Author Archives: Jeffrey Manley

Sword of Honour on Several Summer Lists

Waugh’s war trilogy Sword of Honour has been named on several recent lists as recommended summer reading. The Irish Times polled a number of readers who also happen to be writers, and novelist John Banville included SoH: David Brown’s new biography … Continue reading

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Waugh and Chesterton

The Italian religious website Radio Spada has posted an essay by Luca Fumagalli entitled “Chesterton e Waugh: ridere per non dimenticare“,  roughly “Chesterton and Waugh: laughing so as not to forget.” The article notes that Waugh and Chesterton had little to connect them as … Continue reading

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American Castles and Brutalist Towers

The latest issue of the National Review has an essay by Michael Knox Beran entitled “Why We Love McMansions and Other Modern Castles.” …America, though born in the faith that all men are created equal, is infatuated with castles — … Continue reading

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Waugh’s Dystopia

In the recent wave of interest in dystopian novels following the USA’s change of government, most attention has been focused on 1984, The Handmaid’s Tale (which has been made into a successful TV serial) and Brave New World. Evelyn Waugh’s … Continue reading

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Harry Potter, Brideshead Revisited and Jeremy Corbin

The London papers are full of comments this week marking the 20th anniversary of the publication of the first Harry Potter novel. In The Spectator, associate editor Toby Young looks at the political and cultural influences that contributed to J … Continue reading

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Brexit and Lord Glasgow’s Castle

The Economist in this week’s “Bagehot” column opens with a reference to a wartime letter Evelyn Waugh wrote to his wife, using it as a metaphor for Britain’s current political malaise: WRITING to his wife in May 1942, Evelyn Waugh recounted … Continue reading

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Oxford to Host Waugh Exhibit and Lecture

Oxford University has announced an exhibit to be mounted by the Bodleian Library and the Complete Works of Waugh. The theme will be Waugh’s career in Oxford and will be entitled “City of Acquatint.” It will he held in the Weston … Continue reading

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Waugh Biographies on Summer Reading List

George Weigel writing in Catholic World Report has included two biographies of Evelyn Waugh on his list of books recommended for summer reading: Of the making of Wavian biographies there seems to be no end, but I thoroughly enjoyed Philip … Continue reading

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Screen Credit Blues

The Irish Times has a story by Donald Clarke about the dissatisfaction of screen writer Neil Jordan with the final versions of the TV series Riviera episodes now running on Sky TV. According to the IT story, the final versions reflect … Continue reading

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Commonweal Marks J F Powers Centenary

The Roman Catholic literary magazine Commonweal has marked the centenary of novelist J F Powers birth with an article on Powers’ career entitled “His Bleak Materials” by biographer and critic Jeffrey Meyers. The article begins with Meyers’ memoir of a 1981 … Continue reading

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