Monthly Archives: December 2020

Sword of Honour Reviewed in Italy

Posted on December 30, 2020 by Jeffrey Manley

The Italian language religious newspaper Radio Spada has started what will apparently be a multi-article review of Waugh’s war trilogy. This is written by Luca Fumagalli who has written previously in Italian on Waugh’s work. See previous posts. An edited … Continue reading →

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Year’s End Roundup

Posted on December 29, 2020 by Jeffrey Manley

–Writing in The Critic, Clive Aslet discusses the decision of the Tate Gallery to close its restaurant in response to its designation as “racist” conferred on the mural of Rex Whistler, which decorates its restaurant. See earlier post. Aslet puts … Continue reading →

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Britain’s Favorite Novel on C5

Posted on December 28, 2020 by Jeffrey Manley

The UK’s Channel 5 yesterday broadcast a program called Britain’s Favorite Novel.  Only novels by British writers were considered. The selection was based on what they described as a poll of C5’s viewers. Since I would not be included in … Continue reading →

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Waugh’s Christmas 1945

Posted on December 25, 2020 by Jeffrey Manley

Here is Waugh’s diary entry for his Christmas 75 years ago–Wednesday 26 December 1945: Maria Teresa and Bron have arrived, he ingratiating, she covered with little meddals and badges, neurotically voluble with the vocabulary of the lower-middle class–‘serviette’, ‘spare room’.  … Continue reading →

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Profile in Hatred: Evelyn Waugh and Robert Byron

Posted on December 21, 2020 by Jeffrey Manley

Biographer and literary critic Jeffrey Meyers has written a biographical profile of travel writer Robert Byron, with particular reference to the mutual hate – love – hate relationship between Byron and Evelyn Waugh. This appears in the online journal The … Continue reading →

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The Waugh Before Christmas

Posted on December 19, 2020 by Jeffrey Manley

Several publication and broadcast media have featured Waugh’s works in their holiday season offerings: –The BBC is going to rebroadcast a 2016 radio program that includes readings from Philip Eade’s biography: Evelyn Waugh: A Life Revisited. This will be transmitted … Continue reading →

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Mid-December Roundup

Posted on December 16, 2020 by Jeffrey Manley

–Posted on the website of the Australian literary journal Quadrant, an article by Mark McGinness marks the 75th anniversary of Nancy Mitford’s novel The Pursuit of Love. This was published on 10 December 1945 about 6 months after Brideshead Revisited … Continue reading →

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John le Carré (David Cornwell): 1931-2020 R.I.P.

Posted on December 15, 2020 by Jeffrey Manley

Novelist John le CarrĂ© died last week at the age of 89. Best known for his novels about spies, espionage and governmental bureaucratic intrigue, le Carre’s work would seem to have little in common with that of Evelyn Waugh. Spies … Continue reading →

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Waugh and Two Noteworthy 1950s Americans

Posted on December 10, 2020 by Jeffrey Manley

Recent stories feature Waugh’s attitude toward two Americans who rose to popular fame during the 1950s (and in one case descended into infamy). Waugh’s position on each of them is not what one would have expected. The first is described … Continue reading →

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Pearl Harbor Day Roundup

Posted on December 8, 2020 by Jeffrey Manley

–According to a report in The Times, the Tate Britain is considering the future of Rex Whistler’s well-known mural that decorates the walls of its restaurant: A mural in Tate Britain’s restaurant depicting two enslaved black children has been described … Continue reading →

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