- Paperback: 736 pages
- Publisher: Minerva; 2nd Revised edition edition (30 Oct 1995)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0749395028
- ISBN-13: 978-0749395025
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 5.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 354,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"Her style is supremely elegant and her eye for detail brings dazzle and wit to every page... This is a monumental book." - "Independent on Sunday
"Evelyn Waugh was the most complicated of men... It is the first great virtue of Selina Hastings's splendid biography that she never forgets it. Consequently she has written a sympathetic and highly intelligent book which also - rarity of rarities these days - reads rapidly. It is sympathetic also because, like Waugh himself, the author adores gossip." - "Daily Telegraph
"Evelyn Waugh was one of the funniest writers in the language. Selina Hastings's book is alive with his humour." - "Sunday Express
"Be assured that you would be unlikely to find a more entertaining, delightful or rewarding book on Waugh if you were to search... for the next twenty years. The narrative is at once gripping and thoughtful on every page." - "Mail On Sunday
"Evelyn Waugh was the most complicated of men... It is the first great virtue of Selina Hastings's splendid biography that she never forgets it. Consequently she has written a sympathetic and highly intelligent book which also - rarity of rarities these days - reads rapidly. It is sympathetic also because, like Waugh himself, the author adores gossip." - "Daily Telegraph
"Evelyn Waugh was one of the funniest writers in the language. Selina Hastings's book is alive with his humour." - "Sunday Express
"Be assured that you would be unlikely to find a more entertaining, delightful or rewarding book on Waugh if you were to search... for the next twenty years. The narrative is at once gripping and thoughtful on every page." - "Mail On Sunday
Country Life
‘A brilliant, three-dimensional portrait’
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
My introduction to Evelyn Waugh came when I had to read 'A Handful of Dust' for my English Lit 'A' level, well over thirty years ago. That intro led me to read all of his novels and most of his short stories. He was a brilliant chronicler of the British upper middle classes and minor aristocracy in the inter-war years, and reading this biography brilliantly illuminates the background to his novels, the real-life basis for some of his most memorable characters, and the events which informed much of his fiction. Selina Hastings manages to tell Waugh's story with a real lightness of touch that still manages to convey the weight and importance of Waugh's work. he doesn't always come across as a very likeable person, but that's not necessarily a bad thing; Hastings reveals the at times ugly truth of Waugh's character whilst telling the story with wit, warmth and charm, and the cumulative effect is all the more potent as a result. It never gets bogged down, is never 'worthy', frequently salacious, and always a delight. And it makes you want to go back to Waugh's novels with a renewed vigour, matching the real life characters to their fictional counterparts - sometimes they're elisions of the two, but the important thing is the real regard that Hastings obviously holds Waugh's work. If you have any interest in Waugh's work, do yourself a favour and buy this book - it does not disappoint.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am reading this book for the second time, and have been trying to work out why reading Selina Hastings is such unalloyed pleasure.
I got a clearer idea when I picked up a book by another writer I had ordered and skimmed a few pages, only to be hit by a familiar weariness.
Too many writers in English fall into one of two categories: their style is too academic or too informal. In both situations the reader is aware of the writer as an uncomfortable presence.
Selina Hastings' writing is absolutely clear: she never uses a difficult word when a simple one will do the job better; it is absolutely graceful: she is incapable of either pretentiousness or vulgarity; she is sometimes laugh-aloud funny, and she is always amusing.
One of her great gifts is to present a short account of each of Waugh's books which such economy and clarity that she arouses one's interest whether one knows the book inside out or has never read it.
Above all, and what a relief this is, she is non-judgmental. She presents her subjects exactly as she finds them, and yet manages to make them lovable. This is particularly useful here, because, as she states in the opening chapter:
"The reputation of Evelyn Waugh rests on two premises: that he was one of the great prose stylists of the twentieth century, and that as a man he was a monster."
I got a clearer idea when I picked up a book by another writer I had ordered and skimmed a few pages, only to be hit by a familiar weariness.
Too many writers in English fall into one of two categories: their style is too academic or too informal. In both situations the reader is aware of the writer as an uncomfortable presence.
Selina Hastings' writing is absolutely clear: she never uses a difficult word when a simple one will do the job better; it is absolutely graceful: she is incapable of either pretentiousness or vulgarity; she is sometimes laugh-aloud funny, and she is always amusing.
One of her great gifts is to present a short account of each of Waugh's books which such economy and clarity that she arouses one's interest whether one knows the book inside out or has never read it.
Above all, and what a relief this is, she is non-judgmental. She presents her subjects exactly as she finds them, and yet manages to make them lovable. This is particularly useful here, because, as she states in the opening chapter:
"The reputation of Evelyn Waugh rests on two premises: that he was one of the great prose stylists of the twentieth century, and that as a man he was a monster."
16 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Here is a rare combination: a fascinating subject and a beautifully written book.
Even if you know Waugh and his work only vaguely, there will be much here to keep you occupied. Equally, if you are familiar with the great man's opus then this biography will help explain his peculiarly autobiographical novels.
This is a wonderful book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Top class biography
A very interesting and detailed book by an author who is no fool, tracing EW's life and his forebears and giving great insight into both. Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2009 by Cliff
A most fascinating book
One of the most interesting books I have read in a long time. Incredibly well researched.
Published on 17 Mar 2000
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