A review by cpcabaniss
Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope

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.