The Diaries of Evelyn Waugh

by Evelyn Waugh, Michael Davie

This collection covers the period from 1911, when Waugh was seven, to 1966, a few weeks before his death. Despite occasional gaps, the diary presents a continuous record of the thoughts and acts of the tantalizingly complex man whom Graham Greene saluted as 'the greatest novelist of my generation.' Here also is an unparalleled day-to-day portrait of the crumbling, giddy society that Waugh's fiction recreated with all 'the defiant hilarity of a dance on a sinking ship,' as well as glimpse of the real people behind the characters who have become permanent part of modern literature.


Above all, here is Evelyn Waugh himself, from the independent schoolboy too prone to notice oddities and comment on them, to the exuberant 'enfant terrible' who was known to shout 'sustain the mood' through hundreds of inebriated lunches and dinners at Oxford, to the crusty, forbidding elderly figure who portrayed himself as 'shocked by a bad bottle of wine, an impertinent stranger, or a fault in syntax.'

To those Waugh aficionados seeking an authentic guide to the ways in which the writer drew on his experiences to create his fictional world, to those intrigued by the well-publicized Waugh legend, to those who relish graceful writing laced with malice, and to those looking for a remarkable 'inside' view of England's social and literary landscape from the early twenties on, 'The Diaries of Evelyn Waugh' are simply not to be missed.

Michael Davie, who edited the 'Observer' excerpts, provides succinct introductions for the seven time periods into which he has divided the diaries entries, together with a wealth of footnotes identifying personalities mentioned by the author and explaining the sometimes obscure subjects to which Waugh refers.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Diary, Biography Memoir, Autobiography, British Literature

818 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Evelyn Waugh's father Arthur was a noted editor and publisher. His only sibling Alec also became a writer of note. In fact, his book “The Loom of Youth” (1917) a novel about his old boarding school Sherborne caused Evelyn to be expelled from there and placed at Lancing College. He said of his time there, “…the whole of English education when I was brought up was to produce prose writers; it was all we were taught, really.” He went on to Hertford College, Oxford, where he read History. When asked if he took up any sports there he quipped, “I drank for Hertford.”

In 1924 Waugh left Oxford without taking his degree. After inglorious stints as a school teacher (he was dismissed for trying to seduce a school matron and/or inebriation), an apprentice cabinet maker and journalist, he wrote and had published his first novel, “Decline and Fall” in 1928.

In 1928 he married Evelyn Gardiner. She proved unfaithful, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1930. Waugh would derive parts of “A Handful of Dust” from this unhappy time. His second marriage to Audrey Herbert lasted the rest of his life and begat seven children. It was during this time that he converted to Catholicism.

During the thirties Waugh produced one gem after another. From this decade come: “Vile Bodies” (1930), “Black Mischief” (1932), the incomparable “A Handful of Dust” (1934) and “Scoop” (1938). After the Second World War he published what is for many his masterpiece, “Brideshead Revisited,” in which his Catholicism took centre stage. “The Loved One” a scathing satire of the American death industry followed in 1947. After publishing his “Sword of Honour Trilogy” about his experiences in World War II - “Men at Arms” (1952), “Officers and Gentlemen” (1955), “Unconditional Surrender" (1961) - his career was seen to be on the wane. In fact, “Basil Seal Rides Again” (1963) - his last published novel - received little critical or commercial attention.

Evelyn Waugh, considered by many to be the greatest satirical novelist of his day, died on 10 April 1966 at the age of 62.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_W...

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waugh always wrote his letters sober and sometimes wrote his diary entries drunk. The diaries, of course, are better. You rarely see a major novelist setting down the raw material of his novels in daily instalments as he does here.

The elegance and punch of the style impress throughout even when the personality behind it appals.

[Julio The Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

If caustic Catholicism is your thing, these diaries will make you laugh until the messiah comes.
Some Waugh obiter dicta: On finding out that Randolph Churchill, Winston's cad of a son, had undergone successful surgery for a benevolent tumor: "It was a typical triumph of modern science to find the only part of Randolph that was not malignant and remove it".
On Fellini's LA DOLCE VITA, with its controversial Christ flying by a helicopter scene: "I can only say that as a conventional Catholic, I found nothing offensive about it".
On growing older: " I do so envy old people".
Alas, Waugh's militarism (he took the side of Franco during the Spanish Civil War) and unquestioning faith in the faith he converted to are also abundant here: "I revere the Church and the Armed Forces not because they are traditional but because they are true".
A barrel of laughs if you are a Trad Catholic, Tory, or Brit literature buff.

[Adam DeVille, Ph.D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deliciously indiscreet, hilariously incorrect: there is nothing not to love in these diaries--except that there are not more of them! Immensely enjoyable to the point of rollicking laughter at not a few points.

[Sherwood Smith]

Read with the letters, these diaries are so revealing. How heartless he could be at times, and yet hungering for respect from his blue blood buds. To be accepted as one of them. I wonder if his kids got the boost he so desired for them.

I do feel sorry for Laura.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Waugh's diaries take us from school to literary fame to eminence grise, through World War II and fatherhood, and he doesn't say much about any of them. He complains a lot, albeit with excellent fluency, and seems to get grouchier as he gets older. It's hard to say anything nice about someone who doesn't like his own children.

[Katrin Baker]

no man will ever hate his kids as much as this one

[Jose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Utterly is different style of writing I see Ernest Hemingway in the drinking and drunkenness of party .
Make you think , why this intellectuals drink so much?.

[Millie · Rating 3 out of 5]

As Waugh got older, his journal becomes a lot more mundane. It does become hard going towards the end, and it's very long!

[l · Rating 1 out of 5]

1) DRINKING! 2) BEING BORED 3) DRINKING

skimmed through quite a lot of it because it's not particularly compelling. it does pick up a bit during/after wwii though.

[Richard Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The man unadorned and unashamed. Prejudice, hatreds and his inner self revealed. Often uncomfortable to read but a sine qua non if you wish to understand him.

[James Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of interest only to devotées, but for them these diaries are a treat. Waugh is cantankerous yet devout, obsessive and petty yet honest and genuine in his lifelong pilgrimage.

[Sutter Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just glanced thru it. Nothing interested me.

[Janice Chandler]

Read this when I was in my Brideshead phase and loved it!

[Kate]

Mentioned by Barabara Pym in letter to Philip Larkin