Decline and Fall
I have just finished reading Evelyn Waugh’s first novel. I found it, to use the old cliche, impossible to put down, which is unusual for me, as I have a tendency to flit from book to book, and often have several on the go at once.
It’s the first time that I have read Waugh, and I regret having not done so sooner. The Economist’s Bagehot columnist said Waugh had the ‘gift’ for cruel wit, and that’s evident throughout the novel. It manages to be both gentle and savage in its satire. Paul’s observations of the events occurring around him (and they do, rarely has there been a less active protagonist) are hilarious. The sly references to minor characters, the sharp observations about the peculiarities and prejudices of the British psyche, and the general absurdity of many aspects of society are both acutely funny and remarkably accurate.
A fantastic, hilarious novel.
