For God sakes, Frank must marry money!!!! Trollope reiterates this necessity over and over again in this third novel in Barchester Chronicles series. For God sakes, Frank must marry money!!!! Trollope reiterates this necessity over and over again in this third novel in Barchester Chronicles series. This is series of six novels that keep getting longer and longer with each book. At the end of Doctor Thorne and we are left exactly in the middle of this great series which is reputed to be one of Trollope’s finest work.
This volume in the series steers away from much of the church politics and intrigue that are involved in the first two books, The Warden and Barchester Towers. This book is probably more similar to Jane Austen’s work concerning marriages, inheritance, and paranoia concerning scandals within the upper tiers of Victorian era aristocracies.
Trollope writes well here as always but the story itself, in my opinion, is not so memorable. The story moves away from Barchester and focuses on the wealthiest family in Greshambury. The son Frank, pitted between pursing women of wealth or his true love, an orphan who is penniless is subject of much controversy throughout the village. This type of subject is very characteristic of 19th century Victorian novels. This book offers nothing particular noteworthy to the genre but it is an interesting read containing all of Trollope’s beloved prose. Doctor Thorne is a good effort by Trollope standards but not his best. ...more
Poor Warden. What did he do to deserve to be treated so cruelly? An innocent man, accused of misallocating funds from the inheritance of the hospital Poor Warden. What did he do to deserve to be treated so cruelly? An innocent man, accused of misallocating funds from the inheritance of the hospital that he administrates, faces litigation from his future son in law. The Warden’s story is such a tragedy. So much so that many Trollope readers consider this to be the worst story in the Barchester Chronicles series. Well, I do agree that this story suffers from simplicity. Fortunately it was written by Anthony Trollope so what it loses in substance it makes up for in style and clever narration. Next up is Barchester Towers which is supposedly a vastly superior continuation of this famous Victorian era series. ...more
Maybe these "Novels of Ideas" just aren't my thing. Thomas Mann writes well here. Sometimes too well leaving me at times having to re-read a passage jMaybe these "Novels of Ideas" just aren't my thing. Thomas Mann writes well here. Sometimes too well leaving me at times having to re-read a passage just to understand the gist of his idea. The plot is rather thin. A young man visits his cousin in a Swiss sanitarium. There is a lot of descriptive detail about surrounding and character appearances. I only read the first 300 pages and stopped because the story just wasn't enjoyable for me. There are too many other books to hold my attention. I doubt the last 400 pages will present any significant improvements in my reading experience. I wanted to like this book but I have failed. My two star rating stands alone in a sea of 5 star ratings here on Goodreads. Maybe you will like this book more than I did. Good luck....more
The Mysterious Affair at Styles was a fun quick read. This book is Agatha Christie’s first published novel and the first to feature the famous BelgianThe Mysterious Affair at Styles was a fun quick read. This book is Agatha Christie’s first published novel and the first to feature the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Beloved by many for being a completely pompous prig, this character launched Christie’s career and ultimately resulted in her books being the most widely read in history selling millions of copies. This author, perhaps being outsold only by Shakespeare or the Bible, has to have been doing something right.
In this debut novel, we cover some familiar territory. A rich old woman, living in an English Mansion, has been murdered. We have a body, a murder weapon, some strange clues, and a well experienced detective that already has it all figured out. So sit back on that cozy couch, sip some hot coffee, and read The Mysterious Affair at Styles. What more could you love? ...more