Customer Reviews

Modern Classics Handful Of Dust

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This odd, clever, scathingly bitter satire seems a patchwork of various pieces of fiction--and, as its history attests, it is. A little over halfway through the novel, "A Handful of Dust" veers, rather unexpectedly, from a bitter reflection on an unfaithful wife and her upper-crust coconspirators to a Conradian parody of explorers in the Brazilian wilderness.

To explain this incongruity, The Everyman's Library edition of this fascinating work features a must-read introduction by William Boyd, but (as such introductions often do), it contains so many "spoilers" that readers are warned to wait until afterwards to peruse it. Boyd's essay does, however, summarize two salient aspects of the novel that are prerequisite to understanding (and perhaps enjoying) it.

Waugh's first marriage to Evelyn Gardner ended acrimoniously in 1929; four years later (and the year before he wrote "A Handful of Dust") his heart was broken a second time when Teresa Jungman turned down his proposal of marriage. Knowing this, it's hard not to read the fictional account of Tony and Brenda's marriage, as Boyd does, as "Waugh's own exploration of betrayal and sexual humiliation and . . . a form of revenge against the damage inflicted on his psyche by Evelyn Gardner. . . . It is an unyieldingly cruel and vicious portrait of a worthless woman. . . . The novel is full of hate and scorn, not just for Brenda, but also for the society in which she moves." There is no denying that the novel reads like an act of vengeance, and this contempt takes many forms: Brenda, at first charming and innocent, quickly and inexplicably devolves into vapidity and selfishness; Tony's closest friends hide from him their knowledge that Brenda is having an affair; and--at the book's most memorable, pivotal, venomous moment--Brenda shows more concern for her lover than for her only son.

Waugh published two entirely different endings, both of which are included in many editions. (Make sure you get a copy that has both versions.) Boyd explains: after writing "the first two-thirds of this novel at great speed," Waugh was unsure how to end it, knowing only that he wanted "a sad end." For the British edition, he appended, with minor alterations, an earlier short story, "The Man Who Liked Dickens," about an aristocrat trapped by a madman in Brazil. Yet he had to write a second ending for the serial publication for Harper's Bazaar in the United States, because he had previously published the "Dickens" story in a competing magazine. While the British ending is satisfying (and devious) on its own, it nevertheless seems out of place; readers who feel that they have suddenly picked up another story about a different character in the opposite hemisphere will feel some vindication learning that, in a sense, they have done exactly that.

I agree with Boyd that the American version, while simpler, is "truer to the novel's potent undercurrents than the short story Waugh recycled to finish off his sombre, disturbing tale of adultery." Other readers, obviously, disagree, and find the alternate ending too pat, too cynical, top predictable. (I, personally, enjoyed both endings for different reasons, but found both a little unsatisfying, each belying the book's claim to cohesiveness.) Yet the fact that Waugh could write two endings over which future readers and critics would war only attests to his brilliance.

This being the third of Waugh's novels I have read, it is probably my favorite. Waugh is easily the most readable of the great British authors of the 20th century.'A Handful of Dust' is not as funny as 'SCOOP' but it is sharp satire of British society. The book has alternate endings and I prefer the one where Tony and Brenda reunite.

The story centers around the Last family, principally Tony and his wife Brenda. All the elements of the demise of a marriage are contained in this masterpiece - a stodgy husband, a cheating wife, and a tragic death. Beware ladies because the females in the novel are on a whole as weak and superficial a group as ever encountered. Waugh at the time of its writing was reportedly recovering from a failed romance and no doubt was influenced by a jilting fiance. Brenda Last,in particular, is a character you will love to dislike. Brenda's infatuation with the 'neer do well' mama's boy, John Beaver, stretches the reader's imagination.

Both conclusions are appropiate and you will be staisfied with either.

This is a ghoulish, uncomfortable novel from an author otherwise wickedly funny. The Last's live in a Gothic, monstrous mansion, in dull but amiable decadence. At first, they are typical of Waugh's aristocrats, particularly in their shallow natures, remote and chilly emotions, particularly familial. There are some funny moments when the child, imitating his groom, calls his nanny, "a silly tart." His father then instructs him on the ways of the upper classes, which was a lesson on further shallowness, vanity and baseness.

The otherwise tolerable 'Last' marriage is put to the test by the entrance of a universally disliked, penniless and mother-dependent, Mr. Beaver. Brenda, whose maiden name was 'Rex,' becomes obsessed with the unscrupulous user and the story then swerves into weirdness. I will not give away the famous macabre ending, to which Waugh, under fan pressure, ultimately added an alternative. I will just say that the first ending was published later as a short story and titled, "The Man Who Loved Dickens." However, it is not the ending alone that gives shivers, there are some other twists in the plot that are more revolting than ironic. Handful of Dust is a story of human misery based largely on characters lacking basic humanity. Instead they are steeped in cursory gentility that masks barbarity. Too solemn for my liking, but it bears reading, for its notority, and for a glimpse into what I suspect was a more common mood in the reputedly unpleasant personality of the author.

Written by Evelyn Waugh in 1934, this British novel is a biting satire of the silly lives of the upper class. The author is master of the nuanced barb and he uses them with seeming delight and controlled rage. It is an unpleasant book to read and I know I would hate the author if I met him in person, and yet I can appreciate his skill in creating the discomforting atmosphere, his fascination with things that go wrong, and the dark side of human nature.

Tony Last, an aristocrat who devotes himself to the upkeep of his expensive ancestral home is blind to the infidelities of his wife Brenda, who parties in London with her sycophantic lover. There's a whole cast of vapid characters, each exquisitely developed with revealing detail. When tragedy strikes it's like a piece of chalk scraped upon a blackboard, and as the story continues to unfold, and Tony travels to the jungles of Brazil, the plot swerves into a painful absurdity. It's all one big farce and yet there is no comic relief. And by the end of the book, only sadness prevails.

I must give this book a high ranking however because of Mr. Waugh's skill and his uncanny ability to uncover some painful human truths that I'd rather not see. I can therefore only recommend it to students of human nature who are willing to be tormented in the same way the author torments his characters. Just be forewarned.

The social elites of the inter-war period in England provide a rich tapestry on which a tragic and sardonic tale is told. Waugh breathes life into characters who are extreme in their vanity, yet tragically susceptible and frail. The result is one of the classic satirical novels of the last century. Readers who enjoy the deliberate and biting style of George Orwell will find Waugh a dear addition to their literary diet.

Every now and then, you pick up a novel and suddenly realize you're reading a classic of 20th Century Literature. This was what I experienced when I started reading "A Handful of Dust". What is amazing is that Waugh has put so much into such a short novel. There is a unique mixture of humor and drama in the life of a young British couple. They represent the two divergent paths of British society in England between the wars. The wife is a modern British woman who is what might be termed a "flapper" in this country. "Where's the party?" would seem to be her motto. The husband is a representative of the old school landed gentry whose estate is the focus of his attention. We see them drift apart and then, just as we're focussed on their relationship, tragedy strikes and the novels takes a different turn. The ensuing part of the novel takes a bizarre turn but ends with the author's reaffirmation of traditional British values. The author's keen wit and sense of subtle imagery makes every page a real joy. This is Waugh's masterpiece and is recommended to all readers.

This one could be a wrist-slitter, if you took it too seriously. Waugh's indictment of marriage in his day and class is not quite gentle enough to be called funny, I think. That said, the worst Waugh is still genius. But if you are starting out, read "Decline and Fall" first, for sheer entertainment; then "Brideshead Revisited," which actually approaches some of the same issues as this book, with the benefit of a few more years' experience.

I am not going to delve deep beneath the surface and use big terms to describe what happens in "A Handful of Dust" because, not only am I unfit for such a task, I also don't think it's necessary. The reason this book is so brilliant (and so important) is that Waugh takes everything we should ideally consider to be valuable and makes them seem worthless to his characters. Common beliefs that relationships, honesty, and compassion should be revered are undermined by having his characters place importance on inferior things like material possessions. I think the most stunning part of the book is when one of the main characters is killed and all the other peripheral characters react in a way that made me want to throw the book against the wall because of how utterly repulsive they were in reacting to it. Sadly, Waugh makes their reactions seem believable
Waugh is astonishing because he shaves off all excessive material and puts his finger precisely on the topic he wants to explore - and is relentless in magnifying this desired topic. In this case, maybe he is warning his readers that if our morals don't improve, we could all soon be acting as disgustingly as the characters in "A Handful of Dust" do. A masterpiece.

I wanted to give it five stars. It might as well be. Why not? No good reason . . .

Here is a story of atrocious things happening to horrible people. It is cleverly written and the characters certainly give you an in depth idea of who they are and what they believe in. You can't quite come to hate them but one must admit to enjoying watching them suffer. I found this book similar in theme if not in tone to the somber Appointment in Samarraha by John O'Hara, but the final pitch of this novel is rather cheerful. It seems as though Waugh himself was enjoying their suffering until he finally got so fed up and annoyed with them that he exiles them to their appropriate hells, be it a repetition of cycles or an absurdist nightmare that becomes ultimately rather numbing.

I found the final affect on me to be really quite similar. It is a very entertaining book . . .

Waugh's best novel, and arguably the greatest English novel of the Twentieth Century. Can't add to that.