Very entertaining story of an initially impoverished character who recognised opportunities he could use to his own advantage. Each chapter reads as a short story in itself. The exploits of Denry, an amiable audacious and optimistic person, who manages to climb the social ladder of Victorian England. The tales are riddled with humour, and I cannot but help chuckle in childish amusement by his situations and thoughts. Bennett's descriptions of the clothing, everyday objects, and social etiquette are so detailed that even the subtle mispositioning of a handkerchief does not leave the reader mystified. ( )

A fun and humorous book about a young man, born poor, who by a series of ludicrous yet surprisingly effective schemes moves up the social and financial ladder to mayor of the town. ( )

Edward Henry Machin,generally known as Denry, makes a name for himself as an eccentric,or card. Living as he does in Bursley,one of the Five Towns,he first makes a name for himself by wangling a ticket for himself and two others to the Countess of Chell's Ball. From then on nothing can stop him in his various exploits,including starting a 'thrift club' with thousands of subscribers and running trips out of Llandudno to visit a wreck. He finally becomes very rich and manages to get himself made Mayor of the town,where he started out as a lowly clerk.
The thing is,that out of an ordinary story of an ordinary life,Bennett has written a wonderfully funny book,and one which I cannot commend enough. ( )

Right in my wheelhouse, clever dialogue and set in Victorian England. ( )

The tale of Denry Machin, as told by novelist Arnold Bennett in The Card (Methuen, 1911), is a lark, a droll comedy, a jovial adventure in business and life success - a literary "Horatio Alger" story. Bennett tells his story in short chapters, and the book as a whole is not long. It is consistently light-hearted, often witty, with short comments of a comedic nature concluding most chapters as well as interspersed throughout. His central character is someone who often spontaneously and sometimes with forethought pulls off daring social maneuvers that astound and delight his townsfolk, and lead to his ultimate success. He is, as the people say, "a card."

As such, the novel serves a fine contrast to the generally sour look late 19th and early 20th century writers cast upon both business enterprise and the common people. Here, the common folk are not mere victims, and the businessmen not uniformly predatory. Indeed, one of the signature marks of Bennett's oeuvre is his rescuing the non-intellectual classes from the derision of the intelligentsia. This is one such work that demonstrates Bennett's essential humanitarianism and lack of class bias.

It is one of the handful of Bennett's many books that the author himself deemed a complete success - and it is worth noting that all the others are serious affairs: Old Wives' Tale, Riceyman Steps, and the Clayhanger trilogy. I have, as of yet, read only a few of Bennett's works, excluding the other certified Bennett classics save the magnificent Riceyman Steps. I can say that I have a soft spot in my heart for his light work. Buried Alive strikes me as nearly as fine as The Card, though not as consistently comic. But it, too, is a light work, a romp, and was scorned for that by folks like H.L. Mencken, who otherwise regarded Bennett's best work as expert and near-perfect presentations of man as he actually exists.

I have known cards, actually, and this book captures their essence quite well. I recommend it.