Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

this book was written in 1945 and 1st published by Penguin in 1951. It was one of the first books I read as school curriculum. The companionship of two men and the events that come to a head in their lives. It is well worth the read. Hope you enjoy it!!

Love this edition of this iconic book.

I haven’t read many works of fiction, but Brrideshead Revisited, by Evelyb Waugh was recommended on a Catholic website as a novel Catholics should read. It wasn’t said why, nor
was there a review of any kind. I knew it was an important work, so I read it. It was riveting in every way. A terrific book. But when I finished,, I couldn’t at first quite get the point of it all. It almost seemed to be a longish read with widespread futility being its sole contribution. Its hold on me commanded further reflection long after its last page.
The book is about love, faith, hope, and redemption. That sounds perhaps bleak, and may not communicate the joy and high entertainment I found in reading it. The book is crammed with delights: vignettes galore of the foibles, pleasures, travels and travails of the very rich, in the 1920s, and short but vivid glimpses of an officer’s life during WWII.
Love, I have found over the course of my life, is the most important ingredient in anyone’s life, irrespective of time, place,wealth-or lack of- or position in society. With it, one is happy, well-adjusted, and free to pursue his/her calling or purpose. Without it, one’s default disposition is misery, in one cloak or another. Pessimism, hatred, doubt, and anger are some of the garments worn under that cloak. Just as rain and dark clouds are privations of the sun, misery is a privation of the radiance and redemption of love. Without love, faith in God and in His love for us that culminated in the Sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ for our redemption is just not possible. If one has been denied the warmth and protection of love in one’s childhood, he feels himself unworthy of any love, and if offered it, he (she) is not really up to accepting it in any true, faithful, lasting and abiding way. He doubts his worthiness. He wasn’t loved as a child, so why would or should he be loved by a stranger?, goes a line of reasoning. He is always at the window, outside, peering in.
It can take a person so deprived, a lifetime of thought, reading and rigorous research to understand the nature and arcane and labyrinthine mechanics of love. The pursuit is very much the effort! It is the only path to true happiness. The message in John 3:16 is compelling, powerful, and unmistakable. It’s all encompassing and embracing. A billboard for all who are weary.
Charles Ryder and (Lord) Sebastien Flyte were supplied every material advantage in their young lives. The only thing not supplied, it seems to me, was the love and presence of a father. But the fact of that missing link is never stated per se in the book. On reading the text, one may disagree with my assay. But I’m pretty sure I’m correct. Read it and let me know what YOU think!

With a strong undercurrent of Catholicism, the book in no way tries to convert the non-believer, but it does help understand what religion gives its followers. Lady Julia seems to be an It Girl, yet she’s the book’s strongest character in the end. Charles Ryder takes the long journey from being nobody’s child to finding his place in life and history.
I recommend this book to people who have some knowledge of the period between the Wars and want to follow the progress of society as well as history.
My five star rating means: read it, liked it, read it again every few years, and come away liking it even more.