Trevor's review of The Loved One
The Loved One (Penguin Modern Classics) by Evelyn Waugh
There is a film to this, which I haven't seen, but think I would have liked to.
This is Waugh's where else but America book.
Imagine the sort of book an Englishman would write about living in LA and working in a funeral parlour for animals who fancies a local woman who works in a funeral parlour for people and sends her poetry he has written, just for her - you know - like Shall I compare thee... Yes, the underlying assumption is that the Americans are a bit simple and a bit thick, and the Brits are sort of the adults in the relationship, but this is fiction and funny right up to the point when you realise actions have consequences that are not always all that amusing.
The bodies in the coffins expressing the feelings of the man who prepares them for viewings by the Loved Ones are as good an example of the comic genius that is Evelyn Waugh that I can think of.
I'm currently reading his Decline and Fall and loving every word. More on this soon.
This is Waugh's where else but America book.
Imagine the sort of book an Englishman would write about living in LA and working in a funeral parlour for animals who fancies a local woman who works in a funeral parlour for people and sends her poetry he has written, just for her - you know - like Shall I compare thee... Yes, the underlying assumption is that the Americans are a bit simple and a bit thick, and the Brits are sort of the adults in the relationship, but this is fiction and funny right up to the point when you realise actions have consequences that are not always all that amusing.
The bodies in the coffins expressing the feelings of the man who prepares them for viewings by the Loved Ones are as good an example of the comic genius that is Evelyn Waugh that I can think of.
I'm currently reading his Decline and Fall and loving every word. More on this soon.
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