Brideshead Revisited

[Monica4316]

I’m wondering about this book… was the author a faithful Catholic? and how what was the reaction of the Church to this book? has anyone here read it, and what did you think?

thanks

 

[McCall1981]

I recently read this book because I saw that it was a “Catholic classic” of sorts so I was curious. The author, Evelyn Waugh (who despite his name was a man) was a Catholic, and I’ve seen this book mentioned as a defense of Catholicism against modern society.

So I read it and I must have just not gotten it or something. Honestly, I found it very boring (and I read lots of classic literature, including long “slow” novels like Tolstoy and love them). I also found very little Catholicism in it. Nothing against the faith, it just seemd to barely touch on the subject at all. But I know lots of people love this book, so maybe I’ll have to give it another chance again later

 

[Ophelia23]

I read this book while working on my Master’s in Catholic Studies. I loved it. I found the story to be incredibly captivating and upsetting all at the same time. I wouldn’t necessarily call it “Catholic Literature”, as it is not written necessarily from a Catholic perspective, nor is it intended for apologetics or as a reference for doctrine or theology. But what you do find from time to time throughout the novel is a Catholic experience that is familiar to all of us: Not Catholicism in front of the Sacrament, or Catholicism with incense and chant, but Catholicism pervading into daily thought and attitude. It is subtle, but it is very present.

The book really isn’t for everybody, though. Some find it to be incredibly slow and boring. I also found it to be slow at times, but as an overall, I liked it. It’s a very nostalgic piece.

 

[Kindness]

I read this book and enjoyed it, but Waugh does seem to be in love with an aristocratic way of life that is passing by. The unusual aspect is that they are a Catholic aristocratic family - very unusual in England even now. Although some of the families that were able to keep the faith through 230 + years of severe persecution were the aristocrats as they had the resources (such as land) to stay independent of the state.

 

[AnnArbor]

I recently read this book because I saw that it was a “Catholic classic” of sorts so I was curious. The author, Evelyn Waugh (who despite his name was a man) was a Catholic, …

Although, as a man, his name was pronounced Eve-Lynne.

 

[CJECulver]

I’ve read it twice. On the first reading like you, I found it rather tedious. I reread it some years later as part of a literature circle I was participating in (I begged them to choose another book). Being able to discuss it as we progressed helped me gain a better appreciation for other points of view such as Ophelia’s here. It tends to be “Catholic” in the way that Lord of the Rings is Catholic. Not overtly, but there is a quiet Catholic mythos infused throughout, and in understanding that one might better understand the novel.

Mind you, I still think it’s tedious (and I think calling it “Catholic literature” is a bit much), but I can’t begrudge others’ their more positive views .

The author, Evelyn Waugh (who despite his name was a man)

But his first wife, also named Evelyn, wasn’t.

While for Americans it tends to be exclusively female, particularly in British regions it’s commonly unisex. There’s Evelyn Baring, 1st Early of Cromer, and his son Evelyn; Evelyn Ernest Owen, developer of the Owen submachine gun; British financier Evelyn Robert de Rothschild who was named after his uncle, and so forth.

Speaking of unisex names, I’ve always thought the American trend of using Madison as a female name was a bit odd – considering it means “son of Matthew”.

 

[trapper1]

I’ve read it twice. On the first reading like you, I found it rather tedious. I reread it some years later as part of a literature circle I was participating in (I begged them to choose another book). Being able to discuss it as we progressed helped me gain a better appreciation for other points of view such as Ophelia’s here. It tends to be “Catholic” in the way that Lord of the Rings is Catholic. Not overtly, but there is a quiet Catholic mythos infused throughout, and in understanding that one might better understand the novel.

Mind you, I still think it’s tedious (and I think calling it “Catholic literature” is a bit much), but I can’t begrudge others’ their more positive views .

But his first wife, also named Evelyn, wasn’t.

While for Americans it tends to be exclusively female, particularly in British regions it’s commonly unisex. There’s Evelyn Baring, 1st Early of Cromer, and his son Evelyn; Evelyn Ernest Owen, developer of the Owen submachine gun; British financier Evelyn Robert de Rothschild who was named after his uncle, and so forth.

Speaking of unisex names, I’ve always thought the American trend of using Madison as a female name was a bit odd – considering it means “son of Matthew”.

The parents of the man that she-Evelyn left he-Evelyn for very nearly named their son Evelyn. That would have been a farce fit for one of Waugh’s novels.

Back to the original question, Waugh, after his conversion, became the most traditional of catholics (to the point of being made horribly miserable by vatican II and the 1965 mass). Brideshead was considered catholic propaganda by much of the british literay public when it was first published. It can be a bit subtle at times, but it really comes out at the deathbed conversion (which was from a real event that Waugh witnessed) and the aftermath.

 

[Anselma]

This is actually my favorite book and I wouldn’t hesitate to call it ‘Catholic’. I’ve read a lot of commentary on Brideshead and it’s unfortunate that so many people seem to ‘miss’ it.

Here are some resources to help anyone looking to understand this awesome, but complex, piece of literature.

Evangelizing Through Beauty: A Commentary by Fr. Barron
Evelyn Waugh
How to Read Brideshead Revisited
Commentary by George Weigel

The commentary by George Weigel really is indispensable. The theory that the novel is about the characters moving up the ladder of love really changed my thinking. Also, to fully understand Waugh I found it helpful to understand Chesterton’s immense role as inspiration.

“I caught him with an unseen hook and an invisible line which is long enough to let him wander to the ends of the world and still to bring him back with a twitch upon the thread.” - G. K. Chesterton, The Innocence of Father Brown

To understand and internalize ‘a twitch upon the thread’ is to understand this novel. Thankfully, I was in the process of having my reversion when I read Brideshead so a lot of it spoke to me fairly directly as it was mirroring many emotions and experiences I was having at the time.

I hope the resources help!

 

[Baelor]

I am going to start it. Waugh disdained it later in life, for whatever that is worth.

I have a feeling that I will find it boring, self-important, and intellectually sterile. We shall see – I will return to this thread upon my conclusion of the novel.

 

[Arizona_Mike]

I second Anselma’s comment on how much Weigel’s commentary will add to one’s appreciation of this work. It’s one of my favorites. There have been two film adaptations, the first a miniseries with Jeremy Irons that originally ran on Masterpiece Theater in the U.S. which I think is excellent. It’s definitely an adult film, not that it is licentious, but in that it deals realistically with the faults of the characters. The protagonist’s same-sex attraction is rather more obvious in the miniseries. All the performers are excellent. A second adaptation was terrible, anti-Catholic, and completely changed the whole perspective of the novel. Avoid it. I think the original miniseries is available on streaming Netflix if you have that.

None of the characters in the novel are plaster saints - they suffer from a variety of inclinations to sin, significantly lust, greed, and pride. The temptations of modernism and the secular world on the faith of the Catholic family (as witnessed by the protagonist, an outsider to the Faith) eventually cause its collapse from within - the desire for sexual fulfillment, for social connection, for marriage outside the faith are seen as imperatives that eventually overwhelm and destroy the family- a result that is portrayed as quietly tragic. Yet, the quiet pull of the Catholic Faith, which even the protagonist begins to feel, leads to three final resolutions, one a painful decision by one of the daughters, one a deathbed scene that left me a little moist-eyed in both the book and the miniseries adaptation, the third in the final scene where what is implied in the book becomes explicit in the film and is no less affecting.

Both the film and the book can be quite funny in parts, too, with the humor arising from character more than situation, and taking a very arch view of the class system in England. At times it seems like a much more adult version of Jeeves and Wooster.

It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s well worth reading. I actually read the book after watching the miniseries, and while that’s not often recommended, it worked for me. Those who enjoyed “Downton Abbey” and are suffering from withdrawal while waiting for the next season will probably enjoy this as well.