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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2.75 ⭐️ I’ll be honest, this book was a struggle. I really enjoyed the first third, Charles’ recollections of his initial meetings with Sebastian and visiting Brideshead are really quite beautiful and have a lovely youthful naïveté about them. Unfortunately this does not continue. The middle third is very much preoccupied with Sebastian’s decline, which was thoroughly depressing and sad to read, and the final third Charles is such a bitter unpleasant fellow that I really struggled to empathise with him, and just kept shouting “make better decisions” or “god he’s insufferable” at the book.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Nearly at the and of the book and only just felt compelled to write something about it.
Its writing style is alright. The plot isn’t very gripping but I do like the settings and period it’s written in, very much painting the classic, roaring 20s aesthetic of the British aristocracy.
I’m struggling to understand the point of the book, the plot isn’t leading in a specific direction. It reads more like a memoir than a love story or political commentary.
The effects of a devout family, both good and bad, are brought home in the poignant and sad ending of this book. Religion brings people together but can drive people apart.
In this book, Charles Ryder, a middle-aged military man tells his story with the Flytes, first with Sebastian, then with his family and later Sebastian's sister Julia.
First of all this book is delightful, it offers a lot to it's reader. The attention to detail is mesmerizing. You get a little bit of everything, the satire is ever present, the criticism about the English society, with all the social climbers (Ryder being included), the old families and their habits is funny at times, sad at others and ever so accurate.
When Charles and Sebastian meet, after Sebastian threw up on Charles' room, they become inseparable and it's Sebastian's desire to keep his best friend separate from his family for he knows that once they meet, Charles will be deeply involved with them. First of all it is quite clear the pair is in love, there is no great effort to hide it throughout the book, which is remarkable considering when this piece was written. Later on Charles even falls in love with Julia Flyte, Sebastian's sister, and mentions several times how much she looks like her brother.
Later, when Sebastian and Charles grow apart, because of Sebastian's drinking problems, Charles continues to almost be a part of the family, this interaction is very interesting, since Charles is agnostic and the Flyte family, especially Brideshead, Lady Marchmain and Cornelia, are deeply catholic. This, ironically is one of the motives that bring Charles and Sebastian Flyte together for Sebastian tries to get away from the ways of his family as much as possible, but it is also the motive behind Julia's breakup with Ryder. The religious discussion between Charles and the Flyte family is delightful to watch, these discussion happen throughout the course of the book, coming to it's conclusion when they discuss if Julia's father should see a priest and receive his last sacraments before he dies (he has been agnostic all his life), culminating in Julia's conclusion that she can't stay with Charles because of the religious aspect.
Overall a very interesting book that makes you keep reading because you want to know more and more about it's characters because they are so well developed and so interesting and, some of them, are so lovable. The social critique and description is near perfect as well as the religious content.
First of all this book is delightful, it offers a lot to it's reader. The attention to detail is mesmerizing. You get a little bit of everything, the satire is ever present, the criticism about the English society, with all the social climbers (Ryder being included), the old families and their habits is funny at times, sad at others and ever so accurate.
When Charles and Sebastian meet, after Sebastian threw up on Charles' room, they become inseparable and it's Sebastian's desire to keep his best friend separate from his family for he knows that once they meet, Charles will be deeply involved with them. First of all it is quite clear the pair is in love, there is no great effort to hide it throughout the book, which is remarkable considering when this piece was written. Later on Charles even falls in love with Julia Flyte, Sebastian's sister, and mentions several times how much she looks like her brother.
Later, when Sebastian and Charles grow apart, because of Sebastian's drinking problems, Charles continues to almost be a part of the family, this interaction is very interesting, since Charles is agnostic and the Flyte family, especially Brideshead, Lady Marchmain and Cornelia, are deeply catholic. This, ironically is one of the motives that bring Charles and Sebastian Flyte together for Sebastian tries to get away from the ways of his family as much as possible, but it is also the motive behind Julia's breakup with Ryder. The religious discussion between Charles and the Flyte family is delightful to watch, these discussion happen throughout the course of the book, coming to it's conclusion when they discuss if Julia's father should see a priest and receive his last sacraments before he dies (he has been agnostic all his life), culminating in Julia's conclusion that she can't stay with Charles because of the religious aspect.
Overall a very interesting book that makes you keep reading because you want to know more and more about it's characters because they are so well developed and so interesting and, some of them, are so lovable. The social critique and description is near perfect as well as the religious content.
I really thought this was going to be a 4ish star read for the first half, but it got very boring in the second half. Sebastian is the most interesting character, but he is hardly present in the latter end of the novel. Also, the more I read, the more I couldn't help but think that "Brideshead" is basically the poor (British) man's "Great Gatsby" through a Catholic lens. I can easily imagine this is the kind of novel that gets assigned in college English classes for analysis.
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Beautiful writingstyle