Brideshead Revisted

I only became serious about reading this book yesterday. Upon launching into the first few chapters, I became entirely focused on finishing the book as soon as possible. This was not for any feelings of love towards the book or the author. In fact, I was feeling quite the opposite. I needed to finish it so that I could move onto something I could find more enjoyable.

First, I spent the entire book thinking it had been written by a woman. On the contrary, it was written by a male who was named Evelyn. (Some parents can be so cruel. But that's England for you. Coincidentally, during one point in time, Evelyn Waugh was married to an Evelyn and the two went by "he-Evelyn" and "she-Evelyn". For more information on E. Waugh, I would highly recommend a quick Wikipedia read through here. It's worth taking the time for.)

Because I hated this book so much (ironically until the last 4 pages) I figured there had to be some underlying meaning to the work and some great philosophical argument that could be debated over after having read it. Alas, I am not wrong in my assumption. A quick online perusal of the book leads me to believe it is a "great work" focusing on God's grace bestowed upon sinful man. Naturally, it is classified under "the 100 best novels of all time" yadda, yadda, yadda. Waugh is praised as one of the best authors England has ever produced, etc., etc.. I differ in my opinion, but who am I to argue with the educated literary masses? It has been argued, written and decreed that Brideshead Revisted is a work of art. So let us discuss it.

It is a story told through the eyes and life of Charles Ryder who stumbles into a family's acquaintance via a school chum by the name of Sebastian Flyte. I'm not much impressed by Sebastian's character after his initial introduction to Charles, so I'll gloss over him to say he's a drunk and a lout. Nevertheless, Charles feels such great affection for his friend that he seldom tells him "no" and gives him money to pursue his drunken orgies. There are hints in the story that there was a romantic love between the two. Apparently it has been of some debate over whether or not a homosexual relationship actually existed between the two. I would say NOT although the hints are quite strong. In fact, Waugh himself apparently pursued a few such relationships in his own life and so I do not find it surprising that he would attribute such tendencies to the characters in his story.

In fact, after reading a tiny bit about Waugh, I would say that the character of Charles Ryder is based pretty heavily on Waugh's own life. Both of them seemed to have a small seed of faith at one time or another, yet both rejected it. Neither seemed particularly keen on Catholicism, which is the Religion of Interest throughout the book. Both Evelyn himself and Charles were artists. Both had unsuccessful marriages that ended in divorce due to their own infidelity. Both remarried. Waugh seems to be more successful at his second marriage than Charles was in love in this fictional work. If one is encouraged to write about what they know, then I think this book is eye-opening into the life of Waugh himself. It is not a life I'd envy.

The story weaves through the period of about 20 years of the Flyte family life. The only committed Catholic/christian in the bunch was the mother, who had been long since abandoned by the father (who chose to live out the remainder of his life with his mistress). When she died I felt relief (for her). I wouldn't have wanted to live to watch my children live the lives they choose either. In fact, at several points I hoped that some of the characters would die off to spare us all some grief. However, I suppose that would have defeated the point of the work if the point is actually to demonstrate God's grace extended.

Without providing a spoiler to the story, for those of you who haven't read it, I think a strong case CAN be made to say that this book is about God's grace bestowed. Truly, Waugh gives us the worst of all character qualities wrapped up into one family to extend the grace to. He certainly has a way of making you feel drug down into the depths of despair over his character's lives. Yet in the end, as I said, in the last 4 pages (give or take) wrongs are righted. Not in an entirely satisfying way, but enough so that you don't feel like you wasted a day of your life trying to work through the book. I think Waugh had enough of an interesting life to make his character's lives "real" to the masses. There is a sin which all of us can identify with, at least in some form or fashion (though I would hope not as severely as his characters). But if fiction can grant grace, this book would remind a Christian that God forgives the worst of sinners and offers salvation to the lowly. He gives grace to the humble. If this is the truth Waugh was trying to communicate, he does so very clearly and cleverly. He just makes sure you've waited a long time and that your hope is pretty deferred by the time you get there.

This is NOT a book I enjoyed reading. I would not say it's a pleasure book. It is definitely a book that took a lot of work and effort on my part to get through. Would I recommend it? Not for a good time, that's for sure. Although I'm sure there are some that would enjoy it for its "intellectual pursuits" I'd rather my fiction be more cheery. But that's me!