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Brideshead Revisited
Brideshead Revisited
Author: Evelyn Waugh
The most nostalgic and reflective of Evelyn Waugh's novels, Brideshead Revisited looks back to the golden age before the Second World War. It tells the story of Charles Ryder's infatuation with the Marchmains and the rapidly-disappearing world of privilege they inhabit. Enchanted first by Sebastian at Oxford, then by his...  more »
ISBN: 8041
Publication Date: 2008
Rating:
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 1

3.5 stars, based on 1 rating
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

StephanieW avatar reviewed Brideshead Revisited on + 34 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
Another fabulous tale crafted by Evelyn Waugh. This novel is engaging, comedic, and tragic--all at the same time. While the prose flows and the vocabulary is not difficult, many adult themes occur within the novel. Waugh examines class, sexuality, and--again--the decline of "true Englishness" in England.

You'll laugh, you'll cry, and in the end, you'll be glad you picked this book up. I highly recommend it.
reviewed Brideshead Revisited on + 379 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
The peripheral characters in this novel are, to me, very sad. There is a fervent search for grace on the part of Julia's and Sebastian's mother that eventually cripples both of them. Charles is the catalyst for a deeper understanding, which comes and goes in often confusing interactions. I think the novel is reflective of Waugh's own conflict about religion.
reviewed Brideshead Revisited on + 813 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Probably his best-remembered work due to the PBS television series, it is also one of his more serious, although it has its moments of jocularity. The story, narrated by the friend of an upper-class dipsomaniac, begins and ends just before D-Day. Put another way it might be subtitled How to be a fall-down drunkard with or without money. On second thought, I dont believe that he actually falls down. It is a novel of the disintegration of a once elite family. For the narrator, Brideshead, like a bad pence, constantly returns, forcing its way onto his beaten path. Nevertheless, it remains as one of his best novels for its development of characters: both principal and supporting.
buzzby avatar reviewed Brideshead Revisited on + 6062 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
It has a rather sad quality to it, more so than the PBS Television series. It happens between the wars, not after WWII
ConeyIslandHigh avatar reviewed Brideshead Revisited on + 25 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Beautifully written story regarding a young man's fascination with a British, aristocratic family from the 1920s whose widely different regards to religion pull them apart.
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reviewed Brideshead Revisited on + 68 more book reviews
interesting study of faith and the flapper era.
reviewed Brideshead Revisited on + 94 more book reviews
Classic, hilarious novel set in British college. Made into a successful PBS miniseries.
reviewed Brideshead Revisited on + 10 more book reviews
A great book. Waugh is wonderful!
reviewed Brideshead Revisited on + 244 more book reviews
A classic.

"The story of the Marchmains, as told by Captain Charles Ryder, who revisited their home, Brideshead, in the war years. It is the story of exquisite, appealing Sebastian who drank to escape bondage to his mother; of Julia who defied church and family by her marriage; and of Ryder himself, drawn irrisistably within the vortex of this extraordinary family. It is a story of the strain that faith may put on different temperaments, of how thin its thread may be for some, and of how strong it is in the lives of others."


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