Thackeray, William Makepeace
Average customer rating:
- With a 19th century nerd as the hero, how can you not love it?
- The Human Drama
- All's fair in love and "Vanity"
- All's "Fair" in love and vanity
- Once you get into it you'll enjoy it.
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Vanity Fair (Norton Critical Editions)
William Makepeace Thackeray
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0393965953 |
Book Description
This edition of one of the greatest social satires of the English language reproduces the text of the Oxford Thackeray and includes all of Thackeray's own illustrations.
Download Description
On a broad and colourful canvas, extending from urban and rural England to Waterloo and the continental haunts of exiles, Thackeray gives us one of the greatest social-satirical novels in the language - one of the most entertaining and profound, and, in the person of Becky Sharp, we have one of literature's most resourceful, attractive, and amoral characters. Essentially a commentary on hypocrisy and those ethical principles to which society pays lip-service, Vanity Fair (1847-8) invites us to consider which is to blame: the opportunist or the society that makes opportunism necessary.
Customer Reviews:
With a 19th century nerd as the hero, how can you not love it?.......2007-01-27
It's only now that I notice the subtitle "novel without a hero", and that is what struck me most about this novel- the lack of heroes. Indeed, just about all of the characters are flawed in some way, but I beg to differ that there is no hero. Surely the good and honest Major Dobbin qualifies. He may be gawky and awkward, but that makes him so much more endearing than the stereotypical Prince Charming type, or reformed rascal that we might expect to see in a typical contemporary Victorian novel.
In some ways, Vanity Fair is a typical Victorian novel. There are lots of characters that can be difficult to keep track of, it is kind of soap-opera-ish, and as it covers a long period of time, it is very long, tending to drag in the middle. However, the action really picks up in the last couple hundred pages, so it is well worth it to keep reading.
Another winning quality of Vanity Fair is the narration. It is a hyperbole and parody of the typical Victorian narration. Not only is the narrator an omniscent, third-person who passes judgements, but he is a wisecracking and exaggerated one as well.
I think Thackeray also deserves a lot of credit for not making the story predictable. I honestly didn't know quite how the story would wrap up, and as it neared the end I could tell that it wasn't going the way of a Hollywood movie plot (thankfully!).
When I read the summary of Vanity Fair, I was led to believe that it was all about Becky Sharp and that it was her story alone. Although you could argue in the end, it really is all about Becky and how she manipulates people, the characters of Amelia and Dobbin are too well-developed and interesting to play second fiddle to the scheming Becky.
In summary, Vanity Fair has more depth, wit, and honesty than your typical Victorian novel, so I highly recommend it!
The Human Drama.......2007-01-18
Thackeray's "Vanity Fair" is at once a fascinating glimpse into the aristocratic Europe of the early 1800's while also serving as a masterful critique of the modern human drama. While it takes some time for the story to really pull you in, you can expect a rather enjoyable ride once it does. Thackeray does a good job of developing the characters and their personalities, and you will often find yourself thinking "I know people like this." In short, "Vanity Fair" is a 200-year-old story which, if anything, has only increased in relevance.
All's fair in love and "Vanity".......2005-02-22
Greed, gold-digging and deception sit at the heart of "Vanity Fair." It's no joke that it's subtitled "a novel without a hero" -- William Makepeace Thackeray mercilessly skewered the pretentions and flaws of the upper class all throughout it. The result is a gloriously witty social satire.
It opens with two young women departing from a ladies' academy: dull, sweet Amelia (rich) and fiery sharp-witted Rebecca (poor). Becky Sharp is a relentless social climber, and her first effort to rise "above her station" is by trying to get Amelia's brother to marry her -- an effort thwarted by Amelia's fiancee. So instead she gets married to another family's second son, Rawdon Crawley.
Unfortunately, both young couples quickly get disinherited and George is killed. But Becky is determined to live the good life she has worked and married for -- she obtains jewels and money from admiring gentlemen, disrupting her marriage. But a little thing like a tarnished reputation isn't enough to keep Becky down...
"Vanity Fair" is actually a lot more complex than that, with dozens of little subplots and complicated character relationships. Reading it a few times is necessary to really absorb all of it, since it is not just a look at the two women in the middle of the book, but at the upper (and sometimes lower) social strata of the nineteenth century.
The main flaw of the book is perhaps that it sprawls too much -- there's always a lot of stuff going on, not to mention a huge cast of characters, and Thackeray sometimes drops the ball when it comes to the supporting characters and their little plots. It takes a lot of patience to absorb all of this. However... it's worth it.
Like most nineteenth-century writers, Thackeray had a very dense, formal writing style -- but once you get used to it, his writing becomes insanely funny. Witticisms and quips litter the pages, even if you don't pick them all up at once. At first Thackeray seems incredibly cynical (Becky's little schemes almost always pay off), but taken as a social satire, it's easier to understand why he was so cynical about the society of the time.
Becky Sharp is the quintessential anti-heroine -- she's very greedy and cold, yet she's also so smart and determined that it's hard not to have a grudging liking for her. Certainly life hasn't been fair for her. Next to Becky, a goody-goody character like Amelia is pretty boring, and even the unsubtle George can't measure up to Becky.
To sum up "Vanity Fair": think a period soap opera with a heavy dose of social commentary. In other words, it doesn't get much better than this, Thackeray's masterpiece.
All's "Fair" in love and vanity.......2005-02-06
Greed, gold-digging and deception sit at the heart of "Vanity Fair." It's no joke that it's subtitled "a novel without a hero" -- William Makepeace Thackeray mercilessly skewered the pretentions and flaws of the upper class all throughout it. The result is a gloriously witty social satire.
It opens with two young women departing from a ladies' academy: dull, sweet Amelia (rich) and fiery sharp-witted Rebecca (poor). Becky Sharp is a relentless social climber, and her first effort to rise "above her station" is by trying to get Amelia's brother to marry her -- an effort thwarted by Amelia's fiancee. So instead she gets married to another family's second son, Rawdon Crawley.
Unfortunately, both young couples quickly get disinherited and George is killed. But Becky is determined to live the good life she has worked and married for -- she obtains jewels and money from admiring gentlemen, disrupting her marriage. But a little thing like a tarnished reputation isn't enough to keep Becky down...
"Vanity Fair" is actually a lot more complex than that, with dozens of little subplots and complicated character relationships. Reading it a few times is necessary to really absorb all of it, since it is not just a look at the two women in the middle of the book, but at the upper (and sometimes lower) social strata of the nineteenth century.
The main flaw of the book is perhaps that it sprawls too much -- there's always a lot of stuff going on, not to mention a huge cast of characters, and Thackeray sometimes drops the ball when it comes to the supporting characters and their little plots. It takes a lot of patience to absorb all of this. However... it's worth it.
Like most nineteenth-century writers, Thackeray had a very dense, formal writing style -- but once you get used to it, his writing becomes insanely funny. Witticisms and quips litter the pages, even if you don't pick them all up at once. At first Thackeray seems incredibly cynical (Becky's little schemes almost always pay off), but taken as a social satire, it's easier to understand why he was so cynical about the society of the time.
Becky Sharp is the quintessential anti-heroine -- she's very greedy and cold, yet she's also so smart and determined that it's hard not to have a grudging liking for her. Certainly life hasn't been fair for her. Next to Becky, a goody-goody character like Amelia is pretty boring, and even the unsubtle George can't measure up to Becky.
To sum up "Vanity Fair": think a period soap opera with a heavy dose of social commentary. In other words, it doesn't get much better than this, Thackeray's masterpiece.
Once you get into it you'll enjoy it. .......2004-12-24
Vanity Fair is not a book for the casual reader. It will probably always be neglected in schools and will be unread by those without patience. However, if you are willing to devote yourself to reading this long novel, it is well worth it.
The main characters that the story centers around are Becky and Amelia, two girls who are polar opposites, yet their lives intertwine in fascinating ways. In many ways they are caricatures, but the book is long enough to give them complexity and in the end you have two unexpectedly interesting and multifaceted characters. Of course they are not the only characters, there are probably 500 more of various importance. Some readers may have difficulty keeping track of them all, especially when several have the same last name. However, Thackeray manages to keep focus through all the characters and it ends up that there are only about a dozen major characters, all very well developed.
The story itself is concerned mainly with the relationships and wealth of Amelia and Becky, but there are as many subplots as there are characters. Occasionally the story becomes stagnant, but there are enough stories and settings that I never became bored. The influence of the Napoleonic Wars is much stronger in Vanity Fair than in any of Austen's novels, which creates some interesting settings such as the battle of Waterloo, as battle that has a profound influence on the story. There is plenty of humor in the story as well and also Thackeray's famous societal commentary. This makes having notes in the book important, as there are references to events, places, languages, and things that a modern reader would normally not be familiar with.
This is a long book and the beginning isn't much fun to read, but it is interesting and insightful once you get into it. The setting might be over a hundred years ago, but the people in it are not outdated and their motivations and characters will seem familiar to the modern reader. Whether or not someone would like this novel comes down to if one can get past the length, archaic language, obscure references, and number of stories and characters. It certainly took me awhile and I almost stopped reading it, but I came to care for the characters enough that I began enjoying it.
Average customer rating:
- Universal
- Great...Great...Great...
- Uncanny!
- Thackeray gives what he promises...
- When Thackeray Writes There Is No Hero, He Means It
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Vanity Fair (Penguin Classics)
William Makepeace Thackeray
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0141439831
Release Date: 2003-04-29 |
Book Description
Edited by John Carey.
Customer Reviews:
Universal.......2007-06-15
The book is really good, even though it is really long, it is not boring. So many characters and things going on. And it still surprises me after all those years relationships have still the same tricks. The human physiology never changes.
Great...Great...Great..........2007-04-10
I picked up this book, and groaned at the sight. 700 pages of dense small text?! Numerous minor characters to remember? Arghhh...
But then, when I finally got enough time to read it, it is brilliant. Thackeray is a great social critic-and many of his criticisms of the upper class could be applied to high school and situations today. The novel is an epic, a journey to be sure, and is better than a current day soap opera, as some of the reviewers said. I thought it was more like Jane Austen - romance + criticism + 5 more families + many more minor relationships.
I'm definitely looking forward to rereading this book again (maybe not for a while though-it's a LONG book!) when I'm older
Uncanny!.......2007-03-03
I had this book on my shelf unread for years, thinking it was tedious and boring, but what a revelation when I picked it up after seeing the movie. The note of the other reviewer re C.L.R. James, the left-wing Trinidadian author and historian, was apt, and uncanny, as I found this book could have easily be called "Westmoorings", an area in Trinidad populated by people of the exact mindset (and indeed I have heard many times the very same spoken words as the characters). Indeed, there are many places in the Caribbean, or world, populated by people like this. I see why this book is historically taught in literature in high school in the US but not in the Caribbean.
Thackeray gives what he promises..........2006-08-24
Thackeray says there is no hero in this book, and he means it. This book seems to me like a nineteenth-century version of The Young and the Restless or Days of our Lives...so if that is what you're looking for, you'll thoroughly enjoy this book; however, if you want a real love story, look into Jane Austen, for instance.
I will admit that I saw the Reese Witherspoon movie version of this book before I ever read it...and as usual, was much more impressed with the book, and more surprised than I thought I would be at how much they truly deviated from the novel with that particular movie version.
When Thackeray Writes There Is No Hero, He Means It.......2006-08-23
VANITY FAIR is a sprawling epic novel that tells of the struggle of nearly everyone in it either to gain money or to bemoan the not having of it. This relentless groping toward money is not a trait normally associated with heroism, yet the subtitle suggests Thackeray's connection between the two: A Novel Without a Hero. This does not imply that the novel ambles along interminably with the central figure or figures merely deficient in the manly arts of dash and verve. Rather, for the protagonist to be heroic, such a person must exhibit the willingness to be so. In VANITY FAIR, Thackeray maintains a circumspect distance between character and reader by imposing an obstacle, namely himself, as that obstacle.
Thackeray sets up the reader to view his creations as un-heroic in two ways. First, he paints them as essentially flat. Amelia, in her passive attitude toward life is the polar opposite of Becky Sharp, who is bursting with energy and passion. Together, they alternate respectively from purposeful villainy to willing victim, from street smarts to pathetic naivety, and from patent guile to equally patent guilelessness. As one acts on her respective traits, she rises in the world in a financial sense while as the other acts on her traits, she falls. Later, they alternate roles, and the novel turns into a push-pull context with their changes in position occurring solely as a function of their acting on those impulses. In Amelia's case, these impulses are passive-aggressive. In Becky's, they are purely aggressive. But in neither case, is either heroic.
Thackeray regularly intrudes in the narrative so that he directs the responses and attitudes of the readers. The more he plays the omniscient narrator, the less convincing is the fleshing out of any character. It then becomes quite difficult for the reader to look past the puppeteer's strings to see that character in any terms except the flatness that Thackeray wishes. The best that one can say about Amelia is that she creates dramatic conditions that call for the real dramatic center: Becky Sharp. This is not to say that Becky is the hero in the morally positive sense. But she is the focal point of bursting enthusiasm. As she throws a dictionary out the window in a fit of petulant rage, Becky impacts on the reader in a way that no one else can. Becky spends the rest of the novel throwing metaphorical books out countless windows as she schemes, flirts, and uses men shamelessly, all the while escaping criticism from a morally neutral author. One does not admire Amelia for her passivity nor Becky for her aggressiveness. One tends to ignore the former and notice the latter. Long before the reader comes to the morally ambiguous ending when Thackeray bemoans: "Ah! Vanitas Vanitatum! Which of us is happy in this world?" the reader has learned that the totality of VANITY FAIR's strong points--and there are many--do not compensate for the moral vacuum that the author leaves at the center where there ought to be someone or something more interesting
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- King of satire
- Vanity Fair
- Pretty Sharp
|
Vanity Fair (Barnes & Noble Classics)
William Makepeace Thackeray
Manufacturer: Barnes & Noble Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Thackeray, William Makepeace
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ASIN: 1593080719 |
Book Description
“I think I could be a good woman, if I had five thousand a year,” observes beautiful and clever Becky Sharp, one of the wickedest—and most appealing—women in all of literature. Becky is just one of the many fascinating figures that populate
William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel Vanity Fair, a wonderfully satirical panorama of upper-middle-class life and manners in London at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Scorned for her lack of money and breeding, Becky must use all her wit, charm and considerable sex appeal to escape her drab destiny as a governess. From London’s ballrooms to the battlefields of Waterloo, the bewitching Becky works her wiles on a gallery of memorable characters, including her lecherous employer, Sir Pitt, his rich sister, Miss Crawley, and Pitt’s dashing son, Rawdon, the first of Becky’s misguided sexual entanglements.
Filled with hilarious dialogue and superb characterizations, Vanity Fair is a richly entertaining comedy that asks the reader, “Which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire? or, having it, is satisfied?”
Features more than 100 illustrations drawn by Thackeray himself for the initial publication.
Customer Reviews:
King of satire.......2007-01-26
It's obvious Thackeray is the king of satire. What's not so obvious is that he was ahead of his time in his writing style. His voice could be that of a star blogger on the Internet. The sardonic wit, the cynicism. Have things changed so little?
His characters are not so much flawed as they are downright hateful. Even Dobbin, the saint and only true innocent in the book, is annoying in his loyalty to the bloodless Amelia. Still you're happy when he wins her in the end. As for Becky Sharp, you can't help but root for her early on. Towards the middle of the book, however, you begin to hate her. Thackeray is brilliant. You can forgive a woman anything except not loving her child. Once Becky rejects her son, she is no longer endearing. You can't care anymore. And he doesn't focus on her so much anymore, as if that was the end of the one character you had the most feelings for.
But using the technique of day-time soap opera with its thousand and one sub-plots, Thackeray urges you to read on regardless of the fact that you don't like any of the characters. You wonder where its going to end. Is anyone ever going to be happy? Is anyone ever going to get punished? Some of the characters do get punished of course, but some of them don't, or they don't know they're being punished. What good is it if they don't know it?
It's hard to accept a story where a lot of the bad guys don't get punished. And yet, in the end, you can't help but being satisfied. I have no idea why. Is it because Dobbin finally does get Amelia? That Becky does seem to get what she deserves? And what does Becky deserve? Less than Amelia? Is Amelia happy in the end?Happier than Becky? Probably not. And that alone would probably make Becky happy if she thought about something besides herself for once. All I know is that as long as those two are miserable, I'm happy.
Sue Lange
author, Tritcheon Hash, [...]
Vanity Fair.......2007-01-12
William Makepeace Thackeray gives a brilliantly witty view of society in the 19th century. Though it's about 300 pages too long, if the reader perseveres, he will be rewarded. The character of Becky Sharpe is one of the best in the history of literature.
Pretty Sharp.......2005-02-24
Greed, gold-digging and deception sit at the heart of "Vanity Fair." It's no joke that it's subtitled "a novel without a hero" -- William Makepeace Thackeray mercilessly skewered the pretentions and flaws of the upper class all throughout it. The result is a gloriously witty social satire.
It opens with two young women departing from a ladies' academy: dull, sweet Amelia (rich) and fiery sharp-witted Rebecca (poor). Becky Sharp is a relentless social climber, and her first effort to rise "above her station" is by trying to get Amelia's brother to marry her -- an effort thwarted by Amelia's fiancee. So instead she gets married to another family's second son, Rawdon Crawley.
Unfortunately, both young couples quickly get disinherited and George is killed. But Becky is determined to live the good life she has worked and married for -- she obtains jewels and money from admiring gentlemen, disrupting her marriage. But a little thing like a tarnished reputation isn't enough to keep Becky down...
"Vanity Fair" is actually a lot more complex than that, with dozens of little subplots and complicated character relationships. Reading it a few times is necessary to really absorb all of it, since it is not just a look at the two women in the middle of the book, but at the upper (and sometimes lower) social strata of the nineteenth century.
The main flaw of the book is perhaps that it sprawls too much -- there's always a lot of stuff going on, not to mention a huge cast of characters, and Thackeray sometimes drops the ball when it comes to the supporting characters and their little plots. It takes a lot of patience to absorb all of this. However... it's worth it.
Like most nineteenth-century writers, Thackeray had a very dense, formal writing style -- but once you get used to it, his writing becomes insanely funny. Witticisms and quips litter the pages, even if you don't pick them all up at once. At first Thackeray seems incredibly cynical (Becky's little schemes almost always pay off), but taken as a social satire, it's easier to understand why he was so cynical about the society of the time.
Becky Sharp is the quintessential anti-heroine -- she's very greedy and cold, yet she's also so smart and determined that it's hard not to have a grudging liking for her. Certainly life hasn't been fair for her. Next to Becky, a goody-goody character like Amelia is pretty boring, and even the unsubtle George can't measure up to Becky.
To sum up "Vanity Fair": think a period soap opera with a heavy dose of social commentary. In other words, it doesn't get much better than this, Thackeray's masterpiece.
Average customer rating:
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Newcomes (Everyman's Library (Paper))
Manufacturer: Tuttle Publishing
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ASIN: 0460874950 |
Book Description
Narrated by Arthur Pendennis, The Newcomes (1853-5) concerns a self-made man, Sir Brian Newcome, whose marriage into the aristocratic Kew family brings titled respectability to his family's "new" money. Now the marriage of his daughter Ethel is of crucial importance to both families' quest for further advancement. A revelatory and hugely witty excursion among the hypocritical upperclass, The Newcomes memorializes the evolution of an age.
Average customer rating:
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The History of Henry Esmond, Esquire
William Makepeace Thackeray
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Thackeray, William Makepeace
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ASIN: B000G27B9K |
Average customer rating:
- A Victorian faces the XVIIIth. Century.
- A Satirical novel about a rascal's rise and fall.
- A Satirical novel about a rascal's rise and fall.
- An excellent book on one man's rise and fall.
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Barry Lyndon
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- Barry Lyndon
- The History of Henry Esmond
ASIN: 1406808466 |
Book Description
Not the best known, but by some critics acclaimed as the finest of Thackeray's works
Download Description
Barry Lyndon - far from the best known, but by some critics acclaimed as the finest, of Thackeray's works - appeared originally as a serial a few years before VANITY FAIR was written; yet it was not published in book form, and then not by itself, until after the publication of VANITY FAIR, PENDENNIS, ESMOND and THE NEWCOMES had placed its author in the forefront of the literary men of the day. So many years after the event we cannot help wondering why the story was not earlier put in book form; for in its delineation of the character of an adventurer it is as great as VANITY FAIR, while for the local colour of history, if I may put it so, it is no undistinguished precursor of ESMOND.
Customer Reviews:
A Victorian faces the XVIIIth. Century........2003-06-03
When one is about to take the big plunge and give oneself the trouble of making what is always -in our age of lighter reading, of course - the strenuous effort of reading a XIXth. Century novelist, one - at least me - must make the following question: What was this author's particular attitude, as a man (or woman) of the most bourgeois of all centuries, towards his/her preceding century, the most aristocratic and un-bourgeois XVIIIth. Century? If s/he scorns the XVIIIth. Century, or is indifferent to it, it's quite likely that the author in question is a bourgeois philistine regarding Victorian times as the undisputed acme of human civilization. If s/he is an admirer, than s/he is obviously starting out of a clear sense of alienation from his/her own society, and one should expect at least for this XIXth. Century _avis rara_, genuine sense of humor. Thackeray was one of such Victorians who realized the philisteism of his own society;Eça de Queiroz, his Portuguese disciple (who seems to have learned a lot from reading him) was another. Therefore: Read this book, QED.
A Satirical novel about a rascal's rise and fall........1998-12-08
Having seen the movie "Barry Lyndon" by Stanley Kubrick years ago, I was taken aback by this book which is so markedly different than the 1975 film. In the book, Lord Bullingdon is actually the hero, where Kubrick presented him merely as a cowardly cad. Redmond Barry (later as Barry Lyndon)deserves all the evils that befall him and his first person narrative is quite humorous especially when blaming everyone for his own shortcomings. Unfortunately, the ending leaves one a bit unsatisfied, quite like the dismal end of Mr. Lyndon himself. This novel is not on the level of Thackeray's "Vanity Fair", but fun to read nonetheless.
A Satirical novel about a rascal's rise and fall........1998-12-08
Having seen the movie "Barry Lyndon" by Stanley Kubrick years ago, I was taken aback by this book which is so markedly different than the 1975 film. In the book, Lord Bullingdon is actually the hero, where Kubrick presented him merely as a cowardly cad. Redmond Barry (later as Barry Lyndon)deserves all the evils that befall him and his first person narrative is quite humorous especially when blaming everyone for his own shortcomings. Unfortunately, the ending leaves one a bit unsatisfied, quite like the dismal end of Mr. Lyndon himself. This novel is not on the level of Thackeray's "Vanity Fair", but fun to read nonetheless.
An excellent book on one man's rise and fall........1997-03-19
Here, in this relatively obscure work, Thackeray is at his ironic and satiric best. Modern critics lightly dismiss the book as a piece of journalistic hack work, but it is much more than that. Redmond Barry, later Barry Lyndon, chronicles in a fairly sophistocated and always lighthearted manner his rise from a poor Irish country boy to the astral heights of polite English society from 1750-1820. Mr. Barry is always Machievellian in his way, and is quick and efficient with his sword. He is Odysseus, Holden Caulfield, Don Juan, and Nabokov's Humbert Humbert merged. In a word, he is very, very entertaining and very, very good. The book's only glaring flaw is it's belabored and uninspired ending. But it is much worth reading to watch Redmond Barry when young
Average customer rating:
- All's fair in love and "Vanity"
|
Vanity Fair (Penguin Popular Classics)
William Makepeace Thackeray
Manufacturer: Penguin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Similar Items:
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- Middlemarch (Signet Classics)
ASIN: 0140620850 |
Customer Reviews:
All's fair in love and "Vanity".......2005-04-09
Greed, gold-digging and deception sit at the heart of "Vanity Fair." It's no joke that it's subtitled "a novel without a hero" -- William Makepeace Thackeray mercilessly skewered the pretentions and flaws of the upper class all throughout it. The result is a gloriously witty social satire.
It opens with two young women departing from a ladies' academy: dull, sweet Amelia (rich) and fiery sharp-witted Rebecca (poor). Becky Sharp is a relentless social climber, and her first effort to rise "above her station" is by trying to get Amelia's brother to marry her -- an effort thwarted by Amelia's fiancee. So instead she gets married to another family's second son, Rawdon Crawley.
Unfortunately, both young couples quickly get disinherited and George is killed. But Becky is determined to live the good life she has worked and married for -- she obtains jewels and money from admiring gentlemen, disrupting her marriage. But a little thing like a tarnished reputation isn't enough to keep Becky down...
"Vanity Fair" is actually a lot more complex than that, with dozens of little subplots and complicated character relationships. Reading it a few times is necessary to really absorb all of it, since it is not just a look at the two women in the middle of the book, but at the upper (and sometimes lower) social strata of the nineteenth century.
The main flaw of the book is perhaps that it sprawls too much -- there's always a lot of stuff going on, not to mention a huge cast of characters, and Thackeray sometimes drops the ball when it comes to the supporting characters and their little plots. It takes a lot of patience to absorb all of this. However... it's worth it.
Like most nineteenth-century writers, Thackeray had a very dense, formal writing style -- but once you get used to it, his writing becomes insanely funny. Witticisms and quips litter the pages, even if you don't pick them all up at once. At first Thackeray seems incredibly cynical (Becky's little schemes almost always pay off), but taken as a social satire, it's easier to understand why he was so cynical about the society of the time.
Becky Sharp is the quintessential anti-heroine -- she's very greedy and cold, yet she's also so smart and determined that it's hard not to have a grudging liking for her. Certainly life hasn't been fair for her. Next to Becky, a goody-goody character like Amelia is pretty boring, and even the unsubtle George can't measure up to Becky.
To sum up "Vanity Fair": think a period soap opera with a heavy dose of social commentary. In other words, it doesn't get much better than this, Thackeray's masterpiece.
Average customer rating:
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Vanity Fair, a Novel Without a Hero
William Makepeace Thackeray
Manufacturer: Heron Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Thackeray, William Makepeace
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ASIN: B000E2D6KK |
Product Description
Dark blue faux leather hardcover. Ornate gilt decorations and title. Sewn-in blue page marker ribbon. 8" X 5" X 1-1/2". A Novel without a hero.
Book Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1853 edition by Bernhard Tauchnitz, Leipzig.
Average customer rating:
- All's fair in love and "Vanity"
|
Vanity Fair (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (Barnes & Noble Classics)
William Makepeace Thackeray
Manufacturer: Barnes & Noble Classics
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1593083653 |
Book Description
“I think I could be a good woman, if I had five thousand a year,” observes beautiful and clever Becky Sharp, one of the wickedest—and most appealing—women in all of literature. Becky is just one of the many fascinating figures that populate
William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel Vanity Fair, a wonderfully satirical panorama of upper-middle-class life and manners in London at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Scorned for her lack of money and breeding, Becky must use all her wit, charm and considerable sex appeal to escape her drab destiny as a governess. From London’s ballrooms to the battlefields of Waterloo, the bewitching Becky works her wiles on a gallery of memorable characters, including her lecherous employer, Sir Pitt, his rich sister, Miss Crawley, and Pitt’s dashing son, Rawdon, the first of Becky’s misguided sexual entanglements.
Filled with hilarious dialogue and superb characterizations, Vanity Fair is a richly entertaining comedy that asks the reader, “Which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire? or, having it, is satisfied?”
Features more than 100 illustrations drawn by Thackeray himself for the initial publication.
Customer Reviews:
All's fair in love and "Vanity".......2006-07-15
Greed, gold-digging and deception sit at the heart of "Vanity Fair." It's no joke that it's subtitled "a novel without a hero" -- William Makepeace Thackeray mercilessly skewered the pretentions and flaws of the upper class all throughout it. The result is a gloriously witty social satire.
It opens with two young women departing from a ladies' academy: dull, sweet Amelia (rich) and fiery sharp-witted Rebecca (poor). Becky Sharp is a relentless social climber, and her first effort to rise "above her station" is by trying to get Amelia's brother to marry her -- an effort thwarted by Amelia's fiancee. So instead she gets married to another family's second son, Rawdon Crawley.
Unfortunately, both young couples quickly get disinherited and George is killed. But Becky is determined to live the good life she has worked and married for -- she obtains jewels and money from admiring gentlemen, disrupting her marriage. But a little thing like a tarnished reputation isn't enough to keep Becky down...
"Vanity Fair" is actually a lot more complex than that, with dozens of little subplots and complicated character relationships. Reading it a few times is necessary to really absorb all of it, since it is not just a look at the two women in the middle of the book, but at the upper (and sometimes lower) social strata of the nineteenth century.
The main flaw of the book is perhaps that it sprawls too much -- there's always a lot of stuff going on, not to mention a huge cast of characters, and Thackeray sometimes drops the ball when it comes to the supporting characters and their little plots. It takes a lot of patience to absorb all of this. However... it's worth it.
Like most nineteenth-century writers, Thackeray had a very dense, formal writing style -- but once you get used to it, his writing becomes insanely funny. Witticisms and quips litter the pages, even if you don't pick them all up at once. At first Thackeray seems incredibly cynical (Becky's little schemes almost always pay off), but taken as a social satire, it's easier to understand why he was so cynical about the society of the time.
Becky Sharp is the quintessential anti-heroine -- she's very greedy and cold, yet she's also so smart and determined that it's hard not to have a grudging liking for her, no matter what she does. Certainly life hasn't been fair for her. Next to Becky, a goody-goody character like Amelia is pretty boring, and even the unsubtle George can't measure up to Becky.
To sum up "Vanity Fair": think a period soap opera with a heavy dose of social commentary. In other words, it doesn't get much better than this, Thackeray's masterpiece.
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