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Decline and Fall
Decline and Fall
Nov 16, 2025 5:08 PM

Author:Evelyn Waugh

Decline and Fall

'His first, most perfect novel ... ruthlessly comic' John Mortimer, Guardian

Sent down from Oxford in outrageous circumstances, Paul Pennyfeather is oddly unsurprised to find himself qualifying for the position of schoolmaster at Llanabba Castle. 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 and the young run riot, no one is safe, least of all Paul.

Reviews

'The funniest book I have ever read'

—— Julian Symons , The Times

His first, most perfect novel ... a ruthlessly comic plot

—— John Mortimer , Guardian

'You must read Rupert Morgan's outstanding Let There Be Lite...It's fast-moving and hilarious...Kurt Vonnegut and Douglas Adams will be spitting feathers'

—— Esquire

'Bittersweet, laugh-out-loud funny, and all too true'

—— Fay Weldon

'Outstanding...Fans of Kurt Vonnegut and Douglas Adams will adore this dazzling satire on the digital age, but it is startlingly original from its side-splitting first lines to the thoughtful conclusion...Packed with fresh comic touches'

—— Amazon.co.uk

'Rupert Morgan's irrepressible wit sees humour wherever he looks. The plot unfolds like a firework display, one explosion after another, each one more outrageous than the one before...The pace of the performance builds up into a grand finale that leaves you gasping and wide-eyed. This is a first novel by someone who has perfected his craft. The interweavings of plot and character are skilfully executed. But above all it is so good to be made to laugh - really laugh. This is one of those books, like Louis de Berniere's, which will have your friends and family furiously demanding to see what you are reading that makes you so roar with laughter'

—— Oxford Times

'Amusing and inventive'

—— Peter Ackroyd

'A really brilliant first novel, he is obviously a major talent'

—— Prunella Scales

'The match of the madder moments of John Irving or Tom Sharpe...this is a promisingly entertaining "lite" read'

—— The Times

'At its best when taking pot-shots at a wide variety of modern ills - fast food, tabloid media, downsizing, soap-opera politics...One of Morgan's nicer inventions is a computer program that boils down complex texts to their essentials. Its treatment of the Old Testament renders it down to: "Because I say so, that's why"'

—— Independent

'Suspenseful, atmospheric and highly intelligent, Jody Shields focuses a brilliant light on the murky world of imperial Vienna'

—— D. M. Thomas
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