Last month the Daily Telegraph published a list of the 100 novels everyone should read. This includes translations as well as books in English. There is no explanation of how or by whom the list was compiled or whether the books … Continue reading



@темы: Scoop, Daily Telegraph, Miscellaneous

There is nothing new under the sun. Except, perhaps, this: On Wed., Nov 26th, at Barts Pathology Museum in London, Dead Meet (“Dating and Networking for Death Professionals”;), is holding its Inaugural Dead Meet Up, a networking event at which … Continue reading



@темы: Discussions, Events, Lectures, The Loved One, Ann Pasternak Slater, Barts Pathology Museum, Dead Meet, embalming

A memoir of the residents of Lord Berners’ Faringdon House estate in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire) has been written by the granddaughter of one (or possibly two) of them. This is Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother and Me by Sofka … Continue reading



@темы: Alexander Waugh, Letters, Alexnder Waugh, Lord Berners, Robert Heber-Percy, Sofka Zinovieff, Miscellaneous

Deborah Cavendish (nee Freeman-Mitford), Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, died earlier this week at the age of 94. Evelyn Waugh and she were friends, though they were not nearly as close as were his friendships with her older sisters Nancy and … Continue reading



@темы: Ronald Knox, Letters, Chatsworth, Deborah Mitford, Mitford Sisters, Miscellaneous

The Daily Mail online edition for 16 September reports the offer for sale of the Easton Court Hotel in Chagford, Devon. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2758196/Histor.... This is the place to which Evelyn Waugh retreated to do much of his writing, including his most … Continue reading



@темы: Miscellaneous

Waugh’s views on the Spanish Civil War recently came up for comment in the TLS. In his review (July 4) of a recent book about war correspondents in Spain, Hotel Florida by Amanda Vaill, Jeremy Treglown commented that it was … Continue reading



@темы: Letters, Spanish Civil War, TLS, War Correspondents, Miscellaneous

The Complete Works of Evelyn Waugh project at the University of Leicester has launched a new website. Its Resources page is particularly useful. The project blog can be found here.



@темы: Complete Works, University of Leicester, Academia

The booksellers Peter Harrington’s Evelyn Waugh catalog contains many desirable volumes, none more so than Graham Greene’s inscribed copy of Helena (



@темы: Helena, Bibliophilia, Graham Greene, Peter Harrington

According to this post by film blogger Michael Barrett, both of the early theatrical films made of Waugh novels are now available in digital format: The Loved One (MGM, 1965) directed by Tony Richardson and screenplay by Terry Southern and … Continue reading



@темы: Miscellaneous

As the month of June approaches, Moira Redmond was inspired to contribute an article to the Guardian newspaper for May 20, 2014 entitled “Marriage plots: the best wedding dresses in literature.” The article is included in a regular column called Books Blog … Continue reading



@темы: Brideshead Revisited, Diaries, weddings, Waugh Family, Moira Redmond, Margaret Waugh, Guardian, Articles, Miscellaneous

In a major development in the field of Evelyn Waugh scholarship, the entire back-catalogue of the Evelyn Waugh Newsletter/Studies is now available through the University of Leicester Special Collections Online. The Evelyn Waugh Studies Collection comprises searchable complete runs of … Continue reading



@темы: Journal, Evelyn Waugh Society, Newsletter, Complete Works, University of Leicester, Evelyn Waugh Studies, Academia, Collections

Sir Peter Bazalgette, Chair of Arts Council England and President of the Royal Television Society, was the guest speaker at the 2014 Evelyn Waugh Lecture at Lancing College on May 1. This year’s lecture, entitled “The Drain Brain,” focused on … Continue reading



@темы: Events, Lancing, Lectures, Peter Bazalgette

In today’s Guardian (May 10, 2014), critic and novelist D.J. Taylor discusses the survival of literary reputations: Literary Hero to Zero. Later in the day, he presented a broadcast on BBC Radio 4 entitled Pulped Fiction, containing interviews, archival recordings … Continue reading



@темы: Documentaries, BBC Radio 4, Evelyn Waugh Society, Radio Programs, D.J.Taylor, David Lodge, Literary Reputations, Guardian, Articles, Miscellaneous, Interviews, Festivals

The Independent on Sunday newspaper (April 20, 2014) has run an article recalling the career of a media figure from the 1950s who locked horns with Evelyn Waugh. The article appears in the paper’s regular column Invisible Ink written by … Continue reading



@темы: Biographies, Christopher Fowler, Anthony Powell, lawsuits, Nancy Spain, "Invisible Ink", Daily Express, Martin Stannard, Articles, Miscellaneous

21:59

Why does everyone except me find it so easy to be nice?
19.04.2014 в 00:30
Пишет  tes3m:

Алан Прайс-Джонс считал, что ранние романы Ивлина Во ("Упадок и разрушение" и "Мерзкая плоть"), хоть и были восприняты многими как сатирические фантазии, точно передают стиль жизни английской светской молодежи 20-х и 30-х годов (1). Они с Ивлином Во никогда не были близкими друзьями, но жизнь часто сводила их вместе — сперва в Оксфорде, потом в лондонском свете и в литературных кругах (Алан не преуспел как писатель, но стал известным критиком), и они имели множество общих знакомых и друзей.

Элизабет Понсонби c Хью Уэйдом (по прозвищу "Хэтти" в честь , пианистом из клуба "Blue lantern" (отсюда).
Алан был кузеном одной из самых известных Bright Young Things — Элизабет Понсонби (ее считают прототипом Агаты Рансибл в "Мерзкой плоти"). Она, по словам Прайс-Джонса, была «совершенным олицетворением той эпохи» (1), а эпоху он описывает так: «Время тогда расточалось неимоверно. В семнадцать лет я оказался в глупом мире, где каждый был наряжен так, что мог в любую минуту пойти на званый вечер; в самом деле, в поездки брали смокинг и матросскую форму, которая, как мы обнаружили, была самым легким и простым вариантом маскарадного костюма» (2).
И со Стивеном Теннантом Алан оказался связан отдаленными родственными узами — примерно такими же, как Берти Вустер и Флоренс Крэй, после того как ее отец, граф Уорплсдон, женился на овдовевшей тете Агате. Мать Стивена после смерти его отца, герцога Гленконнора, вышла замуж за виконта Грея, родственника Алана по материнской линии (это тот самый политик, которого часто изображал на карикатурах Олаф Гульбранссон). После этого родители Алана и те члены семьи Стивена, которые хранили верность традициям, стали дружить домами, а самого Стивена Алан встречал иногда в обществе. Он описывает Стивена как "чрезвычайно красивого молодого человека, достаточно талантливого" (3) и добавляет, что тот "не позволил возрасту себя устрашить" (3). Звучит это, на первый взгляд, одобрительно, но Прайс-Джонс, кажется, иронизирует, потому что тут же (как бы для иллюстрации) рассказывает, как во время войны Теннант приехал к кому-то в гости с большим багажом, вышел на станции, а тут началось затемнение, носильщиков поблизости не оказалось, и ни Теннант, ни встречавший его друг не захотели тащить чемоданы, так что бросили на перроне всё, кроме ящика с косметикой, "который тоже не был ни маленьким, ни легким" (4).

1) The Bonus of Laughter by Alan Pryce-Jones, 1987, p. 28.
2) Ibid, pp. 28-29.
3) Ibid, p. 121.
4) Ibid, p. 122.

URL записи

Waugh’s April 1946 letter to Randolph Churchill about his visit to the war criminal trials in Nuremburg is reprinted in latest edition of The American Reader: A Journal of Literature and Criticism. The editorial introduction to the letter suggested that … Continue reading



@темы: Letters, World War II, Nuremberg Trials, Randolph Churchill, The American Reader, Waugh's military career, Miscellaneous

From the University of Leicester’s news page: University of Leicester conference for the Complete Works of Evelyn Waugh project will include talks by Selina Hastings, William Boyd and Paula Byrne Acclaimed writers Selina Hastings, William Boyd and Paula Byrne are … Continue reading



@темы: 2015, Events, University of Leicester, Conferences, Academia

Today is the 48th anniversary of the death of Evelyn Waugh.



@темы: Evelyn Waugh, Anniversaries

In recognition of English Mother’s Day and to counterbalance the rash of greeting card excess, the Guardian has published an article by Moira Redmond entitled Bad Mothers in Books: a literary litany. Top award goes to Charles Dickens with a hat … Continue reading



@темы: Mother's Day, Lady Marchmain, Nancy Mitford, A Handful of Dust, Brenda Last, Moira Redmond, Guardian, Articles, Miscellaneous

In a BBC TV interview broadcast last Sunday (March 23, 2014) which continues to be available over the internet on BBC iPlayer, Mark Lawson spoke with novelist Joanna Trollope about her writing career. She is distantly related to the novelist … Continue reading



@темы: BBC, Television Programs, character sources, Joanna Trollope, Mark Lawson, Miscellaneous, Interviews