Of contraception,” get out of hand with surprisingly gruesome results. His innovations, especially a great “pageant There the young Emperor, Seth, infatuated with Western civilization, attempts to modernize his barbaric country in a hurry. Waugh’s own travels in AbyssiniaĪnd concerns an imaginary native empire on an island in the Indian Ocean. “Black Mischief” is pure, early Waugh, funny in spots, mildly satirical, wildly absurd, corrupt and erotic. Two books farther apart in matter and spirit would be hard to find. Jesuit priest who was executed in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It is a devout and reverent biography of a great Catholic martyr, the English “Edmund Campion” is a writer’s public and appropriately literary, spiritual testament.
It was actually written before or after that event. Waugh’s admission to the Church that it is impossible to tell whether “Black Mischief” came along so soon after Mr. Waugh’s conversion to the Roman Catholic faith. Neither is particularly impressive as a work of literature, but perhaps they can shed some light on Evelyn Waugh as a man and as a writer.īoth books were originally published soon after Mr. Seven weeks ago another of his early novels, “Black Today his only book of non-fiction, “Edmund Campion,’ is published for the first time in this country, although some copies of the English edition were imported eleven ears ago. Few novelists achieve so enviable a position. Is the acid satire of his booksĬompletely sincere? Is it any more important than the outright farce? What about the religious message of “Brideshead” and were there religious messages in the other books that went largely unnoticed? Mr. He is still a frequent subject of social discussion and critical argument. His earlier, out-of-print books have been reappearing as fast as his publishers could get them out. His picture and a mock-modest, profoundly arrogant self-appraisal recently appeared Waugh’s last novel, “Brideshead Revisited,” was an international success. Who delight in sophisticated wit and satiric buffoonery.
Hat bright and slickly polished ornament of modern English letters, Evelyn Waugh, is no longer the too-little-appreciated pet of a few readers
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