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Loading... Los seres queridos (original 1948; edition 1990)by Evelyn Waugh, Helena Valentí (Translator)
Work InformationThe Loved One by Evelyn Waugh (1948)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I first read this novel in high school and was impressed with it. It has not aged well: The culture of death has changed since Waugh wrote it, at least in the region of the US where I live. We embrace more of the reality of death with natural burials, cremation and scattering of ashes and even human composting. Informal memorial gatherings are gaining ground on formal funeral rites. What is left of Waugh's novel is the conflict between Hollywood and an old idea of Britain. ( ) Hilarious satire about the rather disgusting burial industry. It was, from what I remember (I read it about 42 years ago) a parody of Forest Lawn Cemetery in California. I read it in the wake of my father's death at the age of 47 when I was 15. The rather aggressive funeral director corresponded well to the book. From 1948, Waugh tears into vulgarities of the funeral industry. Set in 1940's Hollywood it focuses on conspicuous consumption, ego building, and nationalism. The Brits in this story feel above the Americans (culturally) but act no better. Just different. The clash of attitudes demonstrates superficial attitudes and emotions. A call for self-evaluation by individuals and societies. Waugh certainly earned his standing as a author well worth reading. I tried to like this, twice, at least enough to finish. I usually like reading books that present a lens from a different time. Maybe this type of satire doesn’t age well. I read enough to appreciate why it was probably more interesting and artful seventy years ago. Today, for me at least, it was repetitive and vulgar, without either being additive. no reviews | add a review
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Following the death of a friend, the poet and pets' mortician Dennis Barlow finds himself entering the artificial Hollywood paradise of the Whispering Glades Memorial Park. Within its golden gates, death, American-style, is wrapped up and sold like a package holiday-and Dennis gets drawn into a bizarre love triangle with Aimee Thanatogenos, a naive Californian corpse beautician, and Mr. Joyboy, a master of the embalmer's art. Waugh's dark and savage satire on the Anglo-American cultural divide depicts a world where reputation, love, and death cost a very great deal. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.912Literature English English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1901-1945LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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