Reading the Chunksters discussion

Can you believe that Melmotte won the election! Oh my goodness. I thought that the beginning of this section was an excellent character study of a man who calmly and with measured steps handles his downfall. He knows that the public is aware of his criminal activities at this point, but he will go out as a member of Westminster!

Then we have Georgiana's engagement to Mr. Brehgert - who is described to be utterly distasteful with only his wealth as an attribute. Mr. B, however, proved to be quite the diplomatic and eloquent gentleman - he behaved far better than those surrounding him and I was only too happy when he declined Georgiana after her rude whining about the London townhouse.The anti-semitism in this section was horrifying.

Hetta and Paul - are they finally headed for happiness ever after at last? What did you think of Roger's reaction? It surprised me that he bore no ill will towards Hetta. Felix attempts to intervene when he hears about the Paul/Mrs. Hurtle situation, perhaps an instance of too little too late as far as an attempt to resurrect his character.

Hetta advises Marie that Felix does not love her - and thank goodness she believes her! She agrees to marry Lord Nidderdale after all, but it seems she is inclined to make his life a misery.

Mr. Melmotte mightily tries to maintain his dignity! I think he does a fairly good job of doing so, under the circumstances. Still, he appears to be continuing his criminal ways as he persists in forgeries and various criminal transactions. His violence against Marie was surprising and shocking-not terribly different from Ruby’s grandfather although they are positioned quite differently in life.

Felix, utterly failing in his Marie pursuits, returns to Ruby. As he is accosting her, John Crumb happens to be in the area and attacks him in the act. Disappointingly, Ruby doesn't fully defend John when the police arrest him.

Ruby’s petulance was impossible in this section - Referring to Felix as beautiful even after he attacked her! She only changed her tune when faced with the option of leaving her aunt’s house and caring for five children at a pittance. Only when she was out of options did she reconsider John Crumb again. He’s a far nobler person than she is but hopefully they will both be happy!!

Hello, I'm a long time member of this group but haven't posted in quite a while. I finished this book today and really enjoyed it. I loved how well Trollope drew the different characters and how well-rounded and realistic they were.

For the last several hundred pages, I kept thinking this would make a great movie. A friend told me today that there was a TV series but I would love to see a movie version.

Ellen wrote: "Hello, I'm a long time member of this group but haven't posted in quite a while. I finished this book today and really enjoyed it. I loved how well Trollope drew the different characters and how we..."

Welcome and thank you for posting Ellen! I hope you can join us in some future reads! I thought the novel was excellent, and agree that there were very well-drawn sub-plots. I haven't seen anything on film or tv about it but would be interested to hear if anyone has details!

It was a 2001 BBC production and I just saw that it's on Amazon Prime. I plan to watch it forthwith (as Trollope might say)!
https://www.amazon.com/The-Way-We-Liv...

Ellen wrote: "It was a 2001 BBC production and I just saw that it's on Amazon Prime. I plan to watch it forthwith (as Trollope might say)!
https://www.amazon.com/The-Way-We-Liv..."

Thank you Ellen! I added it to my watch list. 😊

I started watching it. I haven't gotten that far but the acting is amazing. Melmotte looks just like I pictured him.

I finished it over Christmas holidays. I had two family members die over the holidays - my mother's mother and older sister so it has been tough.