Category Archives: Sword of Honour

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

Novelist John le Carré 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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Pearl Harbor Day Roundup

–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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Roundup: Ethics, Mimics and Graves

–The Minneapolis StarTribune posts a story about ethics in journalism built around a brief description of Waugh’s novel Scoop: …As serious as the news is, a few laughs can’t hurt. You’re in for a lot of laughs in the 1938 … Continue reading

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Remembrance Sunday/Armistice Day Roundup

–In another article about the proposed new Brideshead TV series, Alexander Larman wonders whether there might not be more deserving works of Waugh for adaptation. This is published in the latest issue of The Critic. After noting that it will … Continue reading

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Roundup: Boyd, Banville and Paper Hats

–Novelist William Boyd is interviewed in The Times by Robbie Millen. This is on the occasion of the publication of Boyd’s new novel Trio  which is about the creation of a film in the late 1960s. After establishing Boyd’s somewhat … Continue reading

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Peregrine Worsthorne 1923-2020: RIP

Noted 20th century journalist Peregrine Worsthorne has died at the age of 97. He was an admirer and chronicler of the aristocracy. Waugh shared some of his admiration but also satirized the upper classes. In Worsthorne’s case, he was more … Continue reading

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Roundup: Censorship and Adaptation

–There has been a colloquy in the provincial British press about racist language in Evelyn Waugh’s 1932 novel Black Mischief. This was begun in an article or letter by Michael O’Neill of Penarth that was reproduced from the Western Mail. … Continue reading

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Another Look at Brideshead (More)

This editorial message appeared in a recent TLS.  It relates to the subject of Eleanor’s Doughty’s article in The Critic that was discussed in a previous post. Here is the opening section from the TLS: Edith Wharton was buried in … Continue reading

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Michaelmas Roundup

–Several religious journals carry a story by George Weigel about the elimination of the Papal States in the 19th century as part of Italy’s reunification. The article, as published in the interfaith journal First Things, opens with this: Evelyn Waugh’s … Continue reading

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Nicholas Shakespeare Interviewed on ABC

The Australian network ABC has posted a podcast of its literary program The Bookshelf that Made Me. This is intended to go beyond the constraints of its broadcast version, and its first guest is Nicholas Shakespeare. He is best known … Continue reading

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