Brideshead Revisited is still widely read as a picture of Britain between the First and Second World Wars and the decline of the aristocracy. Much of its appeal comes from Charles Ryder observations of institutional life including Oxford, the country house, the art world, the military, family life, and the Catholic Church. Charles longs for a life full of passion and beauty. This longing draws readers in and gradually leads Ryder toward religious belief, though it seems to come at the cost of the very desires that first drew him to Brideshead House and the Flyte family.

This discussion on the novel, will be with Dr Bonnie Lander Johnson, Director of Studies in English at the University of Cambridge.

To aide the conversation, three 'thinking points' have been prepared for consideration when reading the book:

1. Charles Ryder deeply wants love. His sense of longing and nostalgia draws him to the Flyte family and shapes his life as an artist. Do these feelings help him understand the world, or do they hold him back?
2. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, many British writers and artists converted to Catholicism, including Evelyn Waugh. Brideshead Revisited follows Charles’s gradual movement toward faith and suggests that divine grace is at work in several characters. At the same time, it playfully explores the difference between religious (sacred) and non-religious (profane) ideas of happiness. When the book was first published, Charles’s conversion and Lord Marchmain’s return to Catholicism were widely debated. What is the novel asking us to think about these different ideas of happiness?
3. The novel’s ironic style can be hard to define, but it appears throughout; in the way characters speak, in the plot, and in moments that feel both serious and slightly absurd. This irony helps Waugh show a world that is both attractive and flawed. Many characters behave selfishly but are still compelling. How does Waugh make them so engaging while also showing their weaknesses?

About The Really Popular Book Club

The Really Popular Book Club is Cambridge University Libraries' book group. Everyone is welcome to come and discuss a really popular book with the group, library staff, and an expert on the novel. Hosted on Zoom, the book club is completely free and open to everyone, people attend from all over the world. The Really Popular Book Club celebrates the huge range of books at Cambridge University Library. We have more than 8 million books and as a legal deposit library we keep a copy of every book published in the UK, and have done since 1710.

If you haven't attended one of our book club events before, you can find more information at www.lib.cam.ac.uk/bookclub.