Barchester Towers

By Anthony Trollope

Book Overview

&&LDIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LI&&RBarchester Towers&&L/I&&R, by &&LB&&RAnthony Trollope&&L/B&&R, is part of the &&LI&&R&&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R &&L/I&&Rseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R: &&LDIV&&RNew introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics &&L/I&&Rpulls together a constellation of influences--biographical, historical, and literary--to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R &&L/P&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&RThe second and most popular of &&LSTRONG&&RTrollope&&L/B&&R's six Barsetshire novels, &&LI&&RBarchester&&L/I&&R &&LI&&RTowers &&L/I&&Rchronicles the struggles for power and position in an imaginary county in Victorian England. Passions start seething when an "outsider," Dr. Proudie, is appointed bishop of Barchester. Soon, his ambitious, domineering wife and the smarmy, scheming curate, Mr. Slope, are hatching plots and counter-plots as they try to control the choice of a new warden for Hiram's Hospital and a new husband for Eleanor, a lovely young widow and the daughter of the former warden, Mr. Harding.&&L/P&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R &&L/P&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&RThe novel combines the realism of later fiction (including Trollope's own) with such Victorian devices as Dickensian character names and a comically interruptive narrator. The narrator's sharply satiric comments enhance the story's richness, while his playful, reassuring, and mocking asides subvert the reader's expectations, giving the book an unexpectedly post-modernist flavor. Ultimately, we see that Trollope's characters' petty jealousies, selfishness, and meanness are not metaphors for larger issues, they are the issues--the same human failings that, in other contexts, can lead to serious social strife and civil unrest.&&L/P&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R &&L/P&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R&&LSTRONG&&REdward Mendelson&&L/B&&R &&L/B&&Ris Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. He is W. H. Auden's literary executor and has written widely on nineteenth- and twentieth-century novels.&&L/P&&R&&L/DIV&&R

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1593083378
• ISBN13: 9781593083373
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble Classics
• Length: 560 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

An astonishingly well-written humorous drama

Superb. One of the finest novels I've read. Trollope's most popular work and the second in the Chronicles of Barset series. I never read the first one "The Warden" and didn't feel like I needed to, the first couple chapters of Towers supply enough background to know what happened in the first book, at least in a broad sense. Initially, the backdrop of a looming clerical power struggle in the pastoral English town of Barchester and environs is convincingly weighty. However, as this power struggle plays out it becomes apparent that Trollope is for the most part poking fun at players on both sides of the battle. He reminds us that despite the detachment and solemnity that such a conflict deserves, it's only human to be looking out for one's own interests as most of the characters end up doing. Trollope accomplishes this through brilliant characterization and a rich plot that keeps the reader interested and never bogs down. Towers is incredibly humorous, both in the dialogue of the characters and in Trollope's third person omniscient narration. There were so many scenes of dumbfoundingly witty humor that if I didn't have other books to move on to I'd go back through and catalog all of the humorous bits for posterity. Dickens' "Pickwick Papers" is just as humorous, but it's more slapstick and deals more with situations. Trollope's humor is in wordplay and hyperbole. For example, when the awkward and unattractive Mr. Slope is soon to declare his love for the stunningly beautiful Signora Neroni, he takes her hand and this is how Trollope describes it: "Mr. Slope was big, awkward, cumbrous, and having his heart in his pursuit, was ill at ease. The lady was fair, as we have said, and delicate; everything about her was fine and refined; her hand in his looked like a rose lying among carrots, and when he kissed it he looked as a cow might do on finding such a flower among her food." I will never forget the analogy of a woman's hand in a man's looking like a rose lying among carrots. Most of my friends aren't readers so I don't often enthuse to them about novels I've enjoyed, but you can bet I'll be recommending this to them as one of many reasons books are far worthier of one's time than TV and movies. This is one of those for which I can be jealous of anyone who'll be reading it for the first time. Don't miss it. Also, Trollope was a prolific writer and I've heard he's got a couple other gems. Based on other reviews, I added "The Last Chronicle of Barset", "The Way We Live Now", and "He Knew He Was Right" to my collection.