Barchester Towers

Barchester Towers is the second of Anthony Trollope's books set in the fictional county of Barsetshire. I read the first, The Warden and, while appreciating the writing, never fell in love with the book. I had the same experience with Barchester Towers, until halfway through when things took off and I could not stop reading.

Like The Warden, Barchester Towers is largely concerned with wrangling between groups of Anglican clergymen, some of whom want to reform the system and others who have benefited from what is essentially an old boys network and are deeply invested in keeping things as they are. Trollope is clearly on the side of tradition, which left me siding with the obvious villains of the piece. Here, a new bishop is appointed by show more the government and it isn't the pompous Grantly, but Proudie (it must be said that Trollope's names are not as good as Dickens'), who arrives with not only a wife who expects a voice in matters, but also a personal clergyman, Mr Slope, whose ambitions manage to alienate everyone. And so the church in Barchester is split into two factions, both jostling for power, mainly in the appointment of various sinecures.

Trollope does a lovely job writing his female characters. While he's a big proponent of people knowing their place, he writes women as real people, with as much intelligence and personality as any of his male characters. And my favorite was Mrs Proudie, a woman accustomed to being in charge and who, when briefly thwarted, becomes a force to be reckoned with. Trollope also has an entertaining habit of going all meta here and there, to point out who the villains are, or to explain how he has tailored his story in order to fulfill the expectations of the reader.

On the other hand, I found Trollope frustrating in a few regards. He has a tendency to put some of the most interesting scenes outside of the story, so that the reader is only told of the result of a fabulous conflict or romantic interlude. This was a great disappointment, especially when an encounter has been foreshadowed and anticipated for some time. A paragraph or two telling the reader what happened is not good enough, Mr Trollope! He also has a habit of telling the reader things about the characters' personalities which are not bourn out in the telling of the story. Not only is he telling-not-showing, but he's telling us things that just aren't true. Specifically, that Mrs Proudie is a villain, or that a certain family is devoid of heart - despite Trollope telling the reader this several times, their actions show this to simply not be true.

I'm interested enough in the doings in Barsetshire to continue with the series, but I have my issues with Mr Trollope. show less

Trollope seems to be having a lot of fun in this second novel of his Chronicles of Barsetshire series making it an entertaining, almost light, book for this reader in spite of the length and the somewhat heavy issue the plot revolves around--the heated battles between England’s low and high church clergy. The story is full of clever, often laugh-out loud asides by a very present, quite friendly, somewhat cozy omniscient narrator who frequently parses the actions, thoughts, and feelings of the characters rather than just reporting them.

Most of the main characters from The Warden, first book in the series, are back, and it’s part of the fun to see how they are getting on with their lives, but there are many new and wonderful additions show more too, including a bishop cowed by his wife and curate, the oily manipulative Mr. Slope, the steeped in ancient Anglo-Saxon tradition Thorne siblings, and the scheming Stanhope family fresh from Italy and full of continental ways. Trollope writes characters who can be silly, weak, selfish, stubborn, pompous, and irresponsible and still you feel some sympathy for them. Like many Victorian novels Barchester Towers is long, but the ending is perfect, with every character arc and plot thread resolving in a way that is highly satisfying. show less

Trollope is a giant among writers. This is one of his best efforts - although the story progresses without strain or apparent effort. The novel is often funny. The characters are thoroughly drawn. We sense their motivations and prejudices, mainly through the wonderful language with which Victorians were so adept and precise, and which Trollope magically captured.
The awful are painfully rendered such as Obadiah Slope; the humane and the good shine like Mrs. Eleanor Bold and Mr. Harding. The star of the show is the great support role of Madeleine Stanhope (aka the lame and beautiful Madame Neroni).
We should never forget that Trollope got up before sunrise every morning to write his fabulous novels, and after the allotted time set aside show more for this work, began his other job of running the British Post Office. In today's authoritarian and overbearing world of work, one imagines that he would be reprimanded for exercising his great talents beyond the scope of the civil service. show less

The Oxford's introduction calls this is a novel "primarily to enjoy". Puzzling over why else I'd read a novel, I do see the point. I think Trollope has achieved classic status on the merits of his engaging style which continues to work in the present. He's also brilliant at simple statements that bring clarity to psychological and emotional insights which are complex in nature (chapter forty-two!). There's copious contemporary references that require several pages of endnotes to explain them all, but I only needed those when I was curious. I like that Trollope was invested enough in the clergy to know his subject matter while retaining an almost secular perspective with his coy insights and commentary; a gentle poking in the ribs while show more maintaining respect for the church.

The Warden was a stronger novel, a morality tale that supplied no easy answer. This was merely a series of social affairs as townsfolk scrimmage with their new chaplain and the various parties strive at romancing. Authorial insertions with their assurances about outcomes aren't the acts of "suicide" that Henry James called them, but they did take some zip out of the first read's enjoyment. Still I liked it all the way through (mild exception for too much introduction to the Ullathorne event and its irrelevant details). Like early Dickens, Trollope relies on the charm of his characters to carry the story rather than a plot, and I liked the women especially. Madeline Stanhope would have stung my pride if I were younger but now I can be amused. Eleanor was another favourite, admirable for standing up for herself even when she was too quick to assume. show less

A delightful and funny novel which made me wonder how much one can put Trollope's social observations into a current state of affairs if it comes to schemes to gain power and influence. I love his insight into the human psyche, both of men and women. Parts reminded me of Woody Allen and how he depicts speechlessness and confusion in otherwise very articulate persons and how one’s own perception so much differs from that of others.

Reading in an illustrated, carefully edited small full cloth book with gilded edges and ribbon page marker was an extra delight.

How I have enjoyed living in the world of Barchester for the last few days. Trollope has a genius for names: Sir Omicron Pie, the famous physician with his name made up of Greek letters; Dr. Fillgrave, another physician (whose skills one just might not trust); Farmer Greenacre; and my favourite, Reverend and Mrs. Quiverful with their 14 hungry mouths to feed. His quiver was full indeed!

The political jostlings and jugglings of a group of clergymen is as nothing to the power of one Bishop's wife. Mrs. Proudie is a force to be reckoned with as she goes toe to toe with Obadiah Slope, her Bishop's chaplain. And there's another name: Slope is indeed on a slippery slope with his sloping around Barchester, trying to make preemptive strikes in show more his power struggle with Mrs. Proudie.

In the midst of it all is the beautiful widow, Eleanor Bold, with her very comfortable income, a prize sought after by those seeking power or a way out of their financial impecuniousness. She gets buffeted between the thunderous blustering of her brother in law, the Archdeacon Grantly, and the strangely seductive and odd Stanhope family, who hope to fob off Bertie Stanhope on her. Will she find true love? Will her reputation and virtue remain intact? But she's no milquetoast or shrinking violet. Eleanor Bold can haul off and hit an offending swain a good one as well as defending herself verbally when pushed too far. Beautiful, sweet, and gentle she may be but she's no pushover.

The best discovery in reading Trollope for the first time was to learn how wonderfully funny he is. He has such a good comedic eye, whether he is having a farmer's son trip his own horse while attempting to stab a sack of flour, or playing with the disparity between the classes with all their attendant snobberies. He plays Hob with the Church of England, poking fun at high church affectations while defrocking plain church piety. Although he wrote in the 1800s, his awareness of human foibles is fresh and pertinent. I greatly look forward to the rest of this series. show less

After The Warden, another excellent visit to Barsetshire, and another book I had a difficult time putting down. Trollope improves here on his gentle wittiness, absolutely delightful small-scale ecclesiastical Machiavellian scheming, and complicated human dynamics.

I'm quite enjoying the way Trollope interacts with the reader in these books, too: it almost always made me smile. And he continues to create some extremely memorable characters, from the delightfully odd Miss Thorne to the sneaky creature Mr. Slope and the not-to-be-messed-with Mrs. Proudie.

Looking forward to heading back to Barsetshire before too long ...