"Her character was a lovely harmony of contending virtues – she was witty and tender-hearted, passionate and serene, sensual and temperate, impulsive and discreet."
Title: Vile Bodies
Author: Evelyn Waugh
Date Published: 1930
Type: Classic / Satire
After all, damn it, what does being in love mean if you can't trust a person.
Description
The Bright Young Things of 1920s Mayfair, with their paradoxical mix of innocence and sophistication, exercise their inventive minds and vile bodies in every kind of capricious escapade, whether it is promiscuity, dancing, cocktail parties or sports cars.
A vivid assortment of characters, among them the struggling writer Adam Fenwick-Symes and the glamorous, aristocratic Nina Blount, hunt fast and furiously for ever greater sensations and the hedonistic fulfilment of their desires.
Evelyn Waugh’s acidly funny and experimental satire shows a new generation emerging in the years after the First World War, revealing the darkness and vulnerability beneath the glittering surface of the high life.
Review
A wickedly witty and iridescent novel" (Time)
The book could be called needlessly nasty, decadent, superficial, and arrogantly, even offensively sophisticated. It is not even brilliantly original, for Mr. Waugh is decidedly indebted to Norman Douglas, Michael Arlen and Aldous Huxley. Yet it certainly is funny and that, surely, is enough to say for it. The larger part of modern satire makes you smile, and smile only faintly. "Vile Bodies" may shock you, but it will make you laugh.
Fun Facts /In Cultures/References
Self proclaimed as first book to include telephone conversation
David Bowie stated the book as a source of inspiration
Adapted by Stephen Fry into the film Bright Young Things.
Bright Young Things (2003) Drama/Comedy Trailer
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