Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope was an adventure. I’d never read any of his work and I didn’t know much about him. I found it interesting that he was writing during the same time period as Charles Dickens, at mid-century.
It
was fascinating to learn just how complex the Church of England community was in a cathedral city,
with bishops and arch-bishops, deacons and arch-deacons, deans, prebenderies (sic?) and on and on! I enjoyed the satire and the comedy, and most of all the
unforgettable characters! Mrs. Proudie and her strangled efforts to fill the
vacuum sucked dry by the most do-nothing character in literature, her husband, the bishop. If ever there was a non-character, an ineffectual zero who took up lots of space, it was Dr. Proudie, the bishop! The Signora was a creation of
pure genius—I do think Trollope’s greatest strength was the breadth and depth
and the imagination that he used to draw each of his characters. They will stick with me forever!
And it’s wonderful to read a book that has such a satisfying, rousing ending. I must admit I felt the most pleased (because it was a total surprise) with the way things finally ended so well for the long, long-suffering Dr. Harding.
This is definitely a book worth reading, but I must admit that I think it’s unlikely I’ll read another of Trollope’s novels. There are so many other 19th-century English novels that I’ve enjoyed much more, and I still have more books by treasured authors of this time to read. But I am so glad that I read it, especially after knowing how so many of you have enjoyed his novels.
