Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh

[@147Matsapha]

Jeremy Irons does a magnificent reading of this treasured old book.

[@boudiccaleduckel4680]

Beautifully read! Jeremy Iron's voice was so perfect as narrator. He did a wonderful job with all of the distinct voices; which all fit their character and circumstance just perfectly. Waugh's prose are simply sublime. I had watched the 80's television series many times before actually listening to this. I just love it. Thank you.

[@grannygoes7882]

There is a newer movie out that I thought was very good. It's for rent on amazon.

[@matscykel]

@@grannygoes7882 That movie is the worst adaptation of a book in history IMHO 👎

[@grannygoes7882]

@@matscykel Could be. I liked it though.

[@BuscaLoEsencial]

​@@grannygoes7882that movie perverted every piece of the book and series. Aweful.

[@grannygoes7882]

@@BuscaLoEsencial I liked the ending, to me it showed "the spark of faith."

[@fieldsofgold775]

It doesn’t get any better than this. Pure Art. The noblest of what humanity has to offer itself.

[@teknatheou]

Book One Chp 1 - 30:00 Chp 2 - 1:10:33 Chp 3 - 1:55:02 Chp 4 - 2:30:24 Chp 5 - 3:21:22 Book Two Chp 1 - 4:50:48 Chp 2 - 5:49:03 Chp 3 - 6:34:37 Book Three Chp 1 - 7:19:55 (key opening line here, arguably announcing the theme of the entire book) Chp 2 - 8:38:08 Chp 3 - 9:02:11 Chp 4 - 9:38:21 Chp 5 - 10:11:53 Epilogue - 11:18:11

[@mikenccc1955]

Thank you for those

[@ingejustavanderhelm5208]

Thanks so much Michael.

[@benheideveld4617]

Most useful

[@abbifisher9897]

You are a saint.

[@teakettle]

Thank you❤

[@EVZYL]

That voice! My favourite actor, the perfect reader, the same Charles Ryder of the brilliant TV series. I'm listening for the second time.

[@caroleorion1273]

Absolutely love Jeremy Irons reading this brilliant book.Watched the TV series years ago and was fascinated had to buy the CDs and have since watched it over and over. A fine performance by all the actors .it will remain a true classic .Thankyou for the download.

[@lynd7081]

It’s still on tv if you live in Uk.

[@susandumont4993]

So pleased to be able to hear this recording. Thank you.

[@noloco7063]

2 20

[@TheRustyLM]

I am thrilled to have found this! Merry Christmas to me! 🎄🎁☺️✨🎅🏼

[@800beemer]

Thank you Penquin .Your books were affordable and they taught me how to read.

[@MarkSpan]

Penguin

[@clairelariviere3122]

I’m in love with this book cover. So simple with no visual hint of the symphony on its pages

[@sircosmos6359]

Whenever reading/listening to Waugh or Wodehouse, I find my self narrating (mostly in my head, but not always) my daily doings, or memories. Sometimes, I’ll do this to my youngest, a 5 year old blighter with a fondness for mischief and chocolate and dinosaurs. He will listen somewhat bemused, and if I am really lucky, try it himself.

[@mikenccc1955]

Thank you so much for this upload. I come to this with the fondest memories of having seen the 1981 TV dramatisation in my younger days and been utterly smitten by it like nothing else at the time. I was so struck by it that I went out to get the book, and discovered Waugh fully for the first time -oddly, having remembered his grumpy and far-less-talented son Auberon, when he used to write for Private Eye (a satirical magazine of long pedigree in England). Picking up the hardback, I suddenly thought - this is around 1985 I guess - "I shouldn't read this, till I know more about Waugh first - I should read his earlier stuff first.." -so went and read Vile Bodies and Scoop, very different tales, and one or two others, and then, came across his diaries. I highly recommend Evelyn Waugh's diaries to anyone interested in him, though within them, you discover a deeply difficult, powerfully opinionated and, I imagine to those who knew him, at times a thoroughly unpleasant soul. He seems to have had an unremitting snootiness of character - a readiness to look down upon those he saw as lesser mortals - and I wonder had I ever had the change to meet him, may have disliked him intensely. However, whatever his personal quirks and foibles, it is unquestionable that a startling talent for writing beautiful English prose shone through. This book, read here so stunningly well by Jeremy Irons, is for me at least, a perfect exhibition of the English language, expressing a superbly told tale, of the treasures of lost youth above all. It is beyond delightful.

[@myleshagar9722]

Waugh wrote his diary in the evenings while drunk. His letters are less caustic.

[@NikoHL]

I was transfixed by the TV adaptation too in the mid 1980s. Incredible cast performances and Exquisite locations..

[@lesleyhogg2495]

Wow. I enjoyed reading your comment. I find him intriguing but you may be right; meeting him may have been a disappointment.

[@xtillwater5283]

To all you so succinctly and wonderfully expressed, I can only add: Amen😊

[@conlaiarla]

Absolutely beautiful. Perfectly read by Mr Irons.

[@lynd7081]

Jeremy Irons is Charles Ryder, acts it’s perfectly and reads the book perfectly.

[@jeffwatkins352]

Spectacular reading! Irons’ voice precisely sets the book’s muted yet intense tone. He understands the material in its every nuance and catches its many characters, male and female, with a note-perfect range of inflections and accents, British of all stripes, Canadian, American as well as other nations. Waugh, along with Huxley, introduced me to adult reading. But, favoring his early comic works, avoided Brideshead for years thanks to its “serious” reputation. Not until the glorious BBC mini-series did I appreciate this fine novel’s great value, and Irons captures that brilliantly.

[@lynd7081]

That’s because he is a professional actor, not so many around now unfortunately.

[@jeffwatkins352]

@@lynd7081 It shows in every word he utters. He's certain the ideal choice to read Brideshead.

[@MarkusSixtenstam]

It was so for me too🎉

[@marypartridge5154]

Mr Irons was made to read this novel as he has a reserve and sadness that suits this.

[@stefanschutz5166]

Thank you from Amsterdam. A great novel, well read.

[@emilykrahn3185]

What a great voice

[@Konktus]

If I could live my life imortally...then in this book I would dwell... ❤

[@morriganwitch]

So splendid xxx

[@tmthyha]

Here, at the age of thirty-nine, I began to be old.

[@MissNoopy]

This is my bedtime story sorted 🐻 🛏 Thank you 😴

[@manusha1349]

Love this reading by Jeremy Irons ❤ it's like listening to a Mozart symphony, could listen to it over and over again!

[@killmrdarcy4367]

Wolfgang Amadeus Irons indeed, Ms. Manusha! 🙂

[@lynd7081]

I also listen to it over and over again. I love it.

[@manusha1349]

@lynd7081 huge fan of that gracious age in history ♥️ and Brideshead defines it!

[@killmrdarcy4367]

@@manusha1349 To describe the post-Edwardian age that Waugh surveys as "gracious" is to completely miss the point of the novel, while therein further becoming seduced by the gilded age that it is superficially displayed in its pages. Rather, it's a novel about the all-pervasive social engineering (in this case, mostly domestic) impact and influence that religion (in this case the 'vile' Catholicism brand*) has upon the shaping and effectively the destroying of lives, while to ignore that reality means that one is intellectually short changed. Forget about the costumes and the sumptuous settings, and this especially when Brideshead Castle is akin to a hellfire cavern in Dante's 'Inferno', while Antony Blanche gets it right when he describes Lady Marchmain as a 'monster' (sic.). ...I could say more of course, while go 'hear' the novel with fresh ears, and then meditate on the bigger themes contained within it, as well as then watching the magnificent 1981 Granada TV series; indeed this, rather than that appalling chocolate box 'rococo' which was the far more recent - and more thematically vacuous - 'movie'! * this descriptor as one who knows all to well about 'catholic shaping', while 'once a catholic, always a catholic' - as Julia Flyte realises 'in the end'! ...Mozart's music, by the way, also has its dissonances, further to the many ones that are in Brideshead Revisited - even if they're more akin to the ruptured chasms which are dug by guilt!

[@tanakeilidh384]

3rd time in

[@melanieransome3676]

Absolutely beautiful. Love the series on TV too. Just gorgeous x

[@CalLatMan]

Nice to hear a great actor like Jeremy doing such a great job.

[@MrPeterjba]

Some of the most beautiful sentences in the English language lie to be discovered in this masterpiece…

[@robertbuckley2590]

A wonderful story which so brilliantly explores the various attitudes to the Catholic religion, those who have blind faith, no matter their level of intelligence, those who have doubts and feel guilty about it, those who think it is all nonsense. I read it 30 years ago, this brilliant narration by Jeremy Irons brings it to life again.

[@tessaoshea5697]

Waugh was a convert to Catholicism. It's better to see it as rewrite of the parable of the sower and the seeds that fall on different soils. It's a tender and compassionate portrayal of how different people carry their Faith and how they deal with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

[@BuscaLoEsencial]

​@@tessaoshea5697❤

[@williammartin9450]

An absolute gem! Great upload, thanks.

[@elizabethmorris92]

So pleased I found this reading, by pleasant accident . I loved the series, I was only 21 and mesmerised by it. Fell in love with Anthony and Jeremy .I’ve read the book a few times and loved it so much. I’m taking it to bed to listen to while I relax. Thank you Jeremy x

[@charlottejameson8924]

And no ads to ruin the perfection.

[@algie-t2w]

What a treat. Thank you so much.

[@gwendavila]

Book 1 30:00 Book 2 1:10:35 Book 3 1:55:02 Book 5 3:21:22

[@hojoinhisarcher]

God this man could write!

[@dzadza7775]

Perhaps he was

[@jessisage4708]

Evelyn was a dude?

[@lynd7081]

And couldn’t this man read❤️❤️

[@HueyPPLong]

@@jessisage4708yes

[@TimMcGrath-nc4ld]

I fundamentally disagree with everything he writes but love every word he wrote

[@marshnn]

Wonderful novel read it years ago delighted to hear it again 😀

[@wcstrawberryfields8011]

What a gift to our ears.

[@charlottejameson8924]

No interruptions. 🥰

[@koenraaddm2582]

I wish my English was better to grasp the nuances. I remember watching the television adaptation as a child.

[@tooleyheadbang4239]

Greatest voice since James Mason.

[@patrickhuser4755]

Simply sublime!

[@terinn7115]

If you like this, try getting hold of the BBC presentation of Brideshead Revisited, with Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews. The production is so faithful to the book, sometimes the cast read their dialogue straight from it. It aired in 1982 and they gave it 11 episodes. Beautiful and well worth the watch.

[@rubewaddell1704]

Not to mention a magnificent sound track.

[@poundshopcicero3089]

Sorry my friend but you are mistaken I am afraid. It was ITV who aired the TV adaptation. Surprising isn't it.

[@terinn7115]

@@poundshopcicero3089 Thank you for the correction. I don't like sharing mis-information, but there I went and did. At least now, anyone coming here will find the right info. Tx again.

[@poundshopcicero3089]

@@terinn7115 thank you, glad to help.

[@lynd7081]

I think the series is still on ITVx,

[@Bersztipflag]

5:35 and foll. "I remember the dinner well. Soupe of oseille, a sole quite simply cooked in a white wine sauce, a caneton á la presse, a lemon soufflé. At the last minute, feeling that the whole ting was to simple for Rex, I added caviar aux blinis; and for wine I let him give me a bottle of 1906 Montrachet, then at its prime; and with the duck, Clos de Bèze1904".

[@celiaberdes]

“…the whole thing was too simple for Rex”

[@malcolmreese7777]

Just found this. Wonderful , I am so going to enjoy it. Jeremy Irons - what a voice. Many thanks for the upload.

[@stephenridley1153]

The TV series and even the movie were marvellous. The book is miraculous. Utterly miraculous.

[@snowysnowyriver]

Thank you for this! 🤗 Nothing against Sir John Gielgud, but Jeremy Irons reads this so much better.

[@lynd7081]

Too much left out of the Gielgud version.

[@totoro9590]

Excellent thanks 👍

[@Jasmine1991forever]

Lady Marchmain is a goddess. Her glance, words of approval, the faintest of smiles, her gentle caress plunge me into an abyss of ecstatic turmoil. She is my god, she is my curse.

[@martinmart-33]

Incredible reading, thank you!

[@chrisdocherty6496]

Took a while to find out but I this is the original 1945 edition and not the revised 1959 one that most people are used to? Was just listening and thought some things were slightly different from how I remembered reading them.

[@idealmoment]

Much appreciated!

[@shanemiller3019]

Amazing!

[@sulugunik1142]

thank you thank you THANK YOU !!!!!

[@gnuPirate]

Jeremy Irons should read most audiobooks ever. Few voices are better for most books.

[@lesleyhogg2495]

Evelyn Waugh A man I'd have loved to have met.

[@Elitist20]

But would he have loved to meet you? Or me? Or indeed anyone? 😨

[@elizabethellery3459]

Love love love

[@willyboyw.5771]

Irons Rules!!

[@heerweegewhammers9356]

PERFECT........

[@malamati007]

Is there a better voice, and better reader, in all the British world?

[@poundshopcicero3089]

Simon Vance ?

[@brysonyoung8273]

Beautifully read of course. But at already 11 some hours, certain edits very peculiar. The speech to do with Charles’ first encounter with Christianity during the Venice episode removed in its entirety - why? A side revery certainly but nevertheless essential to the story - why take it out? Other cuts less obvious. Overall, very ably done.

[@KennethAdie]

Good stuff! As good as Graham Greene and the very recent Paul Lynch (Prophet Song).

[@adpenaos]

love this book!!

[@craffte]

I cried so hard for Sebastian. Also, I hate Charles. The soft purr of Irons' voice is such a comfort. I don't know why but I'm glad to be an artist when I read this.

[@theresamitchell9256]

bookmark 2:45:02

[@gabrielledemoulin5787]

I sure wish the Catholics weren't painted as such depressing people. I think the mother is presented by Ryder as so unfeeling and destructive. Perhaps a modern novelist could write her side of the story from her centering faith.

[@celiaberdes]

I think the author is mocking a certain breed of upper class British Catholic of this period. It links a religious critique to a class critique to a minority critique in a way that was very specific to the British… and unknown elsewhere, wherever rich Catholics are unknown as a class and never a minority. There is a sly reference to Father Mowbray, the priest instructing Rex, as a Jesuit, yet another minority among priests by virtue of their traditions of education and erudition.

[@matthewannehummel4599]

You do realize that this is considered perhaps the greatest Catholic novel written in English, don't you?

[@annepountney5155]

Brilliant

[@PersonallyOptimistic]

Lovely thoughtful and nostalgic book. I even somewhat related to the religious parts but they did detract a tiny amount, 4/5 for me

[@stevendaniel8126]

Jeremy Irons - his generations' John Gielgud.....

[@ruddy19]

Scar?

[@avisriedy1559]

Beautifilly read!!!

[@kirstenmorrison1194]

Thanks!

[@davidcrooks1752]

BM 1:37:00

[@badbasset8624]

Lovely reading. Strangely enough he mispronounces the word 'Catechumen'.

[@josephjohnston6826]

I suspect the little red headed man is a version of Waugh himself. In a similar vein, Mr Samgrass is also a version of Waugh. The author was all too aware of his reputation as a parvenu and social climber.

[@alansmith9166]

Perfect novel.perfect itv series.perfictly narrative by jeremy.brilliant!

[@RoxanneLaRoja]

Bookmark 6:11:37

[@emw1994]

6:20:58 excellent reflection on modern mediocrity

[@sidviciousness7469]

I thought both 'Scoop' and 'Black Mischief' much better books. Nevertheless, we recall the maxim about opinions and so and so forth. A good read is a great FEED!

[@ruthojen]

Jeremie, ¡that Gucci movie,! why?

[@Charmagh110]

5:30:00 and 6:00:00

[@marklambrecht662]

There are complete areas where there is duplication and repetition. Poor recording.

[@br9906]

4:22:24

[@MD-mh7bp]

8:30:00

[@Charmagh110]

4:00:00

[@Charmagh110]

30:00

[@noloco7063]

5 33

[@petertwomey1472]

44:18

[@keegster7167]

1:01:00

[@keegster7167]

2:00:00 he was used to living in what he reads of history

[@keegster7167]

2:10:00

[@keegster7167]

28:28

[@keegster7167]

3:04:20

[@keegster7167]

3:33:00 he was a bit too brisk on literary manners

[@doylestownstew]

10:42

[@hanaanddad5529]

A literary masterpiece or sentimental old codswollop? I give up….

[@plainchant154]

it's both

[@vinylsolution2522]

10:15

[@Charmagh110]

4:30:0

[@valmckenna4754]

46.51

[@graciebriley]

😂🎉

[@noloco7063]

7.07

[@algie-t2w]

A fine writer but a deeply unpleasant little man.

[@PlumFairy9]

8,20,00

[@noloco7063]

1 31

[@TheSapphireLeo]

Just pretend it's Scar reading it?

[@ChrisSargent-f5j]

White Jeffrey Lee Timothy Lee Ronald

[@noloco7063]

6 19

[@noloco7063]

7 25

[@anneblumer9772]

Abkcmo

[@patriciaflynn3095]

I think this is so boring.... i usually like JI but he mumbles and that doesn't help with this already unbearable book its stupid and again boring as hell. The characters bad, talk about overrated

[@fluffyfour]

Maybe your comment says more about you than the book or its reading?

[@lynd7081]

You poor thing, you’ve suffered so much listening to this book!! Something less classical would suit you better.😀

[@lynd7081]

@@KP-gi7kp i didn’t like to say😀😀

[@Bersztipflag]

Why not go and check your hearing? That at least can be mended somewhat easily.

[@marshnn]

I don't believe anyone could say Jeremy Irons mumbles .if only everyone could mumblel like him