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Vile Bodies (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)

by Evelyn Waugh (Author), Richard Jacobs (Introduction) "It was clearly going to be a bad crossing ..." (more)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (28 Aug 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141187506
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141187501
  • Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 11 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 523,762 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

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

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Product Description

Product Description

In the years following the First World War a new generation emerges, wistful and vulnerable beneath the glitter. The Bright Young Things of twenties' Mayfair, with their paradoxical mix of innocence and sophistication, exercise their inventive minds and vile bodies in every kind of capricious escapade. In a quest for treasure, a favourite party occupation, a vivid assortment of characters hunt fast and furiously for ever greater sensations and the fulfilment of unconscious desires.


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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It was clearly going to be a bad crossing. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Vile Bodies (Penguin Modern Classics)
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Vile Bodies (Penguin Modern Classics) 4.6 out of 5 stars (14)
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Decline and Fall (Penguin Modern Classics) 4.5 out of 5 stars (20)
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A Handful of Dust (Penguin Modern Classics)
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Scoop: A Novel About Journalists (Penguin Modern Classics)
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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars By far the best of Evelyn Waugh's canon, 13 Nov 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Vile Bodies (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
There are four types of people in the world. Those who have never heard of Evelyn Waugh, those who think he's a woman and those who know him only as the author of Brideshead Revisted. The very rare fourth type knows Evelyn Waugh is one of the most brilliant satirists of all time and that in fact, Vile Bodies is his best effort. The second of 40 novels, Vile Bodies is his most characteristic work, brilliantly witty, stuffed with farcically brilliant characters who drink cocktails, go to costume parties, ride in motor cars and do little else. It was this novel that spawned the expression "bright young things" and is an excellent starting point for a love affair with Waugh. If you try it and love it, read Waugh's Put Out More Flags next.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A superb follow up to Decline and Fall., 18 May 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Vile Bodies (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
This is a Waugh masterpiece. A deeply satirical novel, it should not be viewed as merely a chronicle of 1930s hedonism. It is, rather, an often extremely sad text as it chronicles the frustrations of inter-war Britain and Europe and the Old World's struggle to discover a new role. Ideally one should read Decline and Fall first, not simply for the integration of characters, but because Vile Bodies is in many respects the natural successor to Decline and Fall in its carrying through of the themes of the age. Do not be sucked into a superficial spin through the facade of the jazz age, this novel has, whilst being short and exhilharating, a darker subtext. This novel proves that there is so much more to Waugh than 'Brideshead'. I thoroughly recommend this novel, but suggest Decline and Fall is read first, and if anyone is curious enough compare the two to Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night which share many common themes and make a fascinating comparison.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars a truly funny satire, as on-the-mark today as when written, 3 Oct 2000
By woma2@aol.com (palm beach gardens, florida, usa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Vile Bodies (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
I first read this book when I still lived in London years ago, and laughed until tears rolled down my face. I still like to dip into the time worn pages of my Penguin book and chuckle over the antics of the "bright young things." The descriptions of "flapper" and air balloon parties, stupid politians, machevalian clergy, film making, sports car racing and love affairs are funny, funny, funny. The writing style is sparse, well thought-out and easy to read. The characters are engaging, the situations are absurd and I highly recommend Vile Bodies as a great way to spend a dull, rainy evening. It will liven you up!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Vile bodies that intrigue...
When I read Brideshead Revisted I had begun to wonder why Evelyn Waugh was so highly regarded. Vile Bodies answered the question perfectly. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Victoriana_Mad

5.0 out of 5 stars "Faster, faster!"
(4.5 stars) Focused on the "bright, young things" whose frantic pursuits of pleasure led to constant and ever more frivolous parties in the years leading up to World War II, Vile... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Mary Whipple

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant
what a fantastic book. It is a rarety when i find a book that i don't want to end because it's so good. This is one of them. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Ms. F. I. Macdonald

5.0 out of 5 stars Vile People?
This novel is set between the wars when the age of the Toff was coming to an end. Evelyn Waugh wrote about the IT generation of his age, which he was a member of with dazzling... Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2007 by M. Dowden

2.0 out of 5 stars How terribly sick-making, dahling!
The best part of this book is the end. Read the last four pages and you get a real sense of (high) society breaking down as war breaks out. Read more
Published on 24 Aug 2007 by Caterkiller

3.0 out of 5 stars Definitely not one of Waugh's best works
I chose this book for my reading group as I am a great fan of Waugh (this is the sixth book of his that I have read). What a mistake! Read more
Published on 26 May 2007 by hiljean

5.0 out of 5 stars vile, awful people
i was for a long time reticent about reading this chaps work, just thinking it was a posh bloke writing about posh people falling in love and getting divorced. Read more
Published on 26 Aug 2006 by dusty ricochet

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book - now adapted in new movie
Bright Young Things is an adaptation of the Evelyn Waugh satirical novel Vile Bodies and has been a pet project of writer-director Stephen Fry for several years. Read more
Published on 15 Oct 2003 by 1Lit.co.uk Inc.

5.0 out of 5 stars Just cracks me up
You have to hand it to Evelyn Waugh. When he writes satire, no one does it funnier.

Vile Bodies is set in 20's England and follows the actions of the young and bored affluent... Read more

Published on 2 May 2003 by J. Cronin

5.0 out of 5 stars Too divine!
Waugh's ramshackle satire of "the younger generation" is nothing but hilarious. Though written as a book of its time, the satire hasn't staled. Read more
Published on 29 Jan 2003 by goodygoody_yumyum

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