I don’t know why I thought this was going to be a comedy, but I did think that when I started. The problem might have been the title, the clear allusion to Eliot’s The Waste Land and Other Poems - you can only really be either ponderous or funny if you allude to The Waste Land and I just suspected that this would be funny. And then it starts with a character who is on the outskirts of polite society – not unlike the main character in Waugh’s first novel Decline And Fall, and well, it just made sense that this was going to be a comedy. Then it just made sense that it was going to be a dark comedy – but by the end this novel proved to be more dark than comedy - much, much more dark. I don’t know an awful lot about Mr Waugh and his background, but my guess would be that he belonged (in some sense) to the British aristocracy (or rather the landed version of that – the type of people who not only have titles, but also manors). That is, I always assume he belonged to a class of people that in his life time had become an anachronism. Waugh’s great talent was the sad one of being able to write about how this class of incredibly privileged people suddenly (I guess between the wars, but definitely after World War Two) had either disappeared from the English landscape or found themselves, a little dusty, in among the other curiosities on display at various National Trust Houses.I’ve just seen that A handful of Dust wasn’t Waugh’s first choice for the title of this one, but I’m going to tell you my version of this quote from Eliot and what it refers to in the poem. That is, what I think you are expected to know from this reference. From memory (and I’m the first to admit my memory is somewhat shaky) of the thing is that Apollo was rather pleased with one of the sibyls and decided to offer her wish. If there is one think that you really ought to have learnt by now from literature about this whole wish granting thing is that it needs to be avoided like the plague, but never actually is. All the same, it wouldn’t ever be much of a story if she just told Apollo, ‘Look, take your three wishes and shove them’. The bit that generally surprises me is that sibyls are supposed to have the gift of prophesy, so you might have thought she would have seen this coming, so to speak. Nevertheless, she sees a pile of dust in the corner and says she would like to live for as many years as there are specks of dust in the pile. And this is the wish that is granted to her, quite literally until she realises that it might have also been a good idea to ask for eternal youth to go along with an awfully long life. When Apollo finally takes pity on her again she is so shrivelled up she is living in a jar. And when asked what she would now wish for she replies that she would like to be allowed to die. (In a world increasingly cursed with ever increasing life spans and a boom in dementia perhaps this really is a myth for our times) There are going to have to be some spoilers in this one, I’m afraid – so before I do those, you might want to know what I thought about this book and whether or not I would recommend it. The short answer is that I loved this book and I would recommend it whole-heartedly. I really like his writing and I really like what he writes about. I can identify with so many characters in his books on various levels and always find the themes of love and love lost and love not so much cast-aside as rather carelessly left too close to the edge of the table only to see fall and smash into a thousand sharp-edged pieces all a bit shocking in that ‘and that too is my life’ sense.Time to look away if you are thinking of reading this one.I think many people who have read this book might think the main female character (Brenda) is a bit stereotyped and far too harshly portrayed. I haven’t checked other reviews, but look, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was said repeatedly in them and I can see that might be a criticism. There are times in the novel when it does feel like stretching credulity to breaking point to believe that she didn’t expect her husband to fight back. And even if he is a wimp of the first order throughout much of the start of the book (and having personally been that wimp) I’m not as sure he is so completely unbelievable. I also don’t think she is as unbelievable as first impressions might imply. People tend to love to see themselves as the injured party in any interaction and just because she started an affair, abandoned her husband, tried to take away from him the only thing he truly loved (his manor house, no less) and had been effectively making a fool of him in front of just about everyone he knew (even if, for the most part, keeping all this behind his back) is no reason to believe that she would not feel like the ‘injured party’ when it came to the divorce.We are incredibly self-centred creatures, we humans. And I don’t want you to think that this is presented as the story of some poor guy whose bitch of a wife frigs off with some no-hoper and stuffs up the life of the man who truly loves her only to find them both losing everything in the process. Look, that is certainly a reading of this book, but it is a pretty unsatisfying reading on some levels. This reading requires everything to be Brenda’s fault – and that is pretty hard to sustain. There is no question that, as in life, divorce really needs two people to get the tango going. If your wife is finding life so tediously dull that she would need to fall in love with an idiot like John Beaver then, really, you have to say that as a husband you might not have been doing enough to meet her needs. No one comes out of this book smelling of roses – but selfishness is the major theme being explored here. The most horrible line in the book would probably be the one said when Brenda finds out her son is dead. You know, ‘oh, thank God’ is never going to be the most endearing of sentences uttered by a mother on such an occasion. We may not all be overly fond of apple pie, but motherhood, well, that’s another story… Waugh clearly has no intention of making this woman the world’s most loved female character. I mean, we are pretty well crossing Lady MacBeth with Medea in this scene. But isn’t it just fascinating that Waugh, in a throw-away line at the end of the book, has her married to the man she says this to? Nothing is simple in this book - nothing is black or white.The other interesting theme in this book, and one that isn’t ever answered, although it is central to the question implied by the title of the book – is when do you give up hope? And particularly given how this book ends for Tony that really does remain an open question.Look, this is a disturbing book, this is exactly the sort of book you might expect to be written by someone who is witnessing the death of their social class. This is also a comedy in the sense that the characters seem exaggerated in exactly the way we expect characters in comedies to be exaggerated – that is, exaggerated to make a point – but the points that are made are points worth making, and points well worth reading about.
Tony and Brenda Last are a young married couple who have been together for eight years. They have a son named John Andrew and they live on a wealthy estate called Hetton. The estate is in England, two hours outside of London. One weekend, a young man named John Beaver holds Tony to a casual invitation made for him to visit Hetton. Brenda meets Beaver for the first time and is attracted to him. At Hetton, Brenda has been cut off from the social scene she once enjoyed in London. Beaver and Brenda spend the weekend gossiping on all of the latest parties, people, and trends. The next time she visits her sister in London she immediately begins to inquire about Beaver. It isn't long before she sees him and makes advances toward him. An affair begins and Brenda decides to get an apartment in London to make it easier for her to spend time with Beaver. She convinces her husband to pay for the apartment,giving him the impression that she is going to take a course in economics. Brenda spends more time in London that at home. Everyone in the London scene knows about the affair, but Tony never figures it out.A tragedy befalls the family and John Andrew Last is killed in a horse accident during an annual hunt at Hetton. Brenda decides to choose Beaver over Tony and asks for a divorce. Tony is completely blind-sided by the entire situation; losing his son and wife within the same week. He plays fair and decides to give Brenda a divorce, which at this time means that he must pretend that he is the one having the affair. After a time, when Brenda becomes greedy and unreasonable, Tony takes a stance. He refuses to pay the money that Brenda and her family try to squeeze out of him and decides to take a six month trip, allowing Brenda to think about what she has done.Tony's trip takes him to Brazil with a strange doctor named Messinger. They explore unknown territory in search of a lost or legendary city. It becomes clear that the doctor's plan was not well thought out and everything starts falling apart quickly. Tony becomes deathly ill with fever and the doctor drowns trying to find help for him. Meanwhile in London, Brenda has no money, so Beaver and her friends all leave her to her misery. They have no interest in her now that she is no longer a part of the upper class elite.Delirium leaves Tony wandering through the forest and he finds the city that he and Messinger searched for. Unfortunately for Tony, the city is led by a deranged old man, Mr. Todd. The man is illiterate, and once had his father read to him from a library of Charles Dickens books every day. Once his father passed away the man longed for someone to take his place reading the stories. Since no one comes to the city much, after nursing Tony back to health, Todd keeps him prisoner. Tony spends the rest of his days trapped there and the estate at Hetton is passed on to his cousin Richard Last. Brenda remarries quickly to Tony's old friend Jock and Beaver moves to New York.Source: http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-a-...
What do You think about A Handful Of Dust (1977)?
Talk about bleak satire and cynicism! I read – and loved – Brideshead Revisited years ago, and once again we’re among the English upper classes, whom Waugh mocks more or less constantly throughout the novel, which is especially apparent in some of the ludicrous but funny dialogues. Some of the characters are ridiculous (Princess Jenny Akbar, Mr. Beaver, ‘Mumsy’) , some are indifferent/oblivious to people around them (Tony), some are utterly selfish (Brenda), and most of the characters exhibit a combination of all of the above, which means the not-upper-class 21st century reader essentially doesn’t identify with any of them but observes them as if it were a play at the theatre as they, the lead characters at least, go about ignorantly, yet willfully, digging their own graves. This is probably deliberate on Waugh’s part since according to himself he wasn’t interested in developing characters but in the usage of language as seen in drama, speech and events. Maybe that’s why most of the characters seemed flat and stereotypical and why we’re not really asked to relate to them. Most of the novel takes place at Hetton, Tony’s Gothic country mansion, and in London, where it’s all one big party and who is doing what with whom etc. Towards the end, however, Tony goes on a journey to his own ‘Heart of Darkness’, and it’s a completely different scenario, one that I at first felt was tedious reading about but which was ultimately quite brilliantly done and proved the final nail in the coffin of Tony and Brenda’s marital deroute.
—Helle
Engaging and pleasurable. Many books detailing the give and take of upscale English society become as tedious as their subject matter. Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited did little for me, but his deft wit and style in A Handful of Dust make this book a winner. The characters elicit your emotions and you find yourself caring – wanting to shake Tony out of his blind stupor or just shake Brenda and her friends for being such twits. The episode of Tony in the jungle is an ingenious and apt finish to the story as our protagonist simply moves from one set of tricks and one jungle to another. Highly recommended.
—Max
This story is set between the two world wars and is peopled by British aristocrats grasping futilely at their disappearing lifestyle. Modern times are changing their continuous round of parties and hunts. The estate is gobbling up all available finances in upkeep and modernization of the home. Enter Lord and Lady Last, quite a pun that name. This is a satire that had me laugh out loud and gasp in horrified shock on alternating pages. I loved the carefree dialogue, I abhorred what I felt was the selfishness of the characters. But if that selfishness was not there, there would be no story. At some point in the story, a character suffers from delirium brought on by a high fever. The description of the conversations and events during this delirium is hysterical. I once was very ill and experienced hallucinations that were just as absurd as these.What can I say about the end, is it heaven or hell? To be held captive and made to read Dickens out loud each and every day. I know people who would vote both ways. I wonder what Mr Waugh felt?
—Evelyn
