Like others I found this book a pleasure to read. Having watched the previously mentioned television adaption. I would not normally have been interested in reading the book, especially given how well done that series was and it's length (11 hours of programming according to IMDB) suggesting that little of the story was lost in translation to television. However, in this case I was curious about and had hope that some issues that the series left ambiguous might be further clarified in the book.

The first was the complete nature of the relationship between Charles Ryder and Sebastian Flyte? That is did the book go beyond implying a physical homosexual relationship and state it more explicitly? It turns out that the television series faithfully followed the book in leaving the question ambiguous. Though after reading the book, and with that essentially being able to experience the total story in detail twice, I came to realize that that question is not so important. The defining relationship for Charles was his with the entire Marchmain family, and what they represented. When that ends Charles is left alone and with little hope for the future, yet the book closes with a suggestion that the previously agnostic (if not atheist) Charles has found hope in the Catholic faith. In fact it seems that (accepting Catholicism) was the redemption of the entire Marchmain family. Given my views of religion I was once more disappointed that Lord Marchmain at the moment of his death, and out of fear at that, abandons his view of the Catholic Church in the final moments to ask for final rites. Even Sebastian finds his perhaps final place of shelter in a Catholic monastery.