Questions About Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Brideshead Revisited, please sign up.

Answered Questions (12)

Hi...I've read in reviews about some GR members recommending specific editions of "Brideshead Revisited"...I definitely want to read this, but does it matter which edition I read?

Cynthia I recommend the Audible version, read by Jeremy Irons. Superb.

flag

Is this appropriate for an advanced high-schooler?

Cheryl Floyd Yes. Encourage him or her that it may start off slow or seem confusing with the setting jumping back and forth in time. But the climax and the end are…moreYes. Encourage him or her that it may start off slow or seem confusing with the setting jumping back and forth in time. But the climax and the end are worth it! This book is worthy of great discussions about what it is to be human and to be religious versus having faith. (less)

flag

This question contains spoilers... (view spoiler)

Spock's Cat I tripped over this very same passage myself! I'm not sure but perhaps the two things aren't quite linked in the way it at first appears. Rather, perh…moreI tripped over this very same passage myself! I'm not sure but perhaps the two things aren't quite linked in the way it at first appears. Rather, perhaps the sequence of events is like this:

"It was the week I detected my wife in adultery ... [during that same week but after I had detected her in adultery] I heard her say, 'whenever I see anything lovely ...' ... it was the sort of thing she had the habit of saying. Throughout our married life ... I had felt my bowels shrivel within me at the things she said. But that day [having realised earlier in the week that she had been unfaithful] I heard her unmoved ..."

Thus, it's not what she says that alerted him to her infidelity but rather that now he knew she was unfaithful, such asinine comments no longer embarrassed/hurt him - he was done with her. The "brief, sly lapse of hers" wasn't the comment but her affair.(less)

flag

Reading this, I did not enjoy spending so much time in such an empty, self-centered, apathetic world. I absolutely get what he was trying to do, there--I just didn't need to be led through that emptiness for so long ("been there, done that"). For those of you who are Waugh fans, can you recommend any of his other work that might be in a DIFFERENT vein? Or are they all essentially like this in tone and viewpoint?

Mads Brideshead Revisited is definitely one of Waugh's more somber novels. For a different feeling entirely, I highly recommend _Decline and Fall_! It's wi…moreBrideshead Revisited is definitely one of Waugh's more somber novels. For a different feeling entirely, I highly recommend _Decline and Fall_! It's witty, jovial, and ridiculous.(less)

flag

This question contains spoilers... (view spoiler)

Bill Kupersmith Yes, they certainly did, beginning aboard ship during the storm.

flag

Load 5 more questions

Unanswered Questions

About Goodreads Q&A

Ask and answer questions about books!

You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.

See Featured Authors Answering Questions

Learn more