April 17, 2004
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
I had never read an Evelyn Waugh book before, although I’ve heard from others that he was an exceptional Catholic writer, so I picked up Brideshead Revisted, probably his best known work. Waugh was a convert to Catholicism - so I felt a special kinship from the beginning – and intended to show how divine grace functioned through this book.
The book was thoroughly romantic, which is typically a problem for me, but I actually enjoyed it more than I initially expected. It follows the life of Charles Ryder, an agnostic at the beginning of the novel, and his relationship with the Roman Catholic Marchmain family. The setting is similar to Sense and Sensibility or one of the other Jane Austen books. But, this novel is inherently Catholic, which made it even more interesting.
To me, one of the captivating aspects presented was the pressure on the family to be perfect. These were Roman Catholics living in protestant England, so they were a serious minority and every public problem the family encountered was used to condemn Roman Catholicism. As a Catholic in a protestant family, this notion of perfection seemed very real to me and I appreciated Waugh’s presentation of it.
As we near the end of the book, each character evolves from an almost anti-religious bent to accept their faith in different ways. Waugh made this very realistic – no sudden visions, but a clear change of heart over time and an understanding of God and how he functions. I do think the novel would be more comprehensible by Catholics (some very Catholic notions of grace are key and Catholic practices are used throughout), but non-Catholics can still enjoy the book. Waugh saw this novel as a way to reach out to the protestants of his time; he felt the Roman Catholic church was the only cure for what ails the world.
In the end, I would recommend taking the time to read Brideshead Revisited. It’s not long, not difficult, and captivatingly interesting. Click here to buy it at Amazon.com.
God bless,
Jay
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