What a glorious find! Especially on a day when I was a little under par with an awful headache, feeling strangely detached and shunned from all the world. I didn't have to search, Evelyn Waugh's famous book was just there waiting for me on the screen with none other than Sir John Gielgud patiently waiting to read to me the period masterpiece I had been aware of for a lifetime, but had never read nor watched. After an hour or so I drifted off to sleep dreaming that a tiny packet containing the minidisc audiobook contained only the first half of the story. Such relief when I awoke nine hours later to find my phone had merely auto-paused. Hence now I am looking forward to Sir John's wonderful voice continuing the remainder of the tale for me over dinner. And yes, I feel much better, nor so alone with a fine apetite having returned and I have this audio-book to thank for all that. Thank you. 💖
A great narration of a much loved classic book. Brideshead Revisited is a favourite of mine. It has a cast of flawed characters, but to be human is to be imperfect. The sense of melancholy and nostalgia is ever present and is what makes the novel so special.
Thanks for posting this. Impossible to tire of Gielgud's mellifluous voice. Waugh's writing is positively brilliant--beautiful, witty, and clever. Sebastian Flyte comes across here as much more intelligent than his TV portrait.
If you love John Gielgud's voice, check out a magnificent indie movie by Peter Greenaway called 'Propero's Books'. It's about the state of mind of Shakespeare inside the mind of Prospero, while he's writing The Tempest. Gielgud narrates throughout.
I have a book about the stage written and signed by John Gielgud, one of my prized possessions. A man of many talents and the nephew of the great Victorian actress Helen Terry, Gielgud was a unique character and it is such a treat that we can still enjoy that voice here on RU-vid. Thank you.
Snaggle Toothed Irons gives a slightly more tragically muted take on "all that", it is true. But remains from his first recorded word, as irresistible as he is unforgettable.
At 7:58: " ... as they had done in Newman's day." So predictable that the Catholic Waugh chose a petty catholic cardinal to personify 19th-century Oxford. Not Percy Bysshe Shelley, not Lewis Carroll, not John Ruskin, certainly not Oscar Wilde. Yet Waugh is one of my favorite writers; I especially admire his characterizations, some of which, like that of Charles Ryder's father, are unforgettable.
Blessed John Henry Newman was many things but not a "petty catholic bishop". For one thing he was never a bishop, though he was made a cardinal (at the age of 78). I'll also claim (which I'll leave unsubstantiated) that he was the greatest English speaking theologian of the 19th Century.
What an absolutely wonderful treat to come across this gem💎!!! Ahhh.... the John Gielgud style, and accent and delivery 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼 Pure Class. Thanks for uploading this😍👍🏼👏🏼👏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
If anyone saw the movie "Arthur" with Dudley Moore, you must remember his man servant/valet/butler/minder, John Gieldgud. John was the ultimate straight-man. One of my favorite John G. performances. I am so looking forward to his reading of BH Revisited. John died in 2000 (age 96).
It seems strangely twisted that one of the greatest actors/directors of the 20th century is described as a 'straight man' to Dudley Moore in ARTHUR. John Gielgud was in fact highly comedic in that very picture. However, he headlined in HAMLET in some of the most celebrated productions of that vaunted play in Britain & America. And directed Richard Burton in celebrated versions of the same. Appeared in early Hitchcock films, dozens of television & film roles over 60 years, etc. Much like Fanny Brice being referred to only as Baby Snooks...
"Take the books back to the Library!" He lent himself to comedy with the same dignity and class that he lent to everything else. This character and his role as Charles Ryder's father in Brideshead are basically exactly what my late father was like. I love Gielgud as Hobson. Wonderful.
I am trying to influence all my grandchildren to audible books .... I fear for our future without the classics or transference of the wisdom of the ages
It's worth suffering through this dreadful story of a bunch of psychotic religious fanatics so depraved they destroy everyone around them. . . for the sake of some very good writing. But seek out the outstanding TV series. This is too chopped up to be much good and though Gielgud was a very fine actor, this isn't really his metier. This was Jeremy iron's tour-de-force and he should have been reading this.
it is the only novel I have ever read by Waugh. I think it is a masterpiece. Most modern novelists are simply unable to compete with his wonderful prose and literary conjuring. After reading this book, one almost yearns to have once played a part within Charle's life. Outstanding prose that conjure up wondrous mental imagery that must only be read again and again.
@@_gormenghastaghast Sword of Honour trilogy has everything. Humour. Tragedy. Adventure. Biography. His great work His most underrated is Put out more flags His great single work Handful of Dust
Thank you for sharing this. I watched this on MasterpieceTheater with my mother when I was 14. Splendid novel and screenplay. John Gielgud reading it makes it special.
Bsr la chaîne, c'est génial de passer une superbe vidéo j'adore Sir John Gilguld mais j'ai arrêté l'anglais en terminale et ma terminale est très loin. Si vous pouviez mettre des sous-titres en français. J'ai vu qqs films avec ce grand Monsieur, c'était un très grand comédien et on parle très peu de lui. 😊❤
How do explain the deliberate cruelty and indifference this father shows towards his own son, the character played by Irons ? And how and why does Irons NOT have any of these awful traits himself ? ? sorry, I have forgotten Iron's characters name ! ! ! Oops !
Such a woeful story that depicted the pitiful and shallow lives of an effete and over privileged family riven by a brooding guilt formed by their blind attachment to a sanctimonious and overly pious faith. The only worthwhile character was the immoderately animated and exuberant Anthony Blanche who was the only one who was able to see how deplorable the Flyte family truly are.
I see the characters as symptomatic of an end-of-an-era decadence. Once WW2 ended the socialists put an end to British wealth and the privilege that sprung from it. In this context, faith was merely a balm that slowed the rot.
@@nickandrachelmajor8487 I never even watched it. You can't beat the series. There is no point creating something that is bound to be inferior. It's as stupid as doing a remake of a masterpiece like Casablanca or Citizen Kane.
No matter how many times I read this book… and now hear this wonderful rendition…. tears leak out at the ending. So moving in a bone-deep way. Thank you.
I have just re watched the series of Brideshead in the wake of losing our dear queen. It made me smile so. It is so beautiful and dignified, even when certain characters aren't being particularly dignified they still are. And hearing this read by my absolute favourite Brit actor is a truly wonderful find. I met him briefly at Pinewood Studios back in the 90's. Thanks for uploading it.
I watched Gelgud in "No Man's Land" (Pinter), he was so much more than a voice. Everything he did was extraordinary - the way he held his whisky with a finger of his free-hand touching the glass, the way he slightly skips when told to help himself to the drinks cabinet.
Yes, I realised this when Charles failed to describe how Sebastian's other guests avoided showing curiosity about him when they came to the first luncheon to which S. invited Ch.
such greatness as Gielgud will not be seen again, too bad. the kind of junk produced for the current market i guess is what is deserved by the unknowing tribes
May I suggest, listen to Jeremy Irons reading the same text. No one can compare, ear of the beholder of course but have a listen and see what you think.
Sir John Gielgud's version is the audio 'par excellence', iMHO far more lively and full of emotion than Jeremy Irons (who sounds like he is sedated with valium and can hardly move his lips on the eBook version). Is there the full, unabridged version of Gielgud? My parents used to have it on cassette, and through my entire childhood we would listen for every long motorvehicle drive... The abridged version is missing some great moments like the complete verse of Jaspar's Grand Remonstrance and other wonderful paragraphs. Does anyone have the FULL UNABRIDGED version of Gielgud's narration, please?!
You and I seem to be in the minority, Christian, as I, too, always find Jeremy Irons' complete book reading rather dull - as if he fees he is too great and grand to bother to put too much effort into it (yes, he gives the impression of feeling that he is so 'superior' to all of us that he does not need to bother to move his lips or change his tone much). I think he is much better in the TV series, however. But Gielgud here is excellent; for me, he puts Jeremy Irons (as a narrator) in the shade: he has vitality, expression, clarity of communication of the meaning, variations in tone and colour. Excellent.
