A Handful of Dust

By: Evelyn Waugh

Narrated by: Andrew Sachs

Evelyn Waugh's 1934 novel is a bitingly funny vision of aristocratic decadence in England between the wars. It tells the story of Tony Last, who, to the irritation of his wife, is inordinately obsessed with his Victorian Gothic country house and life. When Lady Brenda Last embarks on an affair with the worthless John Beaver out of boredom with her husband, she sets in motion a sequence of tragicomic disasters that reveal Waugh at his most scathing.

The action is set in the brittle social world recognizable from Decline and Fall and Vile Bodies, darkened and deepened by Waugh's own experience of sexual betrayal. As Tony is driven by the urbane savagery of this world to seek solace in the wilds of the Brazilian jungle, A Handful of Dust demonstrates the incomparably brilliant and wicked wit of one of the 20th century's most accomplished novelists.

©1962 Evelyn Waugh (P)2012 Hachette Audio

Bitingly Engaging!

This is the 2nd book I’ve read by E. Waugh. The first book was Brideshead Revisited which I enjoyed from start to finish . A Handful of Dust is rich in not very likable characters who are beyond redemption. The story is abundantly sarcastic and cleverly funny in a dark way.

Slow Start then Subtle

This book takes quite a bit of time to get going, but finally becomes worth the slog. The first 1/3 of the book is very English aristocrat society with a bunch of setup and with classically stilted and mostly uninteresting characters. Then the cucumber sandwiches hit the fan and the story suddenly becomes an unexpectedly human story.

Many (if not most) readers may not appreciate this book. It starts unbelievably slowly, then becomes a subtly dark, subtly satirical, subtly futile, subtly sad story. Notice there is a lot of subtly in there.

This is not an overtly funny book, but I laughed out loud a number of times, but these were dark, almost guilt inducing, laughs (the “why did I laugh at that, that’s not funny” kind of laugh). The humor is highly contextual, elusive, and mixed with futility and disillusionment.

I ended up liking this book quite a bit, but it is not something I would read again soon. The narration is really completely OK but not outstanding in any way and some of the voices are too characterized for my taste.

Interesting story

It took a couple of chapters for me to warm up to this story, but then the narrative went in some unexpected ways and I very much enjoyed it. It’s like a British Great Gatsby but also the heart of darkness?

A beautiful novel.

Evelyn Waugh is a wonderful English writer. Please read his works and enjoy! You won't be disappointed.

The Consequences of Escaping Ennui

Narration was spectacular, was like listening to a play onstage - made the funny parts hilarious.

A handful of dust

A great book especially after finishing Father and Sons. I just loved it to the very end

Wonderful and sad at the same time

A brilliantly written decomposition of a marriage. It irrevocably makes you sympathise with the unfortunate husband and the question arises whether boredom with a dull spouse is a good enough reason to set in motion the mechanics that without exception produce calamity and affliction. In my view, Brenda Last is an Anna Karenina unpunished. While poor Tony accumulates most of the bad luck from the broken marriage which he had not enough spirit to prevent from falling apart, she manages to keep the water from ever really entering her boat.

Hurrah for Waugh and Mitford

What other book might you compare A Handful of Dust to and why?

What would my summers be without the intelligent froth provided by Waugh and Nancy Mitford? Waugh is deeper, of course, but I love both. This is a very good satire. Wow, Waugh is damningly critical of British society.

What about Andrew Sachs’s performance did you like?

Is this the same man who read Waugh's Decline and Fall? He does a very good job.

Freedom can sometimes be a prison of its own

Had I not encountered this book on the Modern Library Top 100 list of the best 20th Century novels, I would never have heard of this work. And how terrible that would have been .

Set in the 30's initially in rural England and London then transitioning to the rainforest of South America, the story focuses on Tony and Brenda Last, a thirty-something couple who enjoy the trapping of the rural ancestral Last estate. As was so common, while the properties and titles suggest a great wealth, in truth, these are rural working lands that barely provide enough income to maintain the estate. Tony is in love with the country squire life and the atmosphere it provides for their young son. To Brenda, it is tedious and boring, she finding relief in the London shopping trips and parties and the privileged life it suggests despite having to travel third class by train to stay in budget.

Infidelity runs rampant among the London elite to which Brenda is not immune but to which Tony appears oblivious. When tragedy befalls the family that should draw the couple together, Brenda instead uses the pretext to stay in London. In contrast, Tony is compelled to travel abroad, a dramatic shift from his homebody nature which presents a precarious challenge for the future of the Last's.

Writer Evelyn Waugh is best known to Americans for his work Brideshead Revisited. This work presents ribald subject matter without vulgarity. The humor is dark and the outcome demonstrative of how we are often prisoners of our own making if we only make the effort to liberate ourselves from the prisons of our own device.

A marvelous, must read novel.

Very funny and very sad at the same time

Wonderful,nuanced narration. Just the right understatement.

The guileless Tony is lost from day one though that only becomes clear as circumstances change.