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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
Frank Gresham must marry for money as the heir and the only one who help make up for his father's debts. Unfortunately, for the family, Frank is love with Mary Thorne, the town doctor's niece.
Like the other books in this series this one has a lot of drama, but it has less politics. Again, Trollop speaks to his readers, hinting things that he and the reader knows, but the characters don't know. This jumps around in time referring things that had happened that a character in previous chapter wouldn't know about or he brings up a subplot that will be relevant later. This is a bit disorienting until you get use to it. The characters are as complex and as human as ever creating feelings of frustration, anger, and adoration. The characters have their faults and their attributes. Frank matures the most throughout the novel. In the beginning, he is impulsive and temperamental, but his love for Mary never changes. Mary is sweet and would do anything for those she loves, but often second guesses herself. She struggles with making her own decisions and often asks those like her uncle and Frank to make them for her. Though, she's not afraid to stand up for herself. Dr. Thorne is loving and loyal, but can be indecisive and has a temper if pushed too far. The two antagonists I would say are Sir. Louis Scratchard and Lady Arabella. Lady Arabella has good intentions and her actions can be selfish, but come from a place of love. Louis is arrogant, selfish, and a drunkard making it hard to feel he can be redeemed. I did pity him briefly, but that went out the window quickly. Like The Warden and Barchester Towers this is an enjoyable read for me.
Like the other books in this series this one has a lot of drama, but it has less politics. Again, Trollop speaks to his readers, hinting things that he and the reader knows, but the characters don't know. This jumps around in time referring things that had happened that a character in previous chapter wouldn't know about or he brings up a subplot that will be relevant later. This is a bit disorienting until you get use to it. The characters are as complex and as human as ever creating feelings of frustration, anger, and adoration. The characters have their faults and their attributes. Frank matures the most throughout the novel. In the beginning, he is impulsive and temperamental, but his love for Mary never changes. Mary is sweet and would do anything for those she loves, but often second guesses herself. She struggles with making her own decisions and often asks those like her uncle and Frank to make them for her. Though, she's not afraid to stand up for herself. Dr. Thorne is loving and loyal, but can be indecisive and has a temper if pushed too far. The two antagonists I would say are Sir. Louis Scratchard and Lady Arabella. Lady Arabella has good intentions and her actions can be selfish, but come from a place of love. Louis is arrogant, selfish, and a drunkard making it hard to feel he can be redeemed. I did pity him briefly, but that went out the window quickly. Like The Warden and Barchester Towers this is an enjoyable read for me.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
funny
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's a pretty simple story, but I loved this book to bits, primarily because I enjoyed the characters so much. I think that Trollope writes his "good" characters much better than Dickens does -- Doctor Thorne and even Mary come across as more real than, say, Madeline Bray or Agnes Wickfield. It's long and you have to have a tolerance for the glacial pace at which Victorian novels often proceed but I found it as relaxing as a long, hot bath.
I don't think I was the only one a little uncomfortable with the narration at first, but it did grow on me. He was just so sassy I couldn't resist. He also strives to paint his characters with justice; that is to say, not as completely good or bad.
The tale is entertaining enough, but a little dry at times, at least to my taste. I felt like this mostly when Dr Thorne or Mary weren't in the story. I missed their amazing dialogues! It happened for some 100 pages once and I got a little bored.
The tale is entertaining enough, but a little dry at times, at least to my taste. I felt like this mostly when Dr Thorne or Mary weren't in the story. I missed their amazing dialogues! It happened for some 100 pages once and I got a little bored.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The last few times I have been sick, I've picked out a big mid-Victorian novel for comfort and distraction. Last time it was Braddon's _The Doctor's Wife_ and this time it was _Doctor Thorne_.
Trollope knows how to construct an interesting plot and he knows how to find the drama in everyday life. The source of the plot in _Doctor Thorne_ is actually rather sensational: murder, alcoholism, a disgraced woman, emigration to America, and a hidden identity. But the novel that springs from this source is one that points out the terrible ways that money and social class determine the very shape of the Victorian institution of marriage, especially the marriage of two sympathetic characters. I can't say that the conclusion is groundbreaking, but Trollope still manages to flaunt convention at the same time that he must adhere to it.
Mary Thorne is perhaps the most interesting character in this novel. Like Dickens's Esther Summerson, she comes from a compromised background, but she acts in the most rational, calculated, and thoughtful way throughout the narrative, even when all of Greshambury seems intent on shaming her. I wish that there had been a bit more focus on her, but I also have to give credit to Trollope for showing us such a wide range of interesting characters, even including the minor characters, from a young woman who attends early morning church services to seduce the rector, to a railroad contractor who ruins his life with alcohol and sees the devastation he has brought on his son only days before dying.
_Doctor Thorne_ is an accessible mid-Victorian novel that I expect will please a lot of people. I know it made the flu slightly more bearable.
Trollope knows how to construct an interesting plot and he knows how to find the drama in everyday life. The source of the plot in _Doctor Thorne_ is actually rather sensational: murder, alcoholism, a disgraced woman, emigration to America, and a hidden identity. But the novel that springs from this source is one that points out the terrible ways that money and social class determine the very shape of the Victorian institution of marriage, especially the marriage of two sympathetic characters. I can't say that the conclusion is groundbreaking, but Trollope still manages to flaunt convention at the same time that he must adhere to it.
Mary Thorne is perhaps the most interesting character in this novel. Like Dickens's Esther Summerson, she comes from a compromised background, but she acts in the most rational, calculated, and thoughtful way throughout the narrative, even when all of Greshambury seems intent on shaming her. I wish that there had been a bit more focus on her, but I also have to give credit to Trollope for showing us such a wide range of interesting characters, even including the minor characters, from a young woman who attends early morning church services to seduce the rector, to a railroad contractor who ruins his life with alcohol and sees the devastation he has brought on his son only days before dying.
_Doctor Thorne_ is an accessible mid-Victorian novel that I expect will please a lot of people. I know it made the flu slightly more bearable.
slow-paced
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes