The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Loved One
Book Review: A book that was hard to understand
Summary: 2 Stars
This book was confusing. It contained no action, suspense, nor thrill. What made me lose interest in this book was the fact that they talked about the deceased, how they died, and how their appearance were greatly transfigured. If I wanted to read about dead bodies I would have read a horror novel.Book Review: A book thats slow at first but gets better
Summary: 4 Stars
The book The Loved One is a book that starts out slow and is very hard to understand. After the second or third chapter it speeds up and is better when it talks about the coroners and people they are dealing with. At first when I was thinking about typing this I was going to say, like most people that it was boring. I finally realized it was a pretty good book when I had finished it. I would recommend this book to many people.Book Review: A book which could have used more thrill
Summary: 3 Stars
The book The Loved One is based on the burial industry. This sets the tone of sadness, melancholy, grief, depression, dejection, and disaster. The story takes place in California; particularly two funeral homes called the Whispering Glades - a resting place for famous Hollywood people and the Happier Hunting Ground - a cemetery for deceased loved aminals. It tells the story of a love triangle involving Aimee Thanatogenos, the heroine of the story who works as a cosmetician; Mr. Joyboy an established embalmer famous for his trade; and Mr. Dennis Barlow, the villain who works at the pet cemetery. Aimee the cosmetician and Mr. Joyboy the embalmer seemed the perfect match at the beginning of the story. The twist comes when Dennis Barlow is introduced as a much younger, likeable, glib, aspiring, ambitious man who works at the pet cemetery. Aimee unsure of her future, searches for something missing in her life. She meets Dennis Barlow, who by the nature of his job is an eloquent giver of obituaries for loved pets. She mistakes him for a romantic poet. Dennis does not correct the wrong notion and plays out the poet to the hilt knowing the deception was a way to the woman's heart. Aimee breaks up with Mr. Joyboy and takes up with Dennis. She finds out the truth and is disillusioned. Dennis is not a poet but like her a mere worker at a cemetery for pets, and his poems were copied from books, not straight from the heart. Faced with a dilemma, she comfides in a magazine sort of a present day Dear Abby. The Guru Brahmin actually three people gives out advice which Aimee takes to heart. This is the comedy part. Which person in his right mind would take Dear Abby seriously? Well she does and the result is a total disaster. The Guru being drunk and fired from his job tells Aimee to commit suicide when she calls him up personally on the phone for advice. Confused, Aimee does kill herself. Pretty stupid I think. The story ends with Joyboy and Barlow helping each other out to cremate Aimee at the Happier Hunting Ground, a hush - hush burial to avoid embarrassment and guilt of what they have done to their "Loved One" Mr. Joyboy for failing to come to her when she was distraught and for Mr. Dennis for his deception at impersonating a poet to charm Aimee. I believe that The Loved One was somewhat a mediocre book. I give it three stars because it lacked the action and adventure which could have made it more interesting to read. I was unable to understand what was going on in the beginning. Though the book was not a turn on the me, it did have a few parts which did interest me like the love triangle between burial employees Mr. Barlow, Aimee Thanatogenos, and Mr. Joyboy. The book could have used more suspense or sensitivity about suicide to give it more interest. I read the book from cover to cover and there are still parts of the book which I still don't understand. To totally understand the whole book I think you would have to be an extensive reader. I would have more of an attraction to the book if it were not a love story.Book Review: A complicated book
Summary: 3 Stars
The book "The Loved One" is a very complicated book to read. It starts in an awkward setting where you would not expect it. The beginning setting of the book takes place on the front porch of Sir Francis Hinsley, accompanied by Dennis Barlow; this setting continues for the first section of the book. When the first part of the book ends, the book's main purpose comes into focus. The death of Sir Francis Hinsley has brought on this topic of the book. It triggers Dennis Barlow to visit the Whispering Glades Mortuary to schedule the funeral. The continuing chapters of the book were on a similar note as this as they deal with a side of the topics that you would not suspect to be joined with problems in a mortuary. It took a clever mind to come up with these out of touch subjects and combine them to leave you with "The Loved One." Another out of place description in "The Loved One" is the way that they picture Hollywood. Usually, when you think of Hollywood, you think of movie stars, movies, nice Mercedes Benz cars and nice houses, but "The Loved One" describes a different part of Hollywood; a somewhat out of the ordinary description of the city. All in all, "The Loved One" is an excellent book because of the topics that you would not expect to revolve around the characters and the situations surrounding the characters. The setback to the book is that it starts off slow and in minor parts of the book it drags. Other than that is very well written.Book Review: A darkly funny masterpiece about art, love and death
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read The Loved One over and over again. It is laugh-out-loud funny, with Waugh having a merry time at the expense of movie studios, advice gurus, cemeteries (both human and animal)and the rituals of courtship and love. The satire is razor sharp and quite nasty. No one is spared in the skewering.