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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.
cpcabaniss's review against another edition
4.0
"As Doctor Thorne is our hero - or I should rather say my hero, a privilege of selecting for themselves in this respect being left to all my readers - and as Miss Mary Thorne is to be our heroine, a point on which no choice whatsoever is left to any one, it is necessary that they shall be introduced and explained and described in a proper, formal manner."
Anthony Trollope's humor has me in love with his writing. His writing is excellent anyway, but when he throws in things like this, I can't help but love it even more. And that makes his books enjoyable even when his characters are driving me quite mad.
I've seen the miniseries adapted from this book half a dozen times or so and adore it. Give it a watch, if you haven't. I liked Doctor Thorne just as much as I expected to based on that adaptation. Mary was quite wonderful as well. Frank, although he was frustrating and sometimes a fool, really started to grow up toward the end, and was quite likable. Miss Dunstable, though not around a lot was brilliant. Patience Oriel was lovely. Even Sir Roger and Lady Scacherd were good.
The rest of the characters - namely the Greshams and all their connections - were awful. Honestly. And they never got any better. I know that time and society were different then, social construction was not what I know and I can understand and give concession for that. But that does not make being a downright jerk acceptable.
Things ended too well for some of these characters, honestly. I don't think my heart would have been good enough to treat them all so well.
Still, the book is very good and I'm looking forward to more of the Barsetshire novels in the future.
kailey_luminouslibro's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book even more than the previous Barchester books, because there's more action and more dialogue. I love the country setting, and how the small doings of ordinary people become quite important.
The scope of this novel is wide in that it concerns people of all walks of life, and how they interact and influence one another. But the scope is also small in that it tells of the little day-to-day concerns of plain people. That is the genius of Trollope!
In this book, there aren't really any villains per se; just foolish, proud people that you feel sorry for or despise for their weakness and selfishness. They certainly keep the plot interesting with their bad decisions, and make things difficult for the heroes. The villains bring about their own unhappiness through clinging to their own stupidity.
Doctor Thorne himself is a wonderful character; he's well-rounded, funny but dignified, clever but simple in his habits, kind and gracious in every circumstance but liable to lose his temper if pushed too far. Just brilliant writing!
I was so glad that Mary Thorne wasn't one of these perfect angel heroines that you see so much of in Victorian literature. She has her faults, and her struggles against the evil within. She makes mistakes and gets angry, then regrets it later. She is stubborn sometimes but never selfish. She won't sink to the petty level of those around her; she's high-minded. She is fiercely loyal against all odds. I just adore her!
Frank Gresham is perhaps the best character of all, because he goes through the most change and growth. I loved seeing him becoming more sure of himself, more manly and confident. His love for his father and sisters is very sweet, and his courageous unselfishness was inspirational. He has his faults too though (What a flirt!), and his moments of weakness and stupidity. A delightful character!
I could have done without the whole political elections sub-plot. Boring, and not actually necessary to the main plot, but it was okay. A few funny anecdotes about political morality were good, and thankfully not very long.
One thing that I didn't like was that the entire story was told by jumping around chronologically. An event would be told focusing on one character's experience, then told again focusing on another character, but in order to understand the second character's reactions the narrator goes back two months before to explain something else that happened which influenced that second character, then back to the "present", and we're told that neither character knew that only two days from now there would be another event which would make both their experiences of the present event null and void. So everything was told by jumping around in time. It was never confusing though! It was easy to follow what was happening, but after 600 pages of jumping through time, I was tired of it.
The plot is fairly predictable, but that did not ruin my enjoyment in the least! There are plenty of small surprises in the plot which make up for the obvious happy ending. I was gasping and crying and laughing the entire way through!
The scope of this novel is wide in that it concerns people of all walks of life, and how they interact and influence one another. But the scope is also small in that it tells of the little day-to-day concerns of plain people. That is the genius of Trollope!
In this book, there aren't really any villains per se; just foolish, proud people that you feel sorry for or despise for their weakness and selfishness. They certainly keep the plot interesting with their bad decisions, and make things difficult for the heroes. The villains bring about their own unhappiness through clinging to their own stupidity.
Doctor Thorne himself is a wonderful character; he's well-rounded, funny but dignified, clever but simple in his habits, kind and gracious in every circumstance but liable to lose his temper if pushed too far. Just brilliant writing!
I was so glad that Mary Thorne wasn't one of these perfect angel heroines that you see so much of in Victorian literature. She has her faults, and her struggles against the evil within. She makes mistakes and gets angry, then regrets it later. She is stubborn sometimes but never selfish. She won't sink to the petty level of those around her; she's high-minded. She is fiercely loyal against all odds. I just adore her!
Frank Gresham is perhaps the best character of all, because he goes through the most change and growth. I loved seeing him becoming more sure of himself, more manly and confident. His love for his father and sisters is very sweet, and his courageous unselfishness was inspirational. He has his faults too though (What a flirt!), and his moments of weakness and stupidity. A delightful character!
I could have done without the whole political elections sub-plot. Boring, and not actually necessary to the main plot, but it was okay. A few funny anecdotes about political morality were good, and thankfully not very long.
One thing that I didn't like was that the entire story was told by jumping around chronologically. An event would be told focusing on one character's experience, then told again focusing on another character, but in order to understand the second character's reactions the narrator goes back two months before to explain something else that happened which influenced that second character, then back to the "present", and we're told that neither character knew that only two days from now there would be another event which would make both their experiences of the present event null and void. So everything was told by jumping around in time. It was never confusing though! It was easy to follow what was happening, but after 600 pages of jumping through time, I was tired of it.
The plot is fairly predictable, but that did not ruin my enjoyment in the least! There are plenty of small surprises in the plot which make up for the obvious happy ending. I was gasping and crying and laughing the entire way through!
phthadani's review against another edition
3.0
It was a simpler story than the Warden and Barchester Towers, but it was always fun to read Trollope.
erinbrenner's review against another edition
4.0
I always hesitate when I read a Trollope book, despite having read half a dozen now! They always start out slo-o-o-o-w and I have to be in the mindset to wait for the action to get going. Yet they do get going and are engaging and even funny at times. Doctor Thorne is no exception.
The writing in the first couple of chapters is worth the time, too. It's full of lovely details that really bring the characters and location to life for me. And it's amazing that Trollope can tell you the ending right up front and still the book is entertaining and suspenseful.
I won't wait so long to read another Trollope novel.
The writing in the first couple of chapters is worth the time, too. It's full of lovely details that really bring the characters and location to life for me. And it's amazing that Trollope can tell you the ending right up front and still the book is entertaining and suspenseful.
I won't wait so long to read another Trollope novel.
tome15's review against another edition
5.0
Trollope, Anthony. Doctor Thorne. 1858. Chronicles of Barsetshire No.3. Project Gutenberg.
I have a friend who always has a Charles Dickens novel on her bedside and has read all of them in order several times. Only two other nineteenth-century English novelists are likely to inspire such devoted rereading: Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope. And if you decide to go through Trollope, you won’t be done for a while, because you will have 47 novels, few of them shorter than five hundred pages, in your list. The reason these three authors can be read this way is that their work is remarkably consistent. You can depend on them to give you the kind of insight and entertainment you expect. From Trollope you get a quite transparent style, a comforting and witty acknowledgement in an authorial aside that he is not planning to pull the rug out from under you at all. In the first chapter of Doctor Thorne, Trollope reassures us that this is just a novel and that some description is necessary before the story can start, then apologizing for the digression, which he knows his readers regard as part of his charm. Unlike many novelists of the period he does not write heavily plotted stories bur rather depends on your interest in character and situation to keep you reading. Here the situation involves a kindly, ethical doctor who has to keep a secret from his adopted daughter and provide useless but thorough care for a couple of drunken patients who hold the key to her future in their hands. None of his characters is purely virtuous or purely evil, and he is quite willing along the way to satirize the hypocrisy in English class structure without ever renouncing it entirely. I doubt I will get through all 47 novels, but I do plan to hit some of the better stories, of which this is one.
I have a friend who always has a Charles Dickens novel on her bedside and has read all of them in order several times. Only two other nineteenth-century English novelists are likely to inspire such devoted rereading: Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope. And if you decide to go through Trollope, you won’t be done for a while, because you will have 47 novels, few of them shorter than five hundred pages, in your list. The reason these three authors can be read this way is that their work is remarkably consistent. You can depend on them to give you the kind of insight and entertainment you expect. From Trollope you get a quite transparent style, a comforting and witty acknowledgement in an authorial aside that he is not planning to pull the rug out from under you at all. In the first chapter of Doctor Thorne, Trollope reassures us that this is just a novel and that some description is necessary before the story can start, then apologizing for the digression, which he knows his readers regard as part of his charm. Unlike many novelists of the period he does not write heavily plotted stories bur rather depends on your interest in character and situation to keep you reading. Here the situation involves a kindly, ethical doctor who has to keep a secret from his adopted daughter and provide useless but thorough care for a couple of drunken patients who hold the key to her future in their hands. None of his characters is purely virtuous or purely evil, and he is quite willing along the way to satirize the hypocrisy in English class structure without ever renouncing it entirely. I doubt I will get through all 47 novels, but I do plan to hit some of the better stories, of which this is one.
bent's review against another edition
2.0
I loved most of the Barsetshire series, but this one was a little week. Only vaguely connected to the Grantleys who are some of the most entertaining characters in the series, the book is a story about a blameless young woman and how she is finally happily wed. Not one of his greater efforts.