Category Archives: Catholicism

Boxing Day Roundup

–Penguin have announced the issuance of a new edition of Waugh’s first book Rossetti: His Life and Work. This will be in the Penguin Modern Classics series and will be issued in the UK in April 2022. It will be … Continue reading

Posted in Brideshead Revisited, Catholicism, Rossetti: His Life and Works, Scott-King's Modern Europe, Vile Bodies | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Boxing Day Roundup

Post-Thanksgiving Roundup

–10 December will mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Christopher Hitchens. This is commemorated in the Financial Times by an article entitled “The World Christopher Hitchens Left Behind”. This is by Janan Ganash who might have used as … Continue reading

Posted in Brideshead Revisited, Catholicism, Decline and Fall, Helena, Lectures, Newspapers, Oxford, The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Post-Thanksgiving Roundup

Clarissa Churchill (1920-2021) R.I.P.

One of the last of Evelyn Waugh’s contemporary friends died yesterday. This is Clarissa Churchill.  Her father was Jack Churchill, Winston’s younger brother, and she was always close to Winston’s family. She grew up in a house in South Kensington … Continue reading

Posted in Catholicism, Letters, Newspapers | Tagged , | Comments Off on Clarissa Churchill (1920-2021) R.I.P.

Waugh’s 118th Birthday

Yesterday, 28 October, was Evelyn Waugh’s 118th birthday. He was born on that date in 1903. This event was marked in several brief announcements (including one showing that  actress Elsa Lanchester was born on the same day, something the two … Continue reading

Posted in Anniversaries, Brideshead Revisited, Catholicism, Decline and Fall | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Waugh’s 118th Birthday

AN Wilson Returns to Brideshead

The Oldie joins the Spectator in commemorating this week’s 40th anniversary of the 1981 Granada TV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited. They send critic and novelist AN Wilson back to have another look. He begins by noting Waugh’s main themes: the … Continue reading

Posted in Adaptations, Anniversaries, Brideshead Revisited, Catholicism, Decline and Fall, Sword of Honour | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Labo(u)r Day Roundup

–The Catholic Herald has an article by Ken Craycraft in which he reviews the recent biography of Graham Greene (The Unquiet Englishman by Richard Greene). Here is an excerpt: Critics and biographers are always looking for glimpses of Greene’s own … Continue reading

Posted in Academia, Brideshead Revisited, Catholicism, Decline and Fall, Newspapers, Oxford, Wales | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Labo(u)r Day Roundup

A Little More Learning

Sophia Waugh, Evelyn’s grand daughter and Auberon’s daughter, writes this week in the Catholic Herald about the current state of Roman Catholic schools in the UK. The article opens with a brief review of the differing attitudes of various members … Continue reading

Posted in Catholicism, Newspapers, Waugh Family | Tagged , | Comments Off on A Little More Learning

Roundup: Sash Windows and Sitwells

–Eleanor Doughty writing in Country Life considers whether sash windows should be repaired or replaced. She opens the story with this: There is something about a sash window, isn’t there? The gentle squeak and heave as you lift it up, … Continue reading

Posted in Auctions, Catholicism, Combe Florey, Interviews, Letters, Newspapers | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Roundup: Sash Windows and Sitwells

Waugh Would Not Be Happy

To Evelyn Waugh, one of the most important aspects of the Roman Catholic Church’s Vatican II reforms of 1960 was the limitation on the use of the traditional Latin Mass. He spent his final years in active opposition to this … Continue reading

Posted in Catholicism, Newspapers | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Waugh Would Not Be Happy

“Bridey’s Bombshell” Queried

In his Daily Mail blog, Peter Hitchens wonders whether Evelyn Waugh got it wrong about the Roman Catholic view of marriage in Brideshead Revisited, at least as it has been applied to the recent marriage of twice-divorced Boris Johnson in … Continue reading

Posted in Brideshead Revisited, Catholicism, Newspapers | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on “Bridey’s Bombshell” Queried