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A great, sweeping yarn that draws you in and is reluctant to let you go. The characters are vivid and memorable, but unlike Dickens they do not drift into caricature. This was my first Trollope novel and I shall certainly be going back for more! ( )

It’s probably too obvious to say that Anthony Trollope’s sprawling satirical novel, The Way We Live Now, could easily be about the way we live now, but given how many dire stories I’ve heard about how the economy is failing due to bad investments and shifty-seeming practices like credit default swaps, I can’t help but see the parallels. In his story of young men speculating in the railroads in hopes of gaining some of the money they’ve lost gambling (!) and living primarily on credit in the meantime, Trollope is writing about the way we live now. Add to the mix a nasty political campaign in which one side spends all its time digging up secrets and the other spends all its time trying to hide from or laugh off the scandals. Then throw in jilted lovers and two-timing men. Yep, it’s the way we live now all right. And it’s funny, funny and infuriating and oddly touching.

The novel opens by introducing us to the Carbury family. Lady Carbury fancies herself a great authoress, having just published a history titled Criminal Queens, and it’s clear from the start that she’s intended to be a comic figure. Her son, Felix, is the joy and the plague of her life. She gives him whatever he asks, and he spends most of his time gambling at his club and accumulating debts. Felix’s sister Hetta is more responsible than her brother, but Lady Carbury finds little to praise about her. Each of the characters related to the Carburys has his or her own storyline that sometimes has very little to do with the Carburys. And every storyline offers something worthwhile, and some move in entirely unexpected directions.

The characters in this novel are very well-drawn. Some characters are broadly comic and intended to be so. Lady Carbury never develops layers. Other characters, however, defy expectations, both my expectations as a reader and the expectations of the other characters. Marie Melmotte seems like nothing more than an empty-headed prize to be offered to the highest bidder, but she turns out to be quite the capable schemer. Roger Carbury seems to be the epitome of the upright Victorian hero, but he tends to be a prig who holds unreasonable grudges. Mrs. Hurtle, my favorite character, is reputed to be a wild American woman who’s always ready with a shotgun, but she’s really an honorable woman who has been forced to take care of herself.

This is the third Trollope novel I’ve read (the others being The Duke’s Children and Barchester Towers), and I recommend it highly to anyone who’s been meaning to give Trollope a try. For me, this kind of novel is what reading is all about.

See my complete review at my blog. ( )

Well, it's Trollope, so it's great in many ways. I have to say I didn't enjoy it as much as say, the Barcester novels. Perhaps it's just that there are no really sympathetic characters, and those who are portrayed as slightly better people, Roger Carbury, Mrs. Hurtle, Mr. Brehgert, are thwarted completely from any satisfactory conclusions.

I get that it's a social satire, but must it really be so relentlessly negative?

Anyhoo, it's got those great Trollopian characterizations, although some of those sweet young heiresses, and unscrupulous young gentlemen seem interchangeable. There's also those great little asides and commentaries that just nail human nature down pat. I enjoyed it for these reasons more than any other.

I wonder also *SPOILER* whether someone like Melmotte would actually have committed suicide. He'd been in hot water before, why take it so hard this time? I'm not sure that rang true. ( )