Reading with Style discussion

Anthony Trollope (/ˈtrɒləp/; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882)[1] was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. He also wrote novels on political, social, and gender issues, and other topical matters.

...he received an offer of a clerkship in the General Post Office, obtained through a family friend. He returned to London in the autumn of 1834 to take up this post. According to Trollope, "the first seven years of my official life were neither creditable to myself nor useful to the public service."[8] At the Post Office, he acquired a reputation for unpunctuality and insubordination. ... Trollope hated his work, but saw no alternative and lived in constant fear of dismissal.

In 1841, an opportunity to escape offered itself.[9] A postal surveyor's clerk in central Ireland was reported as being incompetent and in need of replacement. The position was not regarded as a desirable one at all; but Trollope, in debt and in trouble at his office, volunteered for it; and his supervisor, William Maberly, eager to be rid of him, appointed him to the position.

Extracted from wikipedia where I picked around and chose what I thought of as the interesting bits.

Anyone who has followed my posts in this group know that I absolutely love Anthony Trollope. I have neglected him of late and I feel guilty about it.

I was once asked whether Chronicles of Barsetshire or Palliser is my favorite. I think it depends on the day you ask me. Most days I'd say Palliser, but I'm very partial to Barsetshire.

What I love about Trollope are his characterizations. He says in his autobiography

A novel should give a picture of common life enlivened by humour and sweetened by pathos. To make that picture worthy of attention, the canvas should be crowded with real portraits, not of individuals known to the world or to the author, but of created personages impregnated with traits of character which are known. To my thinking, the plot is but the vehicle for all this; and when you have the vehicle without the passengers, a story of mystery in which the agents never spring to life, you have but a wooden show. There must, however, be a story. You must provide a vehicle of some sort.

His thinking is exactly right for me and he manages to write in such a way as to fulfill his own thinking.

I have too many favorites to record them here. My first novel by Trollope was The Way We Live Now. It's hard to think a reader could find a better place to start, though it's not the only place.

I'm still working my way through the Chronicles of Barsetshire series... but I'm there with you. I enjoy his writing and his plots. He has a slightly, almost undetectable deviousness that I very much appreciate. He keeps you on edge wondering when a character is going to get their come-uppence.

I enjoyed most of the Barsetshire series, but I was disappointed with the way one of the plotlines ended. Despite being happily single myself, I do like a traditional "happy ending" in a book. It has put me off starting the Palliser series... but I will perhaps try some of his standalone novels.

Perhaps the slight unpredictability - the lack of totally conventional endings - is one of the things you like about him? I can see how that could be.

Rosemary wrote: "Perhaps the slight unpredictability - the lack of totally conventional endings - is one of the things you like about him? I can see how that could be.."

I think Trollope has almost universally predictable endings. Sometimes he even tells us toward the beginning that so and so will marry, but in the meantime there are bumps in the road. With rare exceptions, he has happy endings. For me, he is definitely a comfort read.

Thanks! That's encouraging :)

I finished The Small House at Allington a few days ago... not the ending I expected. But a very good read. I do wish that Trollope spent less time with the upper-crust gang...and more time with the Dickensian folks. One of the main characters, John Eames is sort of loss between the two castes. Just one more in the series to go... but I can't find my copy. I have all the others and all the Palliser novels...but not The Last Chronicle of Barset.

Dickens cornered the market on the Dickensian folks. Trollope was more about the middle class and educated.

Some say The Three Clerks is his most autobiographical novel, but I have read that John Eames is more like Trollope himself than any other of his characters.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Dickens cornered the market on the Dickensian folks. Trollope was more about the middle class and educated.

Some say The Three Clerks is his most autobiographical novel, but I have r..."

Yes...I can see that about Eames and Trollope...but I didn't know about the speculation about it being semi-autobiographical. Very interesting. And yes, no one can out-do Dickens with the folks he depicts (I do enjoy his novels too...and reading his works in chronological order).... but here Trollope had an interesting cast....and I wanted to see more of them.

I recently posted my read of The American Senator. Trollope's characterizations are so good that for the better part of the book I was annoyed beyond belief that an American could be so obnoxious as to go to another country and tell them they were doing things all wrong. And then I laughed at myself. It wasn't the American Senator, it was Trollope pointing the fingers.

It is his characterizations that makes Trollope such a good read. I think this is telling, Ed, when you wanted to spend more time with the people in The Small House at Allington. That was a 5-star read for me, by the way.

I look forward to reading that one...but it will have to wait until I finish the other two series....so, maybe by 2029? LOL

Definitely read the books in the series first. And then maybe some of the others ... Orley Farm and The Three Clerks, for instance.