Subtitled "A Novel of Many Manners, " Evelyn Waugh's notorious first novel lays waste the "heathen idol" of British sportsmanship, the cultured perfection of Oxford, and the inviolable honor codes of the English gentleman. Within the book's unparalleled, rampant satire roam at will such characters as the Hon. Mrs. Beste-Chetwynde, Viscount Tangent, the utterly helpless hero, Paul Pennyfeather, stalked by various representatives of "the English country families baying for broken glass, " that refreshing bounder who misbehaves without compunction, Captain Grimes ("I don't believe one can ever be unhappy for long provided one does exactly what one wants when one wants to"), and the equally sulubrious butler, Philbrick, a graduate of the underworld who likes to tell about revolting crimes.
As much as I liked Vile Bodies, Waugh's other books just leave me cold.
There is wit, and then there is spite. Waugh just somehow doesn't seem to be able to rise above the latter.
Yes, there are some fine caricatures, but what spoils them is that Waugh tries too hard at times and comes across as nothing more that a bitter and self-important cynic.
I have one other of his books but it just moved down (quite) a few places on my TBR.
Review first posted on BookLikes: http://brokentune.booklikes.com/post/1006750/decline-and-fall
