This novel is a creature of its time. It does not translate so effortlessly to a twenty-first century audience. But, it's certainly fun and witty; and it goes some way to rehabilitating Waugh. Given this is his first novel, I am intrigued to review his later works.
There are no heros in this novel. Pennyfeather is the canvas of novel's characters' villainy, pretensions, and deficiencies. He is ridiculously naive and credulous; and projects Waugh’s satire and caricature. Pennyfeather fills the novel with his wit and chuckles. That wit is sometimes undercut by an enduring sense of tragedy (Lord Tangent’s death, as an example).
Waugh's BBC interview depicts a somewhat stout if not cantankerous old bean; but I think he's most famously known as a very religious Catholic. Thus, the novel is quite surprising. Waugh is full of the joie de vivre and lampoons 1920s British society for its hypocrisy and hollowness of ideals and values.
It is interesting that his novel was dedicated to his contemporary Sir Harold Acton. Researching this chap a bit, it seems that he was a famous gay member of the Hypocrites Club; and that he may have had an affair with Evelyn Waugh. If so, it makes the book dedication very sweet. Its a fascinating aspect of Waugh before his later religiosity. (On the subject of religion, in Decline and Fall, Grimes hints at the interface of the religious instinct and sexual repression — a very interesting observation.)
At the end of the novel, there is an enigmatic allegory between life and riding a great wheel at a park. I have not been quite sure what Waugh was hoping to convey. Pennyfeather ends up where he started. Captain Grimes appears to have two resurrections. Is Waugh arguing that life is roundabout and circular?
-----
Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
(Penguin Books 2012)
No comments:
Post a Comment