Angela goes to visit her father, Lord Moping, in the asylum, to find another of the inmates, a Mr Loveday, acting as his ‘secretary’. Observing his apparent sanity, Angela contrives to have Loveday released — and then…
The dark humour of this tale reminded me of Dylan Thomas’s story in the anthology, though I don’t think it has quite the same range and depth of effect as that other piece. This was my first encounter with Waugh’s work, and I am certainly interested in reading more by him.
Rating: ***½
2nd March 2011 at 11:48 am
If you like dark humour where the dark outweighs the humour, read A Handful of Dust. I love it.
2nd March 2011 at 11:58 am
Charles, that’s probably the best one-line recommendation of a book I’ve ever received. I shall investigate – thanks!
2nd March 2011 at 2:08 pm
David, I agree with Charles, please read ‘A Handful of Dust’ – it’s quite bleak and upsetting. I also love ‘Decline and Fall’ and ‘Scoop’ – they’re both brilliantly funny.
I don’t remember reading Mr Loveday’s Little Outing, though I usually claim to have read most of Evelyn Waugh’s work. I’ll have to look it out – thanks for the post.
2nd March 2011 at 2:58 pm
At this point, Helen, we can’t not recommend Vile Bodies as well…
2nd March 2011 at 3:10 pm
I’d recommend, well, pretty much anything by Waugh actually.
I’m wondering if I’ve read this one. It sounds suspiciously familiar. If I have it was a very long time ago.
6th December 2013 at 12:27 pm
I really loved this story! I’ve never read Evelyn Waugh’s books before and was admired. The plot is thrilling. While reading I recollected the stories by Roald Dahl. I think they’re alike a bit. So I advice to read it, hope that everybody’ll like it.
Also I would recommend to read Jeffrey Archer’s stories! They’re my favourite.
8th December 2013 at 11:35 pm
Thanks for the comment. I hadn’t thought of Roald Dahl at the time; but,now you mention it, I can see the similarity. It’s an interesting comparison.