My Spanish is indeed in very dangerous territory with me and Anthony Trollope's 57 novels and my i-pad with free downloads. We have been in limbo the last 2 weeks with our JAS activities finished in the South and moving to the North so I took a break and read my second Trollop novel. We are installed in our new Piso and Sunday we will begin our mission on a different scene. It would have been nice to stay with the familiar but we look forward to the new experiences here.
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This is my second Anthony
Trollop (The Warden). He has written 57
novels, so they could keep me busy for a very long time. I like his language and writing style and I
dearly love old English drama. I do have
one objection to his writing, which I will talk about later. This one was published in 1858. After reading several Novels by George Elliot
and Vilette by Charlotte Bronte, who were both writing at the same time as
Anthony Trollop, I see a common element that must have been popular at the
time. They all narrated parts of their
stories as an onlooker that seemed to know all characters and events. Trollop actually apologizes for his writing
at times:
“II quite feel that an apology is due for beginning a
novel with two long dull chapters full of description. I am perfectly aware of the danger of such a
course.”
I didn’t mind it in any of
their stories. In some ways it made the
story feel more authentic. Trollop also
likes to tell you who the hero and or heroine of the story is at the
beginning. It caused me to watch them
closely.
“Doctor Thorne” is about what
happens when English aristocracy land owners mismanage their money and get in
debt jeopardizing the inheritance of the heir.
The heir is then forced to marry
for money, not for love. This is the
thesis of the story. Then of course the
superiority of the “blood” of the aristocracy also comes into play in marriage
decisions. But there is an interesting
element to the story as money trumps blood.
“What is the inner reality, the spiritualized quintessence of that
privilege in the world which men call rank, which forces the thousands and
hundreds of thousands to bow down before the few elect? What gives, or can give it, or should give
it? (No page numbers in the quotes because they were skewed in the i-pad.)
“She said to herself, proudly, that God’s handiwork
was the inner man, the inner woman, the naked creature animated by a living
soul; that all other adjuncts were but man’s clothing for the creature; all
others, whether stitched by tailors or contrived by Kings. Was it not within her capacity to do so
nobly, to love as truly, to worship her God in heaven with as perfect a faith,
and her god on earth with as leal a
troth, as though blood had descended to her purely through scores of purely
born progenitors?”
“Sell yourself for money! Why, if I were a man I would not sell one jot
of liberty for mountains of gold, What! Tie myself in the heyday of my youth to a
person I could never love, for a price! Perjure
myself, destroy myself—and not only myself, but her also, in order that I might
live idly! Mr. Gresham! Can it be that the words of such a woman as
your aunt have sunk so deeply in your heart; have blackened you so foully as to
make you think of such vile folly as this?
Have your forgotten your soul, your spirit, your man’s energy, the
treasure of your heart? And you, so
young! For shame, Mr Gresham! For shame—for shame.”
This is a love story. The characters are endearing but their
stories are told perhaps a little too well. Trollop is known for his long novels. I read it on my i-pad and the smallest
writing is over 650 pages. I always pump
up the letter size to the largest so I don’t think about how long the book
is. Trollop set up the
ending of the story too soon for me. I
think it could have been a surprise, closer to the end, and left a little
suspense, especially since he took so long to wrap it up. I liked it.
I would read it again. It is not for
everyone. I love the detail of his
character development. I just don’t think he needs to detail every player quite
so thoroughly. His writing is lovely to
me. 4 stars. I am going to read "Castle Richmond" now, which is a story of the potato famine in Ireland.