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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The first part of the book just didn't draw me in and just about the time it became a more compelling read, the narrator, Charles Ryder, became almost completely unlikable. Up until that point, in thinking back, he seemed to be less a part of the story than an observer of it (perhaps that is the point). At any rate, I find it truly difficult to enjoy a book when the narrator is not at least somewhat of a sympathetic character and Ryder was not one. However, the end of the book is intriguing and I liked it very much.
I found the first half of this deeply compelling, but it lost steam for me a bit in the last half/third. I thought it was odd that Sebastian disappeared as his and Charles' tragic love was so central to the narrative, and while it was pretty explicit that Charles fell in love with Julia because she reminded him of Sebastian (perhaps this was as far as the story could go at the time it was written) their relationship packed far less of a punch for me and felt very abrupt. Superb audiobook narration by Jeremy Irons!
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5/5
Audiobook decent sped up.
Read this since 'Saltburn' was loosely based on the novel. It was decent but heavy emphasis on the loose inspiration for 'Saltburn.' Far more religious, much less scandalous (unless you count divorce being a scandal).
Audiobook decent sped up.
Read this since 'Saltburn' was loosely based on the novel. It was decent but heavy emphasis on the loose inspiration for 'Saltburn.' Far more religious, much less scandalous (unless you count divorce being a scandal).
Narrator is convoluted and difficult to follow, novel setting is male-centric
“Something quite remote from anything the builders intended, has come out of their work, and out of the fierce little human tragedy in which I played; something none of us thought about at the time; a small red flame—a beaten-copper lamp of deplorable design relit before the beaten-copper doors of a tabernacle; the flame which the old knights saw from their tombs, which they saw put out; that flame burns again for other soldiers, far from home, farther, in heart, than Acre or Jerusalem. It could not have been lit but for the builders and the tragedians, and there I found it this morning, burning anew among the old stones.”
I do think that this was not the best book to start out with to get into Evelyn Waugh's body of work, as it is genuinely difficult to get through (as evidenced by the FIVE MONTHS it took me to read this leviathan) but I am, nonetheless, so happy that I did. I thought about DNFing time and time again but I persisted and came out the other end shocked and deeply in love.
An incredibly thought-provoking novel. I've never been particularly interested in religion (I think, ironically enough, that I'm still a little too young for all that) but the theist themes of this story resonated with me even despite that disinterest. The characters, especially the Flytes, are all fascinating and shrouded in the type of well-thought-out mystery that carefully unfolds throughout the story one-by-one and adds to the themes of the book near-perfectly. My one and only qualm is that I feel as though we didn't get enough of certain Flyte siblings, even in those PACKED 300-400 pages. The character interactions and the descriptions of their activities were really the highlights for me (especially the more blissful days in Book 1 (yes, the homosexual subtext is through the roof in those moments and, by the end of the novel it isn't even subtext anymore and I love it)).
On that note, the language used is astounding in vocabulary, sentence structure, and grammar, although, often times, will actually put readers off. The descriptiveness (especially of the architecture of buildings and rooms) will definitely make the reading experience a bit tougher but as long as the reader understands that it serves a purpose within the story, then it shouldn't be as much of a problem.
Overall, I would 100% recommend this book to anyone who wants to get into classics with heavy religious themes, anyone who wants to expand their vocabulary (you'll find a new word every two pages AT LEAST), and anyone who enjoys reading doomed relationships and then crying over them!
I've already downloaded Evelyn Waugh's other novels and look forward to delving deep into his bibliography in the upcoming months! He's certainly set high expectations with this one.
I do think that this was not the best book to start out with to get into Evelyn Waugh's body of work, as it is genuinely difficult to get through (as evidenced by the FIVE MONTHS it took me to read this leviathan) but I am, nonetheless, so happy that I did. I thought about DNFing time and time again but I persisted and came out the other end shocked and deeply in love.
An incredibly thought-provoking novel. I've never been particularly interested in religion (I think, ironically enough, that I'm still a little too young for all that) but the theist themes of this story resonated with me even despite that disinterest. The characters, especially the Flytes, are all fascinating and shrouded in the type of well-thought-out mystery that carefully unfolds throughout the story one-by-one and adds to the themes of the book near-perfectly. My one and only qualm is that I feel as though we didn't get enough of certain Flyte siblings, even in those PACKED 300-400 pages. The character interactions and the descriptions of their activities were really the highlights for me (especially the more blissful days in Book 1 (yes, the homosexual subtext is through the roof in those moments and, by the end of the novel it isn't even subtext anymore and I love it)).
On that note, the language used is astounding in vocabulary, sentence structure, and grammar, although, often times, will actually put readers off. The descriptiveness (especially of the architecture of buildings and rooms) will definitely make the reading experience a bit tougher but as long as the reader understands that it serves a purpose within the story, then it shouldn't be as much of a problem.
Overall, I would 100% recommend this book to anyone who wants to get into classics with heavy religious themes, anyone who wants to expand their vocabulary (you'll find a new word every two pages AT LEAST), and anyone who enjoys reading doomed relationships and then crying over them!
I've already downloaded Evelyn Waugh's other novels and look forward to delving deep into his bibliography in the upcoming months! He's certainly set high expectations with this one.
Some of the gayest not technically gay fiction ever put to page
Who among us hasn’t had an affair with the sister of your college bestie?
Who among us hasn’t had an affair with the sister of your college bestie?
Beautiful writing. I liked the book up until chapter 7, and then I found that I loved that particular chapter. I could not put it down. After 7 it was very good too.