# Evelyn Waugh - Where to start? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 12, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evelyn-waugh-where-to-start/433234 "2008-01-12T02:50:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evelyn-waugh-where-to-start/433234/1 "2008-01-12T02:50:27Z")
I was thinking of reading something by Evelyn Waugh, but I have never read any of his writing. Where should I start? I don’t know if I should read one of his novels or some of his short stories. I thinking of maybe Brideshead Revisited. As an aside, did Waugh once tell a divorced friend that her remarriage would increase Christ’s suffering on Calvary? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evelyn-waugh-where-to-start/433234/2 "2008-01-12T03:06:56Z")
Evelyn Waugh’s one of my very favorite authors. Bitterly funny stuff. My favorites are _A Handful of Dust, The Loved One_, and _Brideshead Revisited_. But he’s working your way through soup to nuts. (If you love him, let me know; I have a huge thing for the, for want of a better word, \*genre \*that includes Waugh: British lit about the “lost” generation between the Wars.) ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evelyn-waugh-where-to-start/433234/3 "2008-01-12T04:37:49Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] My favorites are _A Handful of Dust, The Loved One_, and _Brideshead Revisited_. [/quote] They would be my three picks too. As a fourth - _Sword of Honour_. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evelyn-waugh-where-to-start/433234/4 "2008-01-12T04:56:29Z")
I’ve only ever read Scoop but I thought it was a riot. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evelyn-waugh-where-to-start/433234/5 "2008-01-12T16:52:30Z")
I’ve only ever read _Brideshead Revisited_ but it’s amazing. I think I powered through it in two days, and it’s neither slim nor light. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evelyn-waugh-where-to-start/433234/6 "2008-01-13T20:42:36Z")
I’d say _The Loved One._ I recently read _Vile Bodies_ after seeing Stephen Fry’s film _Bright Young Things_ (which is an adaptation), and I can recommend the novel. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evelyn-waugh-where-to-start/433234/7 "2008-01-13T21:20:00Z")
_Vile Bodies_ was the first Waugh I’d ever read, and it got me hooked on him. It’s very funny and easily in my top 5 or 10 books by anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evelyn-waugh-where-to-start/433234/8 "2008-01-13T21:24:41Z")
[QUOTE=anu-la1979] I’ve only ever read Scoop but I thought it was a riot. [/QUOTE] This is my position as well. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evelyn-waugh-where-to-start/433234/9 "2008-01-13T21:39:58Z")
I’ve only read _Brideshead Revisited_, but it’s one of my absolute favourite books. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evelyn-waugh-where-to-start/433234/10 "2008-01-13T21:44:03Z")
_Brideshead Revisited_ is one of my favorite novels, but I think it’s atypical if you’re trying to get the flavor of Waugh’s work overall. Something like _Vile Bodies_ or _Scoop_ might be better to start off with.