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Chronicles of Barsetshire #3
Doctor Thorne
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
476 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1858
About the author
Anthony Trollope
1,875 books1,633 followersAnthony Trollope became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of Trollope's best-loved works, known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire; he also wrote penetrating novels on political, social, and gender issues and conflicts of his day.
Trollope has always been a popular novelist. Noted fans have included Sir Alec Guinness (who never travelled without a Trollope novel), former British Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan and Sir John Major, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, American novelists Sue Grafton and Dominick Dunne and soap opera writer Harding Lemay. Trollope's literary reputation dipped somewhat during the last years of his life, but he regained the esteem of critics by the mid-twentieth century.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_...
Trollope has always been a popular novelist. Noted fans have included Sir Alec Guinness (who never travelled without a Trollope novel), former British Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan and Sir John Major, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, American novelists Sue Grafton and Dominick Dunne and soap opera writer Harding Lemay. Trollope's literary reputation dipped somewhat during the last years of his life, but he regained the esteem of critics by the mid-twentieth century.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 899 reviews
March 7, 2016
Update For you lovers of costume dramas, the BBC dramatisation of Dr. Thorne started tonight, March 6th. It will definitely be enjoyable schlock because it's written by Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame. Whether or not Fellowes can bring out Trollope's attitudes towards snobbery and convention rather than morality being important, I don't know. The BBC certainly failed with The Ladies' Paradise turning it into a silly romance about a poor pretty girl and skipping entirely Zola's social commentary on the exploitation of the employees that was still better than anything else society had to offer a girl without money or looks.
Still we can hope.
_________________
I enjoyed so much of this book, but after finishing it, I wish I'd never read it. It exposes, and not in a satirical way, the appalling morals of Victorian society.
Sick. No other word for it.
But times have changed. The future king of England met his wife when she was modelling a transparent dress over bra and knickers in a university fashion show. Her mother was an air hostess (you know, 'come fly me') and has built up a mail-order party budget-minded party business. They thoroughly exploited the fact that their daughter's wedding into the royal family and will someday become Queen of England by producing 1,833 items for sale, ranging from drink stirrers, to lottery tickets and commemorative plates. Obviously this is acceptable to Queen Elizabeth II, but judging by Trollope's story of the Greshams, it would probably have caused Queen Victoria to keel over in an apopolectic shock and thereby ushered in the louche Edwardian era and modern times a little sooner.
To sum up, a very well-written and enjoyable book that can best be recommended to those who didn't read the spoiler or snobs of the very worst kind! (Or die-hard Trollope fans like me).
Still we can hope.
_________________
I enjoyed so much of this book, but after finishing it, I wish I'd never read it. It exposes, and not in a satirical way, the appalling morals of Victorian society.
Sick. No other word for it.
But times have changed. The future king of England met his wife when she was modelling a transparent dress over bra and knickers in a university fashion show. Her mother was an air hostess (you know, 'come fly me') and has built up a mail-order party budget-minded party business. They thoroughly exploited the fact that their daughter's wedding into the royal family and will someday become Queen of England by producing 1,833 items for sale, ranging from drink stirrers, to lottery tickets and commemorative plates. Obviously this is acceptable to Queen Elizabeth II, but judging by Trollope's story of the Greshams, it would probably have caused Queen Victoria to keel over in an apopolectic shock and thereby ushered in the louche Edwardian era and modern times a little sooner.
To sum up, a very well-written and enjoyable book that can best be recommended to those who didn't read the spoiler or snobs of the very worst kind! (Or die-hard Trollope fans like me).
November 1, 2012
Doctor Thorne kept me company during a hurricane. I don't really understand how anyone could possibly not love Anthony Trollope. This 624 page novel went incredibly fast. Trollope is more courteous, more solicitous, gentler and kinder to his readers than any other author I know. I almost thought he might even pour my tea. The story, that of a romance complicated by societal predjudice, has been told by many authors, in many times and places. But the way he tells the tale is just incomparable.
April 11, 2024
Considered his best work by Anthony Trollope, Doctor Thorne is a sensitive story, exposing Victorian tyranny and hypocrisy on high birth and social class. Victorian society valued high birth, pure blood, and social class as the guiding principles for superiority. A person who is coming from an ancient lineage and who is born legitimate, even if he is financially broke, was considered superior to others who have raised themselves to higher wealth. However, as we say, "money talks", the new wealthy were pursuing their own ambitions of power and influence, and they were slowly gaining their recognition and footing in society. This turn of events is not to the liking of the Victorian aristocrats and the high-born gentry. Yet, in their financial embarrassment, these high lords and ladies were eager to obtain the financial benefits offered to them by those who they consider inferior to them. The surest method to contract an alliance was marriage. And this surest method was sorted by these superior lords and ladies without any scruple, to secure an heir or heiress of low birth, social class, or even questionable birth, if a monetary benefit was received in return. In Doctor Thorne, through a well-told story, Trollope takes pain to expose this Victorian hypocrisy.
The titular character, Dr. Thorne, is Trollope's hero. A middle-aged man, who had to sacrifice much in life for others, Dr. Thorne with his modest pride, his honest conduct, and professionalism, wins the hearts of the readers. And the readers fully agree that he should be the hero. His niece, Mary Thorne (the heroine according to Trollope), is the center of the story. All the thematic expositions, of birth, social class, and love, are centered on her. Her young lover, Frank Gresham, is the broke high-born heir. A spirited and fair principled young man, Frank shows a formidable obstinacy in doing what is right by following his heart fighting against family tyranny and pressure to "sell himself for money". Trollope is excellent at introducing spirited young male characters, and in Frank Gresham too, the readers come to meet a young man whom they can admire as a hero.
My association with Trollope is limited. In that limited capacity, I have come to regard him as a good satirist and humourist. I have even written in a previous review that Trollope was a Victorian Jane Austen. However, in Doctor Thorne, I was surprised by a different Trollope, whose writing was sensitive, sympathetic, and emotional. His satire wasn't replaced by no means. But the sincere, sympathetic, and sensitive style that he has adopted in Doctor Thorne gives the story more maturity and weight. I, who so far have enjoyed Trollope for his satire and light writing, greatly enjoyed his earnest and heartfelt writing. The weight and emotions embraced me rather than driving me away. Trollope's style and tone were so powerful and sincere that the readers cannot escape from forming a deep connection with the story.
Thematic expositions of the story are, as previously mentioned, birth, pure blood, social class, money, love, and above all, Victorian hypocrisy which twisted the conventional convictions according to their advantages. The twists and turns with which Trollope exposed and ridiculed them showed the passion with which Trollope condemned such hypocritical practices. Trollope believed in decency, respectability, equality, and humanity; and these principles, according to him, should not be compromised by hypocritical and tyrannical conventions. Doctor Thorne amply demonstrates his outlook.
Trollope's repertoire is vast, and I have read only a few. But Doctor Thorne is the best Trollope novel I have read. Trollope has himself considered it so. Up to now, no Trollope work has become a favourite of mine, but this one will now sit proudly on my favourite shelf.
More of my reviews can be found at http://piyangiejay.com/
The titular character, Dr. Thorne, is Trollope's hero. A middle-aged man, who had to sacrifice much in life for others, Dr. Thorne with his modest pride, his honest conduct, and professionalism, wins the hearts of the readers. And the readers fully agree that he should be the hero. His niece, Mary Thorne (the heroine according to Trollope), is the center of the story. All the thematic expositions, of birth, social class, and love, are centered on her. Her young lover, Frank Gresham, is the broke high-born heir. A spirited and fair principled young man, Frank shows a formidable obstinacy in doing what is right by following his heart fighting against family tyranny and pressure to "sell himself for money". Trollope is excellent at introducing spirited young male characters, and in Frank Gresham too, the readers come to meet a young man whom they can admire as a hero.
My association with Trollope is limited. In that limited capacity, I have come to regard him as a good satirist and humourist. I have even written in a previous review that Trollope was a Victorian Jane Austen. However, in Doctor Thorne, I was surprised by a different Trollope, whose writing was sensitive, sympathetic, and emotional. His satire wasn't replaced by no means. But the sincere, sympathetic, and sensitive style that he has adopted in Doctor Thorne gives the story more maturity and weight. I, who so far have enjoyed Trollope for his satire and light writing, greatly enjoyed his earnest and heartfelt writing. The weight and emotions embraced me rather than driving me away. Trollope's style and tone were so powerful and sincere that the readers cannot escape from forming a deep connection with the story.
Thematic expositions of the story are, as previously mentioned, birth, pure blood, social class, money, love, and above all, Victorian hypocrisy which twisted the conventional convictions according to their advantages. The twists and turns with which Trollope exposed and ridiculed them showed the passion with which Trollope condemned such hypocritical practices. Trollope believed in decency, respectability, equality, and humanity; and these principles, according to him, should not be compromised by hypocritical and tyrannical conventions. Doctor Thorne amply demonstrates his outlook.
Trollope's repertoire is vast, and I have read only a few. But Doctor Thorne is the best Trollope novel I have read. Trollope has himself considered it so. Up to now, no Trollope work has become a favourite of mine, but this one will now sit proudly on my favourite shelf.
More of my reviews can be found at http://piyangiejay.com/
August 8, 2018
I have never read anything by Anthony Trollope until now. Of course, I've heard of him alongside names such as Charles Dickens and an earlier generation edified by Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters.
To say that there are a lot of novels about marriages being dominated by money and status in these popular Victorian (or Regency) novels is to be laughed out of the pub for being a damn rube. I'm almost to the point in my thinking that there is NO other kind of popular novel. Romance? Check. Estates? Check. Awful people doing awful things to innocents and the innocents generally get theirs in the ends? Check.
And this one is no different. So, moving on, let's see what makes this stand out from all the rest.
It has very well-rounded characters, not blown up and made larger than life, but full of wonderful details and turns that make them feel a bit more genuine than Dickens. It's not quite as forcefully idealistic as George Elliot, and it's not as unabashedly critical of the whole system as Austen.
Indeed, the main criticisms Trollope has is about people. And he has no qualms showing the full gamut and range of what we are and what we do. The good and the bad. The shameless and the shameful and the sweet. I like it. :)
I won't say it's all that different from all the rest, but it is enjoyable AS A GENRE. Yes, as a popular genre, it's several inches above most and often on the same level in both quality and entertainment as the other authors I just mentioned.
I honestly had a good time. :) Of course, I actually like Victorian and Regency novels and I've read enough of them to never get hung up on the god-awful ALIENNESS of such a society, but that's where being an SF aficionado comes in handy. I love worldbuilding. OF course, this is our world... but we can be sooooo alien to each other. :)
To say that there are a lot of novels about marriages being dominated by money and status in these popular Victorian (or Regency) novels is to be laughed out of the pub for being a damn rube. I'm almost to the point in my thinking that there is NO other kind of popular novel. Romance? Check. Estates? Check. Awful people doing awful things to innocents and the innocents generally get theirs in the ends? Check.
And this one is no different. So, moving on, let's see what makes this stand out from all the rest.
It has very well-rounded characters, not blown up and made larger than life, but full of wonderful details and turns that make them feel a bit more genuine than Dickens. It's not quite as forcefully idealistic as George Elliot, and it's not as unabashedly critical of the whole system as Austen.
Indeed, the main criticisms Trollope has is about people. And he has no qualms showing the full gamut and range of what we are and what we do. The good and the bad. The shameless and the shameful and the sweet. I like it. :)
I won't say it's all that different from all the rest, but it is enjoyable AS A GENRE. Yes, as a popular genre, it's several inches above most and often on the same level in both quality and entertainment as the other authors I just mentioned.
I honestly had a good time. :) Of course, I actually like Victorian and Regency novels and I've read enough of them to never get hung up on the god-awful ALIENNESS of such a society, but that's where being an SF aficionado comes in handy. I love worldbuilding. OF course, this is our world... but we can be sooooo alien to each other. :)
March 14, 2021
”I will never hanker after a dead man’s shoes, neither for myself nor for another,” he had said to himself a hundred times, and as often did he accuse himself of doing so.
Dr. Thorne is the third in the Barsetshire series, and, in my judgment, the best. If Charles Dickens is the wizard at showing us the poverty and desperation of the lower class in Victorian England, Anthony Trollope is the master at dissecting the upper classes and the threat of the rising professional and industrial class during that same period.
In a world that is changing, Barsetshire strives to stay the same. The Earl de Courcy is still a revered and august personage, Mr. Gresham of Greshamsbury is the mainstay of the county, and Dr. Thorne is a respected man, although only a second cousin to the Thornes of Ullathorne. Mr. Gresham and Dr. Thorne are the closest of friends, and Thorne’s niece, Mary, has grown up in close proximity to the Gresham children, but when the heir apparent, Frank Gresham, declares his love for her, this story is off to explore the difficulties they will encounter because of the class line that divides them.
The very fact of her absence added fuel to the fire of his love, more perhaps than even her presence might have done. For the flight of the quarry ever adds eagerness to the pursuit of the huntsman.
Frank feels he must have Mary at any cost. The question raised here becomes one of love or money, and which has value for each of these characters. Frank is expected to marry money and position, and Mary has neither. Mary is a fine girl and loved by most of the family, but the arrogant and pompous Lady Arabella objects strenuously to Mary’s lack of blood and moolah, and especially since the moolah is actually needed to keep the estate going.
How frequent it is that men on their road to ruin feel elation such as this! A man signs away a moiety of his substance, nay, that were nothing; but a moiety of the substance of his children; he puts his pen to the paper that ruins him and them; but in doing so he frees himself from a score of immediate little pestering, stinging troubles; and, therefore, feels as though fortune has been almost kind to him.
There are serious subjects, but Trollope also exercises a fine-tuned humor, for so often to understand man, we must laugh at him.
Frank had become legally of age, legally a man, when he was twenty-one. Nature, it seems, had postponed the ceremony til he was twenty-two. Nature often does postpone the ceremony even to a much later age;--sometimes, altogether forgets to accomplish it.
To say more would be to give away the plot line, which I never wish to do. There could be a case made for the predictability of the outcome. As the reader progresses, it becomes clear where this tale is going; but, the story is so well-written, the characters so well developed, and the moral issues so thoughtfully presented, that it hardly matters.
Dr. Thorne is an unlikely hero, being a man without title or money in a world that still rotates around those commodities. His niece, Mary, is a strong woman, who does not allow societal decorum to get in the way of her convictions. In the face of the unjust and arrogant Lady Arabella, she comes across as the truly classy lady in Barsetshire, and she holds her own. Having spent several days with them, I was sad to close the book and know I was done with Barsetshire forever.
And thanks to my good friend, Diane, I realize I am not done with Barsetshire at all. In fact, I have just as many left to read as I have already read. So, next year should be populated with Trollope characters once more.
Dr. Thorne is the third in the Barsetshire series, and, in my judgment, the best. If Charles Dickens is the wizard at showing us the poverty and desperation of the lower class in Victorian England, Anthony Trollope is the master at dissecting the upper classes and the threat of the rising professional and industrial class during that same period.
In a world that is changing, Barsetshire strives to stay the same. The Earl de Courcy is still a revered and august personage, Mr. Gresham of Greshamsbury is the mainstay of the county, and Dr. Thorne is a respected man, although only a second cousin to the Thornes of Ullathorne. Mr. Gresham and Dr. Thorne are the closest of friends, and Thorne’s niece, Mary, has grown up in close proximity to the Gresham children, but when the heir apparent, Frank Gresham, declares his love for her, this story is off to explore the difficulties they will encounter because of the class line that divides them.
The very fact of her absence added fuel to the fire of his love, more perhaps than even her presence might have done. For the flight of the quarry ever adds eagerness to the pursuit of the huntsman.
Frank feels he must have Mary at any cost. The question raised here becomes one of love or money, and which has value for each of these characters. Frank is expected to marry money and position, and Mary has neither. Mary is a fine girl and loved by most of the family, but the arrogant and pompous Lady Arabella objects strenuously to Mary’s lack of blood and moolah, and especially since the moolah is actually needed to keep the estate going.
How frequent it is that men on their road to ruin feel elation such as this! A man signs away a moiety of his substance, nay, that were nothing; but a moiety of the substance of his children; he puts his pen to the paper that ruins him and them; but in doing so he frees himself from a score of immediate little pestering, stinging troubles; and, therefore, feels as though fortune has been almost kind to him.
There are serious subjects, but Trollope also exercises a fine-tuned humor, for so often to understand man, we must laugh at him.
Frank had become legally of age, legally a man, when he was twenty-one. Nature, it seems, had postponed the ceremony til he was twenty-two. Nature often does postpone the ceremony even to a much later age;--sometimes, altogether forgets to accomplish it.
To say more would be to give away the plot line, which I never wish to do. There could be a case made for the predictability of the outcome. As the reader progresses, it becomes clear where this tale is going; but, the story is so well-written, the characters so well developed, and the moral issues so thoughtfully presented, that it hardly matters.
Dr. Thorne is an unlikely hero, being a man without title or money in a world that still rotates around those commodities. His niece, Mary, is a strong woman, who does not allow societal decorum to get in the way of her convictions. In the face of the unjust and arrogant Lady Arabella, she comes across as the truly classy lady in Barsetshire, and she holds her own. Having spent several days with them, I was sad to close the book and know I was done with Barsetshire forever.
And thanks to my good friend, Diane, I realize I am not done with Barsetshire at all. In fact, I have just as many left to read as I have already read. So, next year should be populated with Trollope characters once more.
October 24, 2022
Victober (2)
4.5 stars rounded up
I love Downton Abbey. Downton Abbey is my all-time favorite series, the number one, and basically my 'comfort zone', that place where I usually get back when I have no idea about what to watch on TV. I guess I'm kind of obsessed with Downton Abbey. As a matter of fact, it has been a while since I finished the whole series and since I saw a complete episode, however, I do confess that the first thing that comes to mind when someone says England is, of course, Downton Abbey. Well, as you can tell, I'm a huge fan of this period drama, and so is my mother, though she is still watching it. So, in order for me—and for my mother once she finished Downton Abbey as well—to keep enjoying series of that kind, I decided to look for other Julian Fellowes' works, the creator and writer of Downton Abbey, basically those period dramas where he has worked as a writer. It turned out that there are at least four more series or miniseries of the sort: Belgravia (an interesting drama, yet somewhat melodramatic for my taste – in the end the experience was great though, with a deeply satisfying ending), Titanic (this series was anything but a good version: I never happened to meet the characters who were actually rather plain and not likable; besides, there were many subplots and all of them quite superficial), The Gilded Age (this was fabulous, a really nice, enjoyable experience, good plots and well-developed characters, my second favorite after Downton Abbey), and of course, Doctor Thorne.
I knew beforehand Doctor Thorne would be the TV adaptation of the homonymous novel by Anthony Trollope, and since I truly enjoyed my previous Trollope reading experience, I said to myself 'let's watch—should I say 'read'?—it as soon as possible.' Okay, here's the thing: when it comes to TV adaptations, I don't like to watch the adaptation before reading the corresponding book; I feel like, since the book is (almost) always much better than its adaptation, it's a better idea for me to get to the book first, finish it, and then, and just then, watch the series or the movie in question. This was my plan, and that was what I did.
I also knew Doctor Thorne is part of a series called The Chronicles of Barsetshire, being the third book in the series. Honestly, I didn't care much about that fact; for me, the order of a series is optional, you can start wherever you want as long as you are comfortable with it, and besides, a GR friend of mine, Justin, told me that this book sort of has nothing to do with the two previous novels in the series; so, I eventually picked it up and ended up loving it. Whereas Doctor Thorne—sorry, I mean the TV adaptation—was somewhat plain, and with one-dimensional characters, yet a compelling storyline (a little different to the book though), the novel is actually very well written, with an engaging, profound story, palpable characters, and a well-developed conflict and resolution. In other words: book > TV adaptation (what a surprise, huh?).
Doctor Thorne is a novel with quite a few characters but with only one main plot: the love story of Mary Thorne, Doctor Thorne's niece, who has a mysterious background—though it is mysterious only for the rest of the characters as the reader knows the actual mystery from the very beginning—and Frank Gresham, son of a wealthy(?), respected family, who must marry money, according to many members of his family. The problem is, as you can imagine, that Mary has no money. So, Frank will have two options: he will have to follow either his family's wishes or his heart. What a dilemma!
Furthermore, there is an interesting subplot that involves a couple of characters and has something to do with alcoholism and its consequences – the way Trollope depicted how a human being might be affected by that disease and their consequent behavior in the society of his time feels really vivid and palpable, and the descriptions of how a person and the people around them may suffer because of it were really moving and rather realistic.
In short, this novel was another successful reading experience, and a good option for me to keep enjoying my Trollope journey and this Victober (though it's Victober for me throughout the entire year, as you can tell). I'd highly recommend Doctor Thorne to anyone who loves Victorian literature, and even if you are not very much into it. Probably you will want to read The Warden and Barchester Towers before getting to Doctor Thorne, which I think it will be a perfect idea (I don't regret doing the things differently though, but I hope I can read the first and second novels sooner rather than later and then keep reading the entire series, this time in the right order).
As I said before, probably in my review of He Knew He Was Right, Trollope's prose is very easy to read, it's enjoyable and compelling; that being said, I do believe sometimes the author is digressing a little from the main storyline, which was the case in He Knew He Was Right, but fortunately not so often here in Doctor Thorne – at the end of the day, this is something I have usually found in many Victorian novels, so I guess that was the way people used to write way back in that period of time. Anyway, just give Trollope's novels a try if you haven't done so already, and hopefully you will enjoy his stories as much as I do.
He had a pride in being a poor man of a high family; he had a pride in repudiating the very family of which he was proud; and he had a special pride in keeping his pride silently to himself.
4.5 stars rounded up
I love Downton Abbey. Downton Abbey is my all-time favorite series, the number one, and basically my 'comfort zone', that place where I usually get back when I have no idea about what to watch on TV. I guess I'm kind of obsessed with Downton Abbey. As a matter of fact, it has been a while since I finished the whole series and since I saw a complete episode, however, I do confess that the first thing that comes to mind when someone says England is, of course, Downton Abbey. Well, as you can tell, I'm a huge fan of this period drama, and so is my mother, though she is still watching it. So, in order for me—and for my mother once she finished Downton Abbey as well—to keep enjoying series of that kind, I decided to look for other Julian Fellowes' works, the creator and writer of Downton Abbey, basically those period dramas where he has worked as a writer. It turned out that there are at least four more series or miniseries of the sort: Belgravia (an interesting drama, yet somewhat melodramatic for my taste – in the end the experience was great though, with a deeply satisfying ending), Titanic (this series was anything but a good version: I never happened to meet the characters who were actually rather plain and not likable; besides, there were many subplots and all of them quite superficial), The Gilded Age (this was fabulous, a really nice, enjoyable experience, good plots and well-developed characters, my second favorite after Downton Abbey), and of course, Doctor Thorne.
I knew beforehand Doctor Thorne would be the TV adaptation of the homonymous novel by Anthony Trollope, and since I truly enjoyed my previous Trollope reading experience, I said to myself 'let's watch—should I say 'read'?—it as soon as possible.' Okay, here's the thing: when it comes to TV adaptations, I don't like to watch the adaptation before reading the corresponding book; I feel like, since the book is (almost) always much better than its adaptation, it's a better idea for me to get to the book first, finish it, and then, and just then, watch the series or the movie in question. This was my plan, and that was what I did.
I also knew Doctor Thorne is part of a series called The Chronicles of Barsetshire, being the third book in the series. Honestly, I didn't care much about that fact; for me, the order of a series is optional, you can start wherever you want as long as you are comfortable with it, and besides, a GR friend of mine, Justin, told me that this book sort of has nothing to do with the two previous novels in the series; so, I eventually picked it up and ended up loving it. Whereas Doctor Thorne—sorry, I mean the TV adaptation—was somewhat plain, and with one-dimensional characters, yet a compelling storyline (a little different to the book though), the novel is actually very well written, with an engaging, profound story, palpable characters, and a well-developed conflict and resolution. In other words: book > TV adaptation (what a surprise, huh?).
Doctor Thorne is a novel with quite a few characters but with only one main plot: the love story of Mary Thorne, Doctor Thorne's niece, who has a mysterious background—though it is mysterious only for the rest of the characters as the reader knows the actual mystery from the very beginning—and Frank Gresham, son of a wealthy(?), respected family, who must marry money, according to many members of his family. The problem is, as you can imagine, that Mary has no money. So, Frank will have two options: he will have to follow either his family's wishes or his heart. What a dilemma!
Furthermore, there is an interesting subplot that involves a couple of characters and has something to do with alcoholism and its consequences – the way Trollope depicted how a human being might be affected by that disease and their consequent behavior in the society of his time feels really vivid and palpable, and the descriptions of how a person and the people around them may suffer because of it were really moving and rather realistic.
In short, this novel was another successful reading experience, and a good option for me to keep enjoying my Trollope journey and this Victober (though it's Victober for me throughout the entire year, as you can tell). I'd highly recommend Doctor Thorne to anyone who loves Victorian literature, and even if you are not very much into it. Probably you will want to read The Warden and Barchester Towers before getting to Doctor Thorne, which I think it will be a perfect idea (I don't regret doing the things differently though, but I hope I can read the first and second novels sooner rather than later and then keep reading the entire series, this time in the right order).
As I said before, probably in my review of He Knew He Was Right, Trollope's prose is very easy to read, it's enjoyable and compelling; that being said, I do believe sometimes the author is digressing a little from the main storyline, which was the case in He Knew He Was Right, but fortunately not so often here in Doctor Thorne – at the end of the day, this is something I have usually found in many Victorian novels, so I guess that was the way people used to write way back in that period of time. Anyway, just give Trollope's novels a try if you haven't done so already, and hopefully you will enjoy his stories as much as I do.
He had a pride in being a poor man of a high family; he had a pride in repudiating the very family of which he was proud; and he had a special pride in keeping his pride silently to himself.
March 9, 2023
I first watched the Doctor Thorne miniseries produced by Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame probably 5 years ago. Back then, I did not even know who Anthony Trollope was (gasp!). I have always enjoyed watching Victorian period dramas and didn’t realize what I was missing by not reading the source to begin with. But I’ve definitely come a long way to alter that mistake in my life. And my reading life is richer for it. Now, I won’t dare watch a series before reading the novel first!
Doctor Thorne is a lengthy novel, third in the Chronicles of Barsetshire series, in which Trollope sheds light on the pretensions of money and morality in a small village in England. The setting is in the country, away from the town of the first two novels but still very much a part of Barsetshire. The small, rural village of Greshamsbury is the home of Squire Francis Gresham. We meet the family as they gather to celebrate the coming of age of the heir to Greshamsbury. Frank is a capable and handsome son who has two sisters of marrying age and two younger sisters. He is besotted with young Mary Thorne, the niece of the village doctor, who’s birth and blood did not keep her from growing up alongside Frank and his sisters. However, Frank disregards all the family’s affectations and vows that he will marry Mary Thorne. He loves her and she says she loves him, but in a world where money defines a genteel family’s name and is the one thing that will keep that in tact, Frank and Mary find that the way for love may not be so easily acquired.
The squire is a good man, but he has not been a good manager of his estate. He is in debt and has started let go of some of his property. The squire and his wife, Lady Arabella who is horrified by Frank’s marital choice, determine the only way out of the family’s troubles is for him to marry a woman of means - with enough money that debts will be covered and a fortune that will continue to sustain their lifestyle at Greshamsbury. Frank is bombarded on all sides and constantly reminded that
there is no road to wealth so easy and respectable as that of matrimony.
During the span of the novel, we encounter the Greshams, Thornes, Scatherds, de Courcys, and others who give readers a look into the life of this community. Frank and Mary are 21 years old when the novel begins and two years pass as the events take place. Doctor Thorne holds many roles and he struggles with the knowledge that he keeps from Mary about her birth. Frank struggles with the things young men who are in love and have their lives before them deal with - youth and immaturity. I really loved how Trollope draws his male hero characters. They have substance and good consciences yet they struggle with doing right by the ways of the world/society and of their families and those important to them. Doctor Thorne has always wanted to protect Mary and at a point in the novel when she is rejected and turned upon because she doesn’t meet the marital standards, Doctor Thorne’s character shows his fortitude in conflict. Lady Arabella, on the other hand, is condescending and all around uppity even toward her own children. And then Mary Thorne shows herself to be a young woman of principles and with a steadfast manner.
My only criticism is the repetitiousness of the story. Maybe this has to do with the serialized format the story was originally written in, but it still didn’t prevent me from giving this a full, superior 5 stars!!
Doctor Thorne is a lengthy novel, third in the Chronicles of Barsetshire series, in which Trollope sheds light on the pretensions of money and morality in a small village in England. The setting is in the country, away from the town of the first two novels but still very much a part of Barsetshire. The small, rural village of Greshamsbury is the home of Squire Francis Gresham. We meet the family as they gather to celebrate the coming of age of the heir to Greshamsbury. Frank is a capable and handsome son who has two sisters of marrying age and two younger sisters. He is besotted with young Mary Thorne, the niece of the village doctor, who’s birth and blood did not keep her from growing up alongside Frank and his sisters. However, Frank disregards all the family’s affectations and vows that he will marry Mary Thorne. He loves her and she says she loves him, but in a world where money defines a genteel family’s name and is the one thing that will keep that in tact, Frank and Mary find that the way for love may not be so easily acquired.
The squire is a good man, but he has not been a good manager of his estate. He is in debt and has started let go of some of his property. The squire and his wife, Lady Arabella who is horrified by Frank’s marital choice, determine the only way out of the family’s troubles is for him to marry a woman of means - with enough money that debts will be covered and a fortune that will continue to sustain their lifestyle at Greshamsbury. Frank is bombarded on all sides and constantly reminded that
there is no road to wealth so easy and respectable as that of matrimony.
During the span of the novel, we encounter the Greshams, Thornes, Scatherds, de Courcys, and others who give readers a look into the life of this community. Frank and Mary are 21 years old when the novel begins and two years pass as the events take place. Doctor Thorne holds many roles and he struggles with the knowledge that he keeps from Mary about her birth. Frank struggles with the things young men who are in love and have their lives before them deal with - youth and immaturity. I really loved how Trollope draws his male hero characters. They have substance and good consciences yet they struggle with doing right by the ways of the world/society and of their families and those important to them. Doctor Thorne has always wanted to protect Mary and at a point in the novel when she is rejected and turned upon because she doesn’t meet the marital standards, Doctor Thorne’s character shows his fortitude in conflict. Lady Arabella, on the other hand, is condescending and all around uppity even toward her own children. And then Mary Thorne shows herself to be a young woman of principles and with a steadfast manner.
My only criticism is the repetitiousness of the story. Maybe this has to do with the serialized format the story was originally written in, but it still didn’t prevent me from giving this a full, superior 5 stars!!
April 3, 2021
Anthony Trollope’s Dr. Thorne is the third in the Chronicles of Barsetshire series. Until I tried Trollope’s books, I didn’t think I could enjoy Victorian novels. Few series work well for me. Once again, this series by Trollope is the exception. I have read three of the series’ five books and will continue.
What is it that makes this book and Trollope special for me?
The prose. It’s witty. It’s humorous. The dialogs are marvelous.
Trollope knows people and writes of them with finesse!
The story is not fast moving. Time is lavished on the drawing of characters—we are given a clear picture of not only their outward appearances but also their way of being. We observe what they say, do and don’t do, and how they behave when in a pickle and when they are happy. The characters are nuanced. Both the heroes and the heroines have their fallibilities. The villains tend to make you laugh because they are so human.
The book is not read for plot! I guessed at the start where the story was leading, and I was 100% right. This doesn’t matter! The fun lies in seeing how Trollope brings this about.
The story is set over a period of two to three years in the vicinity of a fictitious provincial cathedral town in western England. The Greshams are a family of standing. They have lost their wealth. If the family is to remain, to keep its dignity and standing, the sole male offspring, Francis, must marry into a family of wealth and if the woman he picks is of high social class, all the better! Where do love and tenderness and a person’s strength of character fit into this picture? Is there place for such? Of course!
I like that the story is not about greedy, self-centered individuals infatuated with glamorous gowns, jewels and opulent lifestyles. The money is needed to repay debts, to regain solvency.
Timothy West narrates the audiobook. He is a true ace. His intonations are fantastic—he captures the characters’ personalities perfectly. He will have you laughing and giggling. He reads slowly in just the right places. His pacing is perfect. Definitely five stars for the audio narration. It could not possibly be better.
What more need I say about Trollope? He knows women equally well as men—not all, but some have strength of character. I love how Trollope inserts himself into the telling and speaks directly to his readers. Read his books and you will discover what I am talking about! Trollope has a knack for writing. He writes well!
*********************
Palliser Series :
1.Can You Forgive Her? 3 stars
2.Phineas Finn 4 stars
Standalones :
*Dr. Wortle's School 3 stars
*Sir Harry Hotspur Of Humblethwaite 2 stars
Chronicles of Barsetshire :
1.The Warden 3 stars
2.Barchester Towers 4 stars
3.Dr. Thorne 4 stars
4.Framley Parsonage TBR
5.The Small House at Allington TBR
What is it that makes this book and Trollope special for me?
The prose. It’s witty. It’s humorous. The dialogs are marvelous.
Trollope knows people and writes of them with finesse!
The story is not fast moving. Time is lavished on the drawing of characters—we are given a clear picture of not only their outward appearances but also their way of being. We observe what they say, do and don’t do, and how they behave when in a pickle and when they are happy. The characters are nuanced. Both the heroes and the heroines have their fallibilities. The villains tend to make you laugh because they are so human.
The book is not read for plot! I guessed at the start where the story was leading, and I was 100% right. This doesn’t matter! The fun lies in seeing how Trollope brings this about.
The story is set over a period of two to three years in the vicinity of a fictitious provincial cathedral town in western England. The Greshams are a family of standing. They have lost their wealth. If the family is to remain, to keep its dignity and standing, the sole male offspring, Francis, must marry into a family of wealth and if the woman he picks is of high social class, all the better! Where do love and tenderness and a person’s strength of character fit into this picture? Is there place for such? Of course!
I like that the story is not about greedy, self-centered individuals infatuated with glamorous gowns, jewels and opulent lifestyles. The money is needed to repay debts, to regain solvency.
Timothy West narrates the audiobook. He is a true ace. His intonations are fantastic—he captures the characters’ personalities perfectly. He will have you laughing and giggling. He reads slowly in just the right places. His pacing is perfect. Definitely five stars for the audio narration. It could not possibly be better.
What more need I say about Trollope? He knows women equally well as men—not all, but some have strength of character. I love how Trollope inserts himself into the telling and speaks directly to his readers. Read his books and you will discover what I am talking about! Trollope has a knack for writing. He writes well!
*********************
Palliser Series :
1.Can You Forgive Her? 3 stars
2.Phineas Finn 4 stars
Standalones :
*Dr. Wortle's School 3 stars
*Sir Harry Hotspur Of Humblethwaite 2 stars
Chronicles of Barsetshire :
1.The Warden 3 stars
2.Barchester Towers 4 stars
3.Dr. Thorne 4 stars
4.Framley Parsonage TBR
5.The Small House at Allington TBR
June 12, 2018
This book was the reason of my acquaintance with the author. Some time ago I had seen the TV series bassed on it at random, which make me curious to search for his work. I have already started doing this by reading the first two books of the chronicles, making the best impressions. These good impressions, however, are not compared to the effect that this book had on me.
The author leaves aside the subjects of the Anglican church to deal with other subjects, such as the ever-time theme of love. Of course, it is mainly concerned with the social side of the subject, although the romantic element is not lacking. You see, at the time of this book the class differences, the need to maintain and strengthen the social position and the economic facts were those elements that were taken very seriously into the marriage issue. A marriage between people of different classes and financial statements was considered to be very bad and very degrading to the old aristocratic families. All this is added to the classical story of such a socially unequal love, and along with various other issues give the writer the opportunity to create a story that is particularly enlightening to the morals of a time when social changes were in conflict with traditional perceptions.
Of course, as in the previous two books, what stands out is the way they are written. This prose, sometimestimes cynical, sometimes delicate, full of clever humor, is unique, this continuous play with the meanings and words and the spirit of self-parody that ends in the satire of the rules of literature, which of course always cares to violate is a real mental pleasure. The way the writer treats his characters is equally unique. He cares to show us all aspects, even the most negative ones, trying to make us understand their motives and thoughts by sympathizing with them, giving them even advice in the middle of the text. In this way, his characters are also in this book, apart from separate also highly multidimensional, despite the fact that many of them are symbols of specific mentalities, with the interaction between them being given in such a way as to form a mosaic of society.
All this in another book that shows the writer's excellent ability to critique the society of his time, while creating extremely interesting literature. A particularly informative book that also contains a very interesting story, with many funny but also many moving moments, when the author wants to talk about love, friendship and insistence on the right principles. An amazing book.
Αυτό το βιβλίο ήταν η αφορμή της γνωριμίας μου με τον συγγραφέα. Πριν από λίγο καιρό είχα δει εντελώς τυχαία την τηλεοπτική του μεταφορά, κάτι που μου κίνησε την περιέργεια για να ασχοληθώ με το έργο του. Έχω ήδη ξεκινήσει αυτό να το κάνω, διαβάζοντας τα δύο πρώτα βιβλία των χρονικών, αποκομίζοντας τις καλύτερες εντυπώσεις. Αυτές οι καλές εντυπώσεις, όμως, δεν συγκρίνονται με την επίδραση που είχε αυτό το βιβλίο πάνω μου.
Ο συγγραφέας αφήνει στην άκρη τα θέματα της αγγλικανικής εκκλησίας για να ασχοληθεί με άλλα θέματα, όπως το πάντα διαχρονικό θέμα του έρωτα. Φυσικά αναμενόμενα το κάνει ασχολούμενος κυρίως με την κοινωνική πλευρά του θέματος, αν και το ρομαντικό στοιχείο δεν λείπει. Βλέπετε, στην εποχή αυτού του βιβλίου οι ταξικές διαφορές, η ανάγκη διατήρησης και ενίσχυσης της κοινωνικής θέσης και τα οικονομικά δεδομένα ήταν αυτά τα στοιχεία που λαμβάνονταν πολύ σοβαρά υπόψιν στο ζήτημα του γάμου. Ένας γάμος ανάμεσα σε ανθρώπους διαφορετικών τάξεων και οικονομικών καταστάσεων θεωρούνταν κάτι πάρα πολύ κακό και ιδιαίτερα υποτιμητικό για τις παλιές αριστοκρατικές οικογένειες. Όλα αυτά προστίθενται στην κλασική ιστορία ενός τέτοιου κοινωνικά αταίριαστου έρωτα και μαζί με διάφορα άλλα ζητήματα δίνουν την ευκαιρία στο συγγραφέα να δημιουργήσει μία ιστορία ιδιαίτερα διαφωτιστική για τα ήθη μιας εποχής όπου οι κοινωνικές αλλαγές έρχονταν σε σύγκρουση με τις παραδοσιακές αντιλήψεις.
Φυσικά, όπως και στα προηγούμενα δύο βιβλία, αυτό που ξεχωρίζει είναι ο τρόπος που έχουνε γραφτεί. Αυτή η γραφή η κάποιες φορές κυνική, κάποιες φορές ευαίσθητη, η γεμάτη έξυπνο χιούμορ είναι μοναδική, αυτό το συνεχόμενο παιχνίδι με τις έννοιες και τις λέξεις και η διάθεση αυτοπαρωδίας που καταλήγει στη σάτιρα των κανόνων της λογοτεχνίας, τους οποίους φυσικά φροντίζει πάντα να παραβιάζει είναι μία πραγματική εγκεφαλική απόλαυση. Ο τρόπος που ο συγγραφέας μεταχειρίζεται τους χαρακτήρες του είναι εξίσου μοναδικός. Φροντίζει να μας δείχνει όλες τους τις πλευρές, ακόμα και τις πιο αρνητικές, προσπαθώντας έτσι να μας κάνει να καταλάβουμε τα κίνητρα και τις σκέψεις τους, συμπάσχοντας μαζί τους, δίνοντας τους ακόμα και συμβουλές στη μέση του κειμένου. Με αυτό το τρόπο οι χαρακτήρες του είναι και σε αυτό το βιβλίο πέρα από ξεχωριστοί και ιδιαίτερα πολυδιάστατοι, παρά το γεγονός ότι πολλοί από αυτούς είναι σύμβολα συγκεκριμένων νοοτροπιών, με τη μεταξύ τους αλληλεπίδραση να δίνεται με τέτοιο τρόπο ώστε να σχηματίζεται ένα μωσαϊκό της κοινωνίας.
Όλα αυτά σε άλλο ένα βιβλίο που δείχνει την εξαιρετική ικανότητα του συγγραφέα να κριτικάρει την κοινωνία της εποχής του, δημιουργώντας παράλληλα εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρουσα λογοτεχνία. Ένα βιβλίο ιδιαίτερα ενημερωτικό που, όμως, περιέχει και μία πάρα πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα ιστορία, με πολλές αστείες αλλά και πολλές συγκινητικές στιγμές, όταν ο συγγραφέας θέλει να μιλήσει για τον έρωτα, τη φιλία και την επιμονή στις σωστές αρχές. Ένα καταπληκτικό βιβλίο.
The author leaves aside the subjects of the Anglican church to deal with other subjects, such as the ever-time theme of love. Of course, it is mainly concerned with the social side of the subject, although the romantic element is not lacking. You see, at the time of this book the class differences, the need to maintain and strengthen the social position and the economic facts were those elements that were taken very seriously into the marriage issue. A marriage between people of different classes and financial statements was considered to be very bad and very degrading to the old aristocratic families. All this is added to the classical story of such a socially unequal love, and along with various other issues give the writer the opportunity to create a story that is particularly enlightening to the morals of a time when social changes were in conflict with traditional perceptions.
Of course, as in the previous two books, what stands out is the way they are written. This prose, sometimestimes cynical, sometimes delicate, full of clever humor, is unique, this continuous play with the meanings and words and the spirit of self-parody that ends in the satire of the rules of literature, which of course always cares to violate is a real mental pleasure. The way the writer treats his characters is equally unique. He cares to show us all aspects, even the most negative ones, trying to make us understand their motives and thoughts by sympathizing with them, giving them even advice in the middle of the text. In this way, his characters are also in this book, apart from separate also highly multidimensional, despite the fact that many of them are symbols of specific mentalities, with the interaction between them being given in such a way as to form a mosaic of society.
All this in another book that shows the writer's excellent ability to critique the society of his time, while creating extremely interesting literature. A particularly informative book that also contains a very interesting story, with many funny but also many moving moments, when the author wants to talk about love, friendship and insistence on the right principles. An amazing book.
Αυτό το βιβλίο ήταν η αφορμή της γνωριμίας μου με τον συγγραφέα. Πριν από λίγο καιρό είχα δει εντελώς τυχαία την τηλεοπτική του μεταφορά, κάτι που μου κίνησε την περιέργεια για να ασχοληθώ με το έργο του. Έχω ήδη ξεκινήσει αυτό να το κάνω, διαβάζοντας τα δύο πρώτα βιβλία των χρονικών, αποκομίζοντας τις καλύτερες εντυπώσεις. Αυτές οι καλές εντυπώσεις, όμως, δεν συγκρίνονται με την επίδραση που είχε αυτό το βιβλίο πάνω μου.
Ο συγγραφέας αφήνει στην άκρη τα θέματα της αγγλικανικής εκκλησίας για να ασχοληθεί με άλλα θέματα, όπως το πάντα διαχρονικό θέμα του έρωτα. Φυσικά αναμενόμενα το κάνει ασχολούμενος κυρίως με την κοινωνική πλευρά του θέματος, αν και το ρομαντικό στοιχείο δεν λείπει. Βλέπετε, στην εποχή αυτού του βιβλίου οι ταξικές διαφορές, η ανάγκη διατήρησης και ενίσχυσης της κοινωνικής θέσης και τα οικονομικά δεδομένα ήταν αυτά τα στοιχεία που λαμβάνονταν πολύ σοβαρά υπόψιν στο ζήτημα του γάμου. Ένας γάμος ανάμεσα σε ανθρώπους διαφορετικών τάξεων και οικονομικών καταστάσεων θεωρούνταν κάτι πάρα πολύ κακό και ιδιαίτερα υποτιμητικό για τις παλιές αριστοκρατικές οικογένειες. Όλα αυτά προστίθενται στην κλασική ιστορία ενός τέτοιου κοινωνικά αταίριαστου έρωτα και μαζί με διάφορα άλλα ζητήματα δίνουν την ευκαιρία στο συγγραφέα να δημιουργήσει μία ιστορία ιδιαίτερα διαφωτιστική για τα ήθη μιας εποχής όπου οι κοινωνικές αλλαγές έρχονταν σε σύγκρουση με τις παραδοσιακές αντιλήψεις.
Φυσικά, όπως και στα προηγούμενα δύο βιβλία, αυτό που ξεχωρίζει είναι ο τρόπος που έχουνε γραφτεί. Αυτή η γραφή η κάποιες φορές κυνική, κάποιες φορές ευαίσθητη, η γεμάτη έξυπνο χιούμορ είναι μοναδική, αυτό το συνεχόμενο παιχνίδι με τις έννοιες και τις λέξεις και η διάθεση αυτοπαρωδίας που καταλήγει στη σάτιρα των κανόνων της λογοτεχνίας, τους οποίους φυσικά φροντίζει πάντα να παραβιάζει είναι μία πραγματική εγκεφαλική απόλαυση. Ο τρόπος που ο συγγραφέας μεταχειρίζεται τους χαρακτήρες του είναι εξίσου μοναδικός. Φροντίζει να μας δείχνει όλες τους τις πλευρές, ακόμα και τις πιο αρνητικές, προσπαθώντας έτσι να μας κάνει να καταλάβουμε τα κίνητρα και τις σκέψεις τους, συμπάσχοντας μαζί τους, δίνοντας τους ακόμα και συμβουλές στη μέση του κειμένου. Με αυτό το τρόπο οι χαρακτήρες του είναι και σε αυτό το βιβλίο πέρα από ξεχωριστοί και ιδιαίτερα πολυδιάστατοι, παρά το γεγονός ότι πολλοί από αυτούς είναι σύμβολα συγκεκριμένων νοοτροπιών, με τη μεταξύ τους αλληλεπίδραση να δίνεται με τέτοιο τρόπο ώστε να σχηματίζεται ένα μωσαϊκό της κοινωνίας.
Όλα αυτά σε άλλο ένα βιβλίο που δείχνει την εξαιρετική ικανότητα του συγγραφέα να κριτικάρει την κοινωνία της εποχής του, δημιουργώντας παράλληλα εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρουσα λογοτεχνία. Ένα βιβλίο ιδιαίτερα ενημερωτικό που, όμως, περιέχει και μία πάρα πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα ιστορία, με πολλές αστείες αλλά και πολλές συγκινητικές στιγμές, όταν ο συγγραφέας θέλει να μιλήσει για τον έρωτα, τη φιλία και την επιμονή στις σωστές αρχές. Ένα καταπληκτικό βιβλίο.
July 18, 2018
Doctor Thorne is the third novel in Anthony Trollope’s series known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire; set in Greshamsbury, a rural town many miles away from the cathedral city the was the setting for the first two novels.
Mr Francis Gresham is the squire of Greshamsbury, and as he story begins he is celebrating the coming of age of his only son, Frank, with his family and friends. The squire is rightly proud of his son, who is handsome, good-natured, and popular; and his great hope is that Frank will marry a wealthy heiress and restore the impoverished and debt-laden family estate.
Sir Roger Scatcherd has underwritten the debt. He was a man with humble roots who had survived a terrible scandal and achieved great success through his own labour; only to learn that he lived in a land where birth and bloodlines meant much, and where lesser men would look down on him and his family. And so when he could work no more he took refuge in drink, even when his good friend Doctor Thorne told him that was killing him.
Frank understands his father’s wishes, but he is besotted with the lovely Mary Thorne, who is the niece of the local doctor, and who grew up alongside Frank and his sisters. He would happily marry her, hope for the best, and, if the best didn’t happen, live a simpler life.
When Lady Arabella Gresham discovers her son’s interest in Mary Thorne, she is horrified. She was a De Courcey, she had been born into a family much grander than the Greshams, she understood the importance of doing the right and proper thing, and so she set about separating the young pair. It wasn’t simply a matter of money, it was also a matter of bloodlines.
When Frank made a declaration of love, Mary turned him away. It wasn’t that she didn’t love him; indeed she probably had deeper feelings for him than he had for her. She had just learned that she was illegitimate and, because she was young and idealistic, she told herself that she could not – would not – lower her young man and his family.
Doctor Thorne had made a promise, many years earlier, to keep Mary’s origins secret, and he kept that promise. He knew that if he spoke out there would be consequences for The House of Gresham and The House of Scatcherd, as well as the niece who he knows is a great lady in every way that is important. The secret is a great burden that many men would struggle with, it weighs heavily on him, but he believes that carrying it alone is the right thing to do.
Trollope spins his story around the three households – the established household of Mr Francis Gresham, the newly elevated household of Mr Francis Gresham and the professional household of Dr Thorne, caught between the two – wonderfully well; and that speaks profoundly of the workings of society and its failure to allow men and women to rise or fall, and of the wisdom and foolishness of those men and women.
The secret is fundamental and Trollope – who I am quite sure was a man could never keep a secret – sets out all of the facts for his readers early in the book, allowing them to empathise with Doctor Thorne and wonder if he really is going to be able to sort this one out satisfactorily by the end of the book.
He did – just about.
Along the way he presented some wonderful characters, relationships and situations.
I was particularly taken by Miss Dunstable, who was a wealthy woman with an independent spirit and a great deal of worldly wisdom. Frank set about courting her, to please his family, but she saw that his heart wasn’t in it, she got the truth out of him, and told him that they should be friends and that he really should follow his hear and pursue Mary Thorne.
Many authors would have made Frank the hero of this story, and Trollope acknowledges this in a wonderful aside:
“He would have been the hero of our tale had not that place been pre-occupied by the village doctor. As it is, those who please may regard him. It is he who is to be our favourite young man, to do the love scenes, to have his trails and his difficulties, and to win through them or not, as the case may be. I am too old now to be a hard-hearted author, and so it is probable that he may not die of a broken heart. Those who don’t approve of a middle-aged bachelor country doctor as a hero, may take the heir to Greshamsbury in his stead, and call the book, if it so please them, ‘The Loves and Adventures of Francis Newbold Gresham the Younger.”
I liked Frank, but the village doctor made a much better hero. He raised his niece as his own child, and he did it wonderfully well; he did what he felt was right as a doctor, while many of his contemporaries thought rather too much of their fees and their social standing; was a good friend to both Sir Roger and Mr Gresham; and he even stood up to Lady Annabel in full sail in a wonderful scene that shows Trollope at his best.
That is not to say that he was a paragon. He was something much better – a real and fallible man.
I found much to love in this book, but I didn’t love it quite as much as I had hoped I might. I think that was because the whole story was spun around one central romance that was drawn out a little too much, leaving quiet periods where I couldn’t help wondering what was going on in Barsetshire.
That’s not to say that I didn’t love the country. I did, and I would happily go back there again. But I can’t say that this book is a particular favourite, or that it is more than the sum of its parts, and I think that the next book – ‘Framley Parsonage’ is rather better constructed.
I can say that I love the memory of this book; and that it has grown on me since I finished reading.
I’m happy that I remember watching the story unfold, watching Mary and Frank mature, and reaching the ending that Trollope told me was inevitable at the start if the book.
Mr Francis Gresham is the squire of Greshamsbury, and as he story begins he is celebrating the coming of age of his only son, Frank, with his family and friends. The squire is rightly proud of his son, who is handsome, good-natured, and popular; and his great hope is that Frank will marry a wealthy heiress and restore the impoverished and debt-laden family estate.
Sir Roger Scatcherd has underwritten the debt. He was a man with humble roots who had survived a terrible scandal and achieved great success through his own labour; only to learn that he lived in a land where birth and bloodlines meant much, and where lesser men would look down on him and his family. And so when he could work no more he took refuge in drink, even when his good friend Doctor Thorne told him that was killing him.
Frank understands his father’s wishes, but he is besotted with the lovely Mary Thorne, who is the niece of the local doctor, and who grew up alongside Frank and his sisters. He would happily marry her, hope for the best, and, if the best didn’t happen, live a simpler life.
When Lady Arabella Gresham discovers her son’s interest in Mary Thorne, she is horrified. She was a De Courcey, she had been born into a family much grander than the Greshams, she understood the importance of doing the right and proper thing, and so she set about separating the young pair. It wasn’t simply a matter of money, it was also a matter of bloodlines.
When Frank made a declaration of love, Mary turned him away. It wasn’t that she didn’t love him; indeed she probably had deeper feelings for him than he had for her. She had just learned that she was illegitimate and, because she was young and idealistic, she told herself that she could not – would not – lower her young man and his family.
Doctor Thorne had made a promise, many years earlier, to keep Mary’s origins secret, and he kept that promise. He knew that if he spoke out there would be consequences for The House of Gresham and The House of Scatcherd, as well as the niece who he knows is a great lady in every way that is important. The secret is a great burden that many men would struggle with, it weighs heavily on him, but he believes that carrying it alone is the right thing to do.
Trollope spins his story around the three households – the established household of Mr Francis Gresham, the newly elevated household of Mr Francis Gresham and the professional household of Dr Thorne, caught between the two – wonderfully well; and that speaks profoundly of the workings of society and its failure to allow men and women to rise or fall, and of the wisdom and foolishness of those men and women.
The secret is fundamental and Trollope – who I am quite sure was a man could never keep a secret – sets out all of the facts for his readers early in the book, allowing them to empathise with Doctor Thorne and wonder if he really is going to be able to sort this one out satisfactorily by the end of the book.
He did – just about.
Along the way he presented some wonderful characters, relationships and situations.
I was particularly taken by Miss Dunstable, who was a wealthy woman with an independent spirit and a great deal of worldly wisdom. Frank set about courting her, to please his family, but she saw that his heart wasn’t in it, she got the truth out of him, and told him that they should be friends and that he really should follow his hear and pursue Mary Thorne.
Many authors would have made Frank the hero of this story, and Trollope acknowledges this in a wonderful aside:
“He would have been the hero of our tale had not that place been pre-occupied by the village doctor. As it is, those who please may regard him. It is he who is to be our favourite young man, to do the love scenes, to have his trails and his difficulties, and to win through them or not, as the case may be. I am too old now to be a hard-hearted author, and so it is probable that he may not die of a broken heart. Those who don’t approve of a middle-aged bachelor country doctor as a hero, may take the heir to Greshamsbury in his stead, and call the book, if it so please them, ‘The Loves and Adventures of Francis Newbold Gresham the Younger.”
I liked Frank, but the village doctor made a much better hero. He raised his niece as his own child, and he did it wonderfully well; he did what he felt was right as a doctor, while many of his contemporaries thought rather too much of their fees and their social standing; was a good friend to both Sir Roger and Mr Gresham; and he even stood up to Lady Annabel in full sail in a wonderful scene that shows Trollope at his best.
That is not to say that he was a paragon. He was something much better – a real and fallible man.
I found much to love in this book, but I didn’t love it quite as much as I had hoped I might. I think that was because the whole story was spun around one central romance that was drawn out a little too much, leaving quiet periods where I couldn’t help wondering what was going on in Barsetshire.
That’s not to say that I didn’t love the country. I did, and I would happily go back there again. But I can’t say that this book is a particular favourite, or that it is more than the sum of its parts, and I think that the next book – ‘Framley Parsonage’ is rather better constructed.
I can say that I love the memory of this book; and that it has grown on me since I finished reading.
I’m happy that I remember watching the story unfold, watching Mary and Frank mature, and reaching the ending that Trollope told me was inevitable at the start if the book.
October 30, 2017
Questo lungo romanzo (550 pagine in ebook), il terzo del ciclo del "Barsetshire", è un feuilleton di gran classe, prendendo questo termine nella sua accezione migliore. Trollope ci conduce con grande maestria nell'ambiente ricco dell'Inghilterra vittoriana, dove regnano ipocrisia e snobismo e dove il destino delle persone è scritto con le regole di quel tempo. Le tematiche affrontate sono quelle classiche: l'amore, la famiglia, l'amicizia, il denaro. I dialoghi e le descrizioni sono splendidi, ma l'eccellenza si raggiunge nel tratteggio psicologico dei tanti personaggi. L'unico difetto, se devo proprio trovarne uno, è il finale affascinante ma abbastanza prevedibile. D'altra parte non siamo in presenza di un thriller che necessita di colpi di scena, ma di un buon libro "di una volta", che va centellinato come un vino ben invecchiato.
Mi rendo conto che nei romanzi spesso il "non detto" ha grande valore. Però, sarà l'età che avanza, mi piacciono sempre più gli scrittori amichevoli, che prendono per mano, spiegano, incoraggiano. Trollope è uno di questi, come dimostrano le due seguenti citazioni.
Scrittura d'altri tempi... come me!
Incipit: Prima che al lettore sia presentato il modesto medico di campagna che sarà il personaggio principale di questa storia, sarà bene che lo si informi di alcuni particolari riguardanti la località in cui, e i vicini tra cui, il nostro dottore esercitava la sua professione.
----
Poiché il Dottor Thorne è il nostro eroe – o dovrei piuttosto dire il mio eroe, visto che il privilegio di scegliere da sé a riguardo è lasciato a tutti i lettori – e poiché la signorina Mary Thorne sarà la nostra eroina – un punto riguardo al quale non viene lasciata nessuna libertà di sorta a chicchessia – è necessario che essi vengano presentati e illustrati e ritratti in maniera adeguata e formale. Sento proprio di dovermi scusare per aver iniziato un romanzo con due lunghi noiosi capitoli pieni di descrizioni. Sono perfettamente consapevole del pericolo di un simile corso. Nel far ciò pecco contro la regola aurea che richiede a noi tutti di principiare nella maniera migliore, la cui saggezza è pienamente ammessa dai romanzieri, me incluso. A stento ci si può aspettare che qualcuno accetti di continuare a leggere una storia che offre così pochi allettamenti nelle prime pagine; ma per quanto mi sforzi, non mi riesce di agire altrimenti.
Mi rendo conto che nei romanzi spesso il "non detto" ha grande valore. Però, sarà l'età che avanza, mi piacciono sempre più gli scrittori amichevoli, che prendono per mano, spiegano, incoraggiano. Trollope è uno di questi, come dimostrano le due seguenti citazioni.
Scrittura d'altri tempi... come me!
Incipit: Prima che al lettore sia presentato il modesto medico di campagna che sarà il personaggio principale di questa storia, sarà bene che lo si informi di alcuni particolari riguardanti la località in cui, e i vicini tra cui, il nostro dottore esercitava la sua professione.
----
Poiché il Dottor Thorne è il nostro eroe – o dovrei piuttosto dire il mio eroe, visto che il privilegio di scegliere da sé a riguardo è lasciato a tutti i lettori – e poiché la signorina Mary Thorne sarà la nostra eroina – un punto riguardo al quale non viene lasciata nessuna libertà di sorta a chicchessia – è necessario che essi vengano presentati e illustrati e ritratti in maniera adeguata e formale. Sento proprio di dovermi scusare per aver iniziato un romanzo con due lunghi noiosi capitoli pieni di descrizioni. Sono perfettamente consapevole del pericolo di un simile corso. Nel far ciò pecco contro la regola aurea che richiede a noi tutti di principiare nella maniera migliore, la cui saggezza è pienamente ammessa dai romanzieri, me incluso. A stento ci si può aspettare che qualcuno accetti di continuare a leggere una storia che offre così pochi allettamenti nelle prime pagine; ma per quanto mi sforzi, non mi riesce di agire altrimenti.
October 4, 2016
I really enjoyed this one - although perhaps didn't find it as original as Barchester Towers. Nonetheless, great characters, and Trollope's writing is lovely and easy to follow throughout. A joy to read.
August 12, 2023
Another highly entertaining and readable entry in this classic series! I particularly enjoyed thinking about how the rigid social structures and oppressive economic order impacted a man (Frank) in addition to our typical impoverished woman protagonist in these novels (Mary)
July 12, 2023
***100 Days of Summer Reading 2023***
Prompt: Book written by an author whose first and last initials can be found in “Summer Vacation"
Virtual 12 sided dice roll: 3
If you have read any gothic romances, you may believe that it is always penurious young women who are in search of well off husbands. Reading Anthony Trollope and Jane Austen, you will realize that aristocratic men could also find themselves unable to support the lifestyles to which they are accustomed. Hence the popularity of American heiresses, looking to exchange cash for pedigreed husbands.
True to Trollope’s style, we are introduced to Mary Thorne, niece of the titular Doctor, of dubious parentage and known poverty. She has been educated in the squire's home and if this was a gothic romance, she would be swept off her feet by the handsome Frank and marry into the wealthy family. But the Greshams have fallen on hard times and Lady Arabella's family (with wealth and position) have decreed that Frank must marry a woman of means.
It is obvious from the very beginning where this novel is headed, especially if you have previously read The Warden and/or Barchester Towers. Doctor Thorne ends up in quite the conflict of interest, knowing how a will is made out but not feeling free to blab. Trollope examines this society, where money trumps love and rich people can largely do as they will. Lady Arabella is set up as the villain of the piece, though not a very effective foe. He deftly shows us the hypocrisy as her family flaunt their bloodlines but fall all over themselves to scoop up rich spouses for their children. However there is pride on both sides of this equation, with the doctor not admitting to any inferiority in his status or his niece's.
It's all a matter of timing, with the younger people being the most impatient with their elders who keep saying wait a month, wait a year, just another fortnight. But despite all the obstacles that Trollope throws into the path of his romantic couple, you know that everything will work out in the end.
Prompt: Book written by an author whose first and last initials can be found in “Summer Vacation"
Virtual 12 sided dice roll: 3
If you have read any gothic romances, you may believe that it is always penurious young women who are in search of well off husbands. Reading Anthony Trollope and Jane Austen, you will realize that aristocratic men could also find themselves unable to support the lifestyles to which they are accustomed. Hence the popularity of American heiresses, looking to exchange cash for pedigreed husbands.
True to Trollope’s style, we are introduced to Mary Thorne, niece of the titular Doctor, of dubious parentage and known poverty. She has been educated in the squire's home and if this was a gothic romance, she would be swept off her feet by the handsome Frank and marry into the wealthy family. But the Greshams have fallen on hard times and Lady Arabella's family (with wealth and position) have decreed that Frank must marry a woman of means.
It is obvious from the very beginning where this novel is headed, especially if you have previously read The Warden and/or Barchester Towers. Doctor Thorne ends up in quite the conflict of interest, knowing how a will is made out but not feeling free to blab. Trollope examines this society, where money trumps love and rich people can largely do as they will. Lady Arabella is set up as the villain of the piece, though not a very effective foe. He deftly shows us the hypocrisy as her family flaunt their bloodlines but fall all over themselves to scoop up rich spouses for their children. However there is pride on both sides of this equation, with the doctor not admitting to any inferiority in his status or his niece's.
It's all a matter of timing, with the younger people being the most impatient with their elders who keep saying wait a month, wait a year, just another fortnight. But despite all the obstacles that Trollope throws into the path of his romantic couple, you know that everything will work out in the end.
January 7, 2017
I think I read this out of order but it doesn't even matter because either way, the story was fabulous!
March 16, 2021
It's been such a pleasure continuing my first reading of Trollope's Barsetshire series. While “Barchester Towers” greatly expanded on the characters and dilemmas first met in “The Warden”, the two books seemed to neatly follow on from each other. So it was interesting to find “Doctor Thorne” takes a broader view of the geographical region and introduces entirely original dramas and a host of vibrant new personalities while only occasionally still featuring small appearances from previously met characters such as the Bishop and Mrs Proudie.
The primary story of this third book involves the dilemma of Frank Gresham, the son of a gentry family that is in dire financial difficulty. It's repeatedly impressed upon him that he must marry for money but Frank falls for Mary Thorne, a young woman with no money who was born out of wedlock. Mary has been raised by her morally upstanding uncle Doctor Thorne who is the only one that knows the scandalous history of her true parentage. The other main plot points of this novel concern a lineage of alcoholism in the Scatcherd family who've achieved substantial wealth from patriarch Sir Roger Scatcherd's success building railways across the country. The story also follows his troubled campaign to be elected to Parliament.
These aspects result in a compelling portrait of mid-19th century England whose society was rapidly changing with the advent of industrial growth and the prospect of marriage between different classes. Many families of high social ranking found they needed the help of new money to maintain their privileged lifestyle and Trollope teases out the uncomfortable tension and hypocrisy that results from this. I think I've got a good feel of Trollope's sensibility and style of writing now which mixes lively social commentary with touches of delicious satire. This creates some truly funny, touching and memorable scenes as his vibrant characters get into squabbles, engage in romantic trysts and form supportive bonds with each other.
Read my full review of Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope on LonesomeReader
The primary story of this third book involves the dilemma of Frank Gresham, the son of a gentry family that is in dire financial difficulty. It's repeatedly impressed upon him that he must marry for money but Frank falls for Mary Thorne, a young woman with no money who was born out of wedlock. Mary has been raised by her morally upstanding uncle Doctor Thorne who is the only one that knows the scandalous history of her true parentage. The other main plot points of this novel concern a lineage of alcoholism in the Scatcherd family who've achieved substantial wealth from patriarch Sir Roger Scatcherd's success building railways across the country. The story also follows his troubled campaign to be elected to Parliament.
These aspects result in a compelling portrait of mid-19th century England whose society was rapidly changing with the advent of industrial growth and the prospect of marriage between different classes. Many families of high social ranking found they needed the help of new money to maintain their privileged lifestyle and Trollope teases out the uncomfortable tension and hypocrisy that results from this. I think I've got a good feel of Trollope's sensibility and style of writing now which mixes lively social commentary with touches of delicious satire. This creates some truly funny, touching and memorable scenes as his vibrant characters get into squabbles, engage in romantic trysts and form supportive bonds with each other.
Read my full review of Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope on LonesomeReader
July 2, 2016
When I moved to Singapore 20 years ago, one of the things that surprised me the most was how openly people there discussed what things cost. Upon seeing that a colleague wore a new watch, 'How much, lah?' was the likeliest comment. At first, this attitude made me uncomfortable, but after a few years traveling in Asia I got used to, and actually appreciated, that frankness.
Trollope doesn't treat cold economic reality as a taboo subject either, and although it probably caused a whiff of vulgarity to have attached to his reputation over the years, I love it. Speaking in precise figures of what a young ladies' annual income came to allowed him to skewer some of the unhealthier implications of capitalism in a class-ridden Victorian society all the more effectively: Implications like the worship of money by lady Arabella which was reflected in real life for me by a young Thai woman I felt went a little too far when she said, 'I love monEY! I love monEY too MUCH!' one evening in Bangkok (to extend my Asian analogy).
Mind you, he structures the story in Dr Thorne so as to avoid grappling with thorny questions like how society might be improved, but he manages to very clearly describe the mentality of a class whose prioritization of wealth and position had made it blind to nobler human attributes such as affection and honesty. Pure cynicism drives the calculations of lady Arabella and her class, and realpolitik dominates their well-meaning but clueless gambits.
Another striking thing Trollope manages here is to give away the ending of the book in the first pages but to make the 500 pages that follow no less compelling because of it. The pleasure of reading his books is not learning where he's ultimately taking the story, but how he gets there. He creates an intricate network of moral dilemmas, and resolves them all satisfactorily in an intelligent, poetic writing style.
As in his other books, the names of Trollope's characters are often infused with meaning - Dr. Fillgrave being my personal favorite. And the political agents, Mr. Nearthewinde and Mr. Closerstil, make their appearance in this novel. This can sometimes feel heavy, but I think Dr. Fillgrave by itself makes up for any tedium the other names may cause.
Finally, throughout Dr. Thorne Trollope manages to paint such a vivid emotional picture of and with his characters, that when he steps back for one of his confidential asides, the effect can sometimes be jarring. You realize that this story, which he's making up, has drawn you in more surely than any reality. For me, this is Trollope's greatest accomplishment.
Trollope doesn't treat cold economic reality as a taboo subject either, and although it probably caused a whiff of vulgarity to have attached to his reputation over the years, I love it. Speaking in precise figures of what a young ladies' annual income came to allowed him to skewer some of the unhealthier implications of capitalism in a class-ridden Victorian society all the more effectively: Implications like the worship of money by lady Arabella which was reflected in real life for me by a young Thai woman I felt went a little too far when she said, 'I love monEY! I love monEY too MUCH!' one evening in Bangkok (to extend my Asian analogy).
Mind you, he structures the story in Dr Thorne so as to avoid grappling with thorny questions like how society might be improved, but he manages to very clearly describe the mentality of a class whose prioritization of wealth and position had made it blind to nobler human attributes such as affection and honesty. Pure cynicism drives the calculations of lady Arabella and her class, and realpolitik dominates their well-meaning but clueless gambits.
Another striking thing Trollope manages here is to give away the ending of the book in the first pages but to make the 500 pages that follow no less compelling because of it. The pleasure of reading his books is not learning where he's ultimately taking the story, but how he gets there. He creates an intricate network of moral dilemmas, and resolves them all satisfactorily in an intelligent, poetic writing style.
As in his other books, the names of Trollope's characters are often infused with meaning - Dr. Fillgrave being my personal favorite. And the political agents, Mr. Nearthewinde and Mr. Closerstil, make their appearance in this novel. This can sometimes feel heavy, but I think Dr. Fillgrave by itself makes up for any tedium the other names may cause.
Finally, throughout Dr. Thorne Trollope manages to paint such a vivid emotional picture of and with his characters, that when he steps back for one of his confidential asides, the effect can sometimes be jarring. You realize that this story, which he's making up, has drawn you in more surely than any reality. For me, this is Trollope's greatest accomplishment.
February 3, 2022
I was made happy by the charm of this entertaining and cute suspenseful plot of Victorian young adults in love but struggling against overwhelming class disapproval of their relationships, despite the obvious irritations to me about the treatment of women and the assumed virtues in maintaining the English class system by the characters in 'Doctor Thorne', third novel in the Barsetshire series by Anthony Trollope. Since the story takes place (and was written) in 1858 England about characters in a conservative farming village built around a couple of aristocratic great houses during a time social class structures were cemented into law as solid as granite, author Anthony Trollope could not do much else except write a book which reflected his time; but I think he was more than aware of some stirrings here and there of lower-class rebellion. Trollope, though, was not a rebel or an activist - he was simply a first-class novelist who wrote entertaining books about a community of various middle-class gentry struggling to climb up a few rungs through marriage and money; and various aristocrat families who felt the growing threat from the middle-classes - and some of their own - overthrowing the established structures of society and themselves.
In all of these books so far, Trollope is sneaky in how he subtly criticizes the class system and the unearned crooked accumulation of wealth by the rich through the time-honored device of developing plots around young, and sometimes old, adult characters of unequal class falling in love (recall that some of Shakespeare's plays written in the 1600's used this literary device). Trials, tribulations and lost time beset all of the book's characters in genteel cliffhanger after cliffhanger! Some lose their moral direction and money, while others succeed through amazing coincidences and good luck. Although I enjoyed 'Doctor Thorne', third in the Chronicles of Barsetshire series, I did not think it quite as hilarious as number two, Barchester Towers, but the usual complete spectrum of personalities we are all familiar with today and which were obviously familiar to Trollope in his day are skewered - very gently and most with affection. In the end, Trollope makes things come out right, as authors do.
In all of these books so far, Trollope is sneaky in how he subtly criticizes the class system and the unearned crooked accumulation of wealth by the rich through the time-honored device of developing plots around young, and sometimes old, adult characters of unequal class falling in love (recall that some of Shakespeare's plays written in the 1600's used this literary device). Trials, tribulations and lost time beset all of the book's characters in genteel cliffhanger after cliffhanger! Some lose their moral direction and money, while others succeed through amazing coincidences and good luck. Although I enjoyed 'Doctor Thorne', third in the Chronicles of Barsetshire series, I did not think it quite as hilarious as number two, Barchester Towers, but the usual complete spectrum of personalities we are all familiar with today and which were obviously familiar to Trollope in his day are skewered - very gently and most with affection. In the end, Trollope makes things come out right, as authors do.
Read
March 29, 2019This one felt almost too easy for Trollope, but it's got plenty of subtleties and peculiarities of its own. I'm having a grand old time with the series.
February 25, 2008
I've read 99 percent of the trollopes, even the obscure ones, and this one is my absolute favorite. It has all the best fantasy romance elements (a wisecracking unmarried heiress who finds true love, a lovely young couple who are kept apart by poverty — until she turns out to secretly be the daughter of a very wealthy person) and more. It's got all the best of Trollope and allows you to indulge your fantasy that maybe someday everything will work out in your own life...
I'm curious to know if anyone wants to take part in a trollope reading group? There are so many books, it'd be helpful to have other readers steer you toward the good ones... I'm sort of surprised by how little people have to say in their goodreads.comments about the trollope books they've read, what's that all about?
I'm curious to know if anyone wants to take part in a trollope reading group? There are so many books, it'd be helpful to have other readers steer you toward the good ones... I'm sort of surprised by how little people have to say in their goodreads.comments about the trollope books they've read, what's that all about?
December 10, 2021
Before I begin my own review, here's what my favourite author had to say about this magnificent, moving, satirically funny and sweepingly romantic novel, whilst reading it in a far-flung town in the interior of a Mexico without priests in the 1930s.
"It is a love story and there are few love stories in literature; love in fiction is so often now - as Hemingway expresses it - what hangs up behind the bathroom door. "Dr Thorne" , too, is the perfect ‘popular’ novel - and when one is lonely one wants to claim kinship with all the simple friendly people turning the pages of their Home Notes. With what superb skill Trollope maintains a kind of fictitious suspense. We know exactly from an early page that Frank will be faithful to Mary, that Sir Roger Scatcherd will die and leave her a fortune, that Lady Arabella will be humbled and old Dr. Thorne be able to resume his friendship with the squire, that Frank and Mary will live happy ever after; but we co-operate with the author in his management of the plot, we pretend to feel suspense, and that frank co-operation is a mark of the popular novel, for the great sentimental popular heart doesn’t care for real suspense, to be in genuine doubt of the lovers’ destiny. In "Barchester Towers" Trollope says in so many words that he will have no mysteries in his story - the widow, he tells you, will not marry Mr Slope: the reader need have no fears. In this more ‘popular’ story, he doesn’t deny his creed; the suspense is patently unreal, but he allows us to pretend we fear, and sometimes it was a real strain - to stop after twenty pages and lie and sweat upon the iron bed and not to know." - Graham Greene, "The Lawless Roads"
Indeed, what else remains to be said, when Mr. Greene has already done the job for me, by giving it such a concise yet wonderfully candid and even resonant review for it, that too nearly eighty-four years ago, to be precise?
So, I will try and give my own personal and heartfelt review of this grand English family saga and how even at a formidable length of more than 550 pages, it turned out to be that rare "big" novel that never tired or exhausted me even for once. Trollope's ability of cramming together an extraordinary and eclectic cast of characters, all superbly fleshed and realistically rounded, his uncanny ability to tell a story of even the seemingly most mundane or unspectacular situations with lively enthusiasm and, of course, his skill at creating that "fictional suspense" even as his omnipresent and even fourth-wall-breaking narrator keeps on blurting out the intended denouement of his novel - they are all in evident display in this novel but what is even more impressive is how the writer orchestrates these numerous characters with assured grace, taking care to develop not only their arcs but also making their aspirations and feelings as believable as possible so that we relate and resonate with each one of them. Regardless whether we agree or disagree with them.
At heart, yes, "Doctor Thorne" is a love story. A classic love story in that pleasantly Victorian tradition and one would be instructed to read it accordingly and yet what frequently amazes is the dazzling breadth and depth of Trollope's quarry. One is indeed aware that there are the odds of birth and blood between the aristocratic Frank Gresham and the virtuous but almost anonymous Mary Thorne and yet the two fall in love inevitably and these very odds stand in their way. But the writer takes that simple yarn of love against all odds and uses it ingeniously as a device to examine, critique and deconstruct the very ideas of rank, wealth and position in England and in English aristocratic circles and the result is a rare story of romance and drama also stuffed with such brilliantly aimed satire and also serious and thoughtful meditations on these themes that the book gains unprecedented weight and integrity as a serious work of intelligent storytelling.
And though that might make it sound as if this was a serious, brooding book, rest assured - it is not. This is a lively, fun-filled read from cover to cover, so enjoyable, even when at its most thoughtful or poignant, that you will read hungrily page after page, enjoying Trollope's "fictional suspense" and willing to forget what has already been hinted or mentioned in the beginning and rooting for our lovers to meet and for their families, also estranged and strained in the process, to come together again. We laugh generously at Trollope's biting digs at aristocrats, gold-diggers and snobs; we smile winsomely at the wisdom of the titular doctor and his calm defiance in the face of possible catastrophe and we reach out for our handkerchiefs when our lovers profess their feelings and are also forced to reconsider them in the name of trivial things like money and rank. And there is a wealth of characters to fall for - from the bamboozled but boorishly tender Sir Roger Scatcherd to the charmingly graceless Miss Dunstable, a rich heiress refreshingly careless about her social status, from Frank's flippant sister Beatrice, who cannot choose between her love for Mary and her obedience to her frosty but inwardly tender mother to the haplessly uxorious Caleb Oriel, always worried about his Sunday parishioners.
And yet with all the crackling wit, all the well-aimed satire, all those women fleshed out with almost winning realism by Trollope, "Doctor Thorne" is in every sense a great, grand English love story and as the end approaches, and as our best intentions are confirmed, we cannot help but smile unabashedly at the happiness of it all. All's well that ends well, indeed.
P.S - Thank you dear friend and fellow Trollope admirer Petra for further recommending me to read this endearingly brilliant saga.
"It is a love story and there are few love stories in literature; love in fiction is so often now - as Hemingway expresses it - what hangs up behind the bathroom door. "Dr Thorne" , too, is the perfect ‘popular’ novel - and when one is lonely one wants to claim kinship with all the simple friendly people turning the pages of their Home Notes. With what superb skill Trollope maintains a kind of fictitious suspense. We know exactly from an early page that Frank will be faithful to Mary, that Sir Roger Scatcherd will die and leave her a fortune, that Lady Arabella will be humbled and old Dr. Thorne be able to resume his friendship with the squire, that Frank and Mary will live happy ever after; but we co-operate with the author in his management of the plot, we pretend to feel suspense, and that frank co-operation is a mark of the popular novel, for the great sentimental popular heart doesn’t care for real suspense, to be in genuine doubt of the lovers’ destiny. In "Barchester Towers" Trollope says in so many words that he will have no mysteries in his story - the widow, he tells you, will not marry Mr Slope: the reader need have no fears. In this more ‘popular’ story, he doesn’t deny his creed; the suspense is patently unreal, but he allows us to pretend we fear, and sometimes it was a real strain - to stop after twenty pages and lie and sweat upon the iron bed and not to know." - Graham Greene, "The Lawless Roads"
Indeed, what else remains to be said, when Mr. Greene has already done the job for me, by giving it such a concise yet wonderfully candid and even resonant review for it, that too nearly eighty-four years ago, to be precise?
So, I will try and give my own personal and heartfelt review of this grand English family saga and how even at a formidable length of more than 550 pages, it turned out to be that rare "big" novel that never tired or exhausted me even for once. Trollope's ability of cramming together an extraordinary and eclectic cast of characters, all superbly fleshed and realistically rounded, his uncanny ability to tell a story of even the seemingly most mundane or unspectacular situations with lively enthusiasm and, of course, his skill at creating that "fictional suspense" even as his omnipresent and even fourth-wall-breaking narrator keeps on blurting out the intended denouement of his novel - they are all in evident display in this novel but what is even more impressive is how the writer orchestrates these numerous characters with assured grace, taking care to develop not only their arcs but also making their aspirations and feelings as believable as possible so that we relate and resonate with each one of them. Regardless whether we agree or disagree with them.
At heart, yes, "Doctor Thorne" is a love story. A classic love story in that pleasantly Victorian tradition and one would be instructed to read it accordingly and yet what frequently amazes is the dazzling breadth and depth of Trollope's quarry. One is indeed aware that there are the odds of birth and blood between the aristocratic Frank Gresham and the virtuous but almost anonymous Mary Thorne and yet the two fall in love inevitably and these very odds stand in their way. But the writer takes that simple yarn of love against all odds and uses it ingeniously as a device to examine, critique and deconstruct the very ideas of rank, wealth and position in England and in English aristocratic circles and the result is a rare story of romance and drama also stuffed with such brilliantly aimed satire and also serious and thoughtful meditations on these themes that the book gains unprecedented weight and integrity as a serious work of intelligent storytelling.
And though that might make it sound as if this was a serious, brooding book, rest assured - it is not. This is a lively, fun-filled read from cover to cover, so enjoyable, even when at its most thoughtful or poignant, that you will read hungrily page after page, enjoying Trollope's "fictional suspense" and willing to forget what has already been hinted or mentioned in the beginning and rooting for our lovers to meet and for their families, also estranged and strained in the process, to come together again. We laugh generously at Trollope's biting digs at aristocrats, gold-diggers and snobs; we smile winsomely at the wisdom of the titular doctor and his calm defiance in the face of possible catastrophe and we reach out for our handkerchiefs when our lovers profess their feelings and are also forced to reconsider them in the name of trivial things like money and rank. And there is a wealth of characters to fall for - from the bamboozled but boorishly tender Sir Roger Scatcherd to the charmingly graceless Miss Dunstable, a rich heiress refreshingly careless about her social status, from Frank's flippant sister Beatrice, who cannot choose between her love for Mary and her obedience to her frosty but inwardly tender mother to the haplessly uxorious Caleb Oriel, always worried about his Sunday parishioners.
And yet with all the crackling wit, all the well-aimed satire, all those women fleshed out with almost winning realism by Trollope, "Doctor Thorne" is in every sense a great, grand English love story and as the end approaches, and as our best intentions are confirmed, we cannot help but smile unabashedly at the happiness of it all. All's well that ends well, indeed.
P.S - Thank you dear friend and fellow Trollope admirer Petra for further recommending me to read this endearingly brilliant saga.
August 19, 2018
Ah yes, book 3 of the Chronicles of Baretshire and we meet a whole new cast of characters and some wonderful wit from this prolific author who was a contemporary of Dickens. Baretshire is a 6-book series set in the imaginary county of Baretshire and in this book we deal with the Dr. Thorne's family along with those of local county squire Frank Gresham. Lots of family history here as well as a very good representation of the 1850's in England, a time when "blood" mattered more in matrimonial choices than love. That is unless there are economic difficulties which requires the changing of marrying only the best "blood" (social equivalent) to "Marry for Money" which becomes the overwhelming issue in this book, as local 21-year old squire Frank Gresham, Jr, falls in love with penniless and poorly born Mary Thorne (niece of title character Dr. Thorne) and this is the basic premise of the book. How the gentry led their lives and loves and what happens when the landed gentry is out of money and must resort to all sort of ways to marry off daughters and get their son to lose his love for Mary and "marry for money." The book is rather repetitious on some of these topics and could easily have been 100 pages shorter and still made its point.
I love Trollope who wrote 47 novels and many short stories and plays in the days when all writing was written on paper, using a quill and ink. The sheer volume of work done by Trollope, Dickens, Zola and other writers who toiled in this manner is truly impressive and makes you wonder how none of them went blind with poor writing conditions! Trollope's Baretshire series is a lot of fun for me, I love his subtle humor and how he names characters to poke fun at them, for instance he the name of the one law firm is "Sloe and Slideawhile" as well as many other ways he pokes fun at English society in general. Trollope is eminently readable - more so than Dickens in the sense that he writes a bit plainer and with less grammatical accoutrements (no overuse of punctuation or sentences that go on for a paragraph!), and in this way I feel is an easier read to 21st century readers.
A vastly unknown and under-appreciated author, I think that if a reader goes into his work with an open mind they will find Trollope one very delightful author and one who will give you hours of reading pleasure!
I love Trollope who wrote 47 novels and many short stories and plays in the days when all writing was written on paper, using a quill and ink. The sheer volume of work done by Trollope, Dickens, Zola and other writers who toiled in this manner is truly impressive and makes you wonder how none of them went blind with poor writing conditions! Trollope's Baretshire series is a lot of fun for me, I love his subtle humor and how he names characters to poke fun at them, for instance he the name of the one law firm is "Sloe and Slideawhile" as well as many other ways he pokes fun at English society in general. Trollope is eminently readable - more so than Dickens in the sense that he writes a bit plainer and with less grammatical accoutrements (no overuse of punctuation or sentences that go on for a paragraph!), and in this way I feel is an easier read to 21st century readers.
A vastly unknown and under-appreciated author, I think that if a reader goes into his work with an open mind they will find Trollope one very delightful author and one who will give you hours of reading pleasure!
Currently reading
January 14, 2022Edit on Jan. 14th/22:
Lol, someone was unmotivated! I've just started reading it again...the story is further in my mind now and I'm enjoying re-visiting it. :)
DNF at 16% for now
Let us be honest and realistic: this book is endless, a snooze-fest, and I have neither time nor inclination to read it right now .
It's not bad, it really isn't, but having seen the lovely series on Amazon Prime (which everyone should watch because it's lovely and sweet and touching), I already know what happens and am frankly quite bored trudging through the endless chapters to get to the good parts.
I think I will have a much better experience with Trollope if I try another novel of his at a better time. I was excited to read this one because I was so enthralled with the series, but...sigh. It's so long! There is so much description!
I'm just no longer motivated to read this, even though I know it's theoretically good.
Lol, someone was unmotivated! I've just started reading it again...the story is further in my mind now and I'm enjoying re-visiting it. :)
DNF at 16% for now
Let us be honest and realistic: this book is endless, a snooze-fest, and I have neither time nor inclination to read it right now .
It's not bad, it really isn't, but having seen the lovely series on Amazon Prime (which everyone should watch because it's lovely and sweet and touching), I already know what happens and am frankly quite bored trudging through the endless chapters to get to the good parts.
I think I will have a much better experience with Trollope if I try another novel of his at a better time. I was excited to read this one because I was so enthralled with the series, but...sigh. It's so long! There is so much description!
I'm just no longer motivated to read this, even though I know it's theoretically good.
September 28, 2017
Trollope is definitely hit and miss for me. This was a miss by a mile.
I slogged through about a third of this behemoth, which takes a very very long time to even get going.
Trollope's barely-focused long-windedness is the defining feature here, and there was never enough momentum gathered to pay off the effort to tread water with this one.
I slogged through about a third of this behemoth, which takes a very very long time to even get going.
Trollope's barely-focused long-windedness is the defining feature here, and there was never enough momentum gathered to pay off the effort to tread water with this one.
July 10, 2024
This was an excellent way to end Victober 2022. I was not always sure it would be a five star read, but the ending was very satisfying. There were many lovely characters with Doctor Thorne himself being my favorite. Highly recommended!
7/9/24 Even better as a re-read/listen. Dear Mary and Frank. And dear, dear Dr Thorne.
7/9/24 Even better as a re-read/listen. Dear Mary and Frank. And dear, dear Dr Thorne.
December 21, 2016
I’m starting to see why Trollope is considered one of the more under-appreciated Victorian novelists. While some things happen in this book a little too conveniently for the ending to be wrapped up more nicely, Trollope’s writing is strong, precise, and very, very clever.
November 6, 2016
Entering the realm of Trollope is a magical experience. The writing is exquisite with waves of vocabulary and lingering sentences that virtually have their own linguistic flavor. It transports you to the realm of Barsetshire in mid-19th century England, and the midst of a number of personalities that you will literally live with as hundreds of pages unfold. Trollope has the power to place one (as a reader) among these individuals, sharing sorrows, happiness, conflicts, thoughts and daily lives. His power of description and characterization rivals Dickens, Eliot and Gaskell, so the main characters in the novel truly come alive. They are human in all aspects apart from a few that seemingly are used a humorous interludes. Trollope has a frisky sense of humor which especially plays out in the realm of the medical profession in this particular novel, but politics gets it fair bite as well. It is a love story blended with politics, the issues of wealth and aristocratic blood lines and time's ability to affect lives. From a more holistic perspective it is a story of how society as a whole relate to the individuals based on their wealth and/or aristocratic heritage. It seems as if Trollope wants the world to reflect on these issues through his characters. I very much enjoyed reading this book. However, the latter portion of the story somewhat disappointed me. This is why I removed one star from a novel that otherwise truly belongs in the five star realm.
It is hard to leave the Trollope world. This novel simply fueled my urge to continue the journey and further suspend myself in Trollope's linguistic weave in the years to come.
It is hard to leave the Trollope world. This novel simply fueled my urge to continue the journey and further suspend myself in Trollope's linguistic weave in the years to come.
January 13, 2022
Read: Jan 2021
Rating: 3/5 stars
My least favourite of this series so far. The action took place outside Barchester with new characters, none of which were really that likeable. The plot focused on three main families in the small town of Greshamsbury; the Thornes, the Greshams and the Scatcherds. Mary Thorne is the poor niece of Dr. Thorne, and is in love with Frank Gresham, the son of the local (and also poor) gentry.
The plot proceeds predictably, with no real unexpected twists or turns. I didn't enjoy it so much because I struggled with the attitudes of some of the main characters towards those of a lower status, although it is perfectly consistent with the morals of the Victorian age. I also didn't like Frank, I think his professed love for Mary seemed like a way for him to rebel against his parents rather than a true love.
Rating: 3/5 stars
My least favourite of this series so far. The action took place outside Barchester with new characters, none of which were really that likeable. The plot focused on three main families in the small town of Greshamsbury; the Thornes, the Greshams and the Scatcherds. Mary Thorne is the poor niece of Dr. Thorne, and is in love with Frank Gresham, the son of the local (and also poor) gentry.
The plot proceeds predictably, with no real unexpected twists or turns. I didn't enjoy it so much because I struggled with the attitudes of some of the main characters towards those of a lower status, although it is perfectly consistent with the morals of the Victorian age. I also didn't like Frank, I think his professed love for Mary seemed like a way for him to rebel against his parents rather than a true love.
March 3, 2018
I love long English novels, so I expected to like 'Doctor Thorne' more than I actually did. The main characters are the doctor, his niece, and a young man who's in love with her. While the doctor is more or less likeable from the beginning, the niece, in my opinion, becomes so by the middle of the book, and the third character, closer to the end, if at all, - which was disappointing for me since I like to sympathise with the main characters. At the same time, the secondary characters are portrayed marvellously: there's irony, and precise observations, and character insights, and everything that makes a novel worth reading. If only the author would be a little less melodramatic in his approach to the main characters. This melodramatic streak together with certain twists in the subject contribute to the general impression of a soap opera, which was probably quite the author's intention.
February 13, 2019
Excellent book on society mores and values in the Victorian era.Loved it !!!
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