Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder (Penguin Essentials)
A departure from Evelyn Waugh's normally comic theater,Brideshead Revisitedconcerns the tale of Charles Ryder, a captain in the British Army in post-World War I England. Unlike Waugh's previous narrators, Ryder is an intelligent man, looking back on much of his life from his current post in Oxford. He strikes a special friendship with Lord Sebastian Flyte as the setting moves to the Brideshead estate  and a baroque castle that recalls England's prior standing in the world. Ryder falls for Flyte's sister while families, politics and religions collide. What makes the book extraordinary  is Waugh's sharp, vivid style and his use of dialect and minor characters. This is one of Waugh's finest accomplishments and a superb book.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.