The book was my mother’s copy, and it was her generation that had their bright lives interrupted by war. I was just about to put it down when the writing suddenly came alive. I was at the point (p.68) where Adam goes to ask Nina’s father for money. Archetypal and almost Wodehouseian in style, Waugh seemed to suddenly hit his stride with this set piece of crumbling English manor-house absurdity.

The food at Shepheard’s tends to be mostly game pie – quite black inside and full of beaks and shot and inexplicable vertebrae – p. 84

While the drunk Major betting device was an obvious form of deus ex machina the quality of the narrative felt very uneven to me. There were periods where I was not enthralled or amused. Curiously, the racing day should have been more interesting than it was. But it did have its moments.

The truth is that motor-cars offer a very happy illustration of the metaphysical distinction between ‘being’ and ‘becoming’. p. 161

The outbreak of war and the ominous approach of destruction at the very end of the book felt wrong although it was exactly right for the times.
One of the delights of this book was Waugh’s use of parentheses for thoughts,

‘Oh Nina, what a lot of parties .’
…(Masked parties, savage parties…comic dances in Scotland and disgusting parties in Paris – all that succession and repetition of massed humanity,… Those vile bodies…) p. 123

( )

Listened to this as an audiobook as well. Great stuff. It's goals are modest, but it's exceedingly well written. It's an arch, often nasty satire. Frequentlly funny in very wry way. Startling at times. ( )

review of
Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - January 16-17, 2018

I've already written a review of Waugh's Decline and Fall ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2250721945 ), which I enjoyed. I'll probably read 9 bks by Waugh, since that's how many I've got here, Vile Bodies being the 2nd. Apparently this was the 'hit' that 'launched' his career. I'm 'enthusiastic' about it too, it's far from the most esoteric thing I've ever read but, WTF?, that's ok, it was still good.

In Waugh's 1964 Preface he started off w/:

"This was a totally unplanned novel. I had the facility at the age of twnety-five to sit down at my table, set a few characters on the move, write 3,000 words a day, and note with surprise what happened. The composition of Vile Bodies was interrupted by a sharp disturbance in my private life and was finished in a very different mood from that in which it was begun. The reader may, perhaps, notice the transition from gaiety to bitterness." - p VII

After reading that, I forgot about it & I didn't really "notice the transition from gaiety to bitterness" but there was some sadness that seemed 'real' w/o being welcome. "There were not many comic writers at that time and I filled a gap. I began under the brief influence of Ronald Firbank but struck out for myself." (p VIII) Doncha just love it when people acknowledge their lucky breaks? Imagine this: 'My family was wealthy & had major connections in the publishing world so my 1st bks were bound to be published & promoted so I just took off from there' - I haven't read that one yet but maybe someday.

Ronald Firbank? Never heard of 'im: "Arthur Annesley Ronald Firbank (17 January 1886 – 21 May 1926) was an innovative English novelist. His eight short novels, partly inspired by the London aesthetes of the 1890s, especially Oscar Wilde, consist largely of dialogue, with references to religion, social-climbing, and sexuality." ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Firbank ) I'l be looking for his work at my local subterranean paperbook room. He only made it to 40. Let's hope he had a good time.

But let's start off w/ a joke, shall we? Have you heard the one about the Yuppie, the Lawyer's child, the Leper, & the Noise Musician who had to share a bathroom at the Aberdeen Proving Ground? Neither have I. They all had Anthrax but it didn't prove anything. How about ""There was a man lived at Aberdeen, and he was terribly keen on fishing, so when he married, he married a woman with worms. That's rich, eh? You see he was keen on fishing, see, and she had worms, see, he lived in Aberdeen. That's a good one that is."" (p 15)

The main male character, easily enuf perceived as a surrogate for the author, is coming back from Paris to England after having written a bk there & gets stopped by Customs:

"One by one he took the books out and piled them on the counter. A copy of Dante excited his especial disgust.

""French, eh?" he said. "I guessed as much, and pretty dirty, too, I shouldn't wonder. Now just you wait while I look up there here books"—"in my list. Particularly against books the Home Secretary is. If we can't stamp out literature in the country, we can at least stops its being brought in from outside.["]" - p 24

Have you ever been harrassed at Customs by someone seemingly completely ignorant? By someone who's managed to get into a position of power that they then proceed to abuse in accordance w/ their ignorance? I have. I imagine any creative person has. A part of the humor of the above is that the Customs official calls Dante "French" instead of Italian. Given that Dante is arguably the most famous Italian poet the official's non-recognition of his name shows his level of illiteracy. I was entering England from France once & carrying films of mine. The Customs official leeringly asked if they were "Art Films", a term he appeared to be using in an insulting way. In this novel, the writer character's financial troubles begin here. A part of this is that he has to renogociate his publisher's contract.

""May I just see the terms?"

""Of course, my dear fellow. They look a bit hard at first, I know, but it's our usual form. We made a very special case for you, you know. It's very simple. No royalty on the first two thousand, then a royalty of two and a half percent, rising to five percent on the tenth thousand. We retain serial, cinema, dramatic, American, Colonial and translation rights, of course. And, of course, an option on your next twelve books on the same terms.["]" - p 36

In other words, instead of royalties he gets a royal screw job. While Waugh is probably exaggerating any bad experiences he may've had, he might be exaggerating less than one might think. I had a contract w/ a publisher once. I signed it. I pointed out to the publisher that they hadn't met a single one of their terms. One of the publishers replied that that was because they hadn't signed the contract! Neat, eh?! They give ME a contract to sign that protects them but then they don't sign it so that they're not culpable.

According to Waugh's 1964 Preface, "There was also a pretty accurate description of Mrs. Rosa Lewis" [ "Lottie" apparently] "and her Cavendish Hotel" (p VIII):

"She led Adam into the parlor, where they found several men, none of whom Adam had ever seen before.

""You all know Lord Thingummy, don't you?" said Lottie.

""Mr. Symes," said Adam.

""Yes, dear, that's what I said. Bless you, I knew you before you were born. How's your father? Not dead, is he?"

""Yes, I'm afraid he is."

""Well, I never, I could tell you some things about him. Now let me introduce you—that's Mr. What's-his-name, you remember him, don't you? And over there in the corner, that's the Major, and there's Mr. What-d'you-call-him, and that's an American, and there's the King of Ruritania."" - p 44

The "Bright Young People" who're the main focus of the bk are followed around by gossip columnists who aren't particularly beholden to any accuracy of reporting as long as they can get away w/ it otherwise.

"At Archie Schwert's party, the fifteenth Marquess of Vanburgh, Earl Vanburgh de Brendon, Baron Brendon, Lord of the Five Isles and Hereditary Grand Falconer to the Kingdom of Connaught, said to the eighth Earl of Balcairn, Viscount Erdinge, Baron Cairn of Balcairn, Red Knight of Lancaster, Count of the Holy Roman Empire and Chenonceaux Herald to the Duchy of Aquitaine, "Hullo," he said. "Isn't this a repulsive party? What are you going to say about it?" for they were both of them, as it happened, gossip writers for the daily papers." - p 59

Are there any gossip columnists that aren't assholes? I doubt it. My father was one & he was an asshole. Consider this: "The first gossip columnist, dominating the 1930s and 40s, was Walter Winchell, who used political, entertainment, and social connections to mine information and rumors, which he then either published in his column On Broadway, or used for trade or blackmail, to accumulate more power. He became "the most feared journalist" of his era." ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gossip_columnist ) I was written about in a German magazine once by someone who didn't see fit to actually quote me more than once or twice in his whole article even though he'd 'interviewed' me. Why? B/c he kept trying to get me to talk about subjects that I wasn't interested in & I refused to do so. He was furious at his inability to manipulate me into saying what he wanted to 'quote'. He then used a full-page image of Freddy Kruger as 'my' picture. It was one of the only times of my life when I felt like I was a Hollywood movie star being stalked by a gossip & then being abused in print for my 'celebrity' sales potential.

Parties are central here & they're of the ilk that involve invitations - of wch "there was the sort that Johnnie Hoop used to adapt from Blast and Marinetti's Futurist Manifesto. These had two columns of close print; in one was a list of all the things Johnnie hated, and in the other all the things he thought he liked." (footnote, p 62) Those wd be collector's items for me. "Blast was the short-lived literary magazine of the Vorticist movement in Britain. Two editions were published: the first on 2 July 1914 (dated 20 June 1914, but publication was delayed) and published with a bright pink cover, referred to by Ezra Pound as the "great MAGENTA cover'd opusculus"; and the second a year later on 15 July 1915. Both editions were written primarily by Wyndham Lewis. The magazine is emblematic of the modern art movement in England, and recognised as a seminal text of pre-war 20th-century modernism." ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_(magazine) ) For those of you not familiar w/ Lewis, I've written a review of his novel The Childermass here: https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/404432-the-book-of-the-dagnabbited-all-to-h... .

One of my favorite scenes in the novel is one in wch The Bright Young Partiers spontaneously go to the home of one of their lesser-noticed members for a late-nite continuation. The next morning, one of those remaining reads about it in a gossip column w/o initially realizing where she'd ended up:

"" 'Midnight Orgies at No. 10.' My dear, isn't that divine? Listen, 'What must be the most extraordinary party of the little season took place in the small hours of this morning at No. 10 Downing Street. At about 4 a.m. the policemen who're always posted outside the Prime Minister's residence were surprised to witness'—Isn't this too amusing—'the arrival of a fleet of taxis, from which emerged a gay throng in exotic evening dress'—How I should have loved to have seen it. Can't you imagine what they were like?["]" - p 71

OOPSIE! Imagine partying in Washington DC & going to somebody's house & passing out & waking up the next morning to a White House Tour in progress. That hasn't happened to me.. & I don't think I'd want it to. Even worse might be to have sex w/ someone that you're engaged to for the 1st time only to have yr partner say: ""All this fuss about sleeping together. For physical pleasure I'd sooner go to my dentist any day."" (p 111) OUCH!

"(...Masked parties. Savage parties. Victorian parties, Greek parties, Wild West parties, Russian parties, Circus parties, parties where one had to dress as somebody else, almost naked parties in St. John's Wood, parties in flats and studios and houses and ships and hotels and night clubs, in windmills and swimming-baths" - p 135

Now we're talking. What about a "One Word per Person Party"?: https://youtu.be/cvgoTPwwCog As long as they're not parties w/ dress codes.

"Adam and Miss Runcible and Miles and Archie Schwert went up to the races in Archie Schwert's car. It was a long and cold drive. Miss Runcible wore trousers and Miles touched up his eyelashes in the dining room of the hotel where they stopped for luncheon. So they were asked to leave. At the next hotel they made Miss Runcible stay outside, and brought her cold lamb and pickles to the car." - p 193

Remember those days? I'm sure they still exist in many places but all the people who have tattoos & piercings now would've been turned away from most places 30 yrs ago. It happened to me many times. I personally claim responsibility for being a sort of human ice-breaker, breaking thru the matephorical frost in the chilly social climate. Waugh is what ya might call a 'keen social observer' if you don't mind using a well-worn phrase now & then. OR, one cd call him a 'Kleenex Slop Remover', like I might, & confuse just about everyone w/ the obliqueness of the joke.

"The effects of their drinks had now entered on that secondary stage, vividly described in temperance handbooks, when the momentary illusion of well-being and exhilaration gives place to melancholy, indeigestion and moral decay." - p 224

That almost sums up the whole bk. Who'd-uh thunk that Waugh got his ideas from a temperance handbook? Yes, Waugh's mood does change:

"Presently he became aware of a figure approaching, painfully picking his way among the strands of barbed wire which staryed across the ground like drfiting cobweb; a soldier clearly. As he came nearer Adam saw that he was leveling towards him s liquid-fire projector. Adam tightened his fingers about his Huxdane-Halley bomb (for the dissemination of leprosy germs), and in this posture of mutual suspicion they met. Through the dusk Adam recognized the uniform of an English staff officer. He put the bomb back in his pocket and saluted." - p 285

I'm going to join the crowd w/ this one & say it's great. It even foreshadows Flann O'Brien to a certain extent. I hope no-one decides to assassinate me for that one. I still like O'Brien better but I have 7 more Waugh bks I plan to read. Who knows what might happen?! ( )

Vile Bodies, Evelyn Waugh’s satire on the so called Bright Young Things who emerged in England in the 1920s, was published in 1930 and became an immediate topical success. The Bright Young Things were a bunch of hedonistic aristocrats who partied their way around the grander houses of London. The gossip columnists loved them and although some of them did go on to actually do something (Cecil Beaton and Waugh himself were both associated with the group) most of them were famous for being famous, so they were arguably the first flowering of the celebrity culture.

Plot? Almost non-existent: Adam Fenwick-Symes, an impecunious member of the BYG and a would-be writer, is trying to raise enough money to marry his girlfriend Nina Blount. He is also searching for a drunken Major who disappeared with £1000 of Adam’s money. On this slenderest of threads Waugh hangs a succession of comic set pieces. One of the funniest chapters is an extended send up of gossip columnists which, with a bit of tweaking, could have been published as a stand-alone piece in a magazine like Punch.

Waugh creates larger than life characters and equips them with larger than life names: Lottie Crump, the Prime Minister Mr Outrage, Margo Metroland, Miles Malpractice, Agatha Runcible and Mrs Melrose Ape.

The prevailing tone of existential emptiness beneath the glittering carapace is reminiscent of early T S Eliot poems such as The Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock. The mood is constantly shifting but the sheer bleakness of the ending still takes the reader by surprise.

Much of the book’s charm is supplied by the narrative voice which is pleasingly arch, slightly intoxicated and cleverer than thou. There are lashings of dialogue as smart people have smart conversations, often on that ultramodern device, the telephone. The whole thing reads like a collaboration between Noel Coward and a PG Wodehouse grown cynical with a sprinkling of Eliot. The senile cineaste Colonel Blunt, for me the funniest character in the book, is straight out of Wodehouse.

This is the first time I’ve read Waugh, having previously been put off him by his self- inflicted reputation as über bigot, über snob, über reactionary. Perhaps it’s a case of having to separate the art from the artist as Vile Bodies is certainly entertaining, stylish, brimming with darkly comic energy and, ultimately, unsettling.

Since the days of the Bright Young Things the celebrity culture has been transformed into a massive and lucrative industry. The cast of characters has also been broadened and downscaled socially in a way that Waugh would doubtless not have approved of. ( )

Sort of an adult version of Jeeves and Wooster. Or half-way between Wodehouse and Dickens funnier stuff like Bleak House. Aswell as fun there's sex, death, politics and the sort of minor celebrity culture which is probably more relevant now than when this was written.
There is a central story just about but it's occasionally lost amidst the various secondary characters. The whole thing feels a bit fragmented but overall still quite enjoyable although with a distinctly dark undercurrent. ( )