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thespiritoftheage's review against another edition
3.0
The epitome of the Eighteenth-century English Novel.
cnyreader's review against another edition
3.0
This is a retelling of the story of Job, in essence. All kinds of bad stuff happens to you, even when you're a good person, but if you just accept it, you'll have your reward. A bit simplistic and the ending was very fairy-tale-ish, but overall, not a bad book.
Food: toast. Sometimes a little dry and nothing exciting, standard fare that you know what you're getting.
Food: toast. Sometimes a little dry and nothing exciting, standard fare that you know what you're getting.
lileuw's review against another edition
2.0
DNF- I sort of expected this to not be sensational or something thrilling, but I did not expect it to be T H I S boring.
dreesreads's review against another edition
1.0
What a struggle. I did not enjoy this at all, and even though it is under 200 pages it took me 2 full weeks to read.
The vicar is not a nice man (he dumps out his daughters' beauty concoctions, and finds it funny; he mocks the other prisoners as bad men--yet he is a prisoner too). The notes in my edition were great, and point out the many instances in the book where Goldsmith has reused key phrases from his past essays, etc. So he reused his own nonfiction writing, and cobbled it together with a really sappy story.
Blech.
The vicar is not a nice man (he dumps out his daughters' beauty concoctions, and finds it funny; he mocks the other prisoners as bad men--yet he is a prisoner too). The notes in my edition were great, and point out the many instances in the book where Goldsmith has reused key phrases from his past essays, etc. So he reused his own nonfiction writing, and cobbled it together with a really sappy story.
Blech.
kcourts's review against another edition
3.0
An opinionated man of the cloth tries to keep his family and flock on the path to virtue, but is repeatedly beset by trials and tribulations. There are a good number of homilies and philosophical meanderings thrown in amongst an unbelievable number of entertaining misfortunes.
nadyne's review against another edition
3.0
First sentence: "I was ever of opinion, that the honest man who married and brought up a large family, did more service than he who continued single and only talked of population."
P. 99: "But nothing could now exceed my confusion upon seeing the gentleman and his lady enter; nor was there surprise at finding such company and good cheer less than ours."
Last sentence: "It now only remained that my gratitude in good fortune should exceed my former submission in adversity."
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
Summary (Wikipedia):
Dr Primrose, his wife Deborah and their six children live an idyllic life in a country parish. The vicar is wealthy due to investing an inheritance he received from a deceased relative, and the vicar donates the £34 that his job pays annually to local orphans and war veterans. On the evening of his son George's wedding to wealthy Arabella Wilmot, the vicar loses all his money through the bankruptcy of his merchant investor who left town with his money.
The wedding is called off by Arabella's father, who is known for his prudence with money. George, who was educated at Oxford and is old enough to be considered an adult, is sent away to town. The rest of the family move to a new and more humble parish on the land of Squire Thornhill, who is known to be a womanizer. On the way, they hear about the dubious reputation of their new landlord. Also, references are made to the squire's uncle Sir William Thornhill, who is known throughout the country for his worthiness and generosity.
A poor and eccentric friend, Mr. Burchell, whom they meet at an inn, rescues Sophia from drowning. She is instantly attracted to him, but her ambitious mother does not encourage her feelings.
Then follows a period of happy family life, interrupted only by regular visits of the dashing Squire Thornhill and Mr. Burchell. Olivia is captivated by Thornhill's hollow charm, but he also encourages the social ambitions of Mrs. Primrose and her daughters to a ludicrous degree.
Finally, Olivia is reported to have fled. First Burchell is suspected, but after a long pursuit Dr. Primrose finds his daughter, who was in reality deceived by Squire Thornhill. He planned to marry her in a mock ceremony and leave her then shortly after, as he had done with several women before.
When Olivia and her father return home, they find their house in flames. Although the family has lost almost all their belongings, the evil Squire Thornhill insists on the payment of the rent. As the vicar cannot pay, he is brought to gaol.
Afterwards is a chain of dreadful occurrences. The vicar's daughter, Olivia, is reported dead, Sophia is abducted, and George too is brought to gaol in chains and covered with blood, as he had challenged Thornhill to a duel when he had heard about his wickedness.
But then Mr. Burchell arrives and solves all problems. He rescues Sophia, Olivia is not dead, and it emerges that Mr. Burchell is in reality the worthy Sir William Thornhill, who travels through the country in disguise. In the end, there is a double wedding: George marries Arabella, as he originally intended, and Sir William Thornhill marries Sophia. Squire Thornhill's servant turns out to have tricked him, and thus the sham marriage of the Squire and Olivia is real. Finally, even the wealth of the vicar is restored, as the bankrupt merchant is reported to be found.
I found the narrator of this story, Dr. Primrose, a bit too optimistic. Tragedies and bad luck keep happening to his family, and he always (or almost always) keeps cheering everyone up. But I guess this is characteristic for most of the literature from the 18th century.
It is not exactly my favourite kind of read, but I did enjoy some parts of the story and I always find it intriguing to learn more about another age and time.
Other thoughts/reviews:
Reading, Writing, Working, Playing: http://janegs.blogspot.be/2013/10/the-vicar-of-wakefield-wouldve-been.html
P. 99: "But nothing could now exceed my confusion upon seeing the gentleman and his lady enter; nor was there surprise at finding such company and good cheer less than ours."
Last sentence: "It now only remained that my gratitude in good fortune should exceed my former submission in adversity."
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
Summary (Wikipedia):
Dr Primrose, his wife Deborah and their six children live an idyllic life in a country parish. The vicar is wealthy due to investing an inheritance he received from a deceased relative, and the vicar donates the £34 that his job pays annually to local orphans and war veterans. On the evening of his son George's wedding to wealthy Arabella Wilmot, the vicar loses all his money through the bankruptcy of his merchant investor who left town with his money.
The wedding is called off by Arabella's father, who is known for his prudence with money. George, who was educated at Oxford and is old enough to be considered an adult, is sent away to town. The rest of the family move to a new and more humble parish on the land of Squire Thornhill, who is known to be a womanizer. On the way, they hear about the dubious reputation of their new landlord. Also, references are made to the squire's uncle Sir William Thornhill, who is known throughout the country for his worthiness and generosity.
A poor and eccentric friend, Mr. Burchell, whom they meet at an inn, rescues Sophia from drowning. She is instantly attracted to him, but her ambitious mother does not encourage her feelings.
Then follows a period of happy family life, interrupted only by regular visits of the dashing Squire Thornhill and Mr. Burchell. Olivia is captivated by Thornhill's hollow charm, but he also encourages the social ambitions of Mrs. Primrose and her daughters to a ludicrous degree.
Finally, Olivia is reported to have fled. First Burchell is suspected, but after a long pursuit Dr. Primrose finds his daughter, who was in reality deceived by Squire Thornhill. He planned to marry her in a mock ceremony and leave her then shortly after, as he had done with several women before.
When Olivia and her father return home, they find their house in flames. Although the family has lost almost all their belongings, the evil Squire Thornhill insists on the payment of the rent. As the vicar cannot pay, he is brought to gaol.
Afterwards is a chain of dreadful occurrences. The vicar's daughter, Olivia, is reported dead, Sophia is abducted, and George too is brought to gaol in chains and covered with blood, as he had challenged Thornhill to a duel when he had heard about his wickedness.
But then Mr. Burchell arrives and solves all problems. He rescues Sophia, Olivia is not dead, and it emerges that Mr. Burchell is in reality the worthy Sir William Thornhill, who travels through the country in disguise. In the end, there is a double wedding: George marries Arabella, as he originally intended, and Sir William Thornhill marries Sophia. Squire Thornhill's servant turns out to have tricked him, and thus the sham marriage of the Squire and Olivia is real. Finally, even the wealth of the vicar is restored, as the bankrupt merchant is reported to be found.
I found the narrator of this story, Dr. Primrose, a bit too optimistic. Tragedies and bad luck keep happening to his family, and he always (or almost always) keeps cheering everyone up. But I guess this is characteristic for most of the literature from the 18th century.
It is not exactly my favourite kind of read, but I did enjoy some parts of the story and I always find it intriguing to learn more about another age and time.
Other thoughts/reviews:
Reading, Writing, Working, Playing: http://janegs.blogspot.be/2013/10/the-vicar-of-wakefield-wouldve-been.html
hayleyashal's review against another edition
3.0
I find it really difficult to give acclaimed classics less than three stars, for some reason I believe that they should be held at a higher regard than other books when that really shouldn't be the case. Honestly, this book was dull and sort of unnecessary. I can see through the plot that it had influences on later novels such as Pride and Prejudice, but I just wasn't gripped by the story. I only really read this because I'm studying its connection to social realism, and it certainly conveyed a historic society and its standards, it also had a great few pages towards the end when the Vicar was being reflective on his society and time. I was also glad the story was not too long, and the prose was not too heavy.
lawrenceevalyn's review
4.0
I knew nothing about this book going it, but it was quite charming! I am, it seems, definitely a sentimental reader. I have never been less persuaded by an argument than I am by the claim that the narrator is unreliable; as far as I can tell, the only evidence for such a reading is "this book's sentimentality is too silly to take seriously", which I reject.
indigodear's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
I read this for a class, so I won't be writing a whole review.
I did enjoy reading this book; the chapters are often quite short, and I found a lot of humour in some of them. That being said, the main interest of this book is the double reading one can make of it, because of the unreliability of the narrator. This aspect, though entertaining, didn't captivate my intention that much, and I found myself often wishing I was already done with the story. That might be a side-effect of this being assigned reading as well, so do bear it in mind.
I did enjoy reading this book; the chapters are often quite short, and I found a lot of humour in some of them. That being said, the main interest of this book is the double reading one can make of it, because of the unreliability of the narrator. This aspect, though entertaining, didn't captivate my intention that much, and I found myself often wishing I was already done with the story. That might be a side-effect of this being assigned reading as well, so do bear it in mind.
jersy's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
While this is a novel following an overarching narrative, it felt very episodic. A lot of the chapter are little tales with a joke and a moral to them, which just isn't my preference. I enjoyed the story of losing ones wealth, making the best of life and trying to provide all the best for ones daughters, but some of the obstacles just made me roll my eyes.
The writing, the voice of our titular vicar, was fun and made him very likable, though I sometimes struggled with knowing what the real opinion of the author was and what satire.
I enjoyed the overall plot and how it was told to me, but not every story and side tangent within.
The writing, the voice of our titular vicar, was fun and made him very likable, though I sometimes struggled with knowing what the real opinion of the author was and what satire.
I enjoyed the overall plot and how it was told to me, but not every story and side tangent within.