Saltburn Made Me (FINALLY) Read Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

I've had Brideshead Revisited collecting dust on my shelves for years. After watching and loving Saltburn it was finally time to read this masterpiece from Evelyn Waugh.
#BridesheadRevisited #Saltburn #booktube #Bookreview
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- Alyssa ❤
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Clips used in this video:
Brideshead 1981 - • Brideshead Revisited: ...

[@thetechteam3852]

I'm working on a sequel to Brideshead so have naturally been pouring over Waugh's novel but also the 2008 film which is not SO long ago. 😊 I think you capture so much of what BR is about - well done! Just a few corrections/points Alyssa. Firstly: most of it does takes place between the wars, the but prologue and epilogue are set around 1941, so WWII not WWI. This is really important as this is the war when UK was fighting against a Nazi invasion. Waugh finished in the novel in 1944, published in 1945. So written before end of the war. 2) Important to realise that Catholic aristocratic families are very rare. That's because with Henry VIII, noblemen were expected to swear allegiance to the Church of England. There was something of a sense of isolation for those families 3) BR has *nothing* to do with Protestant VS Catholic. Instead it's about Catholic VS Atheist, Charles' atheism 4) Sebastian's new life in Morocco- it is not about religion per se. He has been welcomed by a French religious order of Brothers (kind of like priests - like the Jesuits - but not ordained: male equivalent of nuns) who run a hospital and have their own community (kind of like a convent). Many religious orders - which run hospitals, schools, work with the poor - can offer a safe place for "hangers on" like Sebastian. In fact I think it says that he has become a favourite of the brothers. They are a very different side to religion/Catholicsm, especially with their compassion and acceptance of others 'on the edge'. Ruth :)

[@ByronBroussard]

recently watched from prada to nada with my lady friend.. based off of jane austin sense and sensibility

[@NerdyNurseReads]

I've never heard of this and it sounds AMAZING!!! Did you enjoy it?

[@user-bn9kr6nz5h]

My comments are based on a reading of the 1945 version of “Brideshead Revisited”, along with the Wikipedia entry for the book, and thumbing through a biography of Evelyn Waugh written by a friend of his, Christopher Sykes, published in 1975. This biography includes a photo of young Waugh from the 1920s sitting astride a motorcycle looking every inch the image of Sebastian Flyte. There are apparently three versions of “Brideshead Revisited”. Waugh arranged for a limited print run of his book in December 1944, mainly for his friends. Based on their comments and criticisms, he released a revised edition in May 1945, which is the version I’ve read. Sykes states that some critics objected to the “lushness and sentimentality” of Waugh’s writing, though it was precisely the idyllic descriptions of student life at Oxford in the 1920s, and other aspects of British life in the interwar years, that so appealed to a British public still coping with food rationing and other grim realities of WWII in the mid-1940s and beyond. In 1959, Waugh published a third edition of “Brideshead” incorporating some cuts, additions, and revisions to tone down some passages he considered overdone. By now, I would have expected someone to have published an annotated variorum edition of “Brideshead Revisited”, but I couldn’t find any such thing online. But as Alyssa says, there are online blogs and resources about the book available, including a “Brideshead Revisited Companion” by a David Cliffe, which explains the acronyms, military references, details of Oxford student life, and other features of British manners and society in the 1920s and ‘30s. I regret to say that I found “Brideshead Revisited” to be underwhelming. I didn’t find any of the characters to be tremendously interesting or appealing, though I liked the fact that Rex Mottram was not portrayed as a typical, nice-guy, polite Canadian (though I’m not sure if that stereotype was current in the 1930s), but instead turns out to be a bit of a cad and a bounder and an upstart Colonial. I admit that I hoped things would work out for Charles and Julia, but the way their last scene together was handled came across as abrupt and perfunctory: too much British stiff upper-lip about it. Anyone looking for a classic British romantic drama from the period should check out the 1945 David Lean film, “Brief Encounter”, a heartbreaking story beautifully told, starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard. It’s available on KZbin and gives you a good feel for the look and the sound of the era Waugh is writing about. Perhaps part of my lukewarm response to the novel was due to the after-effects of having read “As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow” not so long ago. In that story, the central characters face real deadly peril. By comparison, the Flytes’ troubles are pretty small potatoes. I’m inclined to think that you’re doing well in this life if you have a full belly, a roof over your head, and a warm place to sleep … oh, and maybe a book or two at hand. Everything else is gravy. So, I wasn’t able to generate much sympathy for financially and socially-secure fellows such as Sebastian Flyte, whose main problem in life seemed to be finding the gumption to stand up to Mummy and Daddy. Incidentally, Sebastian’s habit of carrying around a teddy bear at the age of nineteen is not necessarily an effete affectation. If you check out a book called “With Scott to the Pole: The Terra Nova Expedition 1910-1913”, about Captain Robert F. Scott’s doomed attempt to reach the South Pole in 1911-‘12, you’ll find a photo of Scott and his officers having a meeting in the ship’s wardroom during their voyage south. On the table in front of the men, you can see that someone’s teddy bear has joined the discussion. Waugh clearly intended “Brideshead Revisited” to showcase the enduring value and importance of the Roman Catholic Church in the modern world, and in particular, Great Britain. Indeed, at the end of the novel, Julia decides that her desire to marry the atheist Charles must give way to her duty to her Roman Catholic faith and Flyte family traditions. In the 19th century Whig view of history, Henry VIII’s break with Rome in the 1530s and founding of the Church of England is seen as ‘a good thing’, as it helped foster the Protestant work ethic and capitalist system. Aristocratic English Catholic families were thus perceived as being, at the least, on the wrong side of history, if not an outright internal threat to the Crown because of their suspected allegiance to Rome. Excluded from government and public life and resigned to living quietly on their country estates, they acquired a certain Lost Cause glamour over the years, which obviously appealed to Waugh. Waugh would have been pleased with a 1992 book by the Irish historian, Eamon Duffy, entitled, “The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England 1400-1580”. Duffy counters the traditional argument that, “the Reformation was a vital stage along the road to modernity, [and] the cleansing of the English psyche from priestcraft, ignorance, and superstition.” Instead, Duffy wrote that his book was intended as “an elegy for a world we had lost, a world of great beauty and power which it seemed to me the reformers-and many historians ever since-had misunderstood, traduced and destroyed.” Having been raised a Catholic myself with the old Latin Mass-the very language of the Caesars!-and taught by nuns in medieval dress that even a little kid like me had the power to save a soul from eternal damnation by performing the sacrament of baptism, I’m sympathetic to how Waugh must have felt about his faith. Perhaps at another time, in a different state of mind, I’ll reread “Brideshead Revisited” with more pleasure and engagement. Waugh certainly does a good job of creating a sense of impending doom as he puts his characters through their paces in the years leading up to WWII. On the whole, however, I found the novel a bit too tweedy and stuffy, and it was a relief to get back to the gay and lesbian subculture of London in 1890s as told by Sarah Waters in her novel, “Tipping the Velvet”, a book that likely would have been banned by the Catholic Church if it hadn’t ceased the practice in 1966.

[@NerdyNurseReads]

Sarah Waters is head and shoulders above Waugh!!!! Loved this!! Thank you for sharing.

[@Lokster71]

I've had Brideshead on my TBR for YEARS. But I'm focused on 'A Dance To The Music of Time', which is often compared to Brideshead but is a 12 book series. I might slot Brideshead in for a read anon.

[@NerdyNurseReads]

Are you going to get me to read a 12 book series now? Bc I will!

[@Lokster71]

@@NerdyNurseReads If you google it then see what you think. There's a TV series from the...90s (?) too.

[@Lokster71]

@@NerdyNurseReads en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dance_to_the_Music_of_Time

[@NerdyNurseReads]

Like a BBC miniseries??? I’m a sucker for an old school BBC period piece

[@NerdyNurseReads]

This is going to really mess up my no buy

[@user-bn9kr6nz5h]

As far as film variations on classic novels go, the first one that comes to mind is “Poor Things”, which I saw recently and which struck me as an extreme take-off on Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, but with the addition of a happy ending. I’ve also seen “Saltburn”, but I enjoyed “Poor Things” more, although I thought both films suffered from an excess of nudity. The scenes of Bella Baxter working in the Paris brothel in “Poor Things” could have been handled with more imagination and less epidermis. I just find that once a nude scene starts, you stop watching the movie and start checking out Emma Stone. I felt the same reaction to some of Barry Keoghan’s scenes in “Saltburn”. As soon as the Oliver character (Keoghan) starts going at it on (SPOILER ALERT!) Felix’s grave, the first thing I thought was, “If he’s not careful, he’s going to get a wicked UTI.” I mean, it’s a cemetery. They bury dead people in that ground he’s rutting in. Ditto with the final scene in “Saltburn”. We could have done without the Irish sausage with two eggs Breakfast Special. If Oliver wanted to show his contempt for the Catton family, he could have done it just as well wearing some grub clothes or a garish pair of beach shorts. I’ve never read “Brideshead Revisited”, but I have an old copy published in 1945 that’s still in pretty good shape. I was hoping previous readers had left some comments in the margins, but it doesn’t look as if they did. Quel dommage! Given Alyssa’s enthusiastic response to the novel, however, I look forward to reading it.

[@NerdyNurseReads]

I'm very curious about Poor Things but I want to read it before I see the movie. I don't know a lot about the story itself (which is good, I hate going into things with preconceived notions/expectations) but I know that it keeps coming up when I see things with Saltburn. I've heard a few people say they liked Poor Things more which has me intrigued 👀 As for the skin...I don't think I really noticed the naked breakfast dance as much as the 7 foot long ET tube (spoiler) that he pulls out shortly before all the dancing. That breathing tube must have been in her colon. Honestly, it was the only part of the movie where I thought "you could have done better" breathing tubes aren't that long. Also ripping it out of her and letting the vent alarm isn't a good way to off someone and get away with it. 🤦‍♀️

[@user-bn9kr6nz5h]

Well, I hope you get a chance to see “Poor Things” while it’s still playing in cinemas. There’s no substitute for seeing a movie on the big screen with a theatre sound system surrounded by fellow movie lovers. And don’t forget “The Quiet Girl”. It just opened in Japanese theatres yesterday and has been playing in Brazilian cinemas for about a month now, not to mention Germany, where it’s still being screened in select theatres after having had a general release there last November 16th. @@NerdyNurseReads

[@carriedude]

My niche is just books 😂

[@NerdyNurseReads]

Give me the books!!!

[@user-bn9kr6nz5h]

I don’t think that anyone dropping in on your channel would find your book discussion videos to be rambling. Informal and conversational? Yes. Rambling? No. The last thing viewers want is a lecture on English literature. And as far as having a niche goes, your only niche should be: “Follow your bliss.” The variety of books you discuss is one of the most attractive features of your channel. You might almost say your videos are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. 😊

[@NerdyNurseReads]

this was so sweet!!! Thank you!!!

[@user-bn9kr6nz5h]

You're more than welcome!@@NerdyNurseReads

[@FrankOdonnell-ej3hd]

think I read it in my early twenties and loved it he also wrote some less serious but very funny books just about everyone who knew him said he was a pretty unlikeable person despite being a devout catholic also he disliked americans so he's one englishman I'm glad to have never met ⚛😀

[@NerdyNurseReads]

I’ve seen a few articles mentioning how much an ass Waugh was. For some reason this doesn’t surprise me.

[@user-bn9kr6nz5h]

In other words, he was another one of Claire Dederer's Monsters. @@NerdyNurseReads