Modern Classics Vile Bodies [Paperback]

 

 

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One of the wittiest, and ultimately saddest, novels about the "lost generation" of the early 20th century. Waugh writes about arrogant, self-centered, wealthy, vapid, young socialites in the period of The Great War, when social mores and traditions were being reexamined and reconstructed or, in some cases, summarily destroyed. Waugh was one of the great chroniclers of the decline and fall of the aristocracy in the 20th century. Like Ronald Firbank, Waugh often gave his characters the most absurd names, such as Mrs. Melrose Ape, Lottie Crump, Judge Skimp, The Honourable Miles Malpractice, Mary Mouse, etc. Having done this, he has to work that much harder to make us identify and empathize with the characters, if indeed we ever really can. Waugh also has his characters spout the most inane, banal dialogue, even in their moments of greatest conflict and turmoil. It is difficult, for instance, to fathom Adam Fenwick-Symes' emotional distress from his thrice-broken engagement to Nina Blount from her comment: "It is a bore, isn't it?" (83). Despite the richness and abundance of the humour, there is an underlying tension, a darkness, which permeates the work from the opening sentence: "It was clearly going to be a bad crossing" (9). The beauty of this novel is in the juxtaposition of comical imagery and dialogue with the spectre of death and destruction looming large. There is a constant negotiation between personal "crises" and a burgeoning global catastrophe. We are often shocked by the intrusion of the real and violent into the placid, literate meta-world of the characters. Thus we read, for instance, the hilarious tabloid journalism of Simon Balcairn/Mr. Chatterbox interspersed with the grisply details of his desperate suicide (106). Or Agnes Runcible's attempt at car-racing, which ends with a crash and a nurse assuring the suffering Agnes: There's nothing to worry about, dear . . . nothing at all . . . nothing" (200). The words are delivered just as Agnes is slipping into a fatal coma, into nothingness. Despite the fact that the narrative is a string of wild parties ("Masked parties, Savage parties, Victorian parties, Greek parties, Wild West parties, Russian parties, Circus parties, parties where one had to dress as somebody else, almost naked parties in St. John's wood, parties in flats and studios and houses and ships and hotels and night clubs, in windmills and swimming-baths . . . all that succession and repetition of massed humanity . . . Those vile bodies" [123]), these heady days end with "the most terrible and unexpected thing -- War has been declared" (219). Waugh then adds a brief, ironically-titled "Happy Ending" chapter set in "the biggest battlefield in the history of the world" (220), with Adam literally in the trenches fighting for his life. He encounters a young girl known as "Chastity" in the earlier part of the narrative. Sold into prostitution in South America and now living the wretched existence of "comfort girl" during the war, hers is the worst fate of the Bright Young Things of Mayfair. Easy to dismiss because of its brevity and its wit, this is a brilliant and important novel.

I read my first book by Waugh a few months ago and have become a huge fan, "Vile Bodies" being the fourth Waugh book I've read. Although not a sequel to his first novel, "Decline and Fall," "Vile Bodies" includes several of the same characters and has a similar satiric tone. You do not, however, have to have read "Decline and Fall" to enjoy this book.

The main plot concerns a group of young people from London's "bright young generation." They have monied parents and spend most of their time searching for the next party and amusing fad. The protagonist is Adam Fenwick-Symes, a poor writer who manages to live the highlife by being a hanger-on. He is in love with Nina Blount, but cannot marry her because of his economic status. The book chronicles his attempts at making enough money to marry Nina. As with other Waugh books, the characters are passive and do not really do anything, but they manage to have some terrible things happen to them!

The supporting characters are extremely funny, including the modern Agatha Runcible, the revolving line of Prime Ministers, and the various people who become the columnist Mr. Chatterbox. Of course, as with all of the Back Bay Books editions of Waugh's books, the cover and style are lovely. If you love Waugh, you'll love this book. Highly recommended.

This is my very favorite of Waugh's novels. Don't talk to me of Brideshead Revisited or A Handful of Dust. When I read this for the first time as a teenager, it was my Siamese twin-- well, the times that teachers hadn't confiscated copies of it. I bought one new copy from a bookstore just because I heard there was a caricature of Rosa Lewis, but I was hooked on Vile Bodies from page one, long before I ever got to the part about the Rosa Lewis character.

I ended up buying two more copies from a used book store, then stealing a library copy with the help of a flathead screwdriver and some needle-nosed pliers (to pull out the magnetic theft-alert strip), when I figured teachers wouldn't confiscate a copy from the University library.

That's how desperate I was to devote every waking minute to this book until I finished it.

The reason it was hard to hide was the fact that I laughed out loud so many times while reading it. Right in the middle of the "Cell" unit in Biology class, I got to the part about the "angels," and began to giggle, and the more I tried to suppress my laughter, the more it grew out of control. My teacher asked what I found so funny about plant cells that hadn't been funny about animal cells, and then the book was gone.

You just can't go wrong with this book. The humor is very sharp, and cut neatly. There's not a single ragged edge here. Too completely mix my metaphors, there's not a cheap shot. No lame jokes. Waugh is perfect.

Of course, there is a theme underlying his humor. All the humor is directed at time-wasters, be they bureaucrats, the leisure class, or religious types who offer nothing but vague promises of "salvation" in exchange for your, "thank you," donation. He lays some of the blame for the precipitousness of these types on WWI, and England being in some way not "over it." On the other hand, this book is his attempt to pick people up and shake them and say "Get over it!" (OK, not in those exact words, but you get the idea.)

This book is not didactic, though. You are free to ignore the message, and just read the book for its humor. You won't regret it.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Writhing toward Gommorah
Evelyn Waughï¿s second novel is a ludicrous satirical jaunt through the lives of the so-called smart set, or ï¿Bright Young Peopleï¿ of Londonï¿s... Read more

Published on Aug 4 2001 by oh_pete

5.0 out of 5 stars CAN YOU HANDLE THE TRUTH?
This is such a funny book, but underneath all the satiric and wickedly evil humor lies a truth so awful that it may be hard for you to face it. Read more

Published on Aug 11 2000 by Shadow Woman

4.0 out of 5 stars The final roar of the 20s
Far from being in the vein of Wodehouse or Saki, Waugh's second novel, Vile Bodies, is much more in the serious vein than many readers would expect. Read more

Published on May 22 2000 by Dr Joanna Bratten

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best
This was the book I chose for years at school when asked what my favorite book was. I cannot say that I find many books impossible to put down, but this one was. Read more

Published on Sep 23 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Vile Bodies as 1930s remake of Through the looking glass
What seems to be most missed by readers of Vile Bodies is the supposedly cold ironic author's sympathy for the Bright Young Things he's writing about. Read more

Published on April 26 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece about the Absurdity of Man
In Mr. Waugh's second novel, the absurdity of humankind is explored. The reader is allowed to follow a brief period in the lives of the "Bright Young People. Read more

Published on July 11 1997

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