Brideshead Revisited

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, 381 pages

As a young student at Oxford, Charles Ryder chances into a love affair with the eccentric, captivating Sebastian Flyte, younger son of Lord and Lady Marchmain.  In time, Ryder is introduced to the rest of the family, and to a world of values he had never imagined existed.

There are many arguments against Brideshead Revisited being considered Waugh's masterpiece.  Some maintain (absurdly) that the positive, albeit tragic, vision of the novel neuters the satire, and prefer his earlier works.  Others maintain that the Sword of Honor trilogy is more mature, thematically beginning where Brideshead ends.  Waugh himself declared Helena to be his best novel, but few agree with him.  Yet Brideshead has a power of attraction unique to itself which explains why, whether or not it is Waugh's best-written, it is certainly his best-loved.