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Available
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Collection
Publication
Penguin Books Canada, Limited (1990), Edition: New Ed, Paperback, 128 pages
Description
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.
User reviews
LibraryThing member dmsteyn
In The Loved One, Evelyn Waugh has employed his usual wit to satirise the American funeral industry. Dennis Barlow, a young English poet, has come to California with hopes of working in the film industry. These aspirations quickly go down in flames, and Dennis is forced to take a job at a pet
The actual story begins here, with Dennis having to organise the funeral of his once-eminent friend. Dennis goes to “Whispering Glades”, a funeral parlour-cum-theme park, where he is introduced to the bewildering array of new-fangled funeral plans and arrangements. Dennis is, however, more interested in a young mortician, Aimee Thanatogenos, whom he meets there. Although she initially shows little mutual attraction, Dennis will use his poetry to win her over. I say his poetry, but Dennis actually scours the verse anthologies for appropriate poems to impress Aimee, while presenting them as his own scribblings. Of course, it is not long before she finds out that Dennis has been deceiving her…
I really enjoyed this book. It’s the first Waugh that I’ve read, though I do own an omnibus edition of some of his other works. The satire was excellent, with Waugh revealing his dislike of both the stiff-upper-lip attitude of the English and the ostentatiousness of the American way of death. Although a product of its time, the book still has important things to say about people’s approach to death. It is very funny, too. One might claim that Waugh is whistling beside the graveyard, but this is his intention. The book is, surprisingly, life-affirming, despite its subject matter. Waugh is a bit of an iconoclast; he is not afraid to slaughter the sacred cows of both the English and Americans. The book is very short, and only took me about three sittings to get through. It is also eminently readable; Waugh’s style is pared down, and never gets in the way of enjoying the story.
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cemetery, “The Happy Hunting Ground”, where he mostly incinerates the dead pets of the L.A. jet set. The diaspora community of English expatriates, especially those in the film industry, view Dennis’s new career as somehow “letting down the side”, and try to convince him to leave the country. Meanwhile, Dennis’s only real friend in this community, an elderly English screenwriter, is fired by his studio, and shortly thereafter commits suicide.The actual story begins here, with Dennis having to organise the funeral of his once-eminent friend. Dennis goes to “Whispering Glades”, a funeral parlour-cum-theme park, where he is introduced to the bewildering array of new-fangled funeral plans and arrangements. Dennis is, however, more interested in a young mortician, Aimee Thanatogenos, whom he meets there. Although she initially shows little mutual attraction, Dennis will use his poetry to win her over. I say his poetry, but Dennis actually scours the verse anthologies for appropriate poems to impress Aimee, while presenting them as his own scribblings. Of course, it is not long before she finds out that Dennis has been deceiving her…
I really enjoyed this book. It’s the first Waugh that I’ve read, though I do own an omnibus edition of some of his other works. The satire was excellent, with Waugh revealing his dislike of both the stiff-upper-lip attitude of the English and the ostentatiousness of the American way of death. Although a product of its time, the book still has important things to say about people’s approach to death. It is very funny, too. One might claim that Waugh is whistling beside the graveyard, but this is his intention. The book is, surprisingly, life-affirming, despite its subject matter. Waugh is a bit of an iconoclast; he is not afraid to slaughter the sacred cows of both the English and Americans. The book is very short, and only took me about three sittings to get through. It is also eminently readable; Waugh’s style is pared down, and never gets in the way of enjoying the story.
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LibraryThing member stillatim
In which Waugh again proves that the satisfactions of 'realistic' fiction are pretty pale compared to the satisfactions of vicious, spiteful, hate-filled satire. The characters, plot and setting are all paper thin, but that helps the book with it's main point, which is to make you laugh out loud
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and recognize the ugliness, stupidity and vanity of the world in general. There's nothing and nobody redeeming here. The Brits are snobs and/or morons; the Yanks are James-lite innocents with none of the charming homeliness of actual innocents in James novels. If nothing else, reading this book will give the this please: next time you hear an American conservative complain about a 'culture of death,' you'll be able to remember 'The Loved One,' smirk, and take pleasure in the fact that a genuine conservative would consider the American conservative to be a repulsive boil on the arse of humankind. Show Less
LibraryThing member Katherine_Ashe
Having spent my early childhood in Los Angeles, where my best friend lived at the Utter McKinley Funeral Home and arrived at school in a hearse, this book offers more to me than hilarity, it offers a brilliant insight into the place of my birth. And anyone who has ever buried a relative at Forest
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Lawn will know it's all true! Show Less
LibraryThing member emhromp2
Funny and ironic book. Very easy to get into, very easy to put away halfway through and pick it up half a year later, as I did. Nicely written.
LibraryThing member imnotsatan
A hilariously cruel satire of the commercialization of sentiment. Definitely a classic of the genre.
LibraryThing member literarytiger
This is a dark novel. It is the first Waugh I have read (although when I met Mr Joyboy I was sure I had read this sometime in the past) but I am not sure I was prepared for the cynical observation of a society which is truly absurd. I enjoyed it, but it certainly wasn't uplifting. Not one single
Waugh's choice of the bizarre funereal rituals of Hollywood in the 1950s was inspired. Because of the macabre subject matter, each person came out as doubly as absurd. Are these people true to life, or are they skewed caricatures reflecting Waugh's own unhappiness at his time in America? It is difficult to tell, but I couldn't help be amused in a dark kind of way.
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character came out looking good. Waugh's choice of the bizarre funereal rituals of Hollywood in the 1950s was inspired. Because of the macabre subject matter, each person came out as doubly as absurd. Are these people true to life, or are they skewed caricatures reflecting Waugh's own unhappiness at his time in America? It is difficult to tell, but I couldn't help be amused in a dark kind of way.
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LibraryThing member tuxable
Biting, indeed. Satire on . . . what? Ex-pat englishmen? Holywood? American vapidity? The funeral business? Definitely not a love story. Bubble-headed female character. Heartless men. A system so broken there is no one to cheer for.
LibraryThing member Prop2gether
Delightful take on death and dying, and the mechanics of Hollywood, which, on reflection, haven't changed much since this novella was published. Very funny and recommended.
LibraryThing member mamashepp
The sarcasm drips from the pages. But so many books that really on sarcasm are so depressing and negative. This one is actually funny. Perhaps it helps to be cynical to enjoy this--that would explain why I like it so much!
LibraryThing member leslie.98
Absolutely love this satire of mid-1940s Los Angeles and the English ex-patriot community! The mortician Mr. Joyboy and his colleague Aimée Thanatogenos are a wonderful contrast to Dennis Barlow in Waugh's parody of Henry James' stereotypes of the Innocent American and Jaded European...
LibraryThing member MarcusBastos
The Business of Life and Death
This was my first reading of Evelyn Waugh. His description of the mortician business in Los Angeles is realistic and funny. His prose is fluid and entertaining. His characters are hilarious, cynical and selfish. The result is a story at the same time representative of
This was my first reading of Evelyn Waugh. His description of the mortician business in Los Angeles is realistic and funny. His prose is fluid and entertaining. His characters are hilarious, cynical and selfish. The result is a story at the same time representative of
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the period/place it refers (years before WWII) and pleasant for the reader. The irony of the author and the somewhat hypocrisy and superficiality of the characters combined to a great story. Show Less
LibraryThing member ChazziFrazz
A humorous look at the world of death and mortuaries. Set in Hollywood and written in 1948, it is the era of the controlling movie studios, where image is everything.
The story revolves around a small group of British expats. Sir Ambrose Abercrombie, Sir Francis Hinsley and Dennis Barlow.
When Hinsley dies, Barlow is given the responsibility of arranging the funeral. (He is in the business.) While making arrangements at Whispering Glades (this is for humans), he meets Aimée Thanatogenos who is a cosmetician there. He becomes interested in her and starts courting her by sending poems. He had told her he was a poet and she assumes he is the writer of the poems.
Meanwhile the senior mortician, Mr. Joyboy, expresses his interest in Aimée. Barlow now has competition. But all comes to a head when something is discovered about Barlow's poetry.
The comments and views of the characters are along the tongue-in-cheek style. Comments about the studio system, the mortuary world and being an ex-pat in Hollywood. There is a little gruesomeness, but then....
I enjoyed this read. It is not a long one but it is a good one.
The story revolves around a small group of British expats. Sir Ambrose Abercrombie, Sir Francis Hinsley and Dennis Barlow.
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Abercrombie and Hinsley work for the studios, but Barlow has a job that is considered below British standard...he works at Happy Hunting Ground, a pet cemetery and funeral service.When Hinsley dies, Barlow is given the responsibility of arranging the funeral. (He is in the business.) While making arrangements at Whispering Glades (this is for humans), he meets Aimée Thanatogenos who is a cosmetician there. He becomes interested in her and starts courting her by sending poems. He had told her he was a poet and she assumes he is the writer of the poems.
Meanwhile the senior mortician, Mr. Joyboy, expresses his interest in Aimée. Barlow now has competition. But all comes to a head when something is discovered about Barlow's poetry.
The comments and views of the characters are along the tongue-in-cheek style. Comments about the studio system, the mortuary world and being an ex-pat in Hollywood. There is a little gruesomeness, but then....
I enjoyed this read. It is not a long one but it is a good one.
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LibraryThing member MizPurplest
Excellent satire; amusing characters you never really like, which in this case is a good thing. Quite a few highly entertaining moments. Fun, fast read.
LibraryThing member mojacobs
This was the first ever book I read in English - and I was hooked from the moment the central character is preparing for lunch and takes his sandwiches out of the fridge where the dead cats and dogs are kept. Waugh opened a new world for me with his satirical take on a vast range of subjects -
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quite an eyeopener for a girl from Antwerp in the sixties. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookworm12
Dennis Barlow is a poet by night and works at a pet cemetery by day. The British man lives in L.A. and falls in love with Aimee, a woman who does the make-up at a local mortuary. She seems smitten with her co-worker at the funeral home, Mr. Joyboy.
This satire never quite gets off the ground. The
It was a big disappointment to read something so stale from the man who wrote Brideshead Revisited. I know it’s one of his lesser known novels and next time I’ll try one of his more popular ones like Scoop or Decline and Fall.
BOTTOM LINE: A swing and a miss from a great author. We all have our bad days and I’ll chalk this up as one of his.
This satire never quite gets off the ground. The
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characters are sketches of people who never have any depth. It combines comedy and tragedy, but manages to do so in a way that’s neither funny nor touching. It was a big disappointment to read something so stale from the man who wrote Brideshead Revisited. I know it’s one of his lesser known novels and next time I’ll try one of his more popular ones like Scoop or Decline and Fall.
BOTTOM LINE: A swing and a miss from a great author. We all have our bad days and I’ll chalk this up as one of his.
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LibraryThing member jennyo
Quick, entertaining read about the packaging of funerary services in the U.S. As always with Waugh, it's funny and mean. There's a movie based on this book, but it's not available on DVD yet. Sure wish it were. It stars Jonathan Winters, John Gielgud, Liberace, Robert Morse, Roddy McDowell, Tab
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Hunter, and Milton Berle. I'd like to see it someday. Show Less
LibraryThing member Schmerguls
This was not funny except in a grotesque way. Well, it was funny as a whole - it's very writey - pouncey and arty. if you know what I mean. Enjoyed it.
LibraryThing member Becky221
Very funny sarcastic look at Hollywood life and death. Evelyn Waugh pokes fun at both Americans and Brits. An enjoyable read, but lacking in depth.
LibraryThing member auntieknickers
WOnderful satire. Read along with [b:The American Way of Death] for another British look at the American funeral industry.
LibraryThing member devenish
A really funny book about death,embalming and crematoria.(both human and animal)Yes I did say funny! It tells of the love triangle of Dennis Barlow who works at the 'Happy Hunting Grounds' pet crematoria,before meeting Aimee Thanatogenos who is an assistant to Mr Joyboy,chief embalmer at the
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'Whispering Glades' Memorial Park.These three diverse characters form this unusual triangle with somewhat unfortunate results. Show Less
LibraryThing member xinyi
Evelyn Waugh never fails me!
LibraryThing member madmouth
A grim and funny discourse on the death of England-as-we-knew-it and mad America's ominous ascendancy, perhaps his grimmest and funniest. His absurdist portrait of Los Angeles and Hollywood cuts just as keenly as those of Dear Old Blighty in his other novels.
LibraryThing member DanaJean
The beginning of this book was slow going for me and I wasn't sure I was going to like the story. But, the further into it I got, the more absurd and humorous it got. I loved the mirrored funeral industries. The characters were all flawed and shallow. A much more enjoyable read than his Brideshead
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Revisited which I did not enjoy at all. Show Less
LibraryThing member jburlinson
Curious how the book, while being much more restrained, goes so much further than the movie.
LibraryThing member FicusFan
I found this to be an odd book. I realize it is supposed to be a black comedy, and a satire skewering social mores, I am just not sure who is being raked over the coals.
One the one hand Waugh takes lots of shots at the whole British myth, and then he takes on superficial life in Southern
I also didn't find it all that funny, not because of the darkness or the suicides, I like black comedy, it just didn't work for me. I don't see anything wrong or blackly humorous in trying to ease the pain and fear of death, for either humans or pets. I don't see the harm in giving the Loved One (again human or pet) dignity and a good send off. If at times the actual event fails to rise to the proper level (or misses the mark and goes over the top), then it should be remembered that its the thought or attempt that counts.
Waugh compares the factory Hollywood studio system of the time to the factories that turn out the dead, using the same type of fake sentiment we have since come to call Disney-fication. While Hollywood sends out mind-numbing, dumb, comforting pap, that lowers the common denominator both then and now, mortuaries are doing a service in helping people get through a difficult time. Those that don't need the help, will pick something more austere, but those that do need it are comforted by it.
I suppose the connection is that fuzzy thinking and a preference for a comforting myth around death, can translate into the same mode of dealing with the real world and actual life as well as death. Both UK and US culture partake of the use of myths and fuzzy thinking, they just do it differently. Who is to say which is best ?
I think he is comparing English culture to Hollywood (the grand important techni-color myth ) and US Culture to the mortuary industry (fake, schmaltzy, myth that glorifies stupidity, safety, and pre-packaged sameness).
In any event I didn't find it all that funny, or insightful, and it certainly wasn't well written, nor did the story or the characters interest all that much.
One the one hand Waugh takes lots of shots at the whole British myth, and then he takes on superficial life in Southern
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California. Perhaps both are being lambasted. Its hard to tell, because the writing is very sketchy, and there are obscure references to people or events that were current in Waugh's times. I am fine with the older literary references, I am just not that familiar with Waugh's times or those of WWII and the aftermath.I also didn't find it all that funny, not because of the darkness or the suicides, I like black comedy, it just didn't work for me. I don't see anything wrong or blackly humorous in trying to ease the pain and fear of death, for either humans or pets. I don't see the harm in giving the Loved One (again human or pet) dignity and a good send off. If at times the actual event fails to rise to the proper level (or misses the mark and goes over the top), then it should be remembered that its the thought or attempt that counts.
Waugh compares the factory Hollywood studio system of the time to the factories that turn out the dead, using the same type of fake sentiment we have since come to call Disney-fication. While Hollywood sends out mind-numbing, dumb, comforting pap, that lowers the common denominator both then and now, mortuaries are doing a service in helping people get through a difficult time. Those that don't need the help, will pick something more austere, but those that do need it are comforted by it.
I suppose the connection is that fuzzy thinking and a preference for a comforting myth around death, can translate into the same mode of dealing with the real world and actual life as well as death. Both UK and US culture partake of the use of myths and fuzzy thinking, they just do it differently. Who is to say which is best ?
I think he is comparing English culture to Hollywood (the grand important techni-color myth ) and US Culture to the mortuary industry (fake, schmaltzy, myth that glorifies stupidity, safety, and pre-packaged sameness).
In any event I didn't find it all that funny, or insightful, and it certainly wasn't well written, nor did the story or the characters interest all that much.
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Subjects
Awards
Language
Original publication date
1948
Physical description
128 p.; 7.5 inches
ISBN
0140182497 / 9780140182491