I cant pretend to know enough about literature to say that Waugh was a modernist, but if you read up about him you'll find out that he was. However reading this book wouldnt necessarily make you think that. It was his first book and is entirely, except for a few cockney sort ere an there, written in the most terribly old school tie manner. I think thats the the point though, that hes taking the piss, and it is funny. Im not finished yet, but right now Paul Pennyfeather is in Jail for prostitute trafficking, although for Paul this is not the real Fall (which was his expulsion from Oxford), and hes being punished for being an introvert and enjoying solitary confinement! His punishment is to spend time chatting to other prisoners in the yard, one of whom thinks he is the Lion of the Lord and was sent to kill all the philistines!
I laughed out loud on the tube earlier while reading this, which was a bit embarassing.
The relevance to the course though? I think its firstly relevant in that it is about the decline of the bourgouisie and the interwar period - we talked about this when we looked at Lefebvre and Marxism. Secondly it pokes of fun at Corbusier and modernism with his brilliantly named characters Professor Silenus and Lord Tangent Circumference. My favorite names however, and only because theyre ridiculous, are Beste-Chetwynde and Digby-Vaine-Trumpington!
I had to scan these in, theyre such a good representation of the book and the times and I think Waugh drew them.
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