Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Penguin paperbacks, 1951 (first published by Chapman & Hall, 1945)

Granada Television (ITVX), 1981

Why?

I decided on a re-read after reminiscing with a friend - and then ended up watching the entire legendary 1981 Granada Television adaptation.

Enjoyment factor

I was around 20 when I first read Brideshead, at which time it proved a magical escape into a lost age of decadence - as indeed it is for Waugh, and his protagonist Charles Ryder.

Nostalgia is a key theme in the novel and I was looking forward to getting lost in that world once again. Waugh's writing and characterisation felt as sublime as ever, but, 30 years on, I did find myself getting irritated by the characters - who are all essentially ineffectual - in a way that I never had before.

Likewise with the screen adaptation, but it has to be said that this really is phenomenal television - one of the best-produced and cast series in the history of the medium. John Gielgud's portrayal of Charles's father was particularly striking - far from being eccentric beyond consideration, he's all-seeing, and very funny.

It left me thinking ..

• How much a reading of a novel is as much about your own life stage and experience as those of the characters

• What incredible television the adaptation was for 1981

• What a coincidence it was that the Aloysius bear from the series was put up for auction whilst I was watching

• That I want Julia's wardrobe from the series, most of which could be worn or adapted for today in a vast improvement on current trends.