From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

Brideshead Revisited

Evelyn Waugh

Start date: April 1, 2013

Finish date: May 1, 2013

Discussion: Classics Corner

Discussion leader: Ann D

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What Members Thought

Apr 15, 2008 Cathy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: rereading

What a time, a place, and a fantasy--but what a fantasy! Waugh's painterly style conjures up a state of mind and place so vivid, so recognizable that I feel a yearning to return to the era of Brideshead. Sebastian starts out quirky and charming but the book also hints at the self-loathing and conflict that turns him into a sad, ugly drunk. All that priggishness and Catholic guilt. You keep expecting Lady Marchmain to be a monster, but she is a soft-voiced enforcer of her religious morality.

I ke ...more

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Jul 25, 2008 Kathy rated it really liked it

Shelves: jan-2025-thru-dec-2025, x-feb-08-thru-jan-09, read-non-mystery-fiction, read-twice

Brideshead Revisited is a memory book, the protagonist looking back at his life of years before, brought into stark focus by a particular place that is much changed, as is he himself. It's beautifully crafted, with whole passages that stopped me in my tracks to go back and read again. At the same time it's beautifully understated, without a wasted word or a superfluous incident.

Charles Ryder's story is poignant, and the denouement is satisfactory and, as it should be, somewhat indefinite and les ...more

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Jun 01, 2009 Kit rated it it was amazing

Shelves: salmon

I want to re-read this.... The Kermode intro cites Waugh, saying the decisions he made in revising this were to highlight the book's core, which was, according to Waugh, to write about grace. I didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did -- its moments and its whole. ...more

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