Barchester Towers (original 1857; edition 1982)

This is hilarious. The odious Mr. Slope slimes his way through the upper class elements of the church looking for power and patronage and love in a village where nothing ever happens. It's not so much a question of will-he/won't he, more how much more will he dare and who will fall for it? There's also an interesting character reversal in the Bishop's wife, Mrs Proudie, a strict sabbatarian who seeks to convert others to that practice. However, her esteem of the Church is far less than her esteem of herself, and she does the right thing but for all the wrong reasons.

Lots of frustrated love, upright characters getting their just rewards, the unworthy slipping on their own grease and everything wrapped up in a tidy parcel just made for a BBC costume drama.

4 and a half stars. Recommended to lovers of classics, good writing and those who have a schadenfreude sense of humour.

Read March 14 2011, reviewed March 27 2012. ( )

Several months have passed, and I now find that I need to increase my rating from 4 to 5! The characters and situations have stuck with me and are still vivid in my mind.

Started off slowly but as I progressed, I found the story more and more engrossing. ( )

This book is tough to read. I didn't realize that it was the second in a series until I had already read a bit, so maybe that was part of the problem. I don't know. Before telling any story, the characters are introduced- but without any sort of reference, it is absolutely without value. When the story does begin, you can't tie up the characters to what has already been written. A big problem is that the characters are referred to in several different ways: by last name, by religious title, by relationship to someone else- there is just no way to figure out who the author is talking about. I tried keeping character notes, but even at the half way point I was still having to refer back to them for every change of scene. At one point I thought I had the hang of it, and the author went into a long winded explanation about good authoring practices. I give up. ( )

This book is tough to read. I didn't realize that it was the second in a series until I had already read a bit, so maybe that was part of the problem. I don't know. Before telling any story, the characters are introduced- but without any sort of reference, it is absolutely without value. When the story does begin, you can't tie up the characters to what has already been written. A big problem is that the characters are referred to in several different ways: by last name, by religious title, by relationship to someone else- there is just no way to figure out who the author is talking about. I tried keeping character notes, but even at the half way point I was still having to refer back to them for every change of scene. At one point I thought I had the hang of it, and the author went into a long winded explanation about good authoring practices. I give up. ( )

It’s been over a hundred years since his death, but I’ve finally made acquaintances with Anthony Trollope. Happily, he was such a prolific author, I will have many opportunities to get to know him really well and I am pretty much ecstatic about the prospect. Barchester Towers was such a delight that I will be in for the long haul, reading through his oeuvre.

In the second book in his Chronicles of Barsetshire series, the action picks up some five years after the conclusion of the previous book, The Wardenand many of the same characters appear. The inclusion of some new, rather dynamic characters adds tremendous interest and propels the action forward in unexpected ways.

For the uninitiated, perhaps a little information about what Trollope’s themes involve in these first two books. Heavy doses of the differences between the High and Low church dominate the narrative, just as it raged at that time in the 1850s in England. I know what you’re thinking….could anything be more borrringgg? Well if that was all Trollope talked about, it certainly would not hold my, OK anyone’s, interest, for very long. Fortunately, he has created a cast of characters that is nothing short of brilliant: complex, fully fleshed, three-dimensional characters that provided the necessary fireworks when they interacted. For instance, take the thoroughly slimy Obadiah Slope (with a Dickensian name like that, you know right away he is beneath contempt). He’s new to the cathedral town, and brings with him new, and bleak ideas, that he tries to push on the locals through his role as chaplain to the (also new), henpecked and bullied Bishop Proudie, whose nagging wife has the kind of irritating personality that makes it so easy to imagine her as the true Bishop, rather then her diffident and easily intimidated husband. Everything of any consequence flows through her. There’s no going around this over-sized personality and the one time that Slope tries to, he discovers his powers are completely ineffective.

Add to the mix the completely dysfunctional Stanhope family, recently forced back from a 12 year stint in Italy where Bishop Stanhope was recovering from a sore throat(!?). Mother, father and three adult children, they provide unending glimpses into the reasons why this family is in for a rude awakening at some point, as resources quickly diminish, and no one seems to want to figure out how to acquire, well, a living. Eldest daughter Charlotte manages the household and realizes she has the hopeless task of getting her indolent brother Bertie married to the lovely and wealthy widow Eleanor Bold and she goes about the task diligently. It’s not important to her whether or not her unmotivated but charming, brother has any interest in getting married. But Trollope created perhaps his most fascinating character when he created Charlotte and Bertie’s sister Signora Madeline Vesey Neroni. She’s left her abusive husband, responsible for her inability to walk, and returned home to live with her parents. She is fully aware of her beauty and flirts with any man who comes within striking distance of her couch, where she rules her world, leaving fawning men in the wake of her powerful personality. The fact that she feels the need to be carried around just adds to the mystique.

The local high church members are no match for the flamboyance of the interlopers and make up the solid citizen brigade. They are, for the most part, warm, loving characters who struggle to understand what’s happening to their quiet little cathedral town. Trollope puts everyone together and stirs the pot and the proverbial sparks fly. There’s a love story, a comeuppance or three, misunderstandings galore, a good men are hard to find scenario…well you get the idea. And all told with ironic humor that often had me laughing out loud.

”The features of Mrs. Stanhope’s character were even less plainly marked than those of her lord. The far niente of her Italian life had entered into her very soul, and brought her to regard a state of inactivity as the only earthly good. In manner and appearance she was exceedingly prepossessing…Her dress was always perfect: she never dressed but once a day, and never appeared till between three and four; but when she did appear, she appeared at her best. Whether the toil rested partly with her, or wholly with her handmaid, it is not for such a one as the author to even imagine….But when we have said that Mrs. Stanhope knew how to dress and used her knowledge daily, we have said all. Other purpose in life she had none.” (Page 91)

As readers, we’ve steeled ourselves for the most gut-wrenching, depression-inducing, tear-jerking endings imaginable because modern fiction has led us to that expectation. But there’s much to be said for the good, old-fashioned, happy ending. It happens so seldom in my reading anymore that it takes me completely unawares when it does occur. I was happy to be reminded of the satisfaction that accompanies that development. Very highly recommended. ( )