Doctor Thorne: A Barsetshire Novel (Wordsworth Classics)

Installment 3 of the Barchester series travels in a different direction-literally some miles down the way- another cathedral area. Several properties are involved in this story with the main one being the property of the Greshams which in a bad financial state. Lady Areballa is the outspoken (and highly comical/entertaining), lady of the Gresham property and she watched everything with a hawk eye similar to Mrs Proudie(though not as intense) from the last 2 novels. She sees the coming of age of Frank as an opportunity to secure a marriage that will fulfill her plans because Frank "must marry money", which is repeated in many form close toa hundred or possible more times for effective comedic repetition.Comedy comes from the dowager going sort of nuts trying to secure this while Trollope asks his reader to feel compassion for her as well as sympathize with(to a certain extent) her in the end. Trollope brings the comedy as well as mild drama to this installment making this one the most heavy yet or most serious of the series so far. This one does contain a person who drinks himself to death --then his son does the same thing--so it is a little heavier. Then again the 2 men who die from drinking go down for the most part comically and with Trollope wit. Dr Thorn and his neice Mary have a relationship similar to Mr Harding and Eleanor (i have to admit i miss them and as i am currently reading book 4 i still miss them). It is fun to see the similarity but also the difference--the main one being a. Dr Thorn- is not as kind and compassionate as Harding as well as having a bad reputation for collecting a high fee etc-- while Mary stands up for herself, is stronger and is more independent than Eleanor. Trollope seems to make his female characters stronger in general than the men. Another twist in this one is Franks relationship with Miss Dunstable- this is playfull in that it is similar to Neroni and Slope from Barchester Towers but totally different in that Dunstable counsels Frank like Neroni does men in general..2nd she is not a man eater that gains selfish pleasure from playing with men --Miss Dunstable cares about Frank and encourages him to pursue Mark--not to sat Neroni doesnt do that but this is different. - I will leave it to the reader to continue with the intricacies of the characters so as not to spoil the story.I will not go into the technicalities of the plot but focus for a moment of some of the negative criticism of Trollope which i 100% disagree with. I could write a long essay about this but will try to keep this short. One of the complaints about Trollope is his large volume of novels with the argument being that quantity equates to lack of quality.I think Trollope was way ahead of his time in that he was working in a minimalist sort of way with his main concern being regular people. His large body of work i feel proves that even more. I immediately came across a knock down argument for saying Trollope wrote mainly for money.(which was most likely taken out of context-being that Trollope supposedly said that he wrote for money-i would have to look at that quote myself and try to figure out the proper context. His whole style works against the norms for commercial fiction--even to the extent where Henry James did not even understand his approach--.What i mean by working against the commercial norms is he was completely opposite of Dickens in that there is 0 surrealism -- i have not even encountered a dream sequence yet. There is 0 action in the form of violence.Thackeray for example, in his masterpiece Vanity Fair, was heavily satirical to the extent of being over the top and wonderfully animated but at the same time very easily commercially accessible.It was as if Trollope was writing in a completely stripped down format that mimic everyday life at a normal pace.This is the 3rd book in the series and not much has happened but there has not been a moment i have no been fully entertained as well as pondered advanced philosophical insights.-such as what happens when you assume things about people based on hearsay-that was Barchester Towers-- or you could view BT as a romantic comedic romp in Barchester--however you interpret it this is serious art.Trollope seems to me to want to connect with everyday people and hopefully entertain them as well as teach intricate lessons about human interaction. Trollope is like a professor who writs books for non academic people so as to try to be effective rather than writing in a academic journal and only being read by a small portion of people. By writing these non action packed novels he wants the reader to learn something about compassion for others as well as staying out of negative bureaucratic situations. I feel Trollope in Dr Thorn throws in a curve ball of a little satire in the way he makes the son (not giving a name so as to not spoil) die of drinking literally a year or so after the father-- I feel by making the son who is like 23 die so soon while his father was in his 40's is totally an artistic (not entertainer) move-- he wants his readers to think about the implications of a parent figure drinking on their children and to see a satirical display of the detrimental chain effect.His characters are people everyone can relate to. I feel Mary Thorn is the hero of this story. She represents a strong willed person that ends up standing up the the most difficult person in the story.

I wish I could have had the patience to read this, but I resorted to the DVD instead which was great and enabled me to participate in the discussion with my book group anyway. There were way too many characters to keep track of and I was not familiar enough with old British society and politics to understand much of it. But it was a fun drama to watch with heroes and villians and shades of gray to create believable characters in not so believable circumstance and coincidences, but a lot of fun to see how despite the many detours we do get a good love story and a happy ending.

This story is just like the movie. It is well written and I like that it is a soft cover book.

Ah, the pleasures of Trollope. So soothing in these turbulent times.

One of his best plots, effective characters, pleasant format, useful additional information in the volume.

What a pleasure to read such a detailed and well written story. Compared to modern writing it takes a while to adjust to 19 th century style but stick with it and it's well worth it.

Wonderful novel. Better than Jane Austen.

Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) wrote 47 novels in his long and illustrious career as a famous Victorian author. Doctor Thorne was published in 1858 following in the footsteps of the first two novels in the Barset series The Warden and Barchester Towers. The novel is quite long and takes a while to get going. Once you get drawn into the tale, however, Doctor Thorne becomes a wonderful reading experience.The Plot: Several years before the novel began Mary Scatcherd became pregnant by Henry Thorne the brother of Dr. Thomas Thorne (a bachelor living in Greshambury village). Lord Scatcherd murders Henry when he discovers that his sister Mary has had an illegitimate child with Henry. Scatcherd spends only a short time in prison and emerges to become a great railroad builder and a fabulously wealthy man. He dies in the novel due to alcoholism after his election to Parliament is overturned due to a bribery charge. Scatcherd's best friend is Dr. Thorne. Thorne raises Mary as his own child. Mary falls in love with Frank Gresham the young heir to the Gresham estate. His father is having money problems and the family recognizes the need for young Frank to marry money. He is urged to court Miss Dunstable a wealthy woman but his love for Mary never falters. She will later inherit the estate of Lord Scatcherd since she is the oldest living relative of him following the death ofJulian Scatcherd his oldest son who dies of alcoholism. The novel is leisurely with the author often commenting on the characters and the story. As with most Trollope novels characters from the other books in the Barset series make an appearance including in Doctor Thorne Bishop and Mrs Proudie and the Duke of Omnium. A delightful read that will take you away from our dangerous times to a quieter and gentle time in Great Britain and rural England. Superb!

From the start you know what is going to happen, and that it is going to take a long time to happen. But to wallow in this world of 19th century rural England with all the social rules, limitations and etiquette was very enjoyable and I found myself sitting for hours lapping it up. It all gets very complicated and you want to shout out and tell the characters what's actually what, but you just have to ride the train.Graham Greene took this novel with him when he went on a trip to Mexico and just wanted to immerse himself in this contrasting world. Dive in!

This was the obvious next book having loved Barchester Towers and it is not only magnificent in it's own right but a continuing and relevant critique of current problems of class, money and the church.

Great book, Great service.

Good price, arrived promptly

The best of the bartsetshire novels... Optimistic and romantic, whereas the world is shown in most of the others in a cynical and disillusioned way. The world as shown I in "the small house. At Allington" is full of greed, betrayal and despair. M. S. T.