'Why do we keep popping back to Brideshead?' diff viewer (1/2)

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Why do we keep popping back to Brideshead?	Why do we keep popping back to Brideshead?
2008-09-30 13:03:22 UTC	2008-10-01 11:03:08 UTC (about 22 hours later)
By Finlo Rohrer BBC News Magazine Andrews (left), Irons and Aloysius	By Finlo Rohrer BBC News Magazine Andrews (left), Irons and Aloysius
A new film version of Brideshead Revisited is about to have its premiere, but why are we so taken with a story about a troubled aristocratic family?	A new film version of Brideshead Revisited is about to have its premiere, but why are we so taken with a story about a troubled aristocratic family?
Sunny afternoons in Oxford. The clink of martini glasses on a summer evening.	Sunny afternoons in Oxford. The clink of martini glasses on a summer evening.
The gentle slosh of a punt through the water on the Isis.	The gentle slosh of a punt through the water on the Isis.
Oh and something about Roman Catholic guilt. Class tension. Adultery. Homoerotic friendships. The changes wrought by war. The power of grace. And a teddy bear named Aloysius.	Oh and something about Roman Catholic guilt. Class tension. Adultery. Homoerotic friendships. The changes wrought by war. The power of grace. And a teddy bear named Aloysius.
Brideshead Revisited is a novel that - aided by an epic television adaptation in 1981 - has been embedded in British popular culture since its post-war publication.	Brideshead Revisited is a novel that - aided by an epic television adaptation in 1981 - has been embedded in British popular culture since its post-war publication.
For those who have managed to evade the book, the television adaptation and now the film - which premieres on Monday night - this is the story of Charles Ryder, a middle-class undergraduate at Oxford who is thrust into friendship with Sebastian Flyte, a hedonistic aristocrat.	For those who have managed to evade the book, the television adaptation and now the film - which premieres on Monday night - this is the story of Charles Ryder, a middle-class undergraduate at Oxford who is thrust into friendship with Sebastian Flyte, a hedonistic aristocrat.
This friendship takes Charles into the bosom of Sebastian's Catholic family, who live mostly at the imposing Brideshead stately home.	This friendship takes Charles into the bosom of Sebastian's Catholic family, who live mostly at the imposing Brideshead stately home.
The events of the novel are being remembered by Charles - now an officer - arriving at a Brideshead long vacated by the family and now requisitioned for the war effort. INSPIRATION FOR BRIDESHEAD? Brideshead said to be based on Madresfield, moated house in Malvern HillsHome of the Lygon family and the Earls BeauchampSebastian Flyte variously said to be based on Stephen Tennant, Alistair Graham or Hugh LygonLord Marchmain loosely inspired by Earl Beauchamp, who left country in 1931 after being outed	The events of the novel are being remembered by Charles - now an officer - arriving at a Brideshead long vacated by the family and now requisitioned for the war effort. INSPIRATION FOR BRIDESHEAD? Brideshead said to be based on Madresfield, moated house in Malvern HillsHome of the Lygon family and the Earls BeauchampSebastian Flyte variously said to be based on Stephen Tennant, Alistair Graham or Hugh LygonLord Marchmain loosely inspired by Earl Beauchamp, who left country in 1931 after being outed
For author Evelyn Waugh, a Catholic convert, the central theme of the book was religion. As he put it, "the operation of divine grace on a group of diverse but closely connected characters". In an era that celebrated the Catholicism-infused novels of Graham Greene and others, there was nothing strange about such a leitmotif.	For author Evelyn Waugh, a Catholic convert, the central theme of the book was religion. As he put it, "the operation of divine grace on a group of diverse but closely connected characters". In an era that celebrated the Catholicism-infused novels of Graham Greene and others, there was nothing strange about such a leitmotif.
In today's Britain, the Catholic aspect is no doubt lost on many, and yet the grip of the story remains.	In today's Britain, the Catholic aspect is no doubt lost on many, and yet the grip of the story remains.
"There is so much in it apart from that Catholic theme," says Alexander Waugh, grandson of the author, and writer of the Waugh family biography Fathers and Sons.	"There is so much in it apart from that Catholic theme," says Alexander Waugh, grandson of the author, and writer of the Waugh family biography Fathers and Sons.
"It is a very rich book - nostalgia, of fading youth, beautiful language, a bit of sentiment. We all look back with a mixture of regret and pleasure. It is very beautiful and very warming.	"It is a very rich book - nostalgia, of fading youth, beautiful language, a bit of sentiment. We all look back with a mixture of regret and pleasure. It is very beautiful and very warming.
"People who have been to university often look back to university as the happiest times in their lives. Even though we might have been drunk or broke. We look back on those days as idyllic happiness."	"People who have been to university often look back to university as the happiest times in their lives. Even though we might have been drunk or broke. We look back on those days as idyllic happiness."
Of course, as important and popular a novel as Brideshead Revisited was, many people know it not from 300 or so pages of purple prose, but rather from the 1981 Granada television adaptation.	Of course, as important and popular a novel as Brideshead Revisited was, many people know it not from 300 or so pages of purple prose, but rather from the 1981 Granada television adaptation.
Labour of love	Labour of love
Starring Anthony Andrews as the doomed Sebastian and with Jeremy Irons as Charles, and with Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud backing up, the lavish evocation of pre-war Oxford was lapped up by television audiences.	Starring Anthony Andrews as the doomed Sebastian and with Jeremy Irons as Charles, and with Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud backing up, the lavish evocation of pre-war Oxford was lapped up by television audiences.
Producer Derek Granger spent nearly five years, from conception to broadcast, on the adaptation, including a year-and-a-half of filming. The book is infused with a kind of gluttony, for food and wine, for the splendours of the recent past, and for rhetorical and ornamental language, which now with a full stomach I find distasteful Evelyn Waugh	Producer Derek Granger spent nearly five years, from conception to broadcast, on the adaptation, including a year-and-a-half of filming. The book is infused with a kind of gluttony, for food and wine, for the splendours of the recent past, and for rhetorical and ornamental language, which now with a full stomach I find distasteful Evelyn Waugh
"It was a monumental labour of love," he says. "When we made it [the television series] we wanted to be absolutely true to the spirit of the novel. We realised it was a masterpiece and just wanted to keep faith with the meaning of the book.	"It was a monumental labour of love," he says. "When we made it [the television series] we wanted to be absolutely true to the spirit of the novel. We realised it was a masterpiece and just wanted to keep faith with the meaning of the book.
"It was quite daring to make it so slowly - it is the essence of the detail, people can feel the richness."	"It was quite daring to make it so slowly - it is the essence of the detail, people can feel the richness."
In the era before multi-channel television and the video recorder, the series was one of a handful that pinned much of the nation to its sofas.	In the era before multi-channel television and the video recorder, the series was one of a handful that pinned much of the nation to its sofas.
Granger became aware of the effect of his work when he was disturbed one night in his flat in Brighton by a commotion.	Granger became aware of the effect of his work when he was disturbed one night in his flat in Brighton by a commotion.
"There was a hullabaloo. I knocked on the door and there were kids in feather boas who said 'we're having a Brideshead party'."	"There was a hullabaloo. I knocked on the door and there were kids in feather boas who said 'we're having a Brideshead party'."
Teddy bear pilgrimage	Teddy bear pilgrimage
The series was much-loved by everyone from students to maiden aunts. And it found fans on the other side of the Atlantic.	The series was much-loved by everyone from students to maiden aunts. And it found fans on the other side of the Atlantic.
Author of a biography of Waugh, Prof Douglas Patey of Smith College, Massachusetts, talks of students taking a "pilgrimage to Castle Howard [where the 1981 series and new film were shot] to see the original teddy bear". THEMES Divine graceNostalgiaClass relationsDecline of aristocracyArchitectureChange caused by warHomoerotic friendship	Author of a biography of Waugh, Prof Douglas Patey of Smith College, Massachusetts, talks of students taking a "pilgrimage to Castle Howard [where the 1981 series and new film were shot] to see the original teddy bear". THEMES Divine graceNostalgiaClass relationsDecline of aristocracyArchitectureChange caused by warHomoerotic friendship
"I frequently teach the novel. What they like are the evocations of life at Oxford, the evocations of a glorious estate."	"I frequently teach the novel. What they like are the evocations of life at Oxford, the evocations of a glorious estate."
At its most basic level the Brideshead story has an opulence and decadence that many people relish - a dose of lush escapism for troubled times.	At its most basic level the Brideshead story has an opulence and decadence that many people relish - a dose of lush escapism for troubled times.
The novel was published in 1945, with the country still in the thick of the privations of war and rationing. When the series was aired in 1981, the country was sliding into a grim recession. Now the film version is taking its bow in 2008 as global markets crumble and the UK and the US are again facing recession.	The novel was published in 1945, with the country still in the thick of the privations of war and rationing. When the series was aired in 1981, the country was sliding into a grim recession. Now the film version is taking its bow in 2008 as global markets crumble and the UK and the US are again facing recession.
But when Waugh revised the novel in 1960 he revealed that he thought some elements had been a little overcooked in the straitened circumstance of 1944.	But when Waugh revised the novel in 1960 he revealed that he thought some elements had been a little overcooked in the straitened circumstance of 1944.
Romantic novel	Romantic novel
"It was a bleak period of present privation and threatening disaster - the period of soya beans and Basic English - and in consequence the book is infused with a kind of gluttony, for food and wine, for the splendours of the recent past, and for rhetorical and ornamental language, which now with a full stomach I find distasteful," he wrote.	"It was a bleak period of present privation and threatening disaster - the period of soya beans and Basic English - and in consequence the book is infused with a kind of gluttony, for food and wine, for the splendours of the recent past, and for rhetorical and ornamental language, which now with a full stomach I find distasteful," he wrote.
The eating and the drinking and the parties and the luxury provide an excellent counterpoint to the Catholicism at the heart of the book.Brideshead 2008, with Hayley Atwell and Emma Thompson	The eating and the drinking and the parties and the luxury provide an excellent counterpoint to the Catholicism at the heart of the book.Brideshead 2008, with Hayley Atwell and Emma Thompson
"The surface is very glamorous, it is a very romantic novel and it's about the high life and the young upper middle class man being inducted into the high aristocracy," says Granger. "Underneath it is this huge reverberating engine of this very, very powerful religious theme."	"The surface is very glamorous, it is a very romantic novel and it's about the high life and the young upper middle class man being inducted into the high aristocracy," says Granger. "Underneath it is this huge reverberating engine of this very, very powerful religious theme."
But Brideshead Revisited also taps into a common undergraduate fantasy - that somewhere out there, beyond the halls and cloisters, there is another group of students having a much better time and assailing each other with witty repartee. This is the fast set that Charles joins when he meets Sebastian.	But Brideshead Revisited also taps into a common undergraduate fantasy - that somewhere out there, beyond the halls and cloisters, there is another group of students having a much better time and assailing each other with witty repartee. This is the fast set that Charles joins when he meets Sebastian.
Much of the appeal of the story lies in its nostalgia. Charles is looking back at his days as a young man from the vantage point of his middle years. And at the same time the reader gets to look back at a different England, one that by 1945 seemed to be on its last legs.	Much of the appeal of the story lies in its nostalgia. Charles is looking back at his days as a young man from the vantage point of his middle years. And at the same time the reader gets to look back at a different England, one that by 1945 seemed to be on its last legs.
"For more sophisticated readers it's a story of how memory works," says Prof Patey. "The older you become, the more you have to reinterpret. You always have to ask which speaker is speaking."	"For more sophisticated readers it's a story of how memory works," says Prof Patey. "The older you become, the more you have to reinterpret. You always have to ask which speaker is speaking."
And if there is one thing that the release of the new film tell us, it is that some stories are resonant enough to merit regular return.	And if there is one thing that the release of the new film tell us, it is that some stories are resonant enough to merit regular return.