Decline and Fall (Penguin Modern Classics)
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"* 'Waugh's comic universe has an aspect of vigorous bleak chaos which both outrages and delights' - Malcolm Bradbury"
Product Description
Sent down from Oxford for indecent behaviour, Paul Pennyfeather embarks on a series of bizarre adventures that start in a minor public school and end in one of HM prisons. In this, his first and funniest novel, Evelyn Waugh immediately caught the ear of the public with his account of an ingénu abroad in the razzmatazz of Twenties high society.
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First Sentence
'Sent down for indecent behaviour, eh?' said Paul Pennyfeather's guardian. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
'Sent down for indecent behaviour, eh?' said Paul Pennyfeather's guardian. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is one of the books that made me love english litterature. It is so wonderfully absurd and at the same time accurate in it's description of british society and education around 1930. When I sometime tires of Wodehouse and the constant mix-ups of his (otherwise wonderful) tales about Jeeves & Wooster, Psmith or Blandings Castle, Waugh is my choice. It is down to earth, but extremely funny.
Young man Pennyfeather is expelled from Oxford due, through no fault of his own, to indecent behaviour. He becomes schoolmaster at a school in Wales which, frankly, is not very good. He falls in love, and the rest of the plot is for you to find out.
I can tell you, however, that in this book Waugh covers so diverse subjects as prisons, religion, education, architecture (at this point, one might rightly wonder if it's Bentham I'm reviewing instead of Waugh, but no!), glamour, greed, insanity, worldwide cooperation, Welsh music, teenage boys and alcohol. And even if you like or dislike some, or most of these things, Waugh makes them seem so absurd that you can't help but smile at his descriptions of everyday life in those very specific circles.
Go on and read it - it's cheap, it's a classic and it is one of the most entertaining and clever books I've ever read.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Evelyn Waugh was for a long time my favourite writer and I still think this [early] book is his best. The taut, brittle humour is consistent from beginning to end, and the pace never lets up.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a book I read many years ago and was inspired to take up again following the BBC’s Big Read quest; in this they included others of Evelyn Waugh’s works but overlooked this gem. The tale follows the hilarious misadventures of one Paul Pennyfeather. Sent down from Oxford though no fault of his own, Pennyfeather begins his decline and eventual fall in to the depths, encountering along the way a series of incredible characters and unbelievable situations ranging from murder to white slavery but somehow throughout it all seeming to retain his innocence. Despite being written in 1928 Waugh’s writing still remains fresh and his wit sparkling. A truly clever and very funny book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Don't order Oxford Bookworms Version if you don't want
I think all reviews for this novel appear on all listings. Be sure not to order the "Oxford Bookworms Library: Stage 6" version unless you are looking for an abridged/adapted... Read more
Published 17 days ago by Cara Bennett
Classic innocent abroad story
Farce tinged with tragedy - a good read. Poor young Pennyfeather; drummed out of Oxford like a sacrificial lamb, financially shunned by his guardian, forced up to the nether... Read more
Published 5 months ago by kraney51
By turns cruel, screamingly funny, and completely unforgettable.
Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh is a perfect example of a British 'black comedy' - a piece handling extremely unpleasant subjects in an airy tone. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mountain lady
"A book of two halves"
The first 55% of the book is riotously hilarious and very very well worth the price of the whole book. And more! Read more
Published 10 months ago by F E Mattimoe
Vastly overrated
There's not many times when I've been unable to finish a book, but this was one of them. Admittedly, there are some vaguely humourous bits in the first part of the book, but by... Read more
Published 10 months ago by John Nevill
I laughed so much
A big divertimento from Evelyn Waugh, I laughed so much. Indispensable to learn something about the easy and fool years previous the war, and to read something else of Waugh but... Read more
Published 10 months ago by booklover
Dated, racist, snobbish, cranky, bonkers and incomplete but very...
Decline and fall was Evelyn Waugh's first novel and covers the social mores of 1920s England. In that respect it is very like the novels of Nancy Mitford who was also concerned... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Brownbear101
Curmugeonly Comedy
Evelyn Waugh was a grumpy old so and so. In his lifetime he was very vocal about his dislike of all manner of things particularly those which he considered 'modern'. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Alexis Paladin
A classic British comedy!
This is the first book I've read by Evelyn Waugh, after borrowing it from a friend at work and I wasn't disappointed. Read more
Published on 26 May 2010 by Mr. N. EVANS
Satire, Characters, Enjoy!
"Decline and Fall" is British satire at its best. Set in the life of the British Upper Classes, this book makes light of its self importance. Read more
Published on 15 May 2009 by James Gallen
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