Reviews

Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope, John Sutherland

rosepoldark's review against another edition

4.75

I loved this, especially the second half! However, the parliamentary parts dragged a bit sometimes.

But i really loved Phineas, okay yeah is is a bit of an idiot sometimes with how he goes from one woman to another, but he does the right thing in the end. Lady Laura was really interesting, a woman who thinks she can get what she wants by marrying a high position, but in the process sacrifices her happines, but to be honest, i don't think she and Phineas would have been happy though. But i found her really interesting. Also his other two love interests in London, Violet was also interesting, she too has ambitions and though Trollope cannot be said to be a feminist in the modern sense i think he has given us the perspectives of some interesting women who are trying to live in a man's world. Lastly, Madame Goesler, great character too, and i do feel sorry for her that she does not get Phineas, even when she proposes to HIM, that was really cool, but then i am glad that Phineas did the right thing for Mary's sake. 

Great book!

karinlib's review against another edition

4.0

It took a long time for me to get into this book, and I didn't really like Mr. Finn very much. But halfway through, I found totally caught up in the story. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

amlibera's review against another edition

4.0

Once again I find myself really glad to have spent some time in Trollope's world. I'll admit that I found some of the parliamentary politics slow going. But I'm fascinated by how much true empathy there is for the female characters and how, Trollope seems to be at heart, a feminist (although a man of his era would never think to be so). Phineas Finn may be the protagonist of the novel but a strong case can be made that he is merely the object through which a set of women (Lady Laura, Violet Effingham, Mrs M-G) attempt to discover how to make a place for themselves in a world with so little active work available to them.

cemoses's review against another edition

2.0

Couldn't finish it. Too much of the material seemed similar to what he has in other books.

booksandlipsticks13's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

krobart's review against another edition

4.0

See my review here:

https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2022/08/05/review-2004-classics-club-spin-result-phineas-finn/

michael5000's review

5.0

The romances of decent, charming young Mr. Finn and his many girlfriends. Well, four. Plus, lots of business about the passage of reform legislation through Parliament, which reads like subplot but is really about the best description in fiction of how democracy works (ie. chaotically, slowly, and through multiple intersecting webs of personal and public relationships). Oh, plus a dissolute nobleman and his unrelenting father, some incidental horse dealing, and the perils of signing one's name on someone else's bills. In short, it's everything you could hope for in a nineteenth century novel, all comfortably and elegantly served up for your entertainment by the impossibly sophisticated Mr. Trollope.

sarahbringhurstfamilia's review against another edition

4.0

I am, of course, still reading this series. One of the things I love about it is that I am still looking up new words (with the touch of a button--I love my Kindle!). I highly recommend reading Trollope to anyone preparing to take the SAT or GRE.

I've also unbent my feminist ire a little. In Phineas Finn, bad husbands are given no quarter, and the woman are portrayed as well-rounded, complex characters. Trollope is still not exactly progressive, but he might not be as bad as I thought. Plus, I'm even getting interested in 19th century British politics. Who'd have thought?

laurenjpegler's review against another edition

1.0

Well, that was boring, wasn't it?

For a 700 page book, all I took away from it was Phineas Finn, an Irish man, trying to find a rich woman to marry so that he can pursue his career in the British House of Commons. I went into this book thinking it would explore nationality and nationalism, especially as the Irish weren't look upon too favourably in the Victorian period, but I got none of that. It was about Phineas horse riding, getting rejected time and time again, and stupid, insignificant quarrels.

I was constantly bored. It was too long - an editor should have definitely gone over it and got rid of all the unnecessary bits that a) didn't add anything to the story and b) were just complete and utter nonsense.

I haven't had any luck with Trollope thus far, but maybe the next one I read will be better (I doubt).

shoba's review against another edition

3.0

"But the country gets nothing done by a Tory Government."

"As to that, it's six of one and half a dozen of the other. I never knew a government yet that wanted to do anything.”

"And is the country to have no service done?"

"The country gets quite as much service as it pays for, and perhaps a little more. The clerks in the offices work for the country. And the Ministers work too, if they've got anything to manage. There is plenty of work done; but of work in Parliament, the less the better, according to my ideas. It's very little that ever is done, and that little is generally too much."




Came across this sentence.
"She is a jilt then?"
Jilt meaning a woman who unexpectedly rejects a lover.