Written by Begoña Devis
BIOGRAPHY
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh was born in West Hampstead, London, on October 28th, 1903, into a middle-class family. In 1910, he began his studies at a preparatory school and later continued at Hertford College, Oxford University, where he distinguished himself for his intelligence and love of literature. From a young age, Waugh showed a great interest in humanities, which allowed him to lay the foundations for his future literary career.
In 1928, he married Evelyn Gardener, from whom he divorced two years later, coinciding with his conversion to Catholicism. In 1937, he married Laura Herbert, with whom he had three children.
Throughout his life, the politics and social transformations of the United Kingdom significantly influenced his work. Waugh, born during a time of radical change in Europe, experienced the transition from Victorian England to modern society, marked by the World Wars, the rise of materialism, and the dissolution of old social structures. This is clearly reflected in his vast and varied body of work, characterized by a profound critique of society and its flaws. His first major literary success came in 1928 with the publication of Rossetti (about Dante Gabriel Rossetti), a work that solidified his reputation as a literary critic. However, it was in fiction that Waugh left his deepest mark. His novels, which combine elements of grotesque comedy with sharp observations on human nature, made him one of the most prominent authors of his time.
Many of his books are inspired by his travels: through the Mediterranean in 1929; Africa in 1930; South America in 1933, and Abyssinia in 1935. He participated in World War II and in 1944 was stationed in Yugoslavia, returning to London at the end of the conflict. In 1947, he visited the United States and Jamaica; and in 1958 he travelled again through Africa.
Remembered especially for Brideshead Revisited, many of his novels satirically reflect the lack of values in British high society and aristocracy, particularly in London. He also used dark and satirical humour in works such as A Handful of Dust and Decline and Fall. Besides being the author of numerous novels, he also wrote short stories, biographies, and the first volume of his unfinished autobiography, An Incomplete Education.
He died in Combe Florey, Somerset, on April 10, 1966.
SUMMARY
In that short story, the narrator, a young woman from an upper-middle-class background, with little life experience yet, and with a seemingly simple way of expressing herself, but devilishly complex due to her lack of good use of grammar and the most basic rules of written expression, tells us through letters to a friend (completely unknown to the reader) about the cruise she is taking with her parents and her brother through the Mediterranean starting from Monte-Carlo.
The best thing to do, in my opinion, is introducing you to the characters in the story:
Father: Obviously, he’s the one paying for the trip. He doesn’t like things not going his way. He meets a lady (Lady Muriel) with whom he enjoys strolling and chatting, but with whom he eventually gets angry.
Mother: She goes practically unnoticed. She buys shawls and souvenirs, such as an animal made of lava, in the various places they visit.
Brother (Bertie): At first, he seems to have intellectual interests because he went to Oxford and has some books on the Baroque period, but in reality, he’s a reveller, a gambler, and a heavy drinker who constantly gets into trouble and ends up having to apologize to almost all the travellers.
The purser: He lives a cynical life with cocktails and a gramophone. He’s not surprised by anything that happens during the trip, which greatly annoys our narrator.
Robert: a young man she meets on the first day, and who tries to flirt with her. She doesn’t seem interested, but ends up hooking up with him.
Bill: A tiresome old man who goes around telling everyone about his miserable life because his wife (who never appears) has humiliated him in front of a foreigner. Now he hates foreigners. People try to avoid him.
Miss Phillips: A bitch. Always stiff and impeccably dressed, she seems to be looking for a man, initially the second officer, who hates her. The purser says there’s always someone like her on cruise ships. Only Bill can stand her, though she ends up engaged to Bertie.
Others: A very embarrassing honeymoon couple, a clergyman, a lovely pansy with a camera (Arthur), with whom she will also have an affair, and many families from the industrial North.
In her letters she explains how at first she didn’t write anything because things started badly, and she only wanted to write about the good things; how they had problems because the trip from Victoria Station to Monte-Carlo wasn’t included in the price and her father lost money on currency exchange; how her brother got drunk nonstop, started dating Miss P. only to break up with her, and finally apologized to everyone for his behaviour; how her father and Lady Muriel were good travel companions, but eventually had a fight; how there was a ball and people was dressed in the most extravagant ways; how Bill ends up boring to everyone with his story, so even Lady Muriel says she starts liking Bill’s wife; how the letter-writer trusts the purser, but later he disappoints her, and she stops talking to him; how she ends hooking up with the man she met the first day, only to eventually break up with him, confirming her first impression; how she hooks up with the pansy photographer, who cries when they reach land... and some other things you’ll have to read because it’s very tiring to explain, really. Paraphrasing Rajoy, “It’s very difficult todo esto”.
OPINION
Given the writer’s tendency to satirize the upper class, it’s clear his intention here is to expose the emptiness of their lifestyle. These are people who can afford a long Mediterranean cruise and visit numerous places, such as Italy, Israel, Egypt, and Libya, countries brimming with culture and art that they neither can nor pretend to appreciate, nor do they know how to truly enjoy what they are seeing. All they care about is flirting, arguing over trivialities, or getting endlessly drunk. The narrator's disjointed, chaotic, and incredibly superficial way of telling the story only serves to accentuate this sense of absurdity and emptiness.
As for my contribution, I found that short story devilishly difficult to read, understand, and summarize. I will never trust the topics which are in our presentations schedule again.
QUESTIONS
-Have you been to a cruise? Tell us a bit of your experience.
-The narrator sometimes uses expressions to hide the real words and not to be rude. When do you think it’s necessary to use euphemisms? In which topics do we normally use them?
-The girl who writes the letter is a bit candid. Do you think being candid is a feature of the temperament, or it’s something product of an education?
-What is exactly a cynical man? Usually, it’s a negative adjective: do you agree? What do you know about the cynicism in philosophy?
-What do you know about “old lang syne”, that is “Auld Lang Syne”?
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh was born in West Hampstead, London, on October 28th, 1903, into a middle-class family. In 1910, he began his studies at a preparatory school and later continued at Hertford College, Oxford University, where he distinguished himself for his intelligence and love of literature. From a young age, Waugh showed a great interest in humanities, which allowed him to lay the foundations for his future literary career.
In 1928, he married Evelyn Gardener, from whom he divorced two years later, coinciding with his conversion to Catholicism. In 1937, he married Laura Herbert, with whom he had three children.
Throughout his life, the politics and social transformations of the United Kingdom significantly influenced his work. Waugh, born during a time of radical change in Europe, experienced the transition from Victorian England to modern society, marked by the World Wars, the rise of materialism, and the dissolution of old social structures. This is clearly reflected in his vast and varied body of work, characterized by a profound critique of society and its flaws. His first major literary success came in 1928 with the publication of Rossetti (about Dante Gabriel Rossetti), a work that solidified his reputation as a literary critic. However, it was in fiction that Waugh left his deepest mark. His novels, which combine elements of grotesque comedy with sharp observations on human nature, made him one of the most prominent authors of his time.
Many of his books are inspired by his travels: through the Mediterranean in 1929; Africa in 1930; South America in 1933, and Abyssinia in 1935. He participated in World War II and in 1944 was stationed in Yugoslavia, returning to London at the end of the conflict. In 1947, he visited the United States and Jamaica; and in 1958 he travelled again through Africa.
Remembered especially for Brideshead Revisited, many of his novels satirically reflect the lack of values in British high society and aristocracy, particularly in London. He also used dark and satirical humour in works such as A Handful of Dust and Decline and Fall. Besides being the author of numerous novels, he also wrote short stories, biographies, and the first volume of his unfinished autobiography, An Incomplete Education.
He died in Combe Florey, Somerset, on April 10, 1966.
In that short story, the narrator, a young woman from an upper-middle-class background, with little life experience yet, and with a seemingly simple way of expressing herself, but devilishly complex due to her lack of good use of grammar and the most basic rules of written expression, tells us through letters to a friend (completely unknown to the reader) about the cruise she is taking with her parents and her brother through the Mediterranean starting from Monte-Carlo.
The best thing to do, in my opinion, is introducing you to the characters in the story:
Father: Obviously, he’s the one paying for the trip. He doesn’t like things not going his way. He meets a lady (Lady Muriel) with whom he enjoys strolling and chatting, but with whom he eventually gets angry.
Mother: She goes practically unnoticed. She buys shawls and souvenirs, such as an animal made of lava, in the various places they visit.
Brother (Bertie): At first, he seems to have intellectual interests because he went to Oxford and has some books on the Baroque period, but in reality, he’s a reveller, a gambler, and a heavy drinker who constantly gets into trouble and ends up having to apologize to almost all the travellers.
The purser: He lives a cynical life with cocktails and a gramophone. He’s not surprised by anything that happens during the trip, which greatly annoys our narrator.
Robert: a young man she meets on the first day, and who tries to flirt with her. She doesn’t seem interested, but ends up hooking up with him.
Bill: A tiresome old man who goes around telling everyone about his miserable life because his wife (who never appears) has humiliated him in front of a foreigner. Now he hates foreigners. People try to avoid him.
Miss Phillips: A bitch. Always stiff and impeccably dressed, she seems to be looking for a man, initially the second officer, who hates her. The purser says there’s always someone like her on cruise ships. Only Bill can stand her, though she ends up engaged to Bertie.
Others: A very embarrassing honeymoon couple, a clergyman, a lovely pansy with a camera (Arthur), with whom she will also have an affair, and many families from the industrial North.
In her letters she explains how at first she didn’t write anything because things started badly, and she only wanted to write about the good things; how they had problems because the trip from Victoria Station to Monte-Carlo wasn’t included in the price and her father lost money on currency exchange; how her brother got drunk nonstop, started dating Miss P. only to break up with her, and finally apologized to everyone for his behaviour; how her father and Lady Muriel were good travel companions, but eventually had a fight; how there was a ball and people was dressed in the most extravagant ways; how Bill ends up boring to everyone with his story, so even Lady Muriel says she starts liking Bill’s wife; how the letter-writer trusts the purser, but later he disappoints her, and she stops talking to him; how she ends hooking up with the man she met the first day, only to eventually break up with him, confirming her first impression; how she hooks up with the pansy photographer, who cries when they reach land... and some other things you’ll have to read because it’s very tiring to explain, really. Paraphrasing Rajoy, “It’s very difficult todo esto”.
Given the writer’s tendency to satirize the upper class, it’s clear his intention here is to expose the emptiness of their lifestyle. These are people who can afford a long Mediterranean cruise and visit numerous places, such as Italy, Israel, Egypt, and Libya, countries brimming with culture and art that they neither can nor pretend to appreciate, nor do they know how to truly enjoy what they are seeing. All they care about is flirting, arguing over trivialities, or getting endlessly drunk. The narrator's disjointed, chaotic, and incredibly superficial way of telling the story only serves to accentuate this sense of absurdity and emptiness.
As for my contribution, I found that short story devilishly difficult to read, understand, and summarize. I will never trust the topics which are in our presentations schedule again.
-Have you been to a cruise? Tell us a bit of your experience.
-The narrator sometimes uses expressions to hide the real words and not to be rude. When do you think it’s necessary to use euphemisms? In which topics do we normally use them?
-The girl who writes the letter is a bit candid. Do you think being candid is a feature of the temperament, or it’s something product of an education?
-What is exactly a cynical man? Usually, it’s a negative adjective: do you agree? What do you know about the cynicism in philosophy?
-What do you know about “old lang syne”, that is “Auld Lang Syne”?
VOCABULARY
S.S., rough, porter, wrong, sleeper,
purser, plastered, odd, corking, lousy, gave him the raspberry, welsh rabbit,
deck games, unpop, askance, paper streamer, matey, steward, Demon Drink,
bitched, unreticent, dubious, tarts, bitch