Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book is of course a classic and so it's hard to come to it completely open minded. Also I confess I read it after having first seen and loved the TV mini-series (which is infinitely better than the later film). I was surprised at first at how short the book is. But every page is full, there is not a wasted word.
It has so many themes that touch us all - status, religion, love, sexuality, nostalgia. Of course for me the developing relationship between Charles and Sebastian was of major interest, and while in the book and TV series the gay context is largely implied (and crudely and crassly exposed in the later film), one is never sure whether they did or didn't. Of course Waugh was writing at a time and of a time when homosexuality was illegal and meant social death. In my own writing I was able to be more open and honest about my protagonist's gay sexuality and loves. The love between Charles and Sebastian is clear but fails to save Sebastian from his own inner demons as Charles, who represents to him an escape from the weight of his family, their religion and expectations, becomes instead a part of that world he is trying to escape.
I recommend anyone to read this book although non-Brits may find its social setting harder to comprehend. It is not a long book. The watch the TV series. Not the film which will ruin it for you.




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