Reviews

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

Only show reviews with written explanations

benedettal's review against another edition

2.0

Look, it’s getting 2 stars because it picked up at the end, but church stories are just not for me. Literally nothing wrong with the writing and themes (maybe a few too many characters?), the narrator has a good, funny voice and I’m sure this would have been terribly charming to a contemporary audiences. You can blame my ignorance of the anglican church (also it does sound like a joke so was never gonna with with me tbh) but I really didn’t feel invested in all the talk about sermons, positions, titles, I mean half the time I was confused about who was talking because the titles are all so similar and stupid. Obviously the little love intrigues are the much better part, and even then it was dragged far too much and I only found like I could follow it properly once the circle tightened in the last couple hundred pages.
I think if the setting wasn’t like this I would have liked it a lot more, but maybe not. It doesn’t have an edge, it’s just your typical “righteous character gets the cake” classic. Like I know not all books can be withering heights, but it would be a lot better if they were.

ula_mizhir's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

c7trange's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

perjacxis's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

3.5 stars

jameskeates's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

The second book in Trollope's Barchester series picks up where The Warden left off. Gentle, ironic comedy about little local personality clashes (and 19th Century C of E controversies) that is more enjoyable than it sounds.