That is very insightful, Nanny personifying the sanctuary lamp. I think you hit the nail right on the head. Anglophilia aside (ditto), I think this demonstrates some of the appeal of BR, that repeated readings reveal further meanings.
Can you help me understand the appeal of Brideshead? I tried to watch it but found it off putting, and I haven't been able to bring myself to read the book, though it seems so beloved by many.
I think it is perfectly possible to watch the TV series first without spoiling the book. The TV series is a good introduction to character, location and theme - that will make the book more comprehensible and enjoyable.
However, as you even have problems with the TV series, it is also perfectly possible to watch the 2008 film version first - again without spoiling the TV version.
Hopefully this partial revel will work for you. You will see how the TV series has SO MUCH more than the film, and the book has SO MUCH more that the TV series.
BR is one of the few books I have read more than once. It really deserves a second reading as it is quite frankly a work of genius.
One of the unexpected themes of the book is "faith" and I was on the edge of my seat as to which way a major character would go. Who'd have thought?!
I am struggling currently with Waugh's "Decline and Fall". I am not finding it that amusing, and it lacks the genius of BR. BR is full of wry worldly observations and wit - it is at once as profound as a book can be and yet entirely frivolous.
Hi Denise - I have already read your "in depth" article and liked it very much. Like you, I have been affected viscerally by this book - it is an itch I need to scratch every so often.
There is a 3 part BBC documentary on the author, which I watched recently. It answers some questions.
The issue of whether faith is real or a sham of self-deception is a distinct theme. Waugh appears to be cynical enough to recognise any sham in himself, but his faith does appear to be genuine. This eternally puzzles me. This ambiguity continues with sexuality, and Waugh admits it was toned-down to be more ethereal and artistic. BR is one of those books which has been greatly revised. They say the real writing is in revision. Waugh in later life was ashamed by BR, and would have toned it down further. Literary types apparently look down their noses at its excesses. However, in my humble opinion, the book is a perfect mix of sensory revelation and catholic inhibition to forever delight and torment its readers in equal measure.
Another theme is whether aristocrats can ever be decent human beings. The message in the book is "no": their dealings with non-aristocrats is always on borrowed time. And yet, Waugh was an inveterate social climber.
Charles is an artist of architecture, and the architectural references show the author's great love of buildings. It is surely not a coincidence that I am restoring my own Brideshead: https://balintorecastle.blogspot.com/.
Oxford contemporaries Harold Action and John Betjeman inform the characters in Brideshead, and I have read around these individuals to establish the truth of what was boiled down to create this amazing novel. My conclusion is that the book holds a great deal of truth and more specifics than the broad sweep of the narrative would otherwise lead us to believe.
Waugh is a master of narrative devices that keep the story popping along and mask insights in the voices of characters. Anthony Blanche is a great example. Waugh also does a great job of parallel contrasting characters. Boy Mulcaster, Rex Mottram, and Mr. Samgrass all disgust the protagonist Charles Ryder in some measure by embodying flawed aspects of Charles’s own character. Last thing, Waugh is pretty amusing, though he pointedly understates his humorous passages. BR is a terrific book reread at different points in one’s life for the different meanings that become more apparent from the perspectives of different ages. Prior to reading Denis Trull’s post and these comments, I kind of always considered BR to be a “men’s book.” I’m extremely curious now about women’s views of it. Different? The same? Maybe a keener objectivity from a gender distance? Just guessing.
I reflected more at length on Brideshead here in another post if you would like to read it. These are very different thoughts than I had at twenty and yet also the same.
Let me just say at the outset that you do not need to like it to be a fine, well rounded human being. My husband never saw its appeal, but he patiently listens to me gush on about it. True love, that! = )
I think it's appeal for me is that God's grace never stops pursuing us and searching us out in all the dark places our sins and mistakes have taken us. Even when we think He can't possibly find us in the muck, there He is fishing us out! The England of Waugh's time was filled with muck and unbelief and moral decay in spades. But God found a way. He found a way with Waugh, who converted to the Catholic Church. He found a way with so many. It is also an eye opener that holiness does not always look like a holy card all neat and tidy. That sometimes it comes after we have been beaten and demolished by life - sometimes with wounds that do not heal - but are held tenderly by God's mercy and love. Waugh so GETS it, and expresses it beautifully.
I am not attracted to all of Waugh's books, but this one threw me over and changed my perspective on God's persistent love forever after.
Plus, I am an Anglophile and this book and movie are so very British!
What an interesting view of Nanny. I was always struck by the way she never seemed sad but always looking forward to the children to return. Fall is my favorite time to watch Brideshead, I think I will do that over the Thanksgiving holiday.
I, too, need to watch it at least once a year. I always think of Charles and Sebastian sitting languidly under the trees of a perfect summer day whenever I eat strawberries 😊 Happy watching - happy immersion!! And thanks for stopping by here.
That is very insightful, Nanny personifying the sanctuary lamp. I think you hit the nail right on the head. Anglophilia aside (ditto), I think this demonstrates some of the appeal of BR, that repeated readings reveal further meanings.
Can you help me understand the appeal of Brideshead? I tried to watch it but found it off putting, and I haven't been able to bring myself to read the book, though it seems so beloved by many.
I think it is perfectly possible to watch the TV series first without spoiling the book. The TV series is a good introduction to character, location and theme - that will make the book more comprehensible and enjoyable.
However, as you even have problems with the TV series, it is also perfectly possible to watch the 2008 film version first - again without spoiling the TV version.
Hopefully this partial revel will work for you. You will see how the TV series has SO MUCH more than the film, and the book has SO MUCH more that the TV series.
BR is one of the few books I have read more than once. It really deserves a second reading as it is quite frankly a work of genius.
One of the unexpected themes of the book is "faith" and I was on the edge of my seat as to which way a major character would go. Who'd have thought?!
I am struggling currently with Waugh's "Decline and Fall". I am not finding it that amusing, and it lacks the genius of BR. BR is full of wry worldly observations and wit - it is at once as profound as a book can be and yet entirely frivolous.
Hi David - thank you for these thoughts. I wrote more in depth about my love for Brideshead here if you would like to read it.
https://theinscapist.substack.com/p/to-live-more-musically
It is truly a masterpiece. Like you I have not been as attracted to Waugh’s other books, though I have tried.
Hi Denise - I have already read your "in depth" article and liked it very much. Like you, I have been affected viscerally by this book - it is an itch I need to scratch every so often.
There is a 3 part BBC documentary on the author, which I watched recently. It answers some questions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgUahGZzaNU&ab_channel=JohnSalisbury
I will persevere with the Waugh books.
The issue of whether faith is real or a sham of self-deception is a distinct theme. Waugh appears to be cynical enough to recognise any sham in himself, but his faith does appear to be genuine. This eternally puzzles me. This ambiguity continues with sexuality, and Waugh admits it was toned-down to be more ethereal and artistic. BR is one of those books which has been greatly revised. They say the real writing is in revision. Waugh in later life was ashamed by BR, and would have toned it down further. Literary types apparently look down their noses at its excesses. However, in my humble opinion, the book is a perfect mix of sensory revelation and catholic inhibition to forever delight and torment its readers in equal measure.
Another theme is whether aristocrats can ever be decent human beings. The message in the book is "no": their dealings with non-aristocrats is always on borrowed time. And yet, Waugh was an inveterate social climber.
Charles is an artist of architecture, and the architectural references show the author's great love of buildings. It is surely not a coincidence that I am restoring my own Brideshead: https://balintorecastle.blogspot.com/.
Oxford contemporaries Harold Action and John Betjeman inform the characters in Brideshead, and I have read around these individuals to establish the truth of what was boiled down to create this amazing novel. My conclusion is that the book holds a great deal of truth and more specifics than the broad sweep of the narrative would otherwise lead us to believe.
Waugh is a master of narrative devices that keep the story popping along and mask insights in the voices of characters. Anthony Blanche is a great example. Waugh also does a great job of parallel contrasting characters. Boy Mulcaster, Rex Mottram, and Mr. Samgrass all disgust the protagonist Charles Ryder in some measure by embodying flawed aspects of Charles’s own character. Last thing, Waugh is pretty amusing, though he pointedly understates his humorous passages. BR is a terrific book reread at different points in one’s life for the different meanings that become more apparent from the perspectives of different ages. Prior to reading Denis Trull’s post and these comments, I kind of always considered BR to be a “men’s book.” I’m extremely curious now about women’s views of it. Different? The same? Maybe a keener objectivity from a gender distance? Just guessing.
I reflected more at length on Brideshead here in another post if you would like to read it. These are very different thoughts than I had at twenty and yet also the same.
https://theinscapist.substack.com/p/to-live-more-musically
Let me just say at the outset that you do not need to like it to be a fine, well rounded human being. My husband never saw its appeal, but he patiently listens to me gush on about it. True love, that! = )
I think it's appeal for me is that God's grace never stops pursuing us and searching us out in all the dark places our sins and mistakes have taken us. Even when we think He can't possibly find us in the muck, there He is fishing us out! The England of Waugh's time was filled with muck and unbelief and moral decay in spades. But God found a way. He found a way with Waugh, who converted to the Catholic Church. He found a way with so many. It is also an eye opener that holiness does not always look like a holy card all neat and tidy. That sometimes it comes after we have been beaten and demolished by life - sometimes with wounds that do not heal - but are held tenderly by God's mercy and love. Waugh so GETS it, and expresses it beautifully.
I am not attracted to all of Waugh's books, but this one threw me over and changed my perspective on God's persistent love forever after.
Plus, I am an Anglophile and this book and movie are so very British!
What an interesting view of Nanny. I was always struck by the way she never seemed sad but always looking forward to the children to return. Fall is my favorite time to watch Brideshead, I think I will do that over the Thanksgiving holiday.
I, too, need to watch it at least once a year. I always think of Charles and Sebastian sitting languidly under the trees of a perfect summer day whenever I eat strawberries 😊 Happy watching - happy immersion!! And thanks for stopping by here.