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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
I know it's a classic and I'm happy I've read it, but there are just other books who did similar stories in a far better manner.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Going into this, I was really willing to get invested into the story and characters, and expected quite a lot from what I had heard. However, I found my attention drifting as the novel developed. I appreciate there are elements of satire in this narrative, and that Waugh evidently had a good sense of understanding about the context in which he was writing, but I didn't really get along with it very well as more and more characters were introduced, and the parts of the story I was initially compelled by were concluded in a rather dull manner. A bit of a shame, but maybe I'll try rereading it another time.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
One of the modernist novels, and it has it all: history, memory, religion, politics, identity, war, and a shaky sense of dislocation from all of it. Spatiotemporally one of the most interesting novels I've ever read, with with visiting and revisiting of Brideshead (physically and otherwise) pulling you through and around the story. Julia surely one of the most memorable and complex modernist women characters. Indeed I was struck by the unromantic yet unapologetic nature of Waugh's depiction of both gendered and sexed deviance in this novel. This also made me think really differently (or understand something newly) about this particular period in British/European history. Of course, Brideshead's descendants in Ripley and Saltburn are at the forefront of cultural imagination today. Modernism Revisited?
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
slow-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
“These memories, which are my life - for we possess nothing certainly except the past - were always with me. Like the pigeons of St Mark’s, they were everywhere”
After over a month I have finally concluded ‘Brideshead Revisited’. I think I read it at the wrong time and thats why it took me so long, it was slow-paced with a lot to digest (not ideal for assessment season) but once out of that period I finished the book quite swiftly. ‘Brideshead Revisited’ is a very nostalgic tale. I found it similar to the beautiful first half of McEwan’s ‘Atonement’ in style, with relationships I see similarities to in ‘The Secret History’ but also somewhat Austenian in its prose and feel, hence it came to be a very family read.
‘Brideshead Revisited’ focusses on how Charles Ryder becomes infatuated and intertwined in the lives of the Marchaim family, first with their alcoholic son Sebastian and later his sister Julia. He places himself in the centre of the lives of a decaying aristocratic class during the interwar years. I did very much enjoy the scenes taking place abroad in Venice, and the general setting and feel was gorgeous. Waugh’s prose is also commendable, though will note for far too long the heir of Brideshead Castle being named Brideshead or ‘Bridey’ was quite confusing.
emotional
reflective