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Epic Victorian literature

I've tried reading some.
Had I known, when first starting out on such an expedition, which seemed so plain and unassuming to the eye, that the sentences, composed as they were of a number of clauses uncountable by all the angels in heaven, were going to be so long and convoluted, then I might, as a nervous bather might recoil from a frigid lake, not even have bothered getting changed into my bathing clothes (ie. started reading at all).
 
Crispy said:
I've tried reading some.
Had I known, when first starting out on such an expedition, which seemed so plain and unassuming to the eye, that the sentences, composed as they were of a number of clauses uncountable by all the angels in heaven, were going to be so long and convoluted, then I might, as a nervous bather might recoil from a frigid lake, not even have bothered getting changed into my bathing clothes (ie. started reading at all).
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:D

But once you get used to the style the subordinate clauses don't bother me so much. Victorian novel plots are often excellent!
 
I finished the moonstone and did enjoy it, but I've never managed more than a chapter of dickens. I know I'm missing out :(
 
Crispy said:
I finished the moonstone and did enjoy it, but I've never managed more than a chapter of dickens. I know I'm missing out :(
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That's why I read the pastiches such as The Scarlet and The Black-more sex than would be allowed in an actual Victorian novel but still all excitingly filled with turncoats, rustling bodices, murder, illegitimate children and whores:cool:
 
Just started 'Phineas Redux' - so far mostly very long paragraphs of exposition. Not grabby. :(
Considering starting a thread about my other current literary interest, but fearing being overloaded with recommendations (in a good way).
Next probable stop on the Victorian literature list: Wilkie Collins, but not til my housemate gets back from travelling because I don't want to read scary stories in the house on my own ... :o
 
STILL stuck on 'Phineas Redux'. Only about a quarter of the way through, and I'm really struggling to remember what I liked about previous Trollope novels. It seems vastly padded with the exposition I mentioned earlier.
Beginning to wonder if it's worth ploughing through in order to reach 'The Duke's Children', which I've been lead to believe is a good read.
Anyone have any advice either way?
The only thing which is keeping me going is the lack of any other suitable reading material in the house. Might have to pay a visit to Amazon with this thread in hand.
 
temper_tantrum said:
STILL stuck on 'Phineas Redux'. Only about a quarter of the way through, and I'm really struggling to remember what I liked about previous Trollope novels. It seems vastly padded with the exposition I mentioned earlier.
Beginning to wonder if it's worth ploughing through in order to reach 'The Duke's Children', which I've been lead to believe is a good read.
Anyone have any advice either way?
The only thing which is keeping me going is the lack of any other suitable reading material in the house. Might have to pay a visit to Amazon with this thread in hand.
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Press on, I'd say. Trollope unashamedly wrote to make money which means there's padding aplenty in the novels that were originally serialised or published as 'triple deckers' -- but he does tend to take off, often well into a novel. Incidentally, you should read his autobiography if you haven't already: the last chapter is a list of all the novels he'd written to date, with how much money he'd made out of them. :D
 
Cheers for the advice! Will pour a decent glass of wine and get off the sodding interweb and attempt to press on. It doesn't help that he can't write female characters for shit, and Lady Laura Standish is possibly his worst creation - and it smells to me as though he's setting up a 'happy ending' for her with Phineas. NO SPOILERS PLEASE!
I can also smell (probably childbirth-related) doom for Violet, which is damn annoying as she's the only one I like.

Will re-visit this thread when I've progressed, to discover how wrong I've been ...
 
I even found the beginning of "The way we live now," a bit dull, but I'm so glad I stuck with it. Along with "The three clerks," it's probably my favourite Trollope (oo-er, etc), although they're two very different books.
 
I have to say, the ending of The Moonstone really, really annoys me. It was my A-level text and I was really enjoying it till that point. I won't say anything else about that ending for the OPs sake, but it does surprise me that so many people rate it so highly.
 
Ok so I finished 'Phineas Redux' (finally). It got going quite well, but the ending was disappointingly unconvincing. Phineas just gets wetter and wetter.
I do quite like the way he draws the contrast between Phineas and Lady Eustace though. There's a clear inference: 'If she'd been a man ...'

Next question is whether to bother finishing the series?
Plenty of other options on this thread sound more appealing, to be honest!
 
Totally rated the Forsyte Saga.
Now 3/4 of the way through The Duke's Children - I'm not going to get this far in the series and fall at the final hurdle, dammit! Not particularly gripped by this one though, they're all damn annoying. The only one I like is Mabel, who's clearly going to get thoroughly dumped.

Sorry if this thread is boring the rest of you, by the way! I promise to start working my way through some of the recommendations once I've got shot of Trollope.
 
Agent Sparrow said:
I have to say, the ending of The Moonstone really, really annoys me. It was my A-level text and I was really enjoying it till that point. I won't say anything else about that ending for the OPs sake, but it does surprise me that so many people rate it so highly.
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I agree regarding the ending:(

The Nature of Monsters by Clare Clark comes exceedingly highly recommended-delightfully horrid dark novel set in the 18th century in an unrelentingly grim London. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/feb/17/fiction.featuresreviews1
 
Bumping this thread :)

Read 'The Moonstone' and 'Affinity' over the Christmas hols, both were really gripping, excellent reads.
Currently reading 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' on my way to and from work - short and snappy, suits the journey.
 
Can't remember if I have mentioned The Observations by Jane Harris-wonderful dark funny gothic pastiche about a victorian servant in a big house in Scotland:cool: Oh-I have-doh.
Bit different from what OP wants but Wedlock is an amazing biography about an heiress in Georgian England who is tricked into marrying the biggest bastard on earth. Was unbelievably good.
 
cyberfairy said:
Can't remember if I have mentioned The Observations by Jane Harris-wonderful dark funny gothic pastiche about a victorian servant in a big house in Scotland:cool: Oh-I have-doh.
Bit different from what OP wants but Wedlock is an amazing biography about an heiress in Georgian England who is tricked into marrying the biggest bastard on earth. Was unbelievably good.
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Who wrote 'Wedlock' dear Cyberfairy? I'll try to get it from local library which, to my dismay, has become a repository of third rate junk. I kid you not. Four, at least - four biogs of Kylie, tons of Jordan and Jade. I have complained but hey ho and hey nonny. I owe them £8.52 in fines and have now whittled it down to £5 by putting in £1 on each visit (it is all computerised - oh the gaiety! All of us pensioners wittering and wobbling around the screens and putting in whatever we can afford on the day). The Woman In White is still my favourite gothic Victorian novel. The first of its genre apparently.
 
Pinette said:
Who wrote 'Wedlock' dear Cyberfairy? I'll try to get it from local library which, to my dismay, has become a repository of third rate junk. I kid you not. Four, at least - four biogs of Kylie, tons of Jordan and Jade. I have complained but hey ho and hey nonny. I owe them £8.52 in fines and have now whittled it down to £5 by putting in £1 on each visit (it is all computerised - oh the gaiety! All of us pensioners wittering and wobbling around the screens and putting in whatever we can afford on the day). The Woman In White is still my favourite gothic Victorian novel. The first of its genre apparently.
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I know what you mean:( My library used to be amazing but has had a refit which means expensive carpet with book print on, more computers and less, far less books, especially of the less trendy kind. And The Woman In White is wonderous:)
The author of Wedlock is Wendy Moore and find a less garbled review here.http://entertainment.timesonline.co...tainment/books/non-fiction/article5481342.ece
The Book Of Fires is quite good in a victorian pastiche way http://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Fires-Jane-Borodale/dp/0007305729
and can't remember if I have raved about The Meaning Of The Night http://www.themeaningofnight.com/ which was just wonderful. Been obsesse with reading MR James ghosh stories recently as well. I am sometimes surprised to find myself in a small terraced house instead of a crumbling mansion with dark secrets lurking in the west wing. :o Hope you well, anyway lovely Pinette x
 
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