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3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I’m actually something of a closet romantic. William Makepeace Thackeray of Vanity Fair, starring the lovely Reese Witherspoon (Whom I share my birthday with & James Patterson. 😉) Here accounts the history of Henry Esmond, Esq. who was, to use a derogatory term, a SIMP. The malady of the pox portends ills, while the malady of love is just a selfish possessor of want. Noone wants a disease, I’ve seen the debility that carries sickness with them. ‘Tis a sad condition of the enfeebled to linger through, blinking outta life and this miasmatic unreality of indelible advertence.
“At certain periods of life we live years of emotion in a few weeks-and look back on those times, as on great gaps between the old life and the new.”
Harry too has a taste for tasteful literatures. And wiled away at good days greedily devouring every book handed to him. Then the vulgar trapezing orange girl whose fancy would lite the pip of the eye, was a frozen kernel- for all the Colonel’s bravado to impress the lass, Miss Beatrix or “Trixie”, could not quell the hardness of her heart. He could have none other than his mistress, sulking away at her, his cousin of 22 years, envious of any tempters of fate could filch, purloin, and Shanghai the dimpled hand from Henry’s grasp. Alas, she cannot love him- and however smitten he’d been no treasure hinting at fondness, intimacy, or fidelity could awaken them to the fidelities of marriage. A central theme was the maladies of rejection, and the irrevocable tire of passionless love.
“There’s some particular prize we all of us value, and that every man of spirit will venture his life for. With this, it may be to achieve a great reputation for learning; with that, to be a man of fashion, and the admiration of the town; with another. To consummate a great work of art or poetry, and go to immortality that way: and with another, for a certain time of his life, the sole object and aim is a woman.”
But there are deeper connections to make regardless of love; seeking this self-fulfillment of my pleasure, por ejemplo, I understand I get so much more out of this pastime and merely offer a simulacrum of observations. Hoist books of your own choice.
“At certain periods of life we live years of emotion in a few weeks-and look back on those times, as on great gaps between the old life and the new.”
Harry too has a taste for tasteful literatures. And wiled away at good days greedily devouring every book handed to him. Then the vulgar trapezing orange girl whose fancy would lite the pip of the eye, was a frozen kernel- for all the Colonel’s bravado to impress the lass, Miss Beatrix or “Trixie”, could not quell the hardness of her heart. He could have none other than his mistress, sulking away at her, his cousin of 22 years, envious of any tempters of fate could filch, purloin, and Shanghai the dimpled hand from Henry’s grasp. Alas, she cannot love him- and however smitten he’d been no treasure hinting at fondness, intimacy, or fidelity could awaken them to the fidelities of marriage. A central theme was the maladies of rejection, and the irrevocable tire of passionless love.
“There’s some particular prize we all of us value, and that every man of spirit will venture his life for. With this, it may be to achieve a great reputation for learning; with that, to be a man of fashion, and the admiration of the town; with another. To consummate a great work of art or poetry, and go to immortality that way: and with another, for a certain time of his life, the sole object and aim is a woman.”
But there are deeper connections to make regardless of love; seeking this self-fulfillment of my pleasure, por ejemplo, I understand I get so much more out of this pastime and merely offer a simulacrum of observations. Hoist books of your own choice.
It was... ok. Getting used to the way the 1st person narrator referred to himself in third person took up most of the reading time. Then, from the midpoint of the book, I found myself struggling to adjust to the thought that the narrator was in love with his half sister. I know it was a different time, and during that era it was fairly common for cousins to marry, but even so, a half-sister is just a bit too close, especially when he knew her growing up. The pace of the story went slack far to often, and made parts of the book a drag to get through. I also struggled with the political/monarch-related aspects, because I'm not that familiar with the political situation at the time, but the book assumes the reader will be well versed in the intrigues of the age, so I had to do a lot of googling to keep up. The book did have some enjoyable sections though, and at no point was I tempted to give up and stop reading, so that's a plus.
Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
Opening lines:
The actors in the old tragedies, as we read, piped their iambics to a tune, speaking from under a mask, and wearing stilts and a great head-dress. 'Twas thought the dignity of the Tragic Muse required these appurtenances, and that she was not to move except to a measure and cadence. So Queen Medea slew her children to a slow music: and King Agamemnon perished in a dying fall (to use Mr. Dryden's words): the Chorus standing by in a set attitude, and rhythmically and decorously bewailing the fates of those great crowned persons.
Page 117:
Ah! no man knows his strength or his weakness, till occasion proves them. If there be some thoughts and actions of his life from the memory of which a man shrinks with shame, sure there are some which he may be proud to own and remember; forgiven injuries, conquered temptations (now and then) and difficulties vanquished by endurance.
3* Vanity Fair
3* Barry Lyndon
3* The Mahogany Tree
3* The Rose and the King
2,5* The History of Henry Esmond
TR The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh and The Irish Sketch Book
TR Christmas Books
Opening lines:
The actors in the old tragedies, as we read, piped their iambics to a tune, speaking from under a mask, and wearing stilts and a great head-dress. 'Twas thought the dignity of the Tragic Muse required these appurtenances, and that she was not to move except to a measure and cadence. So Queen Medea slew her children to a slow music: and King Agamemnon perished in a dying fall (to use Mr. Dryden's words): the Chorus standing by in a set attitude, and rhythmically and decorously bewailing the fates of those great crowned persons.
Page 117:
Ah! no man knows his strength or his weakness, till occasion proves them. If there be some thoughts and actions of his life from the memory of which a man shrinks with shame, sure there are some which he may be proud to own and remember; forgiven injuries, conquered temptations (now and then) and difficulties vanquished by endurance.
3* Vanity Fair
3* Barry Lyndon
3* The Mahogany Tree
3* The Rose and the King
2,5* The History of Henry Esmond
TR The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh and The Irish Sketch Book
TR Christmas Books
Thackeray and the satirists of his age amuse me greatly. This isn't the best example of that satire, as it is a historical fiction, but his style still shines through.