ISBN: Ostalo
Godina izdanja: 1966
Jezik: Engleski
Autor: Strani

Evelyn Waugh - A Handful of Dust
Penguin, 1966
221 str.
meki povez
stanje: dobro

Laced with cynicism and truth, `A Handful of Dust` satirizes a certain stratum of English life where all the characters have money, but lack practically every other credential. Murderously urbane, it depicts the breakup of a marriage in the London gentry, where the errant wife suffers from terminal boredom, and becomes enamoured of a social parasite and professional luncheon-goer.

The protagonist is Tony Last, a contented but shallow English country squire, who, having been betrayed by his wife and seen his illusions shattered one by one, joins an expedition to the Brazilian jungle, only to find himself trapped in a remote outpost as the prisoner of a maniac. Waugh incorporated several autobiographical elements into the plot, including his own recent desertion by his wife. In 1933–34 he travelled into the South American interior, and a number of incidents from the voyage are incorporated into the novel. Tony`s singular fate in the jungle was first used by Waugh as the subject of an independent short story, published in 1933 under the title `The Man Who Liked Dickens`.

The book`s initial critical reception was modest, but it was popular with the public and has never been out of print. In the years since publication the book`s reputation has grown; it is generally considered one of Waugh`s best works, and has more than once figured on unofficial lists of the 20th century`s best novels.

Waugh had converted to Roman Catholicism in 1930, after which his satirical, secular writings drew hostility from some Catholic quarters. He did not introduce overtly religious themes into A Handful of Dust, but later explained that he intended the book to demonstrate the futility of humanist, as distinct from religious, especially Catholic, values. The book has been dramatised for radio, stage and screen.


Fiction, Classics