Bright Young People by Taylor D. J

Author:Taylor, D. J.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Published: 2009-01-06T05:00:00+00:00

And you went out and got murdered—magnificently —

Went out and got murdered . . . because a parcel of damned old men

Wanted some fun, or some power, or something.

Something so despicable in comparison to your young lives . . .

Already, though, there were signs that his talent, if that is what it was, had passed its sell-by date. Having scraped into Oxford (“a sort of passionate party all the time—one rushes from one amusement to another until one’s sense of proportion and self-control gradually vanishes . . . ”), where harder-headed contemporaries like Acton were already forging careers for themselves, he spent his time in well-bred socializing. Maurice Bowra recalled a dinner party of such blue-blooded exclusivity that Howard was able to address the company—a meaningful glance at Bowra, who sat beside him—as “My Lords and gentleman.” Coming down from the university without a degree, he progressed by easy stages into the role of Bright Young People’s impresario. As “Johnnie Hoop” he wanders aimlessly through Vile Bodies, devising elaborate costumes for fancy dress balls and designing outsize party invitations. “These had two columns of close print: in one was a list of all the things Johnnie hated, and in the other all the things he thought he liked. Most of the parties which Miss Mouse financed had invitations written by Johnnie Hoop.”

This is a direct reference to the sixteen-inch-high invitation sent out in advance of the Great Urban Dionysia, held in celebration of Brian’s twenty-fourth birthday in April 1929. Barbed, too, as Johnnie only “thinks” he likes the things he likes. Waugh’s implication is clear: Brian was merely trying to impress less sophisticated friends with his upmarket name-dropping. In fact, Brian’s list of likes and dislikes, featured under the headings of J’accuse and J’adore, is uncannily representative both of his own foibles and the way in which the Bright Young People liked to position themselves aesthetically. J’accuse’s principles are more or less democratic. The items listed included “Chic,” “Ladies and Gentlemen,” “Public Schools,” “English ‘Society,’” “Those incredibly ‘Private’ Dances,” “The Tatler and the Sketch,” “People who find themselves out of place in a full third-class carriage anywhere in the world,” “People who think that a title is of the slightest importance” and, inevitably, “The Bright Young People.” Under J’adore, on the other hand, are filed “Men and Women,” “Elegance,” “Wood and Stone,” “Russian films,” “D. H. Lawrence,” “Wild Flowers” and “A Field-mouse in a Bonnet.” The list ends with a passionate declaration of humanist intent:

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