[Keep in mind that Sir Francis is an aging English knight circa 1947, living as an ex-pat in Hollywood, and his dialogue should be read as such. If you can't call up a suitable voice from your own mental soundbanks, go here now and listen to Graham Chapman as Sir Edward Ross--"in thooose dayys I was only a teaboy," in particular--then read on.1]
1And if you're even more interested than perhaps you should be, here's a spoiler-filled and not at all nice review of Waugh's novel ("He has so little respect for his subject he doesn't hold himself to a very high standard and ends up making misogynistic comments about American culture that are downright stupid") and the movie made from it. I wasn't as offended as the reviewer, at times, seems to be. I found many little snippets of The Funny scattered throughout. Although snippets of The Funny don't necessarily add up to a good novel, it was an unexpected diversion for a few hours--I found it on my shelf and had no idea how it got there--and I was able to have Graham Chapman's voice in my head for awhile. Always a plus.
Sir Francis Hinsley's momentary animation subsided. He let fall his copy of Horizon and gazed towards the patch of deepening shadow which had once been a pool. His was a weak, sensitive, intelligent face, blurred somewhat by soft living and long boredom. "It was Hopkins once," he said; "Joyce and Freud and Gertrude Stein. I couldn't make any sense of them either. I never was much good at anything new. 'Arnold Bennett's debt to Zola'; 'Flecker's debt to Henley.' That was the nearest I went to the moderns. My best subjects were 'The English Parson in English Prose' or 'Cavalry Actions with the Poets'--that kind of thing. People seemed to like them once. Then they lost interest. I did too. I was always the most defatigable of hacks. I needed a change. I've never regretted coming away. The climate suits me. They are a very decent, generous lot of people out here and they don't expect you to listen. Always remember that, dear boy. It's the secret of social ease in this country. They talk entirely for their own pleasure. Nothing they say is designed to be heard."Evelyn Waugh
The Loved One
1And if you're even more interested than perhaps you should be, here's a spoiler-filled and not at all nice review of Waugh's novel ("He has so little respect for his subject he doesn't hold himself to a very high standard and ends up making misogynistic comments about American culture that are downright stupid") and the movie made from it. I wasn't as offended as the reviewer, at times, seems to be. I found many little snippets of The Funny scattered throughout. Although snippets of The Funny don't necessarily add up to a good novel, it was an unexpected diversion for a few hours--I found it on my shelf and had no idea how it got there--and I was able to have Graham Chapman's voice in my head for awhile. Always a plus.
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