It has taken some time, but I have at last finished Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Reading it after seeing the excellent ITV series was an unexpected pleasure. Often, a novel puts its adaptation in the shade, but in this case the page and the screen seem to be perfectly in synch and there is almost no difference between them - they are the same beautiful, tragic account of Charles Ryder's involvement with the Flyte family. Perhaps it needs 11 hours of TV to properly convey 330 pages.I had always been put off this book because I had heard it was just 'a story about a gay couple', but in the event this was simply not the case - to describe it that way would be to miss the point entirely, as well as overlooking the majority of the plot. It deals with the distance between people - distances of class and faith - and how life (and death) can surprise the most stubborn person as to how near or far they are from where they thought. Its elegant, if somewhat archaic, style lends a sense of immediacy to the past and I found the uncompromising ending strangely satisfying.
Certainly, it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but if you like the idea of a wonderfully sad period piece, Brideshead Revisited is well worth a read.
Love all of Evelyn Waugh's books and Brideshead is right up there. Agree many people think it is just a novel about a 'gay couple' but this is really just a sub-sub plot. Glad you enjoyed it so much! Have a crack at Vile Bodies or Scoop - waspish and sharp yet highly amusing!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Scoop - thought it was gentle and fun compared to the profound sadness of Brideshead - and I'll add Vile Bodies to my reading list.
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