Category Archives: Humo(u)r

Eating People is Still Wrong

Posted on August 27, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

Andrew Donaldson writing in his column in the South African newspaper The Weekend Argus discusses the current status of cannibalism. This article, written with tongue firmly in cheek, was inspired by recent expressions of concern among South African politicians about … Continue reading →

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Waugh and the Hendon Nudists

Posted on July 17, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

An article appears in the Londonist (an online magazine devoted to local news about London, past and present) relating to  a 1930 incident when a group of nudists chose to sunbathe unclothed at a Hendon lake called the Welsh Harp.  This was … Continue reading →

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Et in Arcadia Ego (More)

Posted on July 14, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

The Latin phrase that Waugh used for the first chapter of Brideshead Revisited (“Et in Arcadio Ego”) was mentioned in a recent post in connection with Paul Theroux’s humorous allusion to it in his recent novel Mother Land. Since that was … Continue reading →

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W G Sebald, Comic Novelist?

Posted on May 30, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

In a long article in the latest edition of the New Yorker, Anglo-American literary scholar and critic James Wood (not to be confused with the scriptwriter of the same name who wrote BBC’s recent adaptation of Decline and Fall) tries … Continue reading →

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Lucy, Paula, Jane and Evelyn

Posted on May 13, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

Columnist Jennifer Selway in her Daily Express entertainment gossip column brings Evelyn Waugh into a literary scholarship cat fight between Waugh biographer Paula Byrne, PhD (Liverpool), and BBC historical TV presenter Lucy Worsley, DPhil (Sussex), both of whom have also written … Continue reading →

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Happy Hunting Ground Updated

Posted on May 10, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

An article in a Mexican newspaper alludes to Waugh’s novel The Loved One. The article is about the cloning of pets and opens with this: In The Loved One , one of his lesser-known novels – though caustic and scathing like … Continue reading →

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Decline and Fall and British Humour

Posted on April 28, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

Writing in Standpoint magazine (“War on Waugh”), Waugh’s great grand-daughter Constance Watson expresses dismay at the reaction to the BBC’s adaptation of Decline and Fall which recently concluded its three-episode run on BBC One (emphasis supplied): The great British sense … Continue reading →

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More Praise for BBC’s Decline and Fall from the Spectator

Posted on April 16, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

The Spectator in a blog column by Douglas Murray has added to its earlier praise for the BBC’s adaptation of Waugh’s Decline and Fall. This follows Friday’s transmission of the final episode of the series and focuses on that episode. But … Continue reading →

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More Reviews (Mostly Favorable) of BBC’s Decline and Fall

Posted on April 1, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

The reviews of the BBC’s adaptation of Decline and Fall continue to pile up after last night’s transmission of Episode One. These are nearly all favorable. There was a split decision in the Guardian. An editorial thought the project misguided: … Continue reading →

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Waugh’s Psychogeographic Experience

Posted on March 10, 2017 by Jeffrey Manley

In a posting to his weblog The Hollywood Walker, writer Geoff Nicholson compares the travel experiences in Malta of Evelyn Waugh and Thomas Pynchon. This seems to have been suggested to him by Paul Fussell’s 1980 book Abroad: British Literary Traveling Between the Wars. … Continue reading →

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