Cornflower Book Group - Decline and Fall

 

    It's been years since I read any Waugh and I wasn't sure how Decline and Fall would suit me now, but I did find it very funny indeed and surprisingly interesting in terms of its themes and the way in which it prefigures his later work (says she as if she were currently up to speed with all that). I wonder how well the very black and very British humour travels - do readers abroad 'get' Waugh? He's certainly not politically correct, and I lost count of the number of ethnic or racial groups which were insulted along the way, but then he's quick to lampoon his own class and milieu as well, and generally ridicule the fashions of the period.

    The book is an attractive mix of farce and satire, social commentary and the absurd, the whole thing revolving round the slightly sketchy person of Paul Pennyfeather to whom 'things happen'. This passive/submissive figure, so unremarkable that later "a heavy moustache and his natural diffidence formed a complete disguise", is seemingly subject to the will of others and swept along by events, and is thus a means by which Waugh can give a sort of free-wheeling propulsion to the plot, and expound on so many subjects from modernism (the bizarre house, King's Thursday, and its architect Prof. Silenus) to public schools and prisons, a static/dynamic classification of people and even T.S. Eliot's 'still point of the turning world', before bringing Paul neatly full circle.

    At the time it was first published it must have been quite a debut; so many years later I still thoroughly enjoyed its madness and would like to revisit more of Waugh now. What did you think of it?  

 

    (The cake to go with Decline and Fall is here).

Comments

[Barbara]

I didn’t feel I needed to re-read this book in order to join in the discussion. My admiration for Waugh is pretty well known (see here) and I find the book very funny. My daughter says she can’t bear the unfairness of what happens to Paul but I think you put your finger on it when you describe him as a ‘passive/submissive figure’. The book is full of wonderful comic scenes, notably sports day. The hilarious description of the local Welsh band turning up to play is typical of the lack of political correctness you mention but it’s brilliant.

Does anyone but me remember a TV series called My Dad’s the Prime Minister, written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman? It was strangely scheduled, as if no one was sure if it was meant for adults or children. I thought it was very funny. There’s a sports day in that and in one shot we see a boy in the background limping along with a javelin stuck in his leg. That was it, just the swift visual joke but to me it seemed an obvious reference to Decline and Fall.

[B R Wombat]

I first read Decline and Fall in my teens and so was glad to revisit it - what a delight! I had a broad grin on my face nearly the whole time. I don't think I quite "got" it in my youth - I suspect I'd have agreed with Barbara's daughter about the unfairness of what happens to Paul rather than seeing him as simply the means to the fun. And I'd totally forgotten Waugh's own illustrations which I thoroughly enjoyed too. I've not read a lot of Waugh but what I have read I've liked very much. Thanks for another good choice, Cornflower.

[Susie Vereker]

When I began I wasn't sure I wanted to reread it, eg. couldn't quite cope with the bright young things and the rudeness about Margot's boyfriend. (My copy is a Penguin, by the way, price 2s6d) But as I progressed I did find it amusing and brilliant in a brittle sort of way. Waugh was only 25 when he wrote it, so that could account for some of the extreme farce. I went to school in North Wales in a pseudo-castle that sounds suspciously like Llanaba, and smiled at sports day.
I reckon the theme, like Brideshead, is that ordinary mortals shouldn't mix with the super-rich and grand or they may come to a bad end. Here's a Guardian review http://tinyurl.com/3c4w27q

[Dark Puss]

Like Cornflower I had not read Waugh since my teens (about 35 years ago) when I read Scoop and Vile Bodies. I am sure I enjoyed them, but revisiting Waugh has, I'm sorry to say, been a real disappointment. The farce I hated, the satire I felt wasn't sharp enough, the evil characters were banal and, unlike Barbara, I detested the "comedy" Welsh band. Part 2 was rather better than Part 1 and it was only here I was tempted to smile on occasion. I liked the satire on Modernist architecture (I'm a fan of Corbusier, Bauhaus School etc.) which I thought was quite nicely done.

I don't question the skill of the writing and I'm certainly happy with British and black humour but I found it all too childish and boorish with no obvious (to me) justification.

My copy had "blurbs" by Mortimer and Bradshaw; the latter stating that this book was side-splittingly funny. My sides are most definitely intact.

[Sandy]

I have never read Evelyn Waugh and was very pleased to have a reason to experience the writing. Thanks Cornflower. I found a copy for my Kindle for 49p at Smart Bookworms, so that was good!

I did enjoy the pastiche of the idiocy within the public school & upper class system. I had no real interest in Paul or Margot and did not mind the plot line one jot.

My sides considered splitting when all the boys ran away in the first race at the school sports, but they restrained themselves...

I'm not sure that I enjoyed so much that I will seek out another - even although Smart Bookworms have offered me a free book as a reward for the purchase!

[Kenneth]

A book very much of time it was written,giving an interesting insight into the English public school ,although the school was in Wales, and penal systems.This was my first introduction to Evelyn Waugh,which can only be a good thing .Paul landed very much on his feet after his many adventures around the world. A worthwhile introduction to Waugh for me,thank you ,Cornflower.

[Anji]

I wasn't quite sure what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised as I have always found Evelyn Waugh to be a terrible snob with a dark, biting tongue. Of course it was a book set in it's time and it wasn't p.c. but it was silly and light and the pages turned quickly. I thought that Paul Pennyfeather was an innocent abroad
who didn't have a clue about the real world.

[Susan in TX]

So glad to read all of the comments thus far. I had good intentions, but haven't gotten to the book yet. I still have it for another week from the library, though, so there's still hope that I'll get it read.

[Jill]

I enjoyed reading Decline and Fall and found it amusing. The satire is quite heavy handed but definitely of its time. It is a bit of a shock these days to read the racial references but I thought these reflected the attitudes of the times quite acccurately. My favourite Evelyn Waugh is Brideshead Revisited but it is good to read some of his less dramatic fiction as well. I found Paul's passive/ submissive character quite frustrating but therein lies the essence of the book I suppose. Thank you for this choice Cornflower.

[martina]

My memories of reading Decline and Fall will be of laughing so hard at times that I had to take a break. My long-suffering spouse on the other end of the couch could not concentrate on his worthy work related reading material with all the hilarity going on.

My parents devoured Waugh in the fifties, I recall. As a young girl i imagined him to be a prolific female British novelist!

The ethnic insults do jar but remind us of the bigoted attitudes of the time. The satire was so often so wonderfully fresh though. He is at his best when criticising his own class!! Private [public] schooling and associated snobbery was given a thorough treatment indeed.

Must confess to finding the description of the locals' reaction to the wedding one of the most fresh. Sharply reminiscent of some of the OTT reactions to a recent British event.

[Mr Cornflower]

For a supposedly reactionary writer Waugh has a refreshingly equal opportunity outlook - everyone is insulted. 'Lower orders' and ethnic minorities are ludicrous but so are the well born and well educated; no-one could read this as a subtle piece of propaganda on behalf of the Establishment. I'm on the side of those who actually enjoyed the rather scabrous, nihilistic humour but it is definitely the work of an 'angry young man'. My own favourite Waugh is the semi-autobiographical 'Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold', a much more subdued but subtler book written in late middle age.

[Barbara MacLeod]

I was familiar with Brideshead Revisited from the film but had not read that book, nor any of his other work. I enjoyed Decline and Fall but thought the first half was better than the second. I found it a very British book with that particular style of humour, i.e. satirising social class behaviour, both his own and others.

Reading this made me look up the story of his life. Most interesting! I suppose he was, in his earlier life, what is described as a 'couch surfer' these days.

Apparently he enjoyed weekend parties in big country houses. On that topic I came across
The Pocket AAM by AA Milne which has been on the BBC Radio 4 this week. The iPlayer episodes are here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b011bz70/.