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Decline and Fall (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)

by Evelyn Waugh (Author), David Bradshaw (Introduction) "'I think you ought to find some work,' said his guardian thoughtfully ..." (more)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
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Decline and Fall (Penguin Modern Classics) + Vile Bodies (Penguin Modern Classics) + Scoop: A Novel About Journalists (Penguin Modern Classics)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Classics; New Ed edition (28 Aug 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141187484
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141187488
  • Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 11 x 1.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 10,311 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #2 in  Books > Fiction > 20th Century Classics > Waugh, Evelyn

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Product Description

Product Description

Sent down from Oxford in outrageous circumstances, Paul Pennyfeather is oddly surprised to find himself qualifying for the position of schoolmaster at Llanabba Castle. His colleagues are an assortment of misfits, rascals and fools, including Prendy (plagued by doubts) and Captain Grimes, who is always in the soup (or just plain drunk). Then Sports Day arrives, and with it the delectable Margot Beste-Chetwynde, floating on a scented breeze. As the farce unfolds and the young run riot, no one is safe, least of all Paul.


About the Author

Evelyn Waugh was born in 1903 and was educated at Hertford College, Oxford. In 1928 he published his first novel, Decline and Fall, which was soon followed by Vile Bodies (1930), Black Mischief (1932), A Handful of Dust (1934) and Scoop (1938). In 1945 he published Brideshead Revisited and he won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1952 for Men at Arms. Evelyn Waugh died in 1966.
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Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
'I think you ought to find some work,' said his guardian thoughtfully. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

20 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (20 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic, 24 Jun 2003
This review is from: Decline and Fall (Penguin Modern Classics) (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.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Possibly the funniest book ever written, 18 Sep 2008
By Andrew Dalby "ardalby" (oxford) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is the tale of innocence, academia, love, ladies of less than perfect character and the behaviour/ misbehaviour of the class system. The funniest scene ever is the school sports day and the start of the running race. I will leave the rest for you to enjoy. If you have to read one book from Waugh then read this one. You will not want to put it down.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Waugh At His Best, 11 Jan 2008
By James Cameron Howes "jacobs ladder" (Lichfield, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
"Oh I shouldn't try to teach them anything yet"

Decline and Fall is simply one of the greatest novels I have ever read. It is laugh out loud funny whilst also moving the reader to care deeply for these fates of it's bumbling characters.

The story is easily epitomized by the title. Paul Pennyfather is a theological student at Oxford. Unfortunately despite being an inoffensive individual he is "sent down" from Oxford for an incident. The incident in question involves running across the quad sans pantaloon.

When he is cut from his fathers will he has no money and only one option- become a teacher.

The high jinks of his time as a teacher in Wales continue to constitute his fall until he falls prey to a sophisticated seductress and things go downhill from then on.

The brilliance of Waugh's wit shines throughout the novel as it cuttingly attacks and mocks the British Public School, the class structure of the early 20th Century and the scandals the British newspapers thrive upon.

Waugh's wit is augmented by a story that holds together and is fast paced. This keeps the jokes fresh and in abundance.

And the sum total of this narrative is that we learn nothing. Paul reflects that "there was not much to be gained by our knowing each other". Instead the novel is about what life means not "physiological implications of growth and organic change" instead the difference between people who are static and those who are dynamic. This difference Waugh supposes is that Paul was destined to be static and somehow got caught up in this glamorous world completely by chance.

Thus "Decline And Fall" stands as a warning about fame, particularly in this "heat" generation more than 70 years after it's publication. Waugh shows through Pennyfather that fame has a price and one that we may not be able to afford. Not all of us are cut out to be dynamic- that is hanging on to the wheel for dear life.

"Decline and Fall" stands the test of time because the strength of this underlying message and leaves one with a feeling of utter joy and a burning compulsion to turn the page and start the whole damn thing again.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars earliest and best
Evelyn Waugh was for a long time my favourite writer and I still think this [early] book is his best. Read more
Published 3 months ago by John Davison

4.0 out of 5 stars 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 6 months ago by James Gallen

3.0 out of 5 stars A Period Piece

This must have been funny once, around 1928 when first published, before mobile 'phones, the internet and the whole explosion of nowism over the last 50 years. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Gargantua Pantaloon

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear-eyed, undated
I found this very nearly as funny as Scoop and the humour was better sustained right to the end of the novel. Read more
Published 10 months ago by P. Reavy

5.0 out of 5 stars Very, very funny
This book is extremely funny and perhaps should not be read on public transport or in po-faced staff rooms. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Junius

5.0 out of 5 stars Effortless brilliance!
This is the first Evelyn Waugh novel I have read and I didn't really know what to expect. I have seen the Brideshead Revisited TV series and so I had an idea of the kind of... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Damian Patrick Kelly

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable introduction to Waugh
This is my first Evelyn Waugh novel and I will be definitely reading more in the near future. It is very accessible, extremely funny in places and has a good laugh at the British... Read more
Published 15 months ago by noggy1810

3.0 out of 5 stars Not his best and not very good in its genre either
From the same author I had read and liked "A Handful of Dust" and "Brideshead", two "serious" books, the latter made extremely famous by the mini-series starring Jeremy Irons... Read more
Published 21 months ago by J. Thiry

4.0 out of 5 stars The easiest 'classic' I've read in years
Great fun and a remarkably quick read. I agree with other reviewers that some of the coincidences in the narrative are a little hard to stomach - at least until one realises that... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Sable Unadorned

5.0 out of 5 stars Best-ever Waugh
I must have read this ten times, and I'm not done yet. Every time you find something new, something you missed the time before
Published on 28 May 2007 by D. Franks

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