Finished: Decline and Fall (Waugh) A fast-pace, farcical, rather refreshing book. :-) I had no intention of reading another entire book before we left for Oregon, but this was a quick read. I can't say that it was light-hearted, but it leaves you feeling rather light-hearted, which most of the books I've read on this journey do not. I don't think I'll go into a long explanation or recap, just a short one. Decline and Fall is definitely a satire about British society, first and foremost. It's the story of British university student Paul Pennyfeather, who gets kicked out of university, not by his own doing. And then he gets strung along into different situations and experiences by "lady fortune". From teaching at a low-tier boy's school, where he meets the headmaster, Dr. Fagan, favorite student, Peter Beste-Chetwynde, and zany characters, Grimes and Philbrick, to almost marrying Peter's mother, Margot, to being wrongly sentenced to prison, to being rescued by his friends who fake his death, and going full circle back to university to start his schooling over again, it's just a book whose underlying humor kept me turning the pages. It's my third Evelyn Waugh book....and either my 2nd or 3rd favorite....Brideshead Revisited still being #1. I may have to read more Waugh!