Mostly because Lizzie Eustace, the protagonist (or perhaps I should say antagonist), is so very annoying. She's supposed to be selfish, spiteful and generally reprehensible, but apparently Trollope also wanted to make her seem smart (at least that's what all his characters say). If so, he failed splendidly, and that leaves her with very few redeeming characteristics - characters who are both evil and stupid are really just boring to read about.
As I started thinking about this book, I suddenly realized the plot, or at least the romantic part of the plot, bears a certain resemblance to that of Gone With the Wind - that is, one could with some imagination link the main characters of this book to Scarlett O'Hara, Rhett Butler, Ashley Wilkes and Melanie Hamilton respectively. The difference is that Scarlett O'Hara, while perhaps just as selfish and harsh, has awe-inspiring willpower, courage and passion to make her a well-rounded character - and I'd even say a genuinely iconic character. Not so here, and with such a disappointing main character, the rest of the book would've had to be impressive indeed to compensate. As it is, it's not a bad book per se, and of course there are many enjoyable bits (including, in particular, everything involving the delightfully rude and direct Lady Linlithgow), but as a whole the book isn't particularly enjoyable. And Trollope's usual long-windedness, forgiveable in more entertaining books, does not help.
If people are interested in reading Trollope's Palliser series, which on the whole I do recommend to those interested in Victorian England, I wouldn't go as far as to suggest they skip this book, but it is by far the weakest of the three books I've read so far in that series, so definitely not a good place to start.
As I started thinking about this book, I suddenly realized the plot, or at least the romantic part of the plot, bears a certain resemblance to that of Gone With the Wind - that is, one could with some imagination link the main characters of this book to Scarlett O'Hara, Rhett Butler, Ashley Wilkes and Melanie Hamilton respectively. The difference is that Scarlett O'Hara, while perhaps just as selfish and harsh, has awe-inspiring willpower, courage and passion to make her a well-rounded character - and I'd even say a genuinely iconic character. Not so here, and with such a disappointing main character, the rest of the book would've had to be impressive indeed to compensate. As it is, it's not a bad book per se, and of course there are many enjoyable bits (including, in particular, everything involving the delightfully rude and direct Lady Linlithgow), but as a whole the book isn't particularly enjoyable. And Trollope's usual long-windedness, forgiveable in more entertaining books, does not help.
If people are interested in reading Trollope's Palliser series, which on the whole I do recommend to those interested in Victorian England, I wouldn't go as far as to suggest they skip this book, but it is by far the weakest of the three books I've read so far in that series, so definitely not a good place to start.
This April, I'm reading...
01/04/2011 01:10:39 PM
- 1760 Views
I have vague plans about reading some Truman Capote
01/04/2011 01:19:45 PM
- 911 Views
I started Faber and Ishiguro
07/04/2011 09:50:36 AM
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I read To Kill a Mockingbird and started The Lies of Locke Lamora
26/04/2011 11:10:53 AM
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If you're in love with Atticus now, wait till you see the film.
26/04/2011 12:02:05 PM
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Re: If you're in love with Atticus now, wait till you see the film.
26/04/2011 12:04:38 PM
- 1155 Views
Surely TKaM is mostly described in a racial tension context, more than "growing up in the South". *NM*
26/04/2011 08:20:01 PM
- 616 Views
A few things
01/04/2011 03:21:05 PM
- 1212 Views
The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon *NM*
29/04/2011 10:09:44 AM
- 659 Views
Currently, a biography of Napoleon.
01/04/2011 06:23:08 PM
- 1328 Views
Red Dead Redemption manual? *NM*
02/04/2011 03:25:47 AM
- 616 Views
Now reading Franz Kafka's Amerika, after that probably Trollope's The Eustace Diamonds *NM*
06/04/2011 09:44:05 PM
- 735 Views
No, first McCarthy's Blood Meridian. That's an... interesting read. *NM*
12/04/2011 08:27:49 PM
- 660 Views
The Eustace Diamonds was a bit disappointing.
27/04/2011 10:21:01 PM
- 1349 Views
Perhaps Margaret Mitchell read it
28/04/2011 10:03:14 AM
- 1083 Views
A Song of Ice and Fire Omnibus edition. Hopefully I can get it done in one month! *NM*
02/04/2011 07:05:21 AM
- 1048 Views
The Sound and the Fury
02/04/2011 01:28:23 PM
- 1209 Views
Reading the entire Amber Chronicles.
03/04/2011 05:37:02 AM
- 1183 Views
I just finished rereading 16 eddings books...
03/04/2011 09:22:16 PM
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Anything other than Twilight would be something of an upgrade from that. *NM*
05/04/2011 03:45:34 AM
- 638 Views
I think I'll read Deathless a few more times.
04/04/2011 04:58:19 AM
- 1201 Views
Maybe I'll actually read all of The Aeneid instead of dropping it halfway...
05/04/2011 06:30:23 AM
- 1186 Views
I am always embarrassed to put my reading on here...
05/04/2011 06:13:38 PM
- 1376 Views
I'm embarassed too.
10/04/2011 05:44:50 AM
- 1146 Views
I'm pretty sure I've stolen at least 50 books from your shelves on goodreads
12/04/2011 08:20:16 PM
- 1274 Views
Is there anyone you haven't stolen at least fifty books from?
12/04/2011 08:28:41 PM
- 1179 Views
Deathless, Eon, and Dragonsbane
11/04/2011 12:51:08 AM
- 1156 Views
I need to disagree with your review.
12/04/2011 09:10:16 PM
- 1243 Views
Re: I need to disagree with your review.
12/04/2011 11:07:44 PM
- 889 Views