--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If Brideshead Revisited is not a great…" description: "\"If Brideshead Revisited is not a great book, it's so like a great book that many of us, at least while reading it, find it hard to tell the difference...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f99/evelyn-waugh-850_book_if-brideshead-revisited-is-not-a-great-b_625465.png" --- # If Brideshead Revisited is not a great book, it's so like… ![“If Brideshead Revisited is not a great book, it's so like a great book that many of us, at least while reading it, find it hard to tell the difference.” quote by Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f99/evelyn-waugh-850_book_if-brideshead-revisited-is-not-a-great-b_625465.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f99/evelyn-waugh-850_book_if-brideshead-revisited-is-not-a-great-b_625465.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f99/evelyn-waugh-850_book_if-brideshead-revisited-is-not-a-great-b_625465.png) > “If Brideshead Revisited is not a great book, it's so like a great book that many of us, at least while reading it, find it hard to tell the difference.” [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The book feels so similar to a classic that readers struggle to distinguish its quality. **In simple terms:** Hard to tell if it’s great. Key Takeaway Enjoy reading without over‑analyzing. Themes literature comparison perception Mood contemplative analytical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - book clubs - literary criticism - personal reading lists Key Concepts genre canon reading experience Questions to Reflect On - Do you judge books by similarity? - What makes a book “great”? A Different Perspective Subjective taste may differ. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Brideshead revisited](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brideshead-revisited/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [It is no longer possible to accept the benefits of civilization and at the same time deny the supernatural basis upon which it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/it-is-no-longer-possible-to-accept-the-benefits-of-civilization-and/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [We possess nothing certainly except the past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/we-possess-nothing-certainly-except-the-past/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > ['I don't believe you've changed at all, Charles.' 'No, I'm afraid not.' 'D'you want to change?' 'It's the only evidence of life.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/i-don-t-believe-you-ve-changed-at-all-charles-no-i-m-afraid-not-d-you/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [The languor of Youth - how unique and quintessential it is! How quickly, how irrecoverably, lost!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/the-languor-of-youth-how-unique-and-quintessential-it-is-how-quickly/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [My theme is memory, that winged host that soared about me one grey morning of war-time. We possess nothing certainly except the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/my-theme-is-memory-that-winged-host-that-soared-about-me-one-grey-2/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [The worse I am, the more I need God. I can't shut myself out from His mercy. That is what it would mean; starting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/the-worse-i-am-the-more-i-need-god-i-can-t-shut-myself-out-from-his/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [But I was in search of love in those days, and I went full of curiosity and the faint, unrecognized apprehension that here, at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/but-i-was-in-search-of-love-in-those-days-and-i-went-full-of/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [Where can we hide in fair weather, we orphans of the storm?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/where-can-we-hide-in-fair-weather-we-orphans-of-the-storm/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [The trouble with modern education is you never know how ignorant they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/the-trouble-with-modern-education-is-you-never-know-how-ignorant-they/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [O God, if there is a God, forgive him his sins, if there is such a thing as sin,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/o-god-if-there-is-a-god-forgive-him-his-sins-if-there-is-such-a-thing/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [“But the past can't be out run, or revisited. And it won't be ignored. 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