Evelyn Waugh
Published in 1928, Evelyn Waugh’s Decline and Fall skewers British societal norms of the 1920s. It is satire at its most delicious and hilarious.
We follow the trials and travails of an unlikely hero, Paul Pennyfeather. While studying at Oxford, he has the misfortune to be the victim of a prank by alcohol-infused members of the Bollinger Club who strip him of his trousers, forcing him to run the whole length of the quadrangle in a highly unseemly manner. Summarily dismissed from Oxford for indecent behavior, he joins the ranks of a boarding school in Wales where he falls in love with the wealthy and beautiful mother of one of his students. One thing leads to another, and before too long, Paul finds himself embroiled in nefarious activities that land him in jail. With the help of friends in high places, Paul regains his freedom thanks to a forged death certificate. He assumes a new identity and returns to Oxford to complete his studies.
Paul suffers the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune with total equanimity. He takes his misfortunes with stride. He is joined by a colorful cast of characters. Among them is the bigamist Grimes with the wooden leg who fakes his own death on more than one occasion; the wig-wearing Prendergast who wants to be a church minister but is plagued with doubts; the revolver-toting Philbrick, the butler who keeps resurfacing with a new identity; Dr. Fagan, the headmaster who displays a complete lack of interest in the quality of education at the school; and the beautiful and somewhat less than Honorable Mrs. Beste-Chetwynde who runs a prostitution ring.
No one and nothing is spared Waugh’s satirical pen. British institutions come under attack, including upper classes with their notions of superiority; public schools with their staff and students; prisons with their ludicrous theories of prison reform; government with its corrupt politicians. Waugh lambasts all with a deadpan humor that elicits laughter at every corner. Hypocrisy, corruption, the class system, the old-boy network, and racism are on full display. The dialogue is particularly irresistible as it ripples with irony, humor, and sarcasm. The plot is fast-paced; the energy riveting; the characters eccentric but believable; the conversation hilarious; the satire penetrating.
Waugh clothes his critique of British society and its norms in a hilarious comedy of manners that is both entertaining and insightful.
Highly recommended.