Reading London Socialites in the 1920s
It got started with my interest in party people: People with the time and resources to entertain crazy fast lives.. start trends, influence fashions. Their lightness and fun is total hedonism, complete abandon, yet fraught, overshadowed by the staggering outcome of insecurities and excess.
It got started with my interest in party people: People with the time and resources to entertain crazy fast lives.. start trends, influence fashions. Their lightness and fun is total hedonism, complete abandon, yet fraught, overshadowed by the staggering outcome of insecurities and excess.
Are you nostalgic? Do you have a fascination with wild circles of misfits and friends? Curious about rich, irreverent people? The following titles might be right for you--
Bright Young People: The Lost Generation of London's Jazz Age by DJ Taylor
A lovingly written, detailed, sociological look at the entire cast of characters. I could not put it down.
Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh
The same characters as above, in a humorous story by one of the most piercing and malicious members. Some of the characters are based on his circle of friends who included Nancy Mitford, who had some success as a writer too, especially in her documentation of forms of speech used at the time.
--extra credit-- if you liked that pairing, then read on:
A lovingly written, detailed, sociological look at the entire cast of characters. I could not put it down.
Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh
The same characters as above, in a humorous story by one of the most piercing and malicious members. Some of the characters are based on his circle of friends who included Nancy Mitford, who had some success as a writer too, especially in her documentation of forms of speech used at the time.
--extra credit-- if you liked that pairing, then read on:
Afternoon Men by Anthony Powell
You might have to ILL this one from a library. Out of print. DJ Taylor, (the first book on my list), always mentions this title. If you read it you might begin to perceive familiar voices - even identify people in the circles of friends by their actions and slang.
You might have to ILL this one from a library. Out of print. DJ Taylor, (the first book on my list), always mentions this title. If you read it you might begin to perceive familiar voices - even identify people in the circles of friends by their actions and slang.
Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford -Reveals the eccentric home of Nancy Mitford's younger sisters. An added dimension of seeing into a world of characters. I found myself laughing out loud.
Watch the movie, Bright Young Things (2003). (based on Vile Bodies) Read or (or rent the DVD for the multi-volume A Dance to the Music of Time, which Anthony Powell wrote following Afternoon Men. Read about Cecil Beaton and his contributions to fashion and photography...
