Reprint Time--Helena
A comment from the blogkeeper at Underbelly (thank you Buce) inspired me to look this up. I was fairly certain that I had reviewed the book in the recent past, and so I discovered this. a good book is worth appreciation--over and over and over again. Also, while you are appreciating, you might want to take in Underbelly's look at Helena as well. La Belle Hélène on March 18, 2005 8:11 AM In reading Helena last night I stumbled across a large number of passages I would like to share. But I thought the more important thing to share was an observation. Evelyn Waugh liked this best among his books. There are a good many reasons why this might be so: it is splendidly written--both the prose and the coherence are several notches above some of his earlier, more frenetic work. It is tightly done, with just the right strokes and exactly the right selection of detail. But I suspect the reason Waugh prized this above all the other works is that in t...
here's an appreciation: http://snipurl.com/yh1ns Didn't I read somewhere that it was the one of which Waugh himself was most proud?
ReplyDeleteDear Buce,
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed. I don't know if it is anecdotal or documented, but I have also read frequently that _Helena_ was his favorite. It is certainly stylistically the simplest and in many ways the least dense, having a parable or fable-like simplicity that lends depth. It's a wonderful book--but if it were placed before you to name an author without looking at the jacket, you would be hard-pressed come up with Waugh's name.
Thanks also for the link.
shalom,
Steven