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wjcsydney's review against another edition
4.0
Not as good as The Warden and Barchester Towers, but still enjoyable.
bookchantment's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
nwhyte's review against another edition
"http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1305941.html[return][return]I had gone off the Barchester Chronicles a bit after not really enjoying the second's retreading of the first's territory, so it was good to find new ground being broken here. In fact it reminded me a lot of both Middlemarch and P.G. Wodehouse, though less serious than the former, less funny than the latter and frankly not quite as good as either. [return][return]It is pretty obvious from the word go that Frank and Mary are destined for each other, not least because Trollope interrupts and delays the narrative to tell us so (which I find a bit precious). It also becomes obvious at a very early stage how Frank's mother's snobbish objections to Mary's (relative) poverty will be overcome, to the point that I found myself wondering how on earth Trollope was going to keep to book going for another x hundred pages (answer: by introducing more characters, or by blatant digression). [return][return]Although the characters are not especially three-dimensional, they kept my attention (more than Dave Eggers or seventeenth-century England). The happy ending is a bit of a cop-out, in that the social pretensions of Frank's mother triumph rather than being seriously challenged (Mary is still illegitimate at the end of the book, but now she is rich so everything is all right). It's a pleasant little tale as it is; I would have cheered a little harder if Frank and Mary had got on with their marriage on a modest income and without Lady Arabella's blessing.[return][return](In real life, when I have encountered people behaving badly about their children's prospective weddings, they are usually repeating patterns of bad behaviour learnt from their own parents, often indeed about their own weddings; Trollope doesn't really indicate that as being a factor here.)[return][return]Anyway, I enjoyed it, especially the election chapters (always a winner for me)."
mary_juleyre's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
tculp's review against another edition
4.0
So great! I have loved the Barsetshire Chronicles, and this one is fabulous. Whenever I need to read something funny and heartwarming- clever enough to keep my attention, but not disturbing or draining, I turn to a Trollope novel. This one is a great family drama and would make a great book club book!
rosepoldark's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Lovely Trollope novel with fantastic characters and an engaging writing style. It was a wonderful book, I especially liked the second half or after sir Roger died, because his storyline I found a little harder to get through, especially the election things. The Characters were wonderful and I almost felt that it was kind of a coming of age story for Frank especially. Lovely story that I will read again and again. I really loved the ending, that was amazing.
petrauusimaa's review against another edition
3.0
Doctor Thorne is third part in Chronicles of Barsetshire, bringing completely new characters in the story. Frank Gresham loves Mary Thorne but he must marry for money to stop his family going to ruin. It happens, though, that Mary Thorne is nothing his family wishes Frank's bride to be. There is some secrets about Mary Thorne's birth that are starting to unravel, changing the story completely. The story centers around Mary Thorne and his uncle Doctor Thorne who are both very brilliant and interesting characters. I am slowly starting to appreciate Anthony Trollope more and more as a writer and am very excited to read more by him. His characters are brilliant and colourful but I have to say that I preferred Barchester Towers compared to this. Still, there were parts that I really enjoyed in this book but I wish the story would have been told more in Mary's point of view. I disliked the ending quite a bit too; I found out that everything came together a bit too easily but then again, the ending was very Victorian-like.
notrachel's review against another edition
4.0
A bit long and repetitive but I'm not sure I would have thought if I hadn't seen the miniseries. Even still, I enjoyed it.
puella63's review against another edition
4.0
This series is getting better and better. I love the author’s commentary, which permeates the novel.