A Handful of Dust

The social elites of the inter-war period in England provide a rich tapestry on which a tragic and sardonic tale is told. Waugh breathes life into characters who are extreme in their vanity, yet tragically susceptible and frail. The result is one of the classic satirical novels of the last century. Readers who enjoy the deliberate and biting style of George Orwell will find Waugh a dear addition to their literary diet.

Tony and Brenda Last, well endowed with legacy, are the best of cultivated English aristocracy. That is until Brenda's inexplicable affair with the annoying and feckless John Beaver, fostered by the same suave aristocratic society, immolates the marriage. Tony, abashed by the hypocritical divorce proceeding, decided to take a life changing the store exploration where he received more than he bargained for. Handful of Dust is layered with comical cynicism, while its core lay bare the face of human decadence.

I enjoyed this great satire of aristocratic decadence. Perhaps its not for everyone, though. The last 1/4 or so is particularly good and had me really glued to its pages. All I can say is that Dr. Messinger and Mr. Todd, introduced towards the end, make this novel great. Waugh is a great writer and he proves it especially at one particular point that I will not identify specifically lest I provide a spoiler.

In this dead-on perfect skewering of upper class snobbism, Tony Last escapes the savagery of English society, only to wind up amidst real savages with a distinctly English overlord.
This is Waugh at his finest; filing his prose style down to razor sharpness, hurling it with perfect accuracy, and nailing English snobbism right to the wall.

Written by Evelyn Waugh in 1934, this British novel is a biting satire of the silly lives of the upper class. The author is master of the nuanced barb and he uses them with seeming delight and controlled rage. It is an unpleasant book to read and I know I would hate the author if I met him in person, and yet I can appreciate his skill in creating the discomforting atmosphere, his fascination with things that go wrong, and the dark side of human nature.
Tony Last, an aristocrat who devotes himself to the upkeep of his expensive ancestral home is blind to the infidelities of his wife Brenda, who parties in London with her sycophantic lover. There's a whole cast of vapid characters, each exquisitely developed with revealing detail. When tragedy strikes it's like a piece of chalk scraped upon a blackboard, and as the story continues to unfold, and Tony travels to the jungles of Brazil, the plot swerves into a painful absurdity. It's all one big farce and yet there is no comic relief. And by the end of the book, only sadness prevails.
I must give this book a high ranking however because of Mr. Waugh's skill and his uncanny ability to uncover some painful human truths that I'd rather not see. I can therefore only recommend it to students of human nature who are willing to be tormented in the same way the author torments his characters. Just be forewarned.

Evelyn Waugh's "A Handful of Dust," first published in 1934, was, of course, quite popular in its time, with both critics and readers. As a society novel about adultery, it was considered to be quite satiric and witty, and an accurate portrait of the vicious upper-crust London society between the twentieth century's two great wars (And so it seems to be.) The book has been described as the story of the 19th century fictional French character, Mme. Bovary, literature's most famous female adulterer, as rewritten by Noel Coward, one of twentieth century England's greatest society wits. However, these days, most people know Waugh, one of the outstanding twentieth century English novelists, only for his more mellow post-World War II "Brideshead Revisited," as filmed and frequently shown on public television -- if they know the author at all.

The title "A Handful of Dust," to begin with, is a quote from the lengthy poem "The Wasteland," by T.S. Eliot, famous Anglo-American poet of the early twentieth century. "Dust," the book, really only novella length at about 210 pages, concerns Lady Brenda and Tony Last, young couple. Tony is considered to be too involved with Hetton, his family home, then considered a hideous Victorian pile, and with trying to lead a proper Victorian lord of the manor life, to pay proper attention to the selfish Brenda and to realize she's bored silly. So she starts an affair with John Beaver, bounder, and soon enough seeks a divorce.

All sources agree that this book was Waugh's revenge on his first wife, who was then seeking a divorce. All sources, including the author, writing himself, in this book, further agree that, having got that far, he was at a loss for how to end it. So he incorporated a previously-published short story of some note, folding Tony into that action, and having this character, somewhat puzzlingly, going off to explore Brazil. The effect of this is that, for the relatively minor sin of inattention, the more sinned-against than sinning Tony meets what most of us would agree is an extremely sad end; whereas the author has Lady Brenda marrying Tony's wealthier, member of parliament (and thus generally resident in London) friend Jock Grant-Menzies, MP, thus appearing, at least, to have come out ahead. This was what Waugh intended: he wrote,"Fortune is the least capricious of deities, and arranges things on the just and rigid system that no one shall be very happy for very long." The author definitely did not believe in offering his audience any easy consolation.

Interestingly enough, the author had still to provide another ending for the American edition of this book: an American magazine had published, and owned the copyright on, the story he used to end the British edition. The alternative ending he came up with, also printed here, is much shorter than the other. It has Tony coming back unharmed from the foreign travel then expected of a divorcing man, to be met at the dock by Brenda, already regretting her adventure with Beaver. And Tony has begun to think of spicing up his life, much as Brenda had previously done. Either way, it's obvious that nobody really comes out ahead here.

Waugh's genius is never more evident than this masterful tale. Supposedly composed from back to front, Waugh's semi-autobiographical story grabs the reader's attention and deliver's a damning blow to "humanism." The ending is both comical and horrifying. Strongly recommended to all

This book is typical of Waugh, an author who loves the concept of irony and satire, yet in a written interview for the BBC he said that he does not consider himself to be a satirist.
"A Handful of Dust" is a story about love, betrayal and money. It centres around a dignified man called Tony Last whose wife is having an affair with a lowly unemployed man called Beaver. While Tony loves his wife dearly he is often more concerned with his ugly neo-Gothic mansion called Hetton.
Some may argue that he is more concerned with money than his wife, and at times in this book that is very much apparent. He does not grant a divorce not because he doesn't want one but because it will involve selling Hetton. I don't think any one person is to blame in this book as each and everyone of the characters, even Tony himself, has his faults.
The disappointing thing about the book is the ending, it is too much like something that has been added on because the author could not think of anything else to write about. While it is good that he has based this part of the book on a personal experience it works best not with the book but separate.
We all sympathise with Tony when he is imprisoned to read Dickens to Mr Todd but remember Mr Todd is very old and probably does not have much longer to live.

This book is an exploration of a relationship breakdown in the English upper-class during the twenties. There is a biting satire here and the plot appears almost to mirror Anna Karenin in how destructive extra-marital relationships can be.
With the relationship finally broken, Tony Last, the main protagonist takes off to exploring in South America, he does not find gold, but gets himself more than lost but entangled in what appears to be a lifelong relationship with his illiterate saviour who expects Tony to read his collection of Dickens to him. The moral of this is that simple things are rarely found but can bring the most tremendous joy.

This is a fairly early novel by Waugh. The opening makes you expect a sort of upper class idyl. THen gradually the life of the protaganist, Tony Last, begins to collapse and it turns into an excellent satire with a very funny ironic ending.

The author paints a poignant tale of immorality, Carnality, and Sordidness. The book teaches one of the hollow and shameful lives most of the wealthy live. Caught up in selfishness and materiality; they breath only to sate themselves. The top antagonist, Brenda Lost is one of the most loathsome characters I have ever read about. This story was published in the 1930's. However, it is as elucidating about today's world as it was then.

This is a work that captures an important juncture of the English novel. It has a tinge of seriousness, which often is uncommon to Waugh's books. The book also contains all of his usual insight and sharp use of language. I greatly enjoyed reading this one.

The the store ending in the original edition is picturesque and memorable--but seriously mars the story. Disjointed and, frankly, unbelievable. There is nothing at all about Tony Last to make us believe that his reaction to his wife's adultery would be to follow a rather obvious charlatan to the the store.

I have read "Brideshead Revisited" and admired it greatly. I thought the characters complex and the insights into English society so lucid and complete that I felt that I could understand their motivations and wants.
However "A Handful of Dust" is much more opaque. The characters are loathsome, without any redeeming qualities usually present in his other books. The book is sardonic and dry to the point of being sere. It is so arch that it becomes wearisome, a farce of malice and well-written cruelty.
As usual the ending is anti-climactic, another flawed tying-up of loose ends. Waugh, though entertaining, is not one of the century's great novelists.

Although this book is very well written as are all of Waugh's books, it is more invective than satire. Who cares about these people. Spend your time reading some Dickens---over and over again if necessary.