A review by lizzie_purplephoenix
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

4.0

I read this around 25 years ago around age 19 or 20 (as well as watched the TV adaptation), and it's always stuck in my mind as a book/show I loved at the time.

This time around, I loved the first half, mainly because of Sebastian. It's atmospheric, and Sebastian is one of those characters that is difficult to forget.

However, the second half is much more of a drag and very depressing. I do not like any of the characters in the book (and I despise Charles), other than Sebastian and my heart breaks for him.
SpoilerI spent the whole of the second half wondering how he was and just wishing we could be back with him.
Next time I reread the book, I'll stop at the end of Part 1...

It's an odd book, really - having googled afterwards and discovered that Waugh was a convert to Catholicism, yet this book -
Spoilertill the very end, I suppose
- seems to be an argument against it, demonstrating in both subtle and unsubtle ways the toxicity of the Church and catechism and how Catholic guilt and fear can ruin people's happiness.

I need to do more research about the book, but for now I'm mainly left feeling a bit depressed and confused!