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A Handful of Dust
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
28 posts | 38 read | 35 to read
After seven years of marriage, the beautiful Lady Brenda Last has grown bored with life at Hetton Abbey, the Gothic mansion that is the pride and joy of her husband, Tony. She drifts into an affair with the shallow socialite John Beaver and forsakes Tony for the Belgravia set. In a novel that combines tragedy, comedy, and savage irony, Evelyn Waugh indelibly captures the irresponsible mood of the "crazy and sterile generation" between the wars.
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Ladygodiva7
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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Affairs, Death, Divorce Pending...that‘s as far as I got. On page 243.

Update 9/5: Oh man that's a sinister ending!!

#Reading1001 #1001books

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BookwormM
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
Pickpick

#Reading1001 solid 3 ⭐️ read.

I loved the early parts of this book several sections made me laugh with how ridiculous they were.

The final section was totally unpredictable and I have to say sinister.

I was glad to see Tony grow a spine with regard to the inheritance.

Overall an enjoyable and amusing read

Josee.lit.a.lu.et.lira I enjoy your review that tell us how you felt vs reviews seen to often, that give us a resume, that we can read anyhow, everywhere. Fabulous style 🤗 4y
BookwormM @Josee.a.lu.lit.et.lira thank you 😊 4y
31 likes2 comments
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Daisey
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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Mehso-so

I don‘t know quite what to say about this book. I‘m not generally much of a fan of satire, and the beginning did not catch my attention at all. It changed some when I was surprised by a major event and then amused and baffled by the divorce shenanigans, so that I enjoyed the middle section. Then there was a crazy ending. Sometimes I felt bad for Tony, but overall I was amused yet unimpressed.

#audiobook #1001books #Reading1001 July BotM

Daisey Photo is the sunset over the sweet corn patch a few days ago. I listened to a few hours of this book while running errands and completing some random farm jobs. #BooksOnTheFarm 4y
BookwormM I just finished this enjoyed it more than you but yes the whole adventure at the end was very bizarre 4y
Daisey @BookwormM it was so bizarre! I‘ve decided I need to look up the original short story because I can‘t quite wrap my mind around it as a standalone and need to see exactly what it included. 4y
53 likes3 comments
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Emilymdxn
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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Panpan

I normally love Evelyn Waugh and I loved the first half, but the second half once we got into Brazil was racist in a way that wasn‘t just, well, racist (in a way that you kind of have to expect for a novel from then) it became nonsensical and cartoonish. I don‘t think it‘s possible to read a book about Machiavellian ‘natives‘ in 2020 without just going ‘what‘ every two paragraphs.

BookishMe I know exactly what you mean ;o 4y
muscogulus Intriguing critique. I‘m tempted to read it just because E. Waugh is on my list and because it‘s fascinating to see British imperialists passing out their uninformed judgments of people they know nothing about. At least these “natives” are allowed to be politically astute enough to be labeled “Machiavellian.” 4y
MoseleyBoy The second half of the book was originally a short story. He added the first half to explain how the protaganist ended up in Brazil and to create a full novel. 4y
Emilymdxn @MoseleyBoy I‘d read that before I went into the book so I knew there would be a shift but when I got to it it just felt ridiculous if I‘m honest. I don‘t think it would have been a good short story in isolation either personally 4y
MoseleyBoy I read the novel in the last year as part of a book group. When I got to the second half, I realised I had read it as a short story in primary school. I enjoyed it when I was younger and was delighted to come across it again. 4y
62 likes1 stack add5 comments
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Shaines07
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
Pickpick

The is my first book by Evelyn Waugh. I very much enjoyed it. I enjoyed the story and found the end to be fitting. Look forward to reading other works by Waugh.

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Henrik_Madsen
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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Having fun with some good old ruling class satire...

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JenniferP
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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Starting this today, but my kids are home from school today so might not get much reading in!

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twohectobooks
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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Pickpick

This is the weekend I‘ll catch up on Litsy reviews.

#1: A Handful of Dust
I‘ve previously read Scoop and Brideshead Revisited for #modernlibrarytop100, and this was much more along the lines of Scoop. That is, it‘s biting and hilarious satire but also features some pretty uncomfortable imperialism and classism (oh, Evelyn Waugh, you old unrepentant asshole). There‘s a sudden death in this book that‘s extremely affecting, and the ending is wild.

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twohectobooks
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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Tell me more about your terrible life.

I can‘t wait to use this line in conversation lol

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twohectobooks
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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What a name.

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twohectobooks
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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#fridayfrigesday @SpeculativeFemale
1️⃣ Tough one! I kind of love the whole Greek pantheon to be honest.
2️⃣ A Handful of Dust. Hope it‘s more like Scoop than Brideshead Revisited but we‘ll see. #modernlibrarytop100
3️⃣ Tap.
4️⃣ Neither? “Runners” would be most common here I think.

SpeculativeFemale I've always preferred the Greeks to the Roman "knock off" versions ? 6y
16 likes1 comment
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Augustdana
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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Here‘s the other one I own. The covers are amazing! @Lcsmcat I saw a bunch at the book depot a while back.

Lcsmcat That‘s amazing too. Who‘s the publisher? 6y
Augustdana @Lcsmcat little, brown and company. Also has back bay books logo. 6y
12 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Clevercactus
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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#RuinABookTitleInOneLetter. This is trending on social media. Will you play along? Comment your sullied title below. Here's mine: Handful of Bust

britt_brooke 😆👏🏻 7y
7 likes1 comment
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lonelybluenights
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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My 9-year-old niece picked this out for me. 😂 #readingatwork

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mrldg
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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"You've got to learn to be nicer, she said soberly. I don't think you'd find it impossible."

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shawnmooney
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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Pickpick

A re-read of a novel I studied at university. Satire makes me uncomfortable. Am I allowed to like any of the characters, or only laugh derisively at everyone and everything? Despite not being an ideal reader, I liked the book. And yes I liked some characters, laughed at others. Enjoyed the prose!

RobinGustafson Love Waugh. Need to go back and do some re-reads 8y
31 likes1 stack add2 comments
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shawnmooney
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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shawnmooney
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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Makes ya want to go exploring, hey!?

ultrabookgeek I started reading this book yesterday and quickly realized I had already read it. I also quickly remembered how sad it made me and probably why I pushed it out of my head. 8y
18 likes1 comment
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shawnmooney
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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Could anyone else capture a character (here, a rather insignificant one) so devastatingly in so few words?

SusanInTiburon "... little splinters of bone and charred stick ..." Your quote chimes perfectly with the book's title. 8y
shawnmooney @Susanintiburon Wow, I hadn't caught that! Brilliant! You've cracked the code to the deepest part of the book! 8y
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shawnmooney @Susanintiburon I'm enjoying rereading it. But I must admit I'm not the best reader of satirical novels. I always feel self-conscious about caring about the characters emotionally. 8y
SusanInTiburon @shawnmooney What a great observation! I never put my finger on it before, but that would explain why I never loved Scoop and Lucky Jim in person, though they sound perfect in concept. 8y
shawnmooney @Susanintiburon Wow, you've made me feel so much better. I was really feeling inept, like a country bumpkin, about this. 8y
Verity I hear what y'all saying but as a journo I found Scoop worryingly accurate - and Ricky Gervase's latest on Netflix would seem to owe it a debt. Have you tried Stephen Fry's film Bright Young Things? 8y
JenniferShepard HoD is in my all-time top 10 books. Thanks for the reminder to re-read. 8y
23 likes2 stack adds8 comments
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shawnmooney
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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Verity It certainly went as far as the start of the war - Mrs Simpson's divorce in 1936 ran on similar lines. I think it was one of those things that changed after the war. It was bit of a manners thing anyway - the man would do the "adultery" even if it was the woman who'd really been playing away! 8y
Magslhalliday As far as 1950s Canada, as an actual practice - even if the divorce was amicable. 8y
17 likes2 comments
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ultrabookgeek
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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Behind on my classics for the year!

shawnmooney I'm reading it (again) right now too! 8y
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shawnmooney
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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SusanInTiburon
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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The proper thing in the proper place: the OED 2d entry for "bitch", v., intr. With your precise quote as an illustration, to allay all doubt, @shawnmooney. ?

shawnmooney @Susanintiburon You are awesome! Thank you so much!! 8y
SusanInTiburon Oh yes, I remember now: This is how it all started. 😻 8y
14 likes3 comments
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shawnmooney
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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Minervasbutler Perhaps his most accomplished novel. Great read! 8y
shawnmooney @timjulian I'm rereading it after studying it in university in the 80s. I've never forgotten when the part where Brenda mixes up the two Johns and says @ 8y
shawnmooney ...and says "Oh thank God!" - the most chilling line in all of English literature! 8y
Seonjoon I haven't dug back into Western "canon" lit in awhile, but this is enticement back... 8y
19 likes6 stack adds4 comments
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shawnmooney
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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Lindy Now I am curious about bitching too. 8y
Texasblues Me, three! 8y
BkClubCare Wow - she sounds like a peach. "Sure, honey, let's invite your friend nobody likes and let's see how the grand I can be in impressing myself with how well I can tolerate the boor." YIKES!! (Did I read that right?) 8y
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shawnmooney
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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The upper-class boy, John, turns impish with his nanny.

ramyasbookshelf Silly old tart 😂😂 8y
shawnmooney @ramyasbookshelf When I get called that, there's a different consonant on the last word in the expression! :-) 8y
15 likes3 comments
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PurityofEssence
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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Pickpick

Equal parts acerbic and hilarious, Waugh's writing exemplifies a triumph of style; the sentences are so smooth, almost aerodynamic. A Handful of Dust is razor-sharp, and I was choking on my laughter all the way through. A fantastic introduction to Waugh's writing. 👍👍👍

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shawnmooney
A Handful of Dust | Evelyn Waugh
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I could photograph this book anywhere in my messy apartment, but dust doesn't photograph well, not even a handful of it! I'm going to reread this novel after 30 years. I remember 2 lines of dialogue, the most chilling in all of literature. A free latte or kiss on the cheek if you can quote them!