For the 1988 film based on the novel, see A Handful of Dust (film). For the New Zealand band, see A Handful of Dust (band).
A Handful of Dust
Cover of first UK edition (1934)
Author
Evelyn Waugh
Language
English
Genre
Fiction
Publisher
Chapman & Hall (hardcover)
Penguin Books (paperback)
Publication date
1934 (Hardback)
1951 (Paperback)
Publication place
United Kingdom
A Handful of Dust is a novel by the British writer Evelyn Waugh. First published in 1934, it is often grouped with the author's early, satirical comic novels for which he became famous in the pre–World War II years. Some commentators regard it as a transitional work due to its serious undertones, pointing towards Waugh's Catholic postwar fiction.
Tony Last is an English country squire, who, having seen his illusions shattered one by one, joins an expedition to the Brazilian jungle, only to find himself trapped in a remote outpost as the prisoner of a maniac. Waugh incorporated several autobiographical elements into the plot, including his own recent desertion by his wife. In 1933–34 he travelled into the South American interior, and a number of incidents from the voyage are incorporated into the novel. Tony's fate in the jungle was first used by Waugh in a short story, published in 1933 under the title "The Man Who Liked Dickens".
The book's initial critical reception was modest, but it was popular with the public and has never been out of print. In the years since publication the book's reputation has grown; it is generally considered one of Waugh's best works, and has more than once figured on unofficial lists of the 20th century's best novels.
Waugh had converted to Roman Catholicism in 1930, after which his satirical, secular writings drew hostility from some Catholic quarters. He did not introduce overtly religious themes into A Handful of Dust, but later explained that he intended the book to demonstrate the futility of humanist values, as distinct from those of a religious (especially Catholic) nature. The book has been dramatised for radio, stage and screen.
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of E. M. Forster's novels A Room with a View (1985) and Maurice (1987), before appearing in films including AHandfulofDust (1988), The Madness of King...
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Medina): The blindness of the Qurashite warriors who assembled at his door to assassinate him. He sprinkled ahandfulofdust at the assassins as he recited...
in 1996. She has since featured in an episode of Lewis and played a small role in the first episode of the sitcom In with the Flynns. Most recently, she...
Waugh (1903–1966) was a British writer, journalist and reviewer, generally considered one of the leading English prose writers of the 20th century. The...
Danny Huston, and made a cameo appearance in the film adaptation AHandfulofDust. Despite her limited screen time, Vincent Canby of The New York Times praised...
Macbeth. She branched into film work, and won a BAFTA Award as Most Promising Newcomer; however, most of her work during this period was in theatre. Over...
fear in ahandfulofdust", and "These fragments I have shored against my ruins". The Waste Land does not follow a single narrative or feature a consistent...
Portrait ofa Lady (1881) by Henry James 20th century The House of Mirth (1905) and The Age of Innocence (1920) by Edith Wharton AHandfulofDust (1937)...
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which has rich history of many renown graduates, faculty, and history of board members in Berkeley, California. Crowden had a long theatrical career,...
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Grant. He then starred in AHandfulofDust (1988), for which he won the Bari Film Festival Best Actor award. Then came A Tale of Two Cities (1989), Howards...
journalist and novelist, and eldest son of the novelist Evelyn Waugh. He was widely known by his nickname "Bron". After a traditional classical education at...
as the comedy double act Fry and Laurie, he co-wrote and co-starred in A Bit of Fry & Laurie, and the duo also played the title roles in Jeeves and Wooster...
first name Brenda to a "bright young thing" who was a major character in Waugh's 1934 novel AHandfulofDust, a rare example of the name Brenda occurring...
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