–British author, commentator and journalist Gerald Warner has posted an article entitled “Evelyn Waugh and Anthony Powell–visions of a vanished Britain.” In this he compares the lives and writings of the two authors who were also friends in real life. Here are the opening paragraphs:
There is an instinct shared by writers, critics and readers to select two authors whose lives and works present an evident congruence and yoke them together in a symbiotic relationship that often becomes permanent in public perception. This tendency extends beyond writers coupled by collaboration, such as Addison and Steele or Somerville and Ross, to authors who worked independently, but whose oeuvre and, sometimes, biographies suggest an affinity. Exceptionally, this association can reach across centuries, languages and cultures, where one authorâs work is derivative from another, as in the case of Virgil and Homer.
English literature supplies several instances of the twinning of writers. Keats and Shelley, as paradigms of the Romantic poets, are obvious examples; likewise, to a lesser extent, Dickens and Thackeray, or Disraeli and Bulwer Lytton. In the niche market of pseudo-Catholic kitsch, one might similarly combine Frederick Rolfe, Baron Corvo with Ronald Firbank. George Bernard Shaw took the concept to its ultimate conclusion by merging GK Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc, to confect the pantomime-horse identity of âChesterbellocâ.
The two 20th century authors who offer the most credible prospect for creating a literary symbiosis are Evelyn Waugh and Anthony Powell. The two men, though distinct in their inspiration and style, had a remarkable amount in common…
The discussions and comparisons of their work are well written, entertaining and accurate. After considering the works of both authors, Warner is inclined to think Waugh’s is the better, based on his incorporation of religious themes into his postwar work, a theme Powell stays well clear of. One could, as I do, come to exactly the opposite conclusion, so it is a matter on which reasonable minds can differ. But that does not make Warner’s essay any less worthwhile, and it is highly recommended. It is posted on the website Engelsberg Ideas. Here’s the link.
–The journal Foreign Policy strays into literature in its latest issue where it offers a review of the recent State-of-Britain novel Caledonian Road. The novel is written by Andrew O’Hagan and is reviewed by Nicholas Lezard. The review opens with this:
Many years ago, I heard a well-known English novelist refer to Andrew OâHagan, somewhat disparagingly, as âAndrew OâTolstoy.â He was making a point about OâHaganâs seriousness. At the time, OâHagan was much better known as a critic and nonfiction writer for the London Review of Books. But it popped into my head again when I saw the very first thing in his new novel, Caledonian Road: a cast of characters…
Having just recently finished reading the book, I was immediately hooked because I had noticed the same list and was put on guard that it seemed a very long one even for a book extending over 600 plus pages. Indeed, without that list it is doubtful that I would have fought my way through the book’s description of the dozens of characters who wander through its pages. Lezard makes several points about the book with which I found myself in agreement. He also inserted this reference to some rather surprising allusions to Evelyn Waugh which I had also noted:
…The Catholicism (there are also Polish Catholics here) reminds me of Evelyn Waugh, the class- and faith-obsessed British author I think itâs meant to, for Waugh is referred to by name and work a couple of times, and the book echoes the frenzied hedonism of Vile Bodies and the stately homes of Brideshead…
Lezard’s opinions about the book are thoughtful and well-presented. I am glad to have read the book given its timeliness in the wake of the General Election. Whether or not I enjoyed reading it is another matter but Lezard’s review helps me understand why I it reacted to it in much the same way he did. Here’s a link.
–The website Bridgeman Images has posted a photograph which may be of interest to Waugh fans. This is described as follows: “Photograph of Alistair Graham naked, kept with his letter to Evelyn Waugh, c.1924 (gelatin silver print).” The letter and photograph are deposited at the British Library with the remainder of their archive of Waugh’s correspondence.
–The Jesuit journal America has an article by Terrance Klein entitled “A lesson on the Eucharist from ‘Brideshead Revisited‘”. It offers several relevant quotes from Waugh’s novel for the consideration of those attending the Eucharistic Congress convened this month in Indianapolis.
–The Daily Telegraph has a story dated 19 July 2024 entitled: “Why London has the worst traffic in Europe.” This is by Nicholas Boys Smith and opens with an historic review of London traffic. In this he includes a quote from Evelyn Waugh relating to what it was like in the 1930s:
…In early 20th-century London, the horses morphed into motorcars, but the traffic remained. In his 1938 novel, Scoop, Evelyn Waugh satirised Piccadillyâs âstationaryâ traffic, âcontinuous and motionless, still as a photograph, unbroken and undisturbedâ so âterribleâ that the wife of the cabinet minister, Algernon Stitch, was regularly obliged to drive along kerbs in her tiny âbaby carâ until she was booked and ordered back onto the road by a policeman: âThird time this week,â said Mrs Stitch. âI wish they wouldnât. Itâs such a nuisance for Algy.â…
