Subtitled an angloamerican tragedy, evelyn waughs the loved one is a witty satirical novel on artistic integrity and the british expat community in hollywood. An elderly englishman, who once made a living as a hollywood scriptwriter, has taken in a younger version of the same species who is also struggling to make his way in the new world. A dark and savage satire on the angloamerican cultural divide, the loved one depicts a world where love, reputation and death cost a very great deal. Mgm was interested in adapting waughs novel brideshead revisited 1945. The loved one really is extremely funny, and i feel its a perfect starting point in waughs catalog. He falls in love with margot bestechetwynde, the mother of one of his students. An angloamerican tragedy, satiric novel by evelyn waugh, published in 1948. A work of art as rich and subtle and unnerving as anything its author has ever done new yorker, the loved one is evelyn waughs cutting satire of 1940s california and the angloamerican cultural divide. Dystopia and providence in five novels eve tushnet, 30120, kirk center essay. Following the death of a friend, the poet and pets mortician dennis barlow finds himself entering the artificial hollywood paradise of the whispering glades memorial park. When i read jons first post, i thought i might have misrembered it and that it was slow to. The prolific waughan english novelist and satirist perhaps best known for brideshead revisiteddescribed this slim, vicious comedy as a little nightmare produced by the unaccustomed high living of a brief visit to hollywood. Within its golden gates, death, americanstyle, is wrapped up and sold like a package holidayand dennis gets drawn into a.
Rhapsody for an obsessive love, had a publisher, but that enterprising business is no more. By telling the story of how i lost my publisher, within an original story by and about evelyn waugh, i hope to attract the interest of another editor. The industry provides a perfect foil for waughs deadpan witand an apt metaphor for. The loved one by evelyn waugh is a satirical novel that targets what waugh considers the inanity and superficiality of american life. This time i read it because of the new movie version movie the one with emma thompson as the lady marchmain flyte.
A work of art as rich and subtle and unnerving as anything its author has ever done new yorker, the loved one is evelyn waughs cutting satire of 1940s. Although he s best known for brideshead revisited, his melancholy look back at the twilight of the english aristocracy, its evelyn waugh s genius for satire that truly distinguishes him. How evelyn waughs life shaped his work books the guardian. The loved one by evelyn waugh the pretty good gatsby. I remember making a pilgrimage to forest lawn cemetery with a college friend who also loved it, and we kept quoting all the verses to rack other and laughing our heads off as we discovered that it was exactly as waugh portrayed. Evelyn waugh 190366 was born in hampstead, second son of arthur waugh, publisher and literary. Waugh himself wrote that satire could only flourish in a stable society.
The loved one evelyn waughs ruthless comedy which speaks of a funeral home that functions like disneyland. A dark and savage satire on the angloamerican cultural divide, the loved one depicts a. I only recently read brideshead revisited, my first encounter with evelyn waughs work. Uncommonly good collectible and rare books from uncommonly good booksellers. At whispering glades, staff must refer to the corpses only as loved ones. This is one of my favoritest, funniest books ever, going back for decades. Theres a wonderful line about hogmanay in evelyn waughs classic 1948 novel, the loved one. The loved one by evelyn waugh, from project gutenberg canada. Most of the characters either work in one of the funeral homes or. The three most important figures here are wyndham lewis, aldous huxley and evelyn waugh. Evelyn waugh author evelyn waugh was born in hampstead in 1903 and educated at hertford college, oxford.
Theres a plot point about reading dickens that results in the darkest comedy, and. Evelyn waugh books list of books by author evelyn waugh. Summary its the late 1940s, and displaced british poet. The targets of his satire include hollywood, the mortuary. Inspire a love of reading with prime book box for kids discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that delivers new books every 1.
The loved one is an old favourite of mine, and one of the funniest books ive ever read. The loved one evelyn waugh author 2012 put out more flags evelyn waugh author 2012 men at arms evelyn waugh author 2012 black mischief. Based on a 1948 novel of the same name by evelyn waugh, the loved one stands alongside flannery oconnors wise blood the book and the movie as a savagely ontarget, dark comic satire on american protestant civilization both waugh and oconnor, of course, were catholic. N ot so very long ago evelyn waugh spent what must have been an unhappy sojourn in hollywood. The more startling for the economy of its prose and plot, this novels story, set among the manicured lawns and euphemisms of whispering glades memorial park in hollywood, satirizes the. Open library is an initiative of the internet archive, a 501c3 nonprofit, building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. The action is set principally in two funeral parlors, one for humans and the other for pets. Most of the characters either work in one of the funeral homes or are employed by a. The loved one by waugh, evelyn and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. The herald glasgow has a story about scottish new year celebrations known as hogmanay that starts with this reference to an evelyn waugh novel. It needs to be said that evelyn waughs hatred of his wife, if it existed, need not have been what gave rise to tactical exercise. The loved one, a novel by evelyn waugh, a reading for.
It is one of the numberless compensations of my exile that i need never read. Brideshead revisited 1982 read online free book by. While it was focused on the upper upper english class, there were many aspects to the novel youth, war, sexuality, marriage. Among other targets, it attacks what waugh perceived as the snobbery of the english and the stupidity, vulgarity, and intellectual sterility. The loved one is an odd little story about a love triangle among people who are unusually comfortable handling dead things. The wellsprings of desire and the impediments to love come brilliantly into focus in evelyn waughs masterpiece a novel that immerses us in the glittering and. Discussion of themes and motifs in evelyn waughs the loved one. I just finished rereading evelyn waughs brideshead revisited, a book i pick up every couple of years or so. Criticism of society in the english novel between the wars evelyn. Three more from evelyn waugh decline and fall 1928. His complex personality, reduced to a comic grotesque. In 1928 he published his first novel, decline and fall, which was soon followed by vile bodies, black mischief 1932, a handful of dust 1934 and scoop 1938.
Evelyn waughs novel is adapted by jonathan holloway and stars julian rhindtutt, mark gatiss and jennifer lee jellicorse. The loved one by evelyn waugh, folio society abebooks. But heres a longer one, just in case thats not quite sufficient. The loved one by evelyn waugh and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. His acid wit and relentless drive to uncover hypocrisy and pretension make him a writer whose sweet way with words is equally matched by his powerful, almost bitter satires of modern culture. And evelyn may even have been afraid of his loved ones negative feelings towards him. Buy the loved one by evelyn waugh from amazons fiction books store.
Thats a pretty decent summary of evelyn waughs novel the loved one. The loved one was written as a result of evelyn waughs trip to hollywood in february and march 1947. The loved one 1948 is one of waughs most savagely amusing books. Waugh had written that, i should not think six americans will understand it and was baffled and even angered by its popularity in america. Evelyn waugh is one of my top two or three favorite authors, and the ordeal of gilbert pinfold, until last week, was the last of his novels that i had not read including his unfinished novel, work suspended. The loved one by evelyn waugh 1948 penguin classics 2000 127 pp.