Scan barcode
jwells's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
This was a thought-provoking book for me. On one hand, I could hardly put it down - I think it's great. On the other hand, I want to violently reject everything resembling a message or theme I can detect in it.
The romantic nostalgia over the aristocracy would be tolerable (it's not like Waugh is the only one) if not paired with open scorn for people less privileged. Oh, does Hooper have unflattering glasses? Dentures, and an inadequate handshake? Clearly that's enough excuse to justify an entire exploitative class system. I mean, we wouldn't want things to be, god forbid, inelegant.
Is this supposed to be a pro-religion book, I wonder? I suspect we're meant to think that Julia makes the right choice at the end, for example. And be happy that at least the flame is burning in the chapel again?
It's pretty difficult, when we've already seen Christianity make her brother's life miserable. Presumably it's the reason Sebastian can't stand his family. Because he has to stay closeted. Otherwise there's a fine out and proud role model in Anthony... not that he's not persecuted, but he's also not drinking himself to death.
Apparently there are critics who favor a platonic interpretation of BR. Having not read them, I hope they just mean that they think Charles is straight. Not that Sebastian is.
Anyway, can't blame religion for everything; Charles manages to screw up his life without its help, with a choice of life partner as lukewarm as his drink order (whiskey with tepid water).Celia is like a warm up spouse, marrying the sister of the friend he didn't care about (Boy), instead of the sister of the friend he maybe cared about too much. It's almost like even marrying Julia sounded too dangerous or too close to real passion.
I sound rather cranky in this review, but I also read BR twice in January, though I'm not a big re-reader as a rule. I don't know how, but Waugh gets me invested in these people, even when they are annoying, and even when I dislike what he's using them to convey.
Still, I can hardly stop turning pages.
The romantic nostalgia over the aristocracy would be tolerable (it's not like Waugh is the only one) if not paired with open scorn for people less privileged. Oh, does Hooper have unflattering glasses? Dentures, and an inadequate handshake? Clearly that's enough excuse to justify an entire exploitative class system. I mean, we wouldn't want things to be, god forbid, inelegant.
Is this supposed to be a pro-religion book, I wonder? I suspect we're meant to think that Julia makes the right choice at the end, for example. And be happy that at least the flame is burning in the chapel again?
It's pretty difficult, when we've already seen Christianity make her brother's life miserable. Presumably it's the reason Sebastian can't stand his family.
Apparently there are critics who favor a platonic interpretation of BR. Having not read them, I hope they just mean that they think Charles is straight. Not that Sebastian is.
Anyway, can't blame religion for everything; Charles manages to screw up his life without its help, with a choice of life partner as lukewarm as his drink order (whiskey with tepid water).
I sound rather cranky in this review, but I also read BR twice in January, though I'm not a big re-reader as a rule. I don't know how, but Waugh gets me invested in these people, even when they are annoying, and even when I dislike what he's using them to convey.
Still, I can hardly stop turning pages.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
Moderate: Terminal illness, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Infidelity
autiquarian's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I felt that this was a perfectly entertaining book, well-written too, but just cannot understand why it’s labelled by critics as ‘the Oxford novel’; I fortunately did not read it expecting a campus novel, but if you are I would put it aside unless you also enjoy the novel’s other, more prevalent, themes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, and Alcohol
Moderate: War
Minor: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Homophobia
evax89's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
i actually only read this because i saw a huge poster of it in Charlie’s bedroom from the Heartstopper series and felt like i needed to read it in order to understand the character even better (weird, i know, but i love easter eggs)
this book took me about a month and a half to read and i almost gave up on it but especially the last chapter really spoke to me <3
the political topics, societal issues and of course unrequited love and the mystery around charles‘s and sebastian‘s relationship: it all really resonated with me and i know i will be thinking about this book a lot in the future!!
and also: the writing is absolutely jaw-dropping stunning
this book took me about a month and a half to read and i almost gave up on it but especially the last chapter really spoke to me <3
the political topics, societal issues and of course unrequited love and the mystery around charles‘s and sebastian‘s relationship: it all really resonated with me and i know i will be thinking about this book a lot in the future!!
and also: the writing is absolutely jaw-dropping stunning
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism
amotoquinha's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
Moderate: War
bannedfrombookclub's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
So this book sat on my shelf for such a long time, but I'd always thought it was going to be a bit of a stuffy slog so there was always other things to read. Then, while trawling reviews for one of one of my favourite books, The Secret History, someone said they'd already read this book and it was called Brideshead Revisited.
So I found it on audiobook - the one by Jeremy Irons (incredible choice) and I think that guy in the comments was right but he didn't have to be mean about it. Brideshead Revisited is like a proto-ancestor for the Dark Academia genre.
✅️ starts from a flash-forward, memory centred story telling
✅️ exclusive academic setting (at first)
✅️ misuse of substances
✅️ financially rich but emotionally poor characters
✅️ general sense of doom
✅️ gay
✅️ every single character is kind of a horrible person.
Really enjoyed the book.
So I found it on audiobook - the one by Jeremy Irons (incredible choice) and I think that guy in the comments was right but he didn't have to be mean about it. Brideshead Revisited is like a proto-ancestor for the Dark Academia genre.
✅️ starts from a flash-forward, memory centred story telling
✅️ exclusive academic setting (at first)
✅️ misuse of substances
✅️ financially rich but emotionally poor characters
✅️ general sense of doom
✅️ gay
✅️ every single character is kind of a horrible person.
Really enjoyed the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
greyofmydayoldtea's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
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
3.75
I can definitely see how this inspired The Secret History. Features barely veiled queer subtext, morally grey main characters, failed marriages, alcoholism, all that good stuff. Very interesting themes of clinging onto youth when the realities of the world and your family make you deeply suffocated.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Infidelity
rpg_gf's review against another edition
reflective
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
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Miscarriage, Racism, and Terminal illness
Minor: War
ru_th's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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
4.25
Manchmal spüre ich den Druck der Vergangenheit und der Zukunft von beiden Seiten so stark, dass für die Gegenwart kein Platz mehr ist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
chalkletters's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Like Moab is My Washpot, Brideshead Revisited seemed wonderfully romantic to me when I read it at 23, having bought it because a boy I liked was reading it. Over ten years later, I remembered the relationship between Charles and Julia, but had forgotten that they were both married to other people, and that they don’t even get a happy ending. While I’d like to think this second reading was more objective, the truth is that it’s probably just as subjective, but in a different way.
While I found all the characters in Brideshead Revisited interesting, none of them struck me as particularly true to life. The whole book has the dreamy, unreal tone of a Neverland — where the characters never grow up, or at least where Charles’ perspective of them and his worldview never really changes. He’s always looking back on history through a particular lens, and the story ends where it began, so that each scene has the same kind of feeling.
Even with very little understanding of Catholicism, I found the theological discussions interesting. Like everything else, there’s a lot that goes unspoken, and I probably missed a great deal of context which would’ve helped me understand what the characters were struggling with. On the other hand, Charles is also an outsider to the Marchmains’ religion, and to some extent their social class, so maybe feeling a distance from it all is the intended effect.
Although I didn’t love the romance, or the characters, this time around, I still appreciated the prose, and found plot interesting, if rather sad.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Death, and War
myantigone's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism