Scan barcode
pgchuis's review against another edition
4.0
Phineas Finn, son of an Irish doctor, is "elected" to Parliament and then appointed to a junior minister position. He falls for a series of women and has to decide how important his political independence matter to him when he disagrees with his party's policy on Irish tenants' rights. (Thankfully very little hunting in this one).
While I found Phineas a bit tame (he nearly runs into debt on a friend's behalf, but is bailed out by the friend's sister, we wonder if he will have an affair with the unhappily married Laura, but doesn't, he is tempted to be unfaithful to his Irish fiancee waiting for him at home, but resists), I liked many of the other characters. The story of the Kennedys' marriage was convincing and sad and I did enjoy Violet and her tormenting of her aunt. Helpful notes in this edition so that you understand what Trollope feels to be the "right" position on e.g. secret ballots. The ending was extremely abrupt...
Reducing this by one star on a re-read because there was an awful lot of politics and I do feel Phineas acted badly towards Chiltern and Violet.
While I found Phineas a bit tame (he nearly runs into debt on a friend's behalf, but is bailed out by the friend's sister, we wonder if he will have an affair with the unhappily married Laura, but doesn't, he is tempted to be unfaithful to his Irish fiancee waiting for him at home, but resists), I liked many of the other characters. The story of the Kennedys' marriage was convincing and sad and I did enjoy Violet and her tormenting of her aunt. Helpful notes in this edition so that you understand what Trollope feels to be the "right" position on e.g. secret ballots. The ending was extremely abrupt...
Reducing this by one star on a re-read because there was an awful lot of politics and I do feel Phineas acted badly towards Chiltern and Violet.
tenisonpurple's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Really good, lots of detail , some suspense and romantic interest right up to the last page which was a complete let down
lnatal's review against another edition
3.0
Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
Free audio version available at LibriVox.
It's the system as I hates, and you, Mr Finn. Well good-bye, Sir.
Millais reproduced from the first edition published by Virtue and Company in 1869
This is the second book of the Palisser series, being the sequel of Can You Forgive Her?
Phineas Finn is a young Irishman who becomes a member of the English parliament. Due to his position, be comes in love with several woman: Lady Laura Standish, Mary Jones - a childhood sweetheart and Violet Effingham.
This books remind me of some other books, such as: The History of Tom Jones by Henry Fielding; the duel scenes as portrayed by Alexandre Dumas in The Three Musketeers.
The sequel of this book, Phineas Redux, is the fourth novel in the series.
There is a TV Series The Pallisers (1974– ) made based on the Palliser series.
Free audio version available at LibriVox.
It's the system as I hates, and you, Mr Finn. Well good-bye, Sir.
Millais reproduced from the first edition published by Virtue and Company in 1869
This is the second book of the Palisser series, being the sequel of Can You Forgive Her?
Phineas Finn is a young Irishman who becomes a member of the English parliament. Due to his position, be comes in love with several woman: Lady Laura Standish, Mary Jones - a childhood sweetheart and Violet Effingham.
This books remind me of some other books, such as: The History of Tom Jones by Henry Fielding; the duel scenes as portrayed by Alexandre Dumas in The Three Musketeers.
The sequel of this book, Phineas Redux, is the fourth novel in the series.
There is a TV Series The Pallisers (1974– ) made based on the Palliser series.
brontes's review against another edition
3.0
As compared with Can You Forgive Her? Phineas Finn lacks a central question. It is more a rambling story that introduces the reader to a character than anything else. The language itself is nice, and there are smaller stories tucked within that have very interesting rising and falling action, they simply don't seem to hold together.
I might be tempted to be more generous, but I really felt at the end that Phineas did not deserve the love of so good, honest, and kind-hearted a girl as Mary Flood Jones, especially after he had treated her so poorly when he went off to London. I almost would have rather he married Madame Max Goesler, though she may well have deserved better too, and left poor, kind marry for a more honest and less ambitious man.
I might be tempted to be more generous, but I really felt at the end that Phineas did not deserve the love of so good, honest, and kind-hearted a girl as Mary Flood Jones, especially after he had treated her so poorly when he went off to London. I almost would have rather he married Madame Max Goesler, though she may well have deserved better too, and left poor, kind marry for a more honest and less ambitious man.
aliibera's review against another edition
4.0
Once again I find myself really glad to have spent some time in Trollope's world. I'll admit that I found some of the parliamentary politics slow going. But I'm fascinated by how much true empathy there is for the female characters and how, Trollope seems to be at heart, a feminist (although a man of his era would never think to be so). Phineas Finn may be the protagonist of the novel but a strong case can be made that he is merely the object through which a set of women (Lady Laura, Violet Effingham, Mrs M-G) attempt to discover how to make a place for themselves in a world with so little active work available to them.
More...