social class, wealth, and morality.Themes:Satire and Social Commentary: "Decline and Fall" is a satirical novel that offers a sharp critique of various aspects of British society, including the educational system, the aristocracy, and the values of the time.Eccentric Characters: The novel is populated by a cast of eccentric and memorable characters who contribute to the humor and satire. Waugh uses these characters to lampoon different facets of society.Morality and Hypocrisy: The book explores themes of morality and exposes the hypocrisy of societal norms. It satirizes the gap between the appearance of respectability and the often morally questionable behavior of the characters.Style and Humor:Evelyn Waugh's writing in "Decline and Fall" is characterized by its clever and often dark humor. The novel is known for its witty dialogue, sharp observations, and ironic tone. Waugh's style combines satire with a sense of absurdity, creating a comedic yet biting portrayal of the world he satirizes.Legacy:"Decline and Fall" marked the beginning of Evelyn Waugh's successful literary career. It set the tone for his subsequent novels, many of which also explore themes of societal decline, satire, and the absurdity of human behavior.Overall, "Decline and Fall" is a classic work of English literature that continues to be studied and enjoyed for its humor, social commentary, and timeless exploration of human folly.

This volume is part of the Complete Works of Evelyn Waugh critical edition, which brings together all of Waugh's writings for the first time. This new edition of A Handful of Dust provides extensive biographical and contextual notes to help the reader unfamiliar with early modern history.

This volume is part of the Complete Works of Evelyn Waugh critical edition, which brings together all of Waugh's writings for the first time. This is the first fully annotated edition of Robbery Under Law, tracing the expropriation of British and American oil interests in Mexico by its repressive Marxist government.

This volume is part of the Complete Works of Evelyn Waugh critical edition, which brings together all of Waugh's writings for the first time. This new edition of Edmund Campion provides extensive biographical and contextual notes to help the reader unfamiliar with early modern history.

This volume is part of the Complete Works of Evelyn Waugh critical edition, which brings together all of Waugh's writings for the first time. This new edition of The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold provides extensive biographical and contextual notes to help the reader unfamiliar with early modern history.

Waugh s own unhappy experience of being a soldier is superbly re-enacted in this story of Guy Crouchback, a Catholic and a gentleman, commissioned into the Royal Corps of Halberdiers during the war years 1939 45. High comedy in the company of Brigadier Ritchie-Hook or the denizens of Bellamy s Club is only part of the shambles of Crouchback s war. When action comes in Crete and in Yugoslavia, he discovers not heroism, but humanity.Sword of Honour combines three volumes: Officers and Gentlemen, Men at Arms and Unconditional Surrender, which were originally published separately. Extensively revised by Waugh, they were published as the one-volume Sword of Honour in 1965, in the form in which Waugh himself wished them to be read.

Sent down from Oxford for indecent behaviour, Paul Pennyfeather is oddly unsurprised to find himself qualifying for the position of schoolmaster at Llanabba Castle. Hi colleagues are an assortment of misfits, rascals and fools, including Prendy (plagued by doubts) and Captain Grimes, who is always in the soup (or just plain drunk). Then Sports Day arrives, and with it the delectable Margot Beste-Chetwynde, floating on a scented breeze. As the farce unfolds and the young run riot, no one is safe, least of all Paul.

Part of the fabulous new hardback library of 24 Evelyn Waugh books, publishing in chronological order over the coming year. The books have an elegant new jacket and text design. Rossetti was Evelyn Waugh's first published book. It details the life and works of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Waugh naturally offers his own critique of this magnanimous Victorian pre-raphelite.

This volume is part of the Complete Works of Evelyn Waugh critical edition, which brings together all of Waugh's writings for the first time. This is the first fully annotated, critical edition of the travel book Ninety-Two Days (1934), Evelyn Waugh's account of an arduous journey through British Guiana and northern Brazil.

This volume is part of the Complete Works of Evelyn Waugh critical edition, which brings together all of Waugh's writings for the first time. A Tourist in Africa was Waugh's final travel book, and one of his most interesting. This edition illuminates the work's historical, cultural, and biographical details, and provides a complete textual history.

This volume is part of the Complete Works of Evelyn Waugh critical edition, which brings together all of Waugh's writings for the first time. Waugh's only historical novel, Helena is the story of the mother of Emperor Constantine and her reputed discovery of the 'True Cross'.

Whether celebrating Hogarth or savaging Hollywood, mocking modern manners or defending traditional English architecture, inviting readers to 'come inside' the Catholic Church or expressing his contempt for modish Marxism and American-style religion, Evelyn Waugh's journalism is sparkling, sometimes vitriolic and always full of good sense. In this wonderful selection he explores his Oxford youth, his unexpected conversion, his literary enthusiasms (from P. G. Wodehouse to Graham Greene) and the perils of basing fictional characters on real people. Decades after their publication, these pieces still retain their capacity to delight, to surprise and to shock.

These pieces show the range of Waugh's skills: Mr Loveday's Little Outing; Cruise; Period Piece; On Guard; An Englishman's Home; Excursion in Reality; Bella Fleace Gave a Party; Winner Takes All; Work Suspended; Scott-King's Modern Europe; Basil Seal Rides Again; and Charles Ryder's Schooldays.

Guy Crouchback has lost his Halberdier idealism. A desk job in London gives him the chance of reconciliation with his former wife. Then, in Yugoslavia, as a liaison officer with the partisans, he finally becomes aware of the futility of a war he once saw in terms of honour.

Between 1929 and 1935 Evelyn Waugh travelled widely and wrote four books about his experiences. In this collection he writes, with his customary wit and perception, about a cruise around the Mediterranean; a train trip from Djibouti to Abyssinia to attend Emperor Haile Selassie's coronation in 1930; his travels in Aden, Zanzibar, Kenya and the Congo, coping with unbearable heat and plagued by mosquitoes; a journey to Guyana and Brazil; and his return to Addis Ababa in 1935 to report on the war between Abyssinia and Italy. Waugh's adventures on his travels gave him the ideas for such classic novels as Scoop and Black Mischief.

In 1935 Italy declared war on Abyssinia and Evelyn Waugh was sent to Addis Ababa to cover the conflict. His acerbic account of the intrigue and political machinations leading up to the crisis is coupled with amusing descriptions of the often bizarre and seldom straightforward life of a war correspondent rubbing shoulders with less-than-honest officials, Arab spies, pyjama-wearing radicals and disgruntled journalists. Witty, lucid and penetrating, Evelyn Waugh captures the dilemmas and complexities of a feudal society caught up in twentieth-century politics and confrontation.

Perhaps the funniest travel book ever written, Remote People begins with a vivid account of the coronation of Emperor Ras Tafari - Haile Selassie I, King of Kings - an event covered by Evelyn Waugh in 1930 as special correspondent for The Times. It continues with subsequent travels throughout Africa, where natives rub shoulders with eccentric expatriates, settlers with Arab traders and dignitaries with monks. Interspersed with these colourful tales are three 'nightmares' which describe the vexations of travel, including returning home.

Evelyn Waugh chose the name "e;Labels"e; for his first travel book because, he said, the places he visited were already "e;fully labelled"e; in people's minds. Yet even the most seasoned traveller could not fail to be inspired by his quintessentially English attitude and by his eloquent and frequently outrageous wit. From Europe to the Middle East and North Africa, from Egyptian porters and Italian priests to Maltese sailors and Moroccan merchants - as he cruises around the Mediterranean his pen cuts through the local colour to give an entertaining portrait of the Englishman abroad.

'Only when one has lost all curiosity about the future has one reached the age to write an autobiography.' Waugh begins his story with heredity, writing of the energetic, literary and sometimes eccentric men and women who, unknown to themselves, contributed to his genius. Save for a few pale shadows, his childhood was warm, bright and serene. The Hampstead and Lancing schooldays which followed were sometimes agreeable, but often not. His life at Oxford - which he evokes in Brideshead Revisited - was essentially a catalogue of friendship. His cool recollection of those hedonistic days is a portrait of the generation of Harold Acton, Cyril Connolly and Anthony Powell. That exclusive world he recalls with elegant wit and precision. He closes with his experiences as a master at a preparatory school in North Wales which inspired Decline and Fall.

An inability to control his fantasies sends Gilbert Pinfold, a well-known author, cruising on a Ceylon-bound liner to recuperate. Yet, to his horror, the hallucinations increase and life on board becomes very embarrassing. This curious and diverting novel throws new light on Evelyn Waugh's remarkable talent.

The Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, made the historic pilgrimage to Palestine, found pieces of wood from the true Cross, and built churches at Bethlehem and Olivet. Her life coincided with one of the great turning-points of history: the recognition of Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire. The enormous conflicting forces of the age, and the corruption, treachery, and madness of Imperial Rome combine to give Evelyn Waugh the theme for one of his most arresting and memorable novels.

In this unique collection of short stories composed between 1910-62, Evelyn Waugh's early juvenilia are brought together with later pieces, some of which became the inspirations for his novels. 'Mr Loveday's Little Outing' is a blackly comic tale of a mental asylum and its favourite resident; 'Cruise' sees a hilarious series of letters from a na ve young woman as she travels with her family; 'A House of Gentlefolks' observes a group of elderly eccentric aristocrats and their young heir; and in 'The Sympathetic Passenger' a radio-loathing retiree picks up exactly the wrong hitchhiker. These witty and immaculately crafted stories display the finest writing of a master of satire and comic twists.