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doora's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
atri's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
emeraldgarnet's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The decline of the aristocracy, Catholicism in a nation of Anglicans, and the descent of a man into alcoholism .
One for readers who enjoy rich and evocative descriptions of setting.
One for readers who enjoy rich and evocative descriptions of setting.
deannamartin113's review against another edition
3.0
This is one of my favorite historical periods and I usually enjoy books about it. However this one, not so much. This is supposed to be a great book, but I found it to be slow, confusing and vapid. Not sure I'll give Waugh another shot.
oxnard_montalvo's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful prose. No getting around the romantic lyricism. Something to be savoured.
beltiebessie's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
margaretmechinus's review against another edition
Brideshead Revisited always shows up on the 100 best books of literature lists. I had never read it, but it kept showing up on lists of “books to read” and now that I am listening to audio books, I thought I would give it a try. 12 hours, but I had a road trip coming up, so I had a chance to really get into the story on the way there and almost finished it on the way home. The narrator is Jeremy Irons, the British actor so that was good. The plot and character development are certainly well written, although it is one of the “awful lot of nothing happening” books that some people do not like and I hate to recommend. But this morning, just before it was due back at the library, I listened to the last 20 minutes. I was so struck by the ending that now I am recommending it.
Brideshead is the home of the Marmain family- think Downton Abby. The father of the family left his wife and went to live in France with his lover. The mother was a devout catholic who had a chapel built on their property. The children were brought up by their mother to be religious but had drifted more toward their father’s way of life, pretty much indifferent to religion. The mother dies, the son loses his life to alcohol, and the daughter is left living in the mansion with her fiance. They have plans to marry, but then the father comes back to the family home because he is dying. The daughter and her fiance are there at the father’s bedside. A priest is called.
Before this, the father has run several priests out of the house, but now, near the end, he accepts the last rites from the priest and makes the sign of the cross.
This was the part about grace that really put it over the top for me-
This was the part about grace that really put it over the top for me-
“I believe that everyone in his (or her) life has the moment when he is open to Divine Grace. It’s there, of course, for the asking all the time, but human lives are so planned that usually there’s a particular time — sometimes, like Hubert, on his deathbed — when all resistance is down and Grace can come flooding in.”