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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
The most difficult of the Barchester chronicles I've read, this time I found the plot and the characters quite difficult to get into and it's taken me nearly a year to finish it (admittedly this has been an eventful year). Probably not the time to appreciate it. I appreciate the ending, however. I agree that Lily Dale is maddening for her decision, but so many novels of this period seem to take the easy route (Dickens I'm looking at you). So far, I haven't found that Trollope's women can compare to say Henry James or Hardy (although it's been a while since I read Trollope's later novels), I don't think Lily has that kind of depth, but it's a good beginning and Eames seems better written (apart from the harping on about his 'hobbledeyhoyhood' which just seems rather overused).
challenging
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Characters either intensely frustrating or bland.
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Five things about The Small House At Allington by Anthony Trollope 4/5⭐️
1. I genuinely enjoyed this. My first just all around pleasant experience with a Trollope.
2. It did feel needlessly long though. I feel like we have cut a good 250 pages and not lost much of anything.
3. I am looking forward to reading The Last Chronicle of Barset in November. I do still think, despite truly enjoying this gentle, comedic, slow narrative that once I’m done with the final book in the series I’ll be personally done exploring Trollope.
4. I’m not sure what exactly made this reading experience different. Maybe it was the autumnal weather or maybe I’m just finally accepting Trollope for who he is as a writer or maybe Allington is truly a different kind of book from the others in the series.
5. Regardless, I give this four stars very willingly - 5 if it has just been a tad shorter and tighter with the plot.
1. I genuinely enjoyed this. My first just all around pleasant experience with a Trollope.
2. It did feel needlessly long though. I feel like we have cut a good 250 pages and not lost much of anything.
3. I am looking forward to reading The Last Chronicle of Barset in November. I do still think, despite truly enjoying this gentle, comedic, slow narrative that once I’m done with the final book in the series I’ll be personally done exploring Trollope.
4. I’m not sure what exactly made this reading experience different. Maybe it was the autumnal weather or maybe I’m just finally accepting Trollope for who he is as a writer or maybe Allington is truly a different kind of book from the others in the series.
5. Regardless, I give this four stars very willingly - 5 if it has just been a tad shorter and tighter with the plot.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
this is so far my least favorite of trollope books i read.
which i guess was unavoidable and had to happen at some point but it’s still a little sad.
and it’s not that is badly done or written but just that most of this book is told from the characters i had the least interest in from all characters in the book.
and that was so frustrating because the other characters would have been so much more interesting to me and i am sure less frustrating to me.
i really didn’t like most of the males on this book for most of the story because they behaved horrible and selfish and -yes!- frustrating to no end.
i wish the book would have been showing more of the dale women, their story and journey.
it’s still well written and it’s a talent to write characters in a way that makes the reader want to rip the book apart because the characters are so stupid.
let’s hope the next one will be better.
which i guess was unavoidable and had to happen at some point but it’s still a little sad.
and it’s not that is badly done or written but just that most of this book is told from the characters i had the least interest in from all characters in the book.
and that was so frustrating because the other characters would have been so much more interesting to me and i am sure less frustrating to me.
i really didn’t like most of the males on this book for most of the story because they behaved horrible and selfish and -yes!- frustrating to no end.
i wish the book would have been showing more of the dale women, their story and journey.
it’s still well written and it’s a talent to write characters in a way that makes the reader want to rip the book apart because the characters are so stupid.
let’s hope the next one will be better.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Constancy is the word of the day in 'The Small House at Allington' (1864). There are, of course, dozens of characters and motives and several subplots, but the main thrust of the book comes from hobbledehoy Johnny Eames and his love since early childhood, Lily Dale. Unfortunately for Johnny, Lily has been offered, and accepted, a marriage proposal from man of fashion and all-around stud Adolphus Crosbie.
There is some background necessary. Lily is a Dale. The Dales of Allington are an ancient family, etc., etc. who are known for their unswerving character. The current Squire, Christopher Dale, was rejected in love and thus decided to never marry. One brother of his eloped with the daughter of a nearby Earl and the other married a respectable woman with little money. I don't need to explain to you which was the worse match.
The youngest brother's death left Mrs. Dale with her small means and two daughters, Belle and Lily. In their interest Mrs. Dale accepted the offer of living in the "small house" rent-free. The squire was pleased to give his nieces attention and presents and other favors to their advantage, but failed to extend any affection to their mother. She feels obligated to refuse his cold invitations to join them for dinner, etc. Her life is often a lonely one, but to her it is a price worth paying. His nieces, observing this, are fond enough of their uncle, but keep their own distance.
We have now on both sides of the family an obstinacy that gets in the way of their happiness. The novel begins when Adolphus Crosbie joins his friend Bernard Dale, the son of the other brother and heir to the estate, on a summer's visit to Allington. He falls in love with Lily, and thinking she will have a marriage settlement from her uncle, proposes marriage. There is no settlement. To marry on the several hundred pounds a year of his current income would mean disaster to his career and his important position at the center of other ladies' drawing rooms. Lily senses his distress and offers freely to let him go, despite her love for him, but he refuses. While he remains at Allington he goes forward with the engagement. He does cut his visit short by a week to accept an invitation from the Countess to De Courcy Castle where her so very eligible daughter Lady Alexandrina could see him.
It is obvious. From the moment Crosbie was introduced as something like the most decorative man in London the reader knows that Lily Dale and her zero pounds stands not a chance, no matter how lively and sweet she is. Trollope is sympathetic to all concerned in the matter, he explains the good intentions, the unwillingness of the characters to cause each other pain at each and every moment they cut each other deepest.
But there's Johnny Eames! He has only offered a small sentence or two to her confessing his deep feelings for her, and she acknowledges them, but she cannot tear herself from the thought of Crosbie. She had professed to love him for eternity and eternity it will be. Eames has his own problems brewing - he's been a little too free with the disgracefully free Amelia Roper, daughter of his landlady - but he has everything in him of the great man, if he could just get over the hurdles of youth without tripping. Events and most of the cast of the novel conspire to bring Johnny and Lily together, will they? won't they? Trollope's triumph here was in making me wish for the inevitable and then denying it to me. By the end of the novel as he sits eating his pork chop - how one eats is so very revealing - the reader knows.
I have cut this novel down to nothing. One subplot touched on the Grantleys and introduced Plantagenet Palliser of Trollope's other great series, the Palliser novels or the Parliamentary Chronicles. Society has chosen to believe he is having an affair with the serene Lady Griselda Dumbello (née Grantley) who married so magnificently in Framley Parsonage. This leads Palliser to wonder that if society believes it, why not give it a try?
Is constancy in love is a virtue? The Victorians had no qualms about moralizing, but occasionally, as here, the medicine goes down smoothly.
Next: The Last Chronicle of Barset (1867)
or Can You Forgive Her? (1865), if I want to leave Barchester for awhile.
There is some background necessary. Lily is a Dale. The Dales of Allington are an ancient family, etc., etc. who are known for their unswerving character. The current Squire, Christopher Dale, was rejected in love and thus decided to never marry. One brother of his eloped with the daughter of a nearby Earl and the other married a respectable woman with little money. I don't need to explain to you which was the worse match.
The youngest brother's death left Mrs. Dale with her small means and two daughters, Belle and Lily. In their interest Mrs. Dale accepted the offer of living in the "small house" rent-free. The squire was pleased to give his nieces attention and presents and other favors to their advantage, but failed to extend any affection to their mother. She feels obligated to refuse his cold invitations to join them for dinner, etc. Her life is often a lonely one, but to her it is a price worth paying. His nieces, observing this, are fond enough of their uncle, but keep their own distance.
We have now on both sides of the family an obstinacy that gets in the way of their happiness. The novel begins when Adolphus Crosbie joins his friend Bernard Dale, the son of the other brother and heir to the estate, on a summer's visit to Allington. He falls in love with Lily, and thinking she will have a marriage settlement from her uncle, proposes marriage. There is no settlement. To marry on the several hundred pounds a year of his current income would mean disaster to his career and his important position at the center of other ladies' drawing rooms. Lily senses his distress and offers freely to let him go, despite her love for him, but he refuses. While he remains at Allington he goes forward with the engagement. He does cut his visit short by a week to accept an invitation from the Countess to De Courcy Castle where her so very eligible daughter Lady Alexandrina could see him.
It is obvious. From the moment Crosbie was introduced as something like the most decorative man in London the reader knows that Lily Dale and her zero pounds stands not a chance, no matter how lively and sweet she is. Trollope is sympathetic to all concerned in the matter, he explains the good intentions, the unwillingness of the characters to cause each other pain at each and every moment they cut each other deepest.
But there's Johnny Eames! He has only offered a small sentence or two to her confessing his deep feelings for her, and she acknowledges them, but she cannot tear herself from the thought of Crosbie. She had professed to love him for eternity and eternity it will be. Eames has his own problems brewing - he's been a little too free with the disgracefully free Amelia Roper, daughter of his landlady - but he has everything in him of the great man, if he could just get over the hurdles of youth without tripping. Events and most of the cast of the novel conspire to bring Johnny and Lily together, will they? won't they? Trollope's triumph here was in making me wish for the inevitable and then denying it to me. By the end of the novel as he sits eating his pork chop - how one eats is so very revealing - the reader knows.
I have cut this novel down to nothing. One subplot touched on the Grantleys and introduced Plantagenet Palliser of Trollope's other great series, the Palliser novels or the Parliamentary Chronicles. Society has chosen to believe he is having an affair with the serene Lady Griselda Dumbello (née Grantley) who married so magnificently in Framley Parsonage. This leads Palliser to wonder that if society believes it, why not give it a try?
Is constancy in love is a virtue? The Victorians had no qualms about moralizing, but occasionally, as here, the medicine goes down smoothly.
Next: The Last Chronicle of Barset (1867)
or Can You Forgive Her? (1865), if I want to leave Barchester for awhile.
Loved it. He is the true heir to Jane Austen. (Strong words, I know!) This work begins perhaps more rapidly than Can You Forgive Her, so it's a great Trollope to start on, though see below.
Books are long but I can't wait for the next one. Like the master, his stories feature lively, smart women we take to right away and the dilemmas and disillusionment they face in the modern world. Many comic moments too.
A caution, I read this out of order, here's the series info:
The Chronicles of Barsetshire novels
The Warden (1855)
Barchester Towers (1857)
Doctor Thorne (1858)
Framley Parsonage (1861)
The Small House at Allington (1864)
The Last Chronicle of Barset (1867)
Palliser novels
Can You Forgive Her? (1864)
Phineas Finn (1869)
The Eustace Diamonds (1873)
Phineas Redux (1874)
The Prime Minister (1876)
The Duke's Children (1879)
Books are long but I can't wait for the next one. Like the master, his stories feature lively, smart women we take to right away and the dilemmas and disillusionment they face in the modern world. Many comic moments too.
A caution, I read this out of order, here's the series info:
The Chronicles of Barsetshire novels
The Warden (1855)
Barchester Towers (1857)
Doctor Thorne (1858)
Framley Parsonage (1861)
The Small House at Allington (1864)
The Last Chronicle of Barset (1867)
Palliser novels
Can You Forgive Her? (1864)
Phineas Finn (1869)
The Eustace Diamonds (1873)
Phineas Redux (1874)
The Prime Minister (1876)
The Duke's Children (1879)