

Loading... Doctor Thorne (Oxford World's Classics) (original 1858; edition 2014)by Anthony Trollope (Author), Simon Dentith (Editor)
Work InformationDoctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope (1858)
![]()
Books Read in 2015 (807) Favourite Books (1,195) » 7 more Folio Society (461) Read the book and saw the movie (1,003) 19th Century (152) 1850s (11) Tagged 19th Century (84) Books Read in 2021 (608)
4.5 This is a good love story as well as good literature. I think I actually enjoyed this one more than Barchester Towers. You knew exactly where it was going but it was quite fun getting there. I did get a little bored towards the end and wanted it to conclude. And the whole let's tell Frank first instead of Mary herself that she is rich did make me want to throw things. But it was enjoyable. This is very much in the Trollope style with his sense of humour and ability to take the reader into his confidence. The characters are well described and there is a satisfying though rather too neat conclusion. So it's an enjoyable read but I do find there are drawbacks to Trollope as well that are more obvious here than in the previous two Barsetshire chronicles which are more to do with clerical scheming in Barchester. The main problem is that he paints the Tories as a noble landowning class whose serfs are all too willing to touch their forelocks to their betters and it's not a problem (in fact a boon) that the Tories oppose expanding the voting franchise and (say) allowing Jews into parliament. The more progressive Whigs are portrayed as haughty snobs yet history shows they were more concerned with the welfare of the poor than the Tories. Mary and Doctor Thorne are two endearing and admirable characters - neither of them are perfect but you do root for them. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesBelongs to Publisher SeriesIs contained inContainsHas the adaptationIs abridged inHas as a study
Now adapted for TV by Julian Fellowes, Doctor Thorne is the compelling story in which rank, wealth, and personal feeling are pitted against one another.The squire of Greshamsbury has fallen on hard times, and it is incumbent on his son Frank to make a good marriage. But Frank loves the doctor's niece, Mary Thorne, a girl with no money and mysterious parentage. He faces a terrible dilemma: should he save the estate, or marry the girl he loves?Mary, too, has to battle her feelings, knowing that marrying Frank would ruin his family and fly in the face of his mother's opposition. Her pride is matched by that of her uncle, Dr Thorne, who has to decide whether to reveal a secret that would resolve Frank's difficulty, or to uphold the innatemerits of his own family heritage.The character of Dr Thorne reflects Trollope's own contradictory feelings about the value of tradition and the need for change. His subtle portrayal, and the comic skill and gentle satire with which the story is developed, are among the many pleasures of this delightful novel. No library descriptions found. |
Popular covers
![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.8 — Literature English {except North American} English fiction Victorian period 1837-1900LC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author.
|
All the difficulties are ultimately resolved by an unlikely chain of events and fortuitous deaths typical of this sort of thing and the happy ending is telescoped way before it ever occurs. This leaves the message somewhat diluted.
As always Trollope's prose is marvelous and his sense of humor exquisite making this a fairly light hearted read that belies his later works. The characters are well drawn and tend to be less two-dimensional than Dickens while the plots are nowhere near as lively.
I like this book a lot, maybe better, than I did the previous two volumes Barchester Towers and The Warden and look forward to the next. I'm sure this will seem dull to those that do not favor long 19th century novels, but I always loved this sort of thing.
(