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Brideshead Revisited

Audiobook
1 of 3 copies available
1 of 3 copies available
Selected by Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of the century and called "Evelyn Waugh's finest achievement" by the New York Times, Brideshead Revisited is a stunning exploration of desire, duty, and memory. Read by Jeremy Irons, star of the acclaimed 1981 television series based on the novel. The wellsprings of desire and the impediments to love come brilliantly into focus in Evelyn Waugh's masterpiece — a novel that immerses us in the glittering and seductive world of English aristocracy in the waning days of the empire. Through the story of Charles Ryder's entanglement with the Flytes, a great Catholic family, Evelyn Waugh charts the passing of the privileged world he knew in his own youth and vividly recalls the sensuous pleasures denied him by wartime austerities. At once romantic, sensuous, comic, and somber, Brideshead Revisited transcends Waugh's early satiric explorations and reveals him to be an elegiac, lyrical novelist of the utmost feeling and lucidity. "A genuine literary masterpiece." —Time "Heartbreakingly beautiful...The twentieth century's finest English novel." —Los Angeles Times
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    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 5, 2001

      In this classic tale of British life between the World Wars, Waugh parts company with the satire of his earlier works to examine affairs of the heart. Charles Ryder finds himself stationed at Brideshead, the family seat of Lord and Lady Marchmain. Exhausted by the war, he takes refuge in recalling his time spent with the heirs to the estate before the war—years spent enthralled by the beautiful but dissolute Sebastian and later in a more conventional relationship with Sebastian's sister Julia. Ryder portrays a family divided by an uncertain investment in Roman Catholicism and by their confusion over where the elite fit in the modern world. Although Waugh was considered by many to be more successful as a comic than as a wistful commentator on human relationships and faith, this novel was made famous by a 1981 BBC TV dramatization. Irons's portrayal of Ryder catapulted Irons to stardom, and in this superb reading his subtle, complete characterizations highlight Waugh's ear for the aristocratic mores of the time. Fervent Anglophiles will be thrilled by this excellent rendition of a favorite; Irons's reading saves this dinosaur from being suffocated by its own weight.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      There is no doubt that reader Jeremy Irons truly understands the book he brings to life in this recording. Irons's genteel growl reverberates between ironic and conversational, husky and refined, befitting this story. The reader sees the Marchmain family through the eyes of first-person narrator Charles Ryder and is treated to an interesting view of aristocracy and decadence in early twentieth-century England. Irons shines as both reader and actor, making subtle but valuable vocal alterations for each character. Ryder's account of the charming Marchmains is entertaining, and Irons's portrayal of Ryder is a joy to listen to. L.B.F. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 30, 2000
      In this classic tale of British life between the World Wars, Waugh parts company with the satire of his earlier works to examine affairs of the heart. Charles Ryder finds himself stationed at Brideshead, the family seat of Lord and Lady Marchmain. Exhausted by the war, he takes refuge in recalling his time spent with the heirs to the estate before the war--years spent enthralled by the beautiful but dissolute Sebastian and later in a more conventional relationship with Sebastian's sister Julia. Ryder portrays a family divided by an uncertain investment in Roman Catholicism and by their confusion over where the elite fit in the modern world. Although Waugh was considered by many to be more successful as a comic than as a wistful commentator on human relationships and faith, this novel was made famous by a 1981 BBC TV dramatization. Irons's portrayal of Ryder catapulted Irons to stardom, and in this superb reading his subtle, complete characterizations highlight Waugh's ear for the aristocratic mores of the time. Fervent Anglophiles will be thrilled by this excellent rendition of a favorite; Irons's reading saves this dinosaur from being suffocated by its own weight.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Charles Ryder's attachment to the irresistible Sebastian Flyte during their idyllic days at Oxford and his subsequent involvement in Sebastian's captivating family lead to a series of tragic encounters in Waugh's novel of moral disillusionment. Jeremy Irons is Charles Ryder to anyone who has had the privilege of seeing the PBS adaptation of this well-known work. Irons's total familiarity with the story reveals itself in a flawless portrayal of a wide range of familiar, complex characters who include the manipulative Lady Marchmain, the elusive Julia, and the wildly outrageous Anthony Blanche. The spellbinding narration convincingly conveys the novel's suffocating atmosphere and adds depth and focus to an outstanding audio production. J.A. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      Charles Ryder is fascinated by Lord Sebastian Flyte at Oxford. After spending time at the family's home, Brideshead, he develops an attachment to the whole family; years later he is engaged to marry Sebastian's sister Julia. This tidy abridgment of Evelyn Waugh's story of faith, decadence, love, and disillusionment between the wars is narrated by Jeremy Northam. His portrayal of the Marchmains is masterful--the feckless Sebastian is irresistible, the younger Cordelia is delightful, and Lady Marchmain is formidable and manipulative. We understand why Charles is spellbound by Sebastian and Julia. He also successfully creates characters across gender, class (Charles's army buddies), and country (Germans and Canadians). However, his performance of Charles is just a bit too laid-back--Charles seems a little dull, and listeners may wonder what Sebastian and Julia see in him. A.B. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

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