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 Passion Thwarted November 16, 2008
This is not THE FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AND HOW THEY GREW, but it is close. An outsider, Charles Ryder, (a near orphan), is befriended by a family, Lord and Lady Marchmain and their children, Bridey, Julia, Sebastian, and Cordelia. Of particular importance to the progression of the story are Sebastian and Julia.
Published in the United States in 1945, the novel has enduring interest as witnessed by the television mini-series and the movie. A contemporary reviewer noted that Waugh was writing at the top of his form, that the book was mature Waugh. The description of the art noveau style decoration of the chapel at Brideshead Castle is priceless.
Waugh uses a bundle of qualities to typify the major characters. That is to say, they stand for this and that, and may be visualised in such and such a way. And, as in so much of Waugh, the reader is shown the characters in action, they speak at great length, exhaustively. There are embedded first-person narratives, that of Charles Ryder in the outer ring, addressing the reader, and Anthony Blanche speaking to Charles at length, for example.
The reader need not be concerned that there is nothing funny in the volume under review, because there is. The portrait of Charles Ryder's father endeavoring to diversify Charles's evenings at home during the vacation is one of many instances of merriment. When Charles spends part of the same vacation with Sebastian Flyte, the author describes youth as langorous, generous.
Unfortunately the golden days of Charles and Sebastian don't last. Sebastian is sent down from Oxford and Charles goes to seek preparation for his career in the visual arts. When Charles is dismissed from Brideshead by Sebastian's mother he feels that he is entering reality. Charles leaves with an understanding the banishment is to last forever.
When his mother, Lady Marchmain, is dying, Charles sets out for Morocco in search of Sebastian. Sebastian is withered by drink. Charles arranges for Sebastian's brother Bridey to give him an allowance. Charles receives a commission to paint the house at Brideshead, his first.
Both Sebastian and Julia return to the practice of religion, Catholicism. The return has many consequences to their own lives and the life of Charles.
The book is both witty and good.
The original version November 7, 2008
Like all American editions, this new edition by Back Bay Books uses the original 1945 version of the book. Waugh reissued it in 1959 "with many small additions and some substantial cuts", so that all later UK editions, including Penguin and Everyman's Library, used the new revised version. Only the American publisher continued to use the old one. There is a disagreement between Waugh's readers about whether the altered text was an improvement. Frank Kermode in his preface to the Everyman's edition argues that "the final version of the novel is preferable". So if you're a fan of the book you might be interested in reading both and making your own judgment.
Irresistable Tides of Change.... November 2, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Evelyn Waugh's complex 1944 novel "Brideshead Revisited" defies easy description. On one level, it is the recollections of middle-aged British Army Captain Charles Ryder, whose unit is to be garrisoned at the vacant English estate of Brideshead during the Second World War. This present tense Ryder frames the beginning and ending of the novel. The bulk of the story is inbetween, as a younger Ryder narrates his life before the war, in which he becomes involved with the wealthy Catholic family that owns Brideshead.
At university, the young Ryder falls in with his fascinating fellow student Sebastian, flamboyant, hard-drinking, and probably infatuated with Ryder in a way that he does not quite recognize. They embark on a series of adventures together that include an introduction to Sebastian's dysfuntional family, the Marchmains. Ryder's relationship with Sebastian, and a later and very different relationship with Sebastian's sister Julia, make him both observer and participant in the family's trials.
The plot is a slow-roller, and early on, the reader is apt to be carried along by Waugh's wonderfully delicious prose, alternately funny and sad, describing Britain between the two World Wars. About halfway through, the plot makes a dramatic jump in time and exposition, as Ryder suddenly is married, with children, and a successful but unhappy artist returning from a stint in South America. The novel's themes come together in painful juxposition. Britain is drawn into a second world war that will end the days of empire, while the Marchmain family's Catholic faith seems to both undercut their possibilities of happiness while sustaining them through tragedy. The major players, well-drawn by Waugh, are alike in their imperfect but very real humanity.
"Brideshead Revisited" is very highly recommended as a classic novel of an England now gone but once as vivid and fascinating as Evelyn Waugh's undoubted writing gifts can make it.
Brideshead Revisited November 2, 2008
A great American classic well worth re-reading. Rich language, complex story line that stimulates good discussion.
Breath of Fresh Air November 1, 2008
A friend recommended reading BRIDESHEAD REVISITED, and what a sheer pleasure it turned out to be. Waugh's writing floats along above the page, but at the same time gives great attention to the plot. It is a book that obviously carries with it a great reputation and preconceived notions, but I found it well worth the time.
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