Reviews

Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh

radiofreakinastorm's review

dark funny reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

lynncornelissen's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.75

This was the most confusing book I’ve read in a while, yet it is almost a 3 star. The writing was british and immaculate, no faults there. This book also definitely feels like a British Gatsby, as it covers the same careless partygoer younger generation in the 1920s - from car crashes and lavish parties to irrational young love and ruthless spending. It felt like we were reading Mr. Chatterbox’s column throughout this book. Where it missed the mark for me is that the one red thread throughout the book, doesn’t get a resolving ending. In addition many characters were introduced but never returned, and thus we got less time to know the recurring characters in a deeper sense. I do think this was one of the points Waugh was trying to drive home, however because of this it felt empty-plotted and created a lackluster and unsatisfying ending. Book did make me cackle a few times, but I think I could have spent my time better rereading Gatsby. 

helluo_librorum_lgbt's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

jemmacm's review against another edition

funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

hirsch's review

challenging dark funny reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

rlhreads's review

1.0

This book wasn’t for me - if you like books without any real plot and lots of underdeveloped characters then maybe you’ll like this. Unfortunately this was completely lost on me to the point where I just read the dialogue just so I could move on to a better book.

readingwithcarla's review

emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

qcupquake's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Vile Bodies
4/5

- ... im gonna be real. i only bought and read this book bc michael sheen was in the movie adaptation
- BUT it was a classic i enjoyed more than other classics ive read.
- think of it as a british Great Gatsby that documents how young people went through life and how the press documented and twisted their words and actions. that's the best way i can describe it
- was a bit confusing at times but i watched the movie beforehand so i understood most of it

Spoiler

- i was surprised to see how quickly they moved in from Miles leaving the country in the book when there was a whole emotional (and a GODDAMN WELL ACTED) scene in the movie.
- the movie added a lot more filler and created an actual ending compared to the ambiguous one in the book

Spoiler

- also everyone go watch the movie it's great
- the movie actually stuck to the plot of the book very VERY well which is something that was really rare back in the 2000s-2010s (cough the mortal instruments movie cough)
- anyways it's now one of my favorite classics. go watch the movie 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Medical content, Car accident, Homophobia, Medical trauma, and Mental illness

Minor: Racial slurs and Racism

marjoriehuang's review

5.0

yeah no this is a great book. the great writing in this as well as the great writing in brideshead revisited makes me want to dive into more of Waugh's work. can't believe he's a man...he writes like how i imagine a 20th century british woman might write.

emphil365's review against another edition

4.0

all the characters are annoying, and that my friends, is the beauty of the book