Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder

Evelyn Waugh

Jul 2012 · Penguin UK

About this ebook

Evelyn Waugh's beloved masterpiece, with an introduction by Paula Byrne

The most nostalgic and reflective of Evelyn Waugh's novels, Brideshead Revisited looks back to the golden age before the Second World War. It tells the story of Charles Ryder's infatuation with the Marchmains and the rapidly disappearing world of privilege they inhabit. Enchanted first by Sebastian Flyte at Oxford, then by his doomed Catholic family, in particular his remote sister, Julia, Charles comes finally to recognise his spiritual and social distance from them.

'Lush and evocative ... Expresses at once the profundity of change and the indomitable endurance of the human spirit'
The Times

Ratings and reviews

An elegy for a time that never existed- aristocratic bliss in between world wars. Truth is taxes and the rise of the common man left the indolent short of cash and rather amazed at how deference was on the way out. But gosh darn it if this sentimental rubbish isn't damned good fiction. And the delightful 80's TV series with its sunset hues and melancholy. Well, forgive my socialist credibility if I just indulge and enjoy this nonsense . And Waugh was thoroughly bonkers. Dont forget it. But he wrote superbly. We can admire his talent if not his frightening views.

I first read this book in the mid eighties as part of English Lit O Level. I've loved it ever since and as my original copy is falling apart from rereading I've finally succumbed to the eBook version and once more I'm transported back in time. A beautifully written book.

One of those epic stories, everyone should read in their lifetime.

About the author

Evelyn Waugh (Author)
Evelyn Waugh was born in Hampstead in 1903 and educated at Hertford College, Oxford. In 1928 he published his first novel, Decline and Fall, which was soon followed by Vile Bodies (1930), Black Mischief (1932), A Handful of Dust (1934) and Scoop (1938). During these years he also travelled extensively and converted to Catholicism. In 1939 Waugh was commissioned in the Royal Marines and later transferred to the Royal Horse Guards, experiences which informed his Sword of Honour trilogy (1952-61). His most famous novel, Brideshead Revisited (1945), was written while on leave from the army. Waugh died in 1966.