Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Sep. 1st, 2007 01:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
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 doomed Catholic family, in particular his remote sister, Julia, CHarles comes finally to recognize his spiritual and social distance from them.
Fiction about the lives of the upper classes doesn't tend to be my thing, but I did enjoy this book. Waugh effortlessly captures the atmosphere both of 1920s Oxford student life and of life in the country houses of the highest echelons of society.
Ryder is revisiting Brideshead as an officer in the Second World War - the house has been converted into army barracks and has lost much of its former glory. This springs Ryder off on a reminiscence of how he first came to visit Brideshead, starting with his friendship and love for Sebastian, the Marchmain's second son and going through his involvement with the family until finally he starts an affair with Julia, Sebastian's younger sister.
Much of the book is pre-occupied with Catholicism, i.e. what it means to be a Catholic and how the non-Catholic Charles finds this a barrier to ever truly being part of the family. Waugh really ramps this up as a theme in the last third, which details Julia and Charles's affair and whilst Waugh writes about it intelligently, it wasn't something that particularly interested me as a subject. In fact, for me the section detailing Julia and Charles's affair lacked much of the 'life' that characterised the sections where Sebastian was prominent - even those scenes showing Sebastian's descent into alcoholism and despair - I felt that the book lost a vital spark when he eventually disappeared off the page. Much is made of the homo-erotic subtext of the relationship between Sebastian and Charles. I didn't personally feel as though it was subtext so much as it's blatantly there on the page and it's part of the reason why those sections are so interesting to read.
Waugh peppers the text with other interesting characters - the stammering and blatantly homosexual Anthony Blanche is a great character, offering Charles a real insight both on the Marchmains and himself. Rex Mottram, a Canadian social climber who pursues a connection with the Marchmains is also well-drawn and is used to offer a commentary on the political and social conditions of the time.
What's interesting is also how much humour there is in the book. Waugh had a great eye for farce, from the japery of the Oxford Colleges to a wonderfully observed battle of wits between Charles and his remote father during the summer holidays, I was surprised at how much made me laugh. Much of this humour is missing from the last third of the book as Charles takes a more contemplative look on his life and again, I think this was part of the reason why I found it less interesting.
The Verdict:
Acutely observed and well written, this is a really fascinating book and definitely worth a read. I felt that the book misses something when Sebastian disappears off the page - much of the humour and pathos goes with him and we're left with the less interesting Julia and her Catholic angst that can be a little difficult to understand. In that respect, it's very much a book of its time because I'm not sure that the ruminations of what it is to be a Catholic are as important or socially significant now as they were then. Nonetheless, there is a lot of humour in this book - more so than I expected - and it's peppered with well written characters.
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 doomed Catholic family, in particular his remote sister, Julia, CHarles comes finally to recognize his spiritual and social distance from them.
Fiction about the lives of the upper classes doesn't tend to be my thing, but I did enjoy this book. Waugh effortlessly captures the atmosphere both of 1920s Oxford student life and of life in the country houses of the highest echelons of society.
Ryder is revisiting Brideshead as an officer in the Second World War - the house has been converted into army barracks and has lost much of its former glory. This springs Ryder off on a reminiscence of how he first came to visit Brideshead, starting with his friendship and love for Sebastian, the Marchmain's second son and going through his involvement with the family until finally he starts an affair with Julia, Sebastian's younger sister.
Much of the book is pre-occupied with Catholicism, i.e. what it means to be a Catholic and how the non-Catholic Charles finds this a barrier to ever truly being part of the family. Waugh really ramps this up as a theme in the last third, which details Julia and Charles's affair and whilst Waugh writes about it intelligently, it wasn't something that particularly interested me as a subject. In fact, for me the section detailing Julia and Charles's affair lacked much of the 'life' that characterised the sections where Sebastian was prominent - even those scenes showing Sebastian's descent into alcoholism and despair - I felt that the book lost a vital spark when he eventually disappeared off the page. Much is made of the homo-erotic subtext of the relationship between Sebastian and Charles. I didn't personally feel as though it was subtext so much as it's blatantly there on the page and it's part of the reason why those sections are so interesting to read.
Waugh peppers the text with other interesting characters - the stammering and blatantly homosexual Anthony Blanche is a great character, offering Charles a real insight both on the Marchmains and himself. Rex Mottram, a Canadian social climber who pursues a connection with the Marchmains is also well-drawn and is used to offer a commentary on the political and social conditions of the time.
What's interesting is also how much humour there is in the book. Waugh had a great eye for farce, from the japery of the Oxford Colleges to a wonderfully observed battle of wits between Charles and his remote father during the summer holidays, I was surprised at how much made me laugh. Much of this humour is missing from the last third of the book as Charles takes a more contemplative look on his life and again, I think this was part of the reason why I found it less interesting.
The Verdict:
Acutely observed and well written, this is a really fascinating book and definitely worth a read. I felt that the book misses something when Sebastian disappears off the page - much of the humour and pathos goes with him and we're left with the less interesting Julia and her Catholic angst that can be a little difficult to understand. In that respect, it's very much a book of its time because I'm not sure that the ruminations of what it is to be a Catholic are as important or socially significant now as they were then. Nonetheless, there is a lot of humour in this book - more so than I expected - and it's peppered with well written characters.
