. . . but not entirely.Back
in the early twentieth century,
Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson made a name for himself writing historical
novels
and then satire to try and counter the "New Things" of socialism,
modernism, and the New Age . . . which (much to his chagrin) was taken
as “prophecy” (Lord of the World, 1907) or his
blueprint for an ideal society (The Dawn
of All, 1911).He also wrote others
in what he termed the “sensational” category, which his readers seemed intent
on misinterpreting.
Benson then switched towriting “mainstream” fiction . . . which turned out to be just as satirical as
his sensational novels, only less spectacularly so.His first effort, A Winnowing (1910), while seemingly drenched in death and dying, has
moments of surreal humor that call to mind P.G. Wodehouse, and appears to have
inspired Evelyn Waugh’s black comedy, The
Loved One (1948).The others are
even better — or worse, if that is how you want to put it. . . .
