Tag Archives: The Oldie

Valentines Day Roundup

–The BBC has reposted a 2022 episode of its art series Fake or Fortune. This involves a drawing said to be by the painter Modigliani that was owned by Waugh’s friend Sacheverell Sitwell (brother of Edith and Osbert). Here’s an … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Photography & Sculpture, Decline and Fall, Music, Observer, Television Programs | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Thanksgiving Roundup

–James Marriott writing in The Times offers some thoughts on the new film Saltburn (mentioned in several previous posts). Here’s an excerpt: …With the complacency characteristic of her class, Fennell [writer/director of film] never pauses to reflect that a person … Continue reading

Posted in Anniversaries, Brideshead Revisited, Decline and Fall, Letters, Newspapers | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Thanksgiving Roundup

Labo[u]r Day Roundup

–Writing in the New  York Review of Books, Michael Gorra reviews novelist Zadie Smith’s latest book The Fraud. This is the lead article of this issue, and in it Gorra places the novel in the context of Smith’s other works … Continue reading

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Roundup: Late Stories, Stately Festivals and a Rare (but Misspelled) Burgundy

–This week’s TLS has a review of Inez Holden’s late stories recently published in a collection issued by the Anthony Powell Society. Here’s an excerpt from the review by Lindsay Duguid: …The stories share an elusive quality, with only the … Continue reading

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Mother’s Day (US) Roundup

—The Oldie has posted an article by Mark McGinness to mark the 75th anniversary of the death of Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy on 13 March 1948. In this, he tells the story of her meeting and engagement with Billy Cavendish, Marquess … Continue reading

Posted in A Handful of Dust, Anniversaries, Brideshead Revisited, Hampstead, Letters, Newspapers, Oxford | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Mother’s Day (US) Roundup

Elizabeth Jane Howard Centenary: b. 26 March 1923

The Oldie has published a remembrance by Mark McGinness of novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard’s centenary which occurs today. Here’s an excerpt: Elizabeth Jane Howard would have been 100 on 26 March. Her stepson, Martin Amis, paid tribute to her “penetrating … Continue reading

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Groundhog Day Roundup

—The Economist started the week with a story headed by this discussion of a Waugh novel: Evelyn Waugh, a satirist of pre-war England and of the careless aristocrats who ran it, would have had a field day with the modern … Continue reading

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Roundup (More on Piers Court)

–A feature length article in The Oxford Blue (a new independent newspaper) discusses a Waugh novel. This is “Literature of Love” by Alice Clara State. Here’s an excerpt: …I want to talk with you about a few texts that deal … Continue reading

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Two Essays: Orwell’s Comic Novels and Waugh’s Oxford

There are two well written and interesting essays this week relating to Waugh. The first is by Jonathan Clarke and appears in the quarterly City Journal. This is entitled “Orwell’s Humor” and relates mainly to his two 1930s comic novels … Continue reading

Posted in A Handful of Dust, Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh, Fiction, Humo(u)r, Newspapers, Oxford | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Two Essays: Orwell’s Comic Novels and Waugh’s Oxford

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