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Part of the fabulous new hardback library of 24 Evelyn Waugh books, publishing in chronological order over the coming year. The books have an elegant new jacket and text design. Evelyn Waugh chose the name Labels for his first travel book because, he said, the places he visited were already 'fully labelled'; in people's minds. Yet even the most seasoned traveller could not fail to be inspired by his quintessentially English attitude and by his eloquent and frequently outrageous wit. From Europe to the Middle East and North Africa, from Egyptian porters and Italian priests to Maltese sailors and Moroccan merchants - as he cruises around the Mediterranean his pen cuts through the local colour to give an entertaining portrait of the Englishman abroad.… (more)
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I am delighted to report that "Labels" is every bit as good as his wonderful fiction. In "Labels", we join Evelyn Waugh on a trip around the Mediterranean in 1929: he travels from Europe to the middle east and north Africa. Waugh chose the name "Labels" for this, his first travel book, because he thought the places he visited were already "fully labelled" in people's minds. Despite this, he brings a fresh and entertaining perspective to all that he encounters. His pen captures the local colour and the amusing idiosyncrasies of being a tourist. The writing is a delight, and each page is full of fun, amusing anecdotes, and incident. Even when he is bored, he still manages to write about it entertainingly. I look forward to reading more of his travel books, and more of his non-fiction.
Three things particularly struck me about this book:
1. The style is very chatty, humorous and self-deprecating, which is completely as odds with his misanthropic reputation.
2. His innate snobbishness results in some outrageous humour. For example, the cruise ship on which Waugh travels, occasionally encounters another cruise ship favoured by German tourists. He describes this ship as "vulgar" with inhabitants who are all "unbelievably ugly Germans" albeit "dressed with great courage and enterprise e.g. One man wearing a morning coat, white trousers and a beret".
3. By focussing on various minor details of his travels, Waugh provides the modern reader with all kinds of fascinating insights into tourism and travel in 1929. For example, the book starts with Waugh was taking a flight to Paris - he was one of only two passengers in a tiny plane, and this mode of transport was very new and unusual at the time. His detailed description of the experience is very informative about the early years of air passenger travel.
A very enjoyable read and, at a mere 174 pages, pleasingly quick and easy to read.
4/5
“the new book that interests me most this week is Labels …
Full of that marvelous inherited gifted family wit, the book contains several favorite sentences, often quoted or at least partly remembered by fans of this family’s writing. A gushing encounter at a tony cocktail party:
“..I love your books so much I never travel without them.. I keep them in a row by my bed.”
“..by any chance you are not confusing me with my brother, Alec? He has written many more books than I.’
“Yes, of course. What’s your name then?”
“Evelyn.”
“But… they said you wrote!”
“Well, yes I do a little. You see I couldn’t get any other sort of job”.
Evelyn adds ruefully that he wondered if she would add Labels to the row by her bed.
Another gem, perhaps the most famous paragraph written in the entire genre of travel…
“I do not think I shall ever forget the sight of Etna at sunset; the mountains almost invisible in a blur of pastel grey, glowing on the top … the whole horizon behind radiant with pink light, fading gently into a grey pastel sky.” Then the final sentence: ”Nothing I have seen in Art or Nature was quite so revolting.”
A wonderful romping read.