Decline and Fall

By: Evelyn Waugh

Narrated by: Michael Maloney

Evelyn Waugh's "irresistible" first novel (New York Times) is a brilliant and hilarious satire of English school life in the 1920s.

Sent down from Oxford after a wild, drunken party, Paul Pennyfeather is oddly surprised to find himself qualifying for the position of schoolmaster at a boys' private school in Wales. His colleagues are an assortment of misfits, rascals and fools, including Prendy (plagued by doubts) and Captain Grimes, who is always in the soup (or just plain drunk). Then Sports Day arrives, and with it the delectable Margot Beste-Chetwynde, floating on a scented breeze. As the farce unfolds in Evelyn Waugh's dazzling debut as a novelist, the young run riot and no one is safe, least of all Paul.

Critic reviews

"Irresistible....One of Waugh's best."—New York Times Book Review

"A savagely comic masterpiece."—Times Literary Supplement

"A world of anarchic fantasy, floodlit with a bland, devastating brilliance....Waugh's people were of two classes, both of whom he knew intimately: the giddy rich and adventurers of vast caddishness....The characters reeled their lunatic way, with sublime insouciance or sublime rascality, through a harlequinade ending in gruesome but hilarious calamity."—Charles J. Rolo, Atlantic Monthly

"Decline and Fall is that all-too-rare phenomenon, a good nonsense novel. Its author has had the happy inspiration to take nothing seriously, and least of all himself. The result is a book which makes more sense than most."—T.S. Matthews, The New Republic

"Surely one of the finest satirical novels of our time, in whcih uplift, religion, romance, and personal animus do not dissipate the satiric intention."—Ernest Jones, The Nation

Best Narrator Yet

Would you listen to Decline and Fall again? Why?

New to audible, and watched Decline and Fall as a miniseries, which was so-so. Had read only the most famous Waugh titles, so was new to this one. The story is wonderful, droll, funny and touching. Delightfully absurd and funny. And the narrator, Michael Maloney is with out a doubt the best I've heard. A PERFECT production of this book.

What did you like best about this story?

Waugh -- need I say more? One of the greats.

Brilliant, funny and beautifully performed!

Hard to believe this was Waugh’s first novel. Completely enjoyable. And the narration was perfection!

Amazing narrator but not the story for me

I've had a hard time with Waugh. I've read Brideshead several times and enjoy it each time. I've read Helena, and found it good. But this and Sword of Honor, I just can't do. There isn't a strong storyline, and I think I just don't do well with that type of... story. If you do, then this may be the book for you. Like I said, the narrator is amazing!

Black Humor, Satire, and the Absurd

Paul Pennyfeather is, by no fault of his own, sent down from Oxford for indecent behavior. His only recourse is to get a job teaching at a less-than-prestigious boarding school. While there, he meets the widowed mother of a student, Margot Beste-Chetwynde, with whom he falls in love. This starts a chain of events leading to his decline and fall.

This, Waugh's first published novel, shows him already a master of black humor, satire, and the absurd. The plot is unpredictable, the prose excellent, and the entire book truly funny. While it's not perfection, it is a great, quick read that will have the reader laughing out loud.

Mr. Maloney does excellent voices, narrates well, and the singing episode was hysterically funny. He does tend to read too quickly at times, though, making it a four star performance instead of five.

A romping parody on life

Michael Maloney brings to life a chorus of romping and eccentric characters that accompany the down and ups of Paul Pennyfeather’s year of life. If one has read The Confederacy of Dunces, Decline and Fall is quite as comic. And to appreciate both, one should enjoy the Audible performances alone or while reading the novel. It is delightful experience.