Brideshead Revisted (finished)
jennie fitz
Little, Brown and Company, reprinted 1973
I finished this almost two weeks ago...and have been completely
uninspired to write. This book didn't really affect me one way or
another. I had no connection with the narrator and little interest in
his story. Or rather, I was interested in the first part of the book,
but most of that interest fell away in the second part. Overall, the
"Englishness" of it irritated me, and the discussions of Catholicism
bored me.
I do not understand the British system of nobility, and I kept getting
all the names confused. Marchmain, Brideshead, Flyte...and other
title I can't remember. I can never remember the order (Duke, Earl,
Baron, whatever) and I keep forgetting that everyone can be called
"Lord". And it wasn't clear what the responsibilities of the family
were to the town and the people living on the land. I didn't
understand it, and I wasn't sure if this system was even in place in
the 1930's, and I didn't really care enough to look it up (until
now). I think also I'm a little sick of the English works in this
list. I just came off Room with a View and The Old Wives Tale before
that; although I enjoyed both those novels, I am ready to get back to
the Americans.
I did minimal research on this book, and found it was notable for the
agnosticism of the narrator and the deep roots of Catholicism in the
Marchmains. I am 33 and all set with discussions on religion. I have
been traveling on my own spiritual path for a good long time, and
organized religion is decidedly not a part my life. I just find it so
hard to connect to people who are grappling with Heaven and Hell. I
don't mean to sound like a stuck-up prick; these concepts just aren't
real to me and I'm not a big enough person to put myself where they
are.
And the writing kind of let me down. The change in tone and style
between Book 1 & Book 2 was so drastic; they felt like two different
novels. In the first part we had Sebastian, the young Lord Marchmain
who was very interesting and conflicted and flawed. We also met
Alexander, the patriarch, living a bit of a scandal in semi-exile.
And we had an inner view of Charles the narrator. But when we come
back from the "break" between the sections, suddenly Charles is in a
loveless marriage and is mildly irritated by his moderate fame. How
come we weren't a part of these events? Was his marriage ever happy?
Was it thrilling to start to be recognized for his work? this is not
a long book and I've no idea why Waugh didn't write about these events
so the reader could continue a connection with Charles. And as Book 2
progresses, Sebastian drops off the face of the earth. His struggle
with alcoholism and family expectations and religious doubts could've
made great reading. But we really never see him again. Alex does
become a big part of Book 2, but it's as an old sick man worried about
the afterlife.
that's the best I can do with this book. I'm putting it in the bottom
third of "my" list. It's one above "Loving" (also English).
Till next book.....
Jennie