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Evelyn Waugh

Decline and Fall

The “enormously funny” satire of prewar British society by the New York Times–bestselling author of Brideshead Revisited (The Telegraph).
Theology student Paul Pennyfeather has been unceremoniously ejected from Scone College after the rambunctious members of the elite Bollinger Club deprived him of his trousers, leaving him to run across campus in a highly inappropriate manner. As a result, his allowance is cut off, and he has no choice but to accept work as a schoolmaster in North Wales, where the behavior he witnesses makes the Bollinger Club’s drunken rampages look like afternoon tea parties. And it only gets worse from there.
“One is occasionally reminded of P. G. Wodehouse.” —The Guardian
“An extravaganza, a satire on old school ties, on smart set house-parties, on a social order which the war is bringing to its end.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Its humor, blithe and madcap in dealing with the most revered British traditions, is spontaneous and irresistible.” —The New York Times
221 printed pages
Original publication
2024
Publication year
2023
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Quotes

  • Дмитрий Кувшиновhas quoted2 years ago
    I cannot pretend to understand your attitude in this matter, but no doubt you are the best judge.
  • Дмитрий Кувшиновhas quoted2 years ago
    For generations the British bourgeoisie have spoken of themselves as gentlemen, and by that they have meant, among other things, a selfrespecting scorn of irregular perquisites. It is the quality that distinguishes the gentleman from both the artist and the aristocrat. Now I am a gentleman. I can’t help it: it’s born in me. I just can’t take that money.
  • Дмитрий Кувшиновhas quoted2 years ago
    ‘Well, have you ever known a butler with a diamond tiepin?
    ‘No, I don’t think I have.
    ‘Well, Philbrick’s got one, and a diamond ring too. He showed them to Brolly. Colossal great diamonds, Brolly says. Philbrick said he used to have bushels of diamonds and emeralds before the war, and that he used to eat off gold plate. We believe that he’s a Russian prince in exile.
    ‘Generally speaking, Russians are not shy about using their titles, are they? Besides, he looks very English.

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