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A review by cmbohn
The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith
3.0
Reverend Charles Primrose is the father of a large family and a vicar. He has a private income which supports him in a nice lifestyle. But his income is suddenly lost and he must move to the country and begin a new modest life there. The new landlord is a notorious seducer, but for some reason, they don't seem to listen to this, and push their daughters in his direction. One of their daughters IS seduced, and then their lives fall apart.
From a pure plot or story view, this is action packed, but totally melodramatic. On his way from rescuing his wayward daughter, he comes home to find their house has burned down. His evil landlord demands payment. They wind up in debtor's prison. And so on, and on. It is completely unbelievable.
As for the characters, it's pretty hard to believe too. They are so completely naive to the ways of the world. Both the vicar and his son are swindled by the same con man. They remain oblivious to the motives of their landlord way past the point of credibility. They are vain. The vicar himself is given to sermonizing at the drop of a hat and takes offense if others don't enjoy this. They are likable enough, though, and I was hoping they would wise up at some point. The craziest part is at the end, when it turns out that Olivia is actually MARRIED to the seducing landlord. One of the other characters actually "wishes her joy!?" Yeah, that would make me happy, all right, to be stuck married to a lying libertine.
And yet, it was kind of fun to read. I skipped some of the long sermons and stuff. Boring. But I did finish it. This was a very popular book at the time, and later was popular as the subject of spoof and satire. Worth reading for that, and it is short, but otherwise, I wouldn't really recommend it. 2.5 stars, mostly for the fact that it is an influential book and for the unintentional humor.
From a pure plot or story view, this is action packed, but totally melodramatic. On his way from rescuing his wayward daughter, he comes home to find their house has burned down. His evil landlord demands payment. They wind up in debtor's prison. And so on, and on. It is completely unbelievable.
As for the characters, it's pretty hard to believe too. They are so completely naive to the ways of the world. Both the vicar and his son are swindled by the same con man. They remain oblivious to the motives of their landlord way past the point of credibility. They are vain. The vicar himself is given to sermonizing at the drop of a hat and takes offense if others don't enjoy this. They are likable enough, though, and I was hoping they would wise up at some point. The craziest part is at the end, when it turns out that Olivia is actually MARRIED to the seducing landlord. One of the other characters actually "wishes her joy!?" Yeah, that would make me happy, all right, to be stuck married to a lying libertine.
And yet, it was kind of fun to read. I skipped some of the long sermons and stuff. Boring. But I did finish it. This was a very popular book at the time, and later was popular as the subject of spoof and satire. Worth reading for that, and it is short, but otherwise, I wouldn't really recommend it. 2.5 stars, mostly for the fact that it is an influential book and for the unintentional humor.