What a fantastic piece. You will be thrilled?/distraught? to hear that I saw the play in the West End with D Day Lewis as Guy Bennett *and that we went to the stage door afterwards and told him we thought he was 'awfully good' and he said 'thanks'.*
But there was also a kind of sexualisation or fetishization of class in the ether at that time - cf Tatler, and an obsession with glittering balls (dance ones) and brittle decadence. And at the very top, Brideshead Revisited, featuring both sexy upper classes and sexy near-sex between beautiful boys, and with which the whole culture seemed to be obsessed in 1981-2. My entire girls' school form was *agog* at that one, and at least two or three trailed around with their own Aloysius bears.
I love this. I am so glad you guys are reviewing all these things from my adolescence and young adulthood. It is wonderful to be given an opportunity to reconsider what I thought then, what moved me then, how I felt, and compare it to now.
For example, the first time I read The Razor's Edge, I was 19. I read it again when I was 40 something and it went from being my most favorite book to being a nostalgic memory of how romantic I had been about my life and future, and a reminder of how much I had changed and what dreams had to be dropped if I were to move forward.
I saw the movie again around that time and found I did not like it as well as I did the first time.
Another Country, though, I always found very sad. The longing and pain of being dumped into a place where children were supposed to be made into whatever the God and Country needed them to be, and damn who they really were. So barbaric, that part of Britishness. Sorry. :(
Is there a Brideshead Revisited with Jeremy Irons review anywhere in here...? I will have to go look
Great piece. I was at a school like your brother's, a minor London public school - stunning levels of abuse really sums it up! I don't know the film and I don't plan to vote for any Old Etonians, ever!
Superb read! Never seen the film and now totally inspired to do so.
What a fantastic piece. You will be thrilled?/distraught? to hear that I saw the play in the West End with D Day Lewis as Guy Bennett *and that we went to the stage door afterwards and told him we thought he was 'awfully good' and he said 'thanks'.*
My interest *was* erotic (in the peri-pubertal way of 'pashes' etc). I think this is now a recognised 'thing' in girls, with a dedicated Manga genre: https://savvytokyo.com/boys-love-the-genre-that-liberates-japanese-women-to-create-a-world-of-their-own/)
But there was also a kind of sexualisation or fetishization of class in the ether at that time - cf Tatler, and an obsession with glittering balls (dance ones) and brittle decadence. And at the very top, Brideshead Revisited, featuring both sexy upper classes and sexy near-sex between beautiful boys, and with which the whole culture seemed to be obsessed in 1981-2. My entire girls' school form was *agog* at that one, and at least two or three trailed around with their own Aloysius bears.
I cannot imagine sexing a Tory now, obviously.
I love this. I am so glad you guys are reviewing all these things from my adolescence and young adulthood. It is wonderful to be given an opportunity to reconsider what I thought then, what moved me then, how I felt, and compare it to now.
For example, the first time I read The Razor's Edge, I was 19. I read it again when I was 40 something and it went from being my most favorite book to being a nostalgic memory of how romantic I had been about my life and future, and a reminder of how much I had changed and what dreams had to be dropped if I were to move forward.
I saw the movie again around that time and found I did not like it as well as I did the first time.
Another Country, though, I always found very sad. The longing and pain of being dumped into a place where children were supposed to be made into whatever the God and Country needed them to be, and damn who they really were. So barbaric, that part of Britishness. Sorry. :(
Is there a Brideshead Revisited with Jeremy Irons review anywhere in here...? I will have to go look
Great piece. I was at a school like your brother's, a minor London public school - stunning levels of abuse really sums it up! I don't know the film and I don't plan to vote for any Old Etonians, ever!
My God, what a beautiful take. Well written post!