Waugh on screen ...

... Waugh's comic genius has always defied the filmmakers. (Hat tip, Paul Davis.)

For my money, Brideshead is about halfway down Waugh's achievements, undeniably better than the likes of Helena and the Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold, but lacking the sprightly wit and satirical thrust of, say, Scoop or Decline and Fall.

This strikes me as a silly observation. Brideshead is obviously trying to do something quite different from Scoop or Decline and Fall. I am beginning to suspect it is one of the most misunderstood books around. I guess that's because it is about God's mercy in a fallen world, something moderns apparently find passing strange.