Library of Congress
The prospect of Christmas was rarely a thrill for Evelyn Waugh, the famously grumpy author behind razor-edged novels like Brideshead Revisited. But even for Waugh, the back-end of 1946 was particularly trying. Not only was he surrounded by the family who so regularly irritated him, but he was also due to have his troublesome piles removed immediately after the festivities had passed—an operation that would lead to an incredibly uncomfortable three-week stay in hospital. It’s no surprise to learn that his diary around that period was especially frosty.
The Diary Entry
Monday 23 December 1946
The presence of my children affects me with deep weariness and depression. I do not see them until luncheon, as I have my breakfast alone in the library, and they are in fact well trained to avoid my part of the house; but I am aware of them from the moment I wake. Luncheon is very painful. Teresa has a mincing habit of speech and a pert, humourless style of wit; Bron is clumsy and dishevelled, sly, without intellectual, aesthetic or spiritual interest; Margaret is pretty and below the age of reason. In the nursery whooping cough rages I believe. At tea I meet the three elder children again and they usurp the drawing-room until it is time to dress for dinner, I used to take some pleasure in inventing legends for them about Basil Bennett, Dr Bedlam and the Sebag Montefiores. But now they think it ingenious to squeal: ‘It isn’t true.’ I taught them the game of draughts for which they show no aptitude. The frost has broken and everything is now dripping and slushy and gusty. The prospect of Christmas appalls me and I look forward to the operating theatre as a happy release.
Further Reading
First published in 1976 by Weidenfeld and Nicolson and edited by Michael Davie, The Diaries of Evelyn Waugh paint a picture of a man who seemed insufferable most of the time. Grumpy, bitter, and self-centred, Waugh displayed an unequivocal impatience for anything that interfered with his personal pleasures. However! If you can handle that level of negativity, these diaries are also compelling and often entertaining, and I recommend getting a copy.
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