On Satire: 'A Handful of Dust' by Evelyn Waugh
<p>In 1946 Evelyn Waugh declared that 20th-century society – ‘the century of the common man’, as he put it – was so degenerate that satire was no longer possible. But before reaching that conclusion he had written several novels taking aim at his ‘crazy, sterile generation’ with a sparkling, acerbic and increasingly reactionary wit. In this episode, Colin and Clare look at&nbsp;<em>A Handful of Dust</em>&nbsp;(1934), a disturbingly modernist satire divorced from modernist ideas. They discuss the ways in which Waugh was a disciple of Oscar Wilde, with his belief in the artist as an agent of cultural change, and why he’s at his best when describing the fevered dream of a dying civilisation.</p><p>Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen to the full episode, and all our other Close Readings series, subscribe:</p><p>Directly in Apple Podcasts: <a href="https://apple.co/4dbjbjG" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://apple.co/4dbjbjG</a></p><p>In other podcast apps: <a href="https://lrb.me/satiresignuppod" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">lrb.me/closereadings</a></p><p>Further reading in the <em>LRB</em>:</p><p>Seamus Perry:</p><p><a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/n16/seamus-perry/isn-t-london-hell" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/n16/seamus-perry/isn-t-london-hell</a></p><p>John Bayley:</p><p><a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v16/n20/john-bayley/mr-toad" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v16/n20/john-bayley/mr-toad</a></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
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Show Notes
In 1946 Evelyn Waugh declared that 20th-century society – ‘the century of the common man’, as he put it – was so degenerate that satire was no longer possible. But before reaching that conclusion he had written several novels taking aim at his ‘crazy, sterile generation’ with a sparkling, acerbic and increasingly reactionary wit. In this episode, Colin and Clare look at A Handful of Dust (1934), a disturbingly modernist satire divorced from modernist ideas. They discuss the ways in which Waugh was a disciple of Oscar Wilde, with his belief in the artist as an agent of cultural change, and why he’s at his best when describing the fevered dream of a dying civilisation.
Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen to the full episode, and all our other Close Readings series, subscribe:
Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4dbjbjG
In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings
Further reading in the LRB:
Seamus Perry:
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/n16/seamus-perry/isn-t-london-hell
John Bayley:
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v16/n20/john-bayley/mr-toad
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.