Evelyn Waugh, ‘Mr Loveday’s Little Outing’ (1949)

Angela goes to visit her father, Lord Moping, in the asylum, to find another of the inmates, a Mr Loveday, acting as his ‘secretary’. Observing his apparent sanity, Angela contrives to have Loveday released — and then…

The dark humour of this tale reminded me of Dylan Thomas’s story in the anthology, though I don’t think it has quite the same range and depth of effect as that other piece. This was my first encounter with Waugh’s work, and I am certainly interested in reading more by him.

Rating: ***½

7 Comments

  1. If you like dark humour where the dark outweighs the humour, read A Handful of Dust. I love it.

  2. David Hebblethwaite

    2nd March 2011 at 11:58 am

    Charles, that’s probably the best one-line recommendation of a book I’ve ever received. I shall investigate – thanks!

  3. David, I agree with Charles, please read ‘A Handful of Dust’ – it’s quite bleak and upsetting. I also love ‘Decline and Fall’ and ‘Scoop’ – they’re both brilliantly funny.

    I don’t remember reading Mr Loveday’s Little Outing, though I usually claim to have read most of Evelyn Waugh’s work. I’ll have to look it out – thanks for the post.

  4. At this point, Helen, we can’t not recommend Vile Bodies as well…

  5. I’d recommend, well, pretty much anything by Waugh actually.

    I’m wondering if I’ve read this one. It sounds suspiciously familiar. If I have it was a very long time ago.

  6. I really loved this story! I’ve never read Evelyn Waugh’s books before and was admired. The plot is thrilling. While reading I recollected the stories by Roald Dahl. I think they’re alike a bit. So I advice to read it, hope that everybody’ll like it.
    Also I would recommend to read Jeffrey Archer’s stories! They’re my favourite.

  7. David Hebblethwaite

    8th December 2013 at 11:35 pm

    Thanks for the comment. I hadn’t thought of Roald Dahl at the time; but,now you mention it, I can see the similarity. It’s an interesting comparison.

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