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bluestarfish's review against another edition
3.0
Frank must marry money. And so goes the exploration of the marriage market set out, sometimes in startling detail, as the duty of the heir of the squire of Gresham suffering financial difficulties. I think I agree with the author that the hero of this novel is Doctor Thorne rather than Frank, although I guess such an omnicient author really ought to know best... The satirical look was often really amusing and it is a good read despite the many pages.
terese_utan_h's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
tonyriver's review against another edition
3.0
I liked a lot of aspects of this book. The story is interesting and gives an interesting insight into the time and social mores. The writing style is of its time. It is quite heavy going and verbose at times.
However in places I quite enjoyed the fact that the author ambled along detailing everything in a scene with a few digressions just in case getting to the point was getting close! At other times I had to use great restraint to avoid skimming through page after page of prose.
The heroine is great. She is intelligent and too principled. She is assertive and deserving.
A good read when you feel you can relax into a detailed picture of a very constrained and interesting time.
However in places I quite enjoyed the fact that the author ambled along detailing everything in a scene with a few digressions just in case getting to the point was getting close! At other times I had to use great restraint to avoid skimming through page after page of prose.
The heroine is great. She is intelligent and too principled. She is assertive and deserving.
A good read when you feel you can relax into a detailed picture of a very constrained and interesting time.
jeet_the_maiden's review against another edition
4.0
If there was a drinking game for every time someone in the Greshams' family said "marry money", we'd be drunk in every single chapter!
The premise of the story involves sundered lovers - Frank the squire's son and Mary Thorne, illegitimate daughter and niece of the doctor of Greshamsbury, who's also a Thorne of Ullathorne. Frank has come of age but cannot marry the girl he loves because a) She's not of "proper" birth b) She has no fortune at all. She's lovely, bright, well behaved and aware of her lack of lineage.
Right from the day he comes of age, Frank's mother Lady Arabella insists he marry a rich girl. To her it doesn't matter if she's not born high as long as she brings in enough dowry to save the Greshams from utter financial ruin. His father, the squire had to sell off large properties belonging to the "first family of Greshamsbury", and Trollope slyly brings notice to the fact that damning your family into high debt must be acceptable because you could stand to bring about more money by marrying rich.
Frank frequently battles his family with the righteous logic that money shouldn't buy high birth, since that's the metric they pester him with constantly but therein lies the double standard, that marriage to a woman of lesser birth is fine as long as she has enough money to erase her background. But in no case do they accept his decision to marry Mary Thorne, his mother going as far as to ban her daughters from meeting her anywhere. She even refuses to allow Dr Thorne to continue the treatment of her breast cancer because he wouldn't stop the lovers from loving each other. Also, it is very rare for a woman's disease to find even a mention in Victorian writing, so Trollope should get props for this!
Dr Thorne is an intelligent, wise uncle; he doesn't try to influence the lovers by giving any kind of opinion either way, because right from the start the reader is informed that Mary is his brother's child; she's rightfully a Thorne but her mother was from a working class family from the village who bore her as a result as a brief and fatal momentary affair. So her birth is not so much an issue as is her lack of dowry, especially in this case where the Greshams simply cannot afford to marry without money. (Take another shot).
Trollope writes very well of the double standards when it comes to marriage. The parents' concern about the lovers not finding an income to live upon is valid, but that doesn't deter Frank, he steadfast and committed to marrying none but Mary.
Trollope's stories always have a secondary track of characters that are entwined with the first - here it's Mary's maternal uncle Sir Roger Scatcherd whose self made fortune plays a huge role in bringing the story to its head. Most of the main characters are not privy to the family secret which is the plot motif!
Again, it was intensely delightful to listen to the Audible narration by Timothy West - he evokes snooty countesses, rich spoiled sons, earnest women and youthful lovers in an exceptional manner.
I'm now aware that there's a TV series on this book with Tom Hollander as the eponymous Dr Thorne and Alison Brie as a smart female character (with loads of money made from the manufacture of the Ointment of Lebanon) who refuses to get married to just anyone who asks her. This type of character is a frequent repeat in Trollope's works - the woman with keen understanding, some form of agency, wise in her ways and thankfully supporting love instead of blind adherence to societal norms.
A very good read with humour and sound observation.
This was the third novel in the Barchester novels, there are some recurring characters but they find a very brief mention here.
The premise of the story involves sundered lovers - Frank the squire's son and Mary Thorne, illegitimate daughter and niece of the doctor of Greshamsbury, who's also a Thorne of Ullathorne. Frank has come of age but cannot marry the girl he loves because a) She's not of "proper" birth b) She has no fortune at all. She's lovely, bright, well behaved and aware of her lack of lineage.
Right from the day he comes of age, Frank's mother Lady Arabella insists he marry a rich girl. To her it doesn't matter if she's not born high as long as she brings in enough dowry to save the Greshams from utter financial ruin. His father, the squire had to sell off large properties belonging to the "first family of Greshamsbury", and Trollope slyly brings notice to the fact that damning your family into high debt must be acceptable because you could stand to bring about more money by marrying rich.
Frank frequently battles his family with the righteous logic that money shouldn't buy high birth, since that's the metric they pester him with constantly but therein lies the double standard, that marriage to a woman of lesser birth is fine as long as she has enough money to erase her background. But in no case do they accept his decision to marry Mary Thorne, his mother going as far as to ban her daughters from meeting her anywhere. She even refuses to allow Dr Thorne to continue the treatment of her breast cancer because he wouldn't stop the lovers from loving each other. Also, it is very rare for a woman's disease to find even a mention in Victorian writing, so Trollope should get props for this!
Dr Thorne is an intelligent, wise uncle; he doesn't try to influence the lovers by giving any kind of opinion either way, because right from the start the reader is informed that Mary is his brother's child; she's rightfully a Thorne but her mother was from a working class family from the village who bore her as a result as a brief and fatal momentary affair. So her birth is not so much an issue as is her lack of dowry, especially in this case where the Greshams simply cannot afford to marry without money. (Take another shot).
Trollope writes very well of the double standards when it comes to marriage. The parents' concern about the lovers not finding an income to live upon is valid, but that doesn't deter Frank, he steadfast and committed to marrying none but Mary.
Trollope's stories always have a secondary track of characters that are entwined with the first - here it's Mary's maternal uncle Sir Roger Scatcherd whose self made fortune plays a huge role in bringing the story to its head. Most of the main characters are not privy to the family secret which is the plot motif!
Again, it was intensely delightful to listen to the Audible narration by Timothy West - he evokes snooty countesses, rich spoiled sons, earnest women and youthful lovers in an exceptional manner.
I'm now aware that there's a TV series on this book with Tom Hollander as the eponymous Dr Thorne and Alison Brie as a smart female character (with loads of money made from the manufacture of the Ointment of Lebanon) who refuses to get married to just anyone who asks her. This type of character is a frequent repeat in Trollope's works - the woman with keen understanding, some form of agency, wise in her ways and thankfully supporting love instead of blind adherence to societal norms.
A very good read with humour and sound observation.
This was the third novel in the Barchester novels, there are some recurring characters but they find a very brief mention here.
dotorsojak's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars
A reread and a pure pleasure at that.
I have read probably 10 books by Trollope, though nothing recently. I first read this book in 1981 and have just reread it as a result of seeing the 6-year-old BBC version starring Tom Hollander and Stephanie Martini.
The novel is better than the TV series. Just a lovely, never-never-land portrait of English society in the mid 19th century. Satirical about class and money, and yet fascinated—and maybe even in love—with the social structure that that same class and money uphold. Trollope is a reformer, not a radical. He creates characters who love some of the exact things that they deplore—and that he deplores, which is one of the reasons he is a great novelist. This is so dense with the ordinary details of English 19th century life and so sympathetic towards everyone.
I do wish the ending were a bit different. It would be nice to see how the characters in conflict dealt with their difficulties without the deus ex machina of the ending. Nevertheless, I highly recommend.
A reread and a pure pleasure at that.
I have read probably 10 books by Trollope, though nothing recently. I first read this book in 1981 and have just reread it as a result of seeing the 6-year-old BBC version starring Tom Hollander and Stephanie Martini.
The novel is better than the TV series. Just a lovely, never-never-land portrait of English society in the mid 19th century. Satirical about class and money, and yet fascinated—and maybe even in love—with the social structure that that same class and money uphold. Trollope is a reformer, not a radical. He creates characters who love some of the exact things that they deplore—and that he deplores, which is one of the reasons he is a great novelist. This is so dense with the ordinary details of English 19th century life and so sympathetic towards everyone.
I do wish the ending were a bit different. It would be nice to see how the characters in conflict dealt with their difficulties without the deus ex machina of the ending. Nevertheless, I highly recommend.
jenmcmaynes's review against another edition
3.0
Third of The Barsetshire series, Doctor Thorne certainly takes its time in reaching its point! The length (nearly 600 pages), and the fact that for the middle two-thirds of the book not much happens, was my chief complaint with this installment of the series. The set-up and conclusion were very satisfying, but oy! The middle dig drag!
As for the story, the only way to describe it is Dickensian in its construction. The improbable set of events that lead to the main conflict and resolution (namely Mary's birth, the fortune, the inter-connectness of the Scratcherds and Greshems, and the fact that a small country village managed to forget the details of such huge scandals) stretch the bounds of belief. However, they aren't really the point. The point is, over and over, how do people act in these circumstances? And this is where Trollope shines, as he really is a master of characterization. We see good blood behaving badly, the poor being gracious, men sticking to their principles... or not, as the case may be.
Did I enjoy it though? Despite Trollope's deft hand with characterization, I do feel that he would have benefited from an editor. And some of the points concerning breeding versus money have become very dated. So... yes, with caveats. Not nearly as funny as Barchester Towers, but less political, so probably a draw.
As for the story, the only way to describe it is Dickensian in its construction. The improbable set of events that lead to the main conflict and resolution (namely Mary's birth, the fortune, the inter-connectness of the Scratcherds and Greshems, and the fact that a small country village managed to forget the details of such huge scandals) stretch the bounds of belief. However, they aren't really the point. The point is, over and over, how do people act in these circumstances? And this is where Trollope shines, as he really is a master of characterization. We see good blood behaving badly, the poor being gracious, men sticking to their principles... or not, as the case may be.
Did I enjoy it though? Despite Trollope's deft hand with characterization, I do feel that he would have benefited from an editor. And some of the points concerning breeding versus money have become very dated. So... yes, with caveats. Not nearly as funny as Barchester Towers, but less political, so probably a draw.
haazex's review against another edition
4.0
Entering the realm of Trollope is a magical experience. The writing is exquisite with waves of vocabulary and lingering sentences that virtually have their own linguistic flavor. It transports you to the realm of Barsetshire in mid-19th century England, and the midst of a number of personalities that you will literally live with as hundreds of pages unfold. Trollope has the power to place one (as a reader) among these individuals, sharing sorrows, happiness, conflicts, thoughts and daily lives. His power of description and characterization rivals Dickens, Eliot and Gaskell, so the main characters in the novel truly come alive. They are human in all aspects apart from a few that seemingly are used a humorous interludes. Trollope has a frisky sense of humor which especially plays out in the realm of the medical profession in this particular novel, but politics gets it fair bite as well. It is a love story blended with politics, the issues of wealth and aristocratic blood lines and time's ability to affect lives. From a more holistic perspective it is a story of how society as a whole relate to the individuals based on their wealth and/or aristocratic heritage. It seems as if Trollope wants the world to reflect on these issues through his characters. I very much enjoyed reading this book. However, the latter portion of the story somewhat disappointed me. This is why I removed one star from a novel that otherwise truly belongs in the five star realm.
It is hard to leave the Trollope world. This novel simply fueled my urge to continue the journey and further suspend myself in Trollope's linguistic weave in the years to come.
Spoiler
Towards the end I expected Mary Thorne to pay back all the pain she had received from Lady Arabella and her aristocratic lineage. However, she simply turned the other cheek and seemingly ignored all the painful treatment she had received in terms of shunning and libel. Mary and Frank were simply a bit too angelic and perfect as characters (apart from Frank giving Mr. Moffett a good whipping. Seeing these qualities carried through to the very end of the novel bothered me quite a bit. I expected a drastic change towards the very end, a revolt, but Frank and Mary seemingly started to blend right back into the norms of the age. The de Courcys joined the wedding without any issues etc. The only payback I noticed was that Frank and Mary refused to visit the de Courcy castle. Otherwise life seemed like it was going back to normal in Barsetshire. Happiness prevailed. It felt kind of strange having the story wrapped up in this fashion. Numerous questions started to fill my mind as I finished the book. Is Trollope suggesting that societal change is extremely slow or that life is fixed in terms the roles we play in our society? In addition, I was quite irritated with that Mary was the last person to find out about her inheritance. Why did Dr. Thorne inform Frank and the Squire before his niece? Should it not be the other way around? Very peculiar! One of my favorite characters was Ms. Dunstable with her liberal views (which ultimately played an important role in the storyline).It is hard to leave the Trollope world. This novel simply fueled my urge to continue the journey and further suspend myself in Trollope's linguistic weave in the years to come.
michael5000's review against another edition
4.0
2013: Another fine novel by the dean of urbanity. Some strong stuff in here, read in the proper spirit, about alcoholism, before people fully realized there was such a thing. Less satisfying than other Barsetshires for two reasons: 1) it's plot is maddeningly dependent on people keeping as secrets things that it would be sensible and natural for them to discuss with each other, and 2) the bulk of the novel sets up Dr. Thorne's great moral and legal dilemma, only to eventually brazenly (in direct address to the reader) brush it away with a grinning statement to the effect that "it probably wouldn't work this way in reality, but for purposes of the novel everything turned out [fine/badly]." I say "fine/badly" so as to not give away the ending. Either (1) or (2) alone would be droll; together, they just seem kind of sloppy.
2019: For what it's worth, neither (1) nor (2) bugged me much this time around. I either had a stronger sense of why Doc Thorne might choose not to discuss the mystery of his niece's birth with her, or was just more willing to let it slide this time. Let's say I'm smarter now, and wisely have a better insight into the characters' behavior than I used to, because that's nicer than saying I'm dumber now and less discerning. For (2), I've learned to accept and even cherish in Mr. Trollope that he's occasionally going to interrupt the narrative so we can have a cordial little chat about how the two of us, writer and reader, are enjoying a collaborative game of pretending, in which he for one is willing to take a few judicious shortcuts.
2019: For what it's worth, neither (1) nor (2) bugged me much this time around. I either had a stronger sense of why Doc Thorne might choose not to discuss the mystery of his niece's birth with her, or was just more willing to let it slide this time. Let's say I'm smarter now, and wisely have a better insight into the characters' behavior than I used to, because that's nicer than saying I'm dumber now and less discerning. For (2), I've learned to accept and even cherish in Mr. Trollope that he's occasionally going to interrupt the narrative so we can have a cordial little chat about how the two of us, writer and reader, are enjoying a collaborative game of pretending, in which he for one is willing to take a few judicious shortcuts.
literarylawgirl's review
4.0
”Wounds sometimes must be opened in order that they may be healed.”
-Book 3 of the Chronicles of Barsetshire
#thegreatanthonytrollopereadalong2023 #adollopoftrollope
-Book 3 of the Chronicles of Barsetshire
#thegreatanthonytrollopereadalong2023 #adollopoftrollope
aaronreadabook's review against another edition
4.0
Wonderful characters, and very well-plotted. Not quite as funny as Barchester Towers, so doesn't quite reach those heights for me.