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Can You Forgive Her? (Penguin Classics)
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Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Author: Anthony Trollope
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $10.20
You Save: $ 4.80 ( 32% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Author: Anthony Trollope
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Average Customer Rating:
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Can You Forgive Her? (Penguin Classics) Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.8
EAN: 9780140430868
ISBN: 0140430865
Label: Penguin Classics
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 848
Publication Date: 1975-06-30
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Studio: Penguin Classics
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.8
EAN: 9780140430868
ISBN: 0140430865
Label: Penguin Classics
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 848
Publication Date: 1975-06-30
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Studio: Penguin Classics
Editorial Review of Can You Forgive Her? (Penguin Classics)
First published serially in 1864-1865 and in book form in 1864 (Volume I) and 1865 (Volume II) The Palliser series consists of: Can You Forgive Her? Phineas Finn, The Eustace Diamonds, Phineas Redux, The Prime Minister, and The Duke's Children.
Customer Reviews of Can You Forgive Her? (Penguin Classics)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Excellent -- on par with Tolstoy's Anna Karenina
Review: This was the first book I read by Anthony Trollope and I found it to be one of the best books I have ever read. Trollope combines a subtle sense of humor, rich descriptive imagery, and easy-to-understand writing style to create a book that tackles many of the same human, emotional, moral, and political issues that Tolstoy writes about. However, because the writing style is so much more accessible, you can relate to the main characters and the dilemmas they face so much more effectively.
This story is particularly relevant today as it was back in England. Today we are still trying to answer the question "what should a woman do with her life". While women today have more options -- we still struggle between trying to decide whether we should do "what society expects of us" or "do what we really want to do". Even Hillary Clinton is struggling with many of the themes of this book -- how to be a feminine figure but worthy of respect; how to be a good wife without being a doormat; how to balance her need and desire for power with societies fear of a powerful woman.
If you are looking for books that echo many of the issues we face today while providing a rich environment to escape to that doesn't include minivans and modern minutae, Anthony Trollope is an excellent author. This book is a great introduction to his philosophy and stories, all written with intelligence, humor and class.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Good at half the length.
Review: I suppose it's not fair to pick on authors who are no longer alive to defend themselves, but I think that there is good reason that Jane Austen has enjoyed a renaissance and Trollope has not.
I've been told over and over again that Trollope is for people who love politics. I've always found this to be a bit of an overstatement since it strikes me that the "politics" involved sound pretty much like politics everywhere; that of the machinations required to get elected (or get a seat in Parliament, in this case). Just like today. Big deal. There is usually just enough politics to confuse people who have zero background knowledge but not enough to tell anything new to people who have read a few Victorian novels or have any concept at all of politics in general. (I don't even pay a lot of attention to politics and I've never learned a thing from Trollope).
This is a good novel that should have been half as long. There is almost no actual plot--the characters are mainly shuffled among extended visits to one another and trips to Switzerland--and there is too much dialogue for what actually needs to be said (contrast with Austen's conciseness). The characters are delineated pretty clearly as they are introduced and, while some of them do grow, they don't grow enough to fill out almost 700 pages. Alice, in particular, persists in being tiresomely stubborn, reserved, and wooden until the end; even as she has been won over again by John Grey she protests that she is "not good enough" and resists the expectations of levity and celebration that come with her wedding. She is an interesting depiction of a very independent-minded woman (which must have been something of a novelty in 1864) but it is not really convincing that she is as intelligent as it seems she should be, or she might be better at self-reflection.
I think Trollope meant for the reader to see Grey as Alice does--colorless at first and then expanding into something more vital and interesting--but he doesn't quite accomplish it and Grey never really gels as a character and never really seems to merit the admiration paid him by other characters.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Expected more
Review: Having been a fan of Barchester Towers and The Way We Live Now, I expected more from this novel. I found the characterizations disappointing--particularly that of George Vavasor. It simply does not ring true. He develops [or unravels] from a likeable, quirky character to a deranged one for seemingly no other reason that to be a plot device. Alice Vavasor did not capture my interest, and no, I cannot forgive her for her lack of vision and resolution.
John Grey was lovingly drawn--perhaps too lovingly--and Palliser was successful as a multi-dimensional aristocrat. I enjoyed both of these portraits. Without going through the copious list of personages, I will wrap it up and say that this novel was not as well-constructed as I was accustomed to from Trollope; nor did the plot grab me. I preferred He Knew He Was Right.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Can You Forgive Her
Review: Trollope is no Charles Dickens, but he has insights into human life that Dickens seems to lack completely. Trollope deeply understands that women have their own interests, needs, preferences, and ambitions. He also understands that women cannot always count on the men in their lives to provide financial security. He understands these things not only on a sociological plane, but on a deeply personal, psychological level.
Unfortunately, he does not let these realities reach their ultimate conclusion. The women you care about in his books are typically left comfortable and happy, because they are lucky with their men. Like Dickens, Trollope is ready to accept the social reality of women as he finds it. Unlike, say, the women in George Eliot's novels, Trollope's women are rescued by men, or by their patrimony, so they are not left in poverty and despair.
But, nonetheless, Trollope is a great and addictive storyteller. I read this novel in a week, and I can't wait to read the next book in the Palliser series.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The Jagged Edge of Marriage
Review: In an unusual turnabout for a Victorian novel, we have here three cases of women being very uncertain about their men -- to the point of, in one case, jilting a fiance and, in the other, with threatening to abandon a marriage by running off with an infamous ne'er-do-well. Also, we have Anthony Trollope's most dastardly villain, the ambitious and egoistic George Vavasor, with a visible fault line through his face for expressing rage.
In a Trollope novel, everything is not as it seems. The institution of marriage, in particular, comes in for some hard knocks -- all from the point of view of the women involved. Alice Vavasor, Lady Glencora Palliser, and Arabella Greenow come from the aristocracy and the upper middle class. All three women in the course of the novel grow and change before our eyes.
As the first novel in the six-book Palliser series, _Can You Forgive Her?_ also introduces us to the world of high politics. Sir Plantagenet Palliser is about to become Chancellor of the Exchequer; and George Vavasor dips into his fiancee's fortune to run twice as a Member of Parliament for Chelsea. Trollope had always wanted to become an MP himself, and ran once (and lost) for the borough of Beverley. His bad experiences were the stuff of some masterful election scenes in novels, notably the much underestimated _Ralph the Heir_.
Other Trollope set pieces include a fabulous fox hunt in Book I, in which the author himself appears under another name. There is also a dispute over an inheritance; fascinating legal trickery in George Vavasor's borrowings from his fiancee; and the typical Trollope developing of his characters' weaknesses until they pop.
While over 800 pages in length, I felt as if this was less than half that. Yes, reading Trollope requires a commitment; but his books are intriguing enough to reward it. This is one of my favorites.
Review Summary: Excellent -- on par with Tolstoy's Anna Karenina
Review: This was the first book I read by Anthony Trollope and I found it to be one of the best books I have ever read. Trollope combines a subtle sense of humor, rich descriptive imagery, and easy-to-understand writing style to create a book that tackles many of the same human, emotional, moral, and political issues that Tolstoy writes about. However, because the writing style is so much more accessible, you can relate to the main characters and the dilemmas they face so much more effectively.
This story is particularly relevant today as it was back in England. Today we are still trying to answer the question "what should a woman do with her life". While women today have more options -- we still struggle between trying to decide whether we should do "what society expects of us" or "do what we really want to do". Even Hillary Clinton is struggling with many of the themes of this book -- how to be a feminine figure but worthy of respect; how to be a good wife without being a doormat; how to balance her need and desire for power with societies fear of a powerful woman.
If you are looking for books that echo many of the issues we face today while providing a rich environment to escape to that doesn't include minivans and modern minutae, Anthony Trollope is an excellent author. This book is a great introduction to his philosophy and stories, all written with intelligence, humor and class.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Good at half the length.
Review: I suppose it's not fair to pick on authors who are no longer alive to defend themselves, but I think that there is good reason that Jane Austen has enjoyed a renaissance and Trollope has not.
I've been told over and over again that Trollope is for people who love politics. I've always found this to be a bit of an overstatement since it strikes me that the "politics" involved sound pretty much like politics everywhere; that of the machinations required to get elected (or get a seat in Parliament, in this case). Just like today. Big deal. There is usually just enough politics to confuse people who have zero background knowledge but not enough to tell anything new to people who have read a few Victorian novels or have any concept at all of politics in general. (I don't even pay a lot of attention to politics and I've never learned a thing from Trollope).
This is a good novel that should have been half as long. There is almost no actual plot--the characters are mainly shuffled among extended visits to one another and trips to Switzerland--and there is too much dialogue for what actually needs to be said (contrast with Austen's conciseness). The characters are delineated pretty clearly as they are introduced and, while some of them do grow, they don't grow enough to fill out almost 700 pages. Alice, in particular, persists in being tiresomely stubborn, reserved, and wooden until the end; even as she has been won over again by John Grey she protests that she is "not good enough" and resists the expectations of levity and celebration that come with her wedding. She is an interesting depiction of a very independent-minded woman (which must have been something of a novelty in 1864) but it is not really convincing that she is as intelligent as it seems she should be, or she might be better at self-reflection.
I think Trollope meant for the reader to see Grey as Alice does--colorless at first and then expanding into something more vital and interesting--but he doesn't quite accomplish it and Grey never really gels as a character and never really seems to merit the admiration paid him by other characters.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Expected more
Review: Having been a fan of Barchester Towers and The Way We Live Now, I expected more from this novel. I found the characterizations disappointing--particularly that of George Vavasor. It simply does not ring true. He develops [or unravels] from a likeable, quirky character to a deranged one for seemingly no other reason that to be a plot device. Alice Vavasor did not capture my interest, and no, I cannot forgive her for her lack of vision and resolution.
John Grey was lovingly drawn--perhaps too lovingly--and Palliser was successful as a multi-dimensional aristocrat. I enjoyed both of these portraits. Without going through the copious list of personages, I will wrap it up and say that this novel was not as well-constructed as I was accustomed to from Trollope; nor did the plot grab me. I preferred He Knew He Was Right.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Can You Forgive Her
Review: Trollope is no Charles Dickens, but he has insights into human life that Dickens seems to lack completely. Trollope deeply understands that women have their own interests, needs, preferences, and ambitions. He also understands that women cannot always count on the men in their lives to provide financial security. He understands these things not only on a sociological plane, but on a deeply personal, psychological level.
Unfortunately, he does not let these realities reach their ultimate conclusion. The women you care about in his books are typically left comfortable and happy, because they are lucky with their men. Like Dickens, Trollope is ready to accept the social reality of women as he finds it. Unlike, say, the women in George Eliot's novels, Trollope's women are rescued by men, or by their patrimony, so they are not left in poverty and despair.
But, nonetheless, Trollope is a great and addictive storyteller. I read this novel in a week, and I can't wait to read the next book in the Palliser series.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The Jagged Edge of Marriage
Review: In an unusual turnabout for a Victorian novel, we have here three cases of women being very uncertain about their men -- to the point of, in one case, jilting a fiance and, in the other, with threatening to abandon a marriage by running off with an infamous ne'er-do-well. Also, we have Anthony Trollope's most dastardly villain, the ambitious and egoistic George Vavasor, with a visible fault line through his face for expressing rage.
In a Trollope novel, everything is not as it seems. The institution of marriage, in particular, comes in for some hard knocks -- all from the point of view of the women involved. Alice Vavasor, Lady Glencora Palliser, and Arabella Greenow come from the aristocracy and the upper middle class. All three women in the course of the novel grow and change before our eyes.
As the first novel in the six-book Palliser series, _Can You Forgive Her?_ also introduces us to the world of high politics. Sir Plantagenet Palliser is about to become Chancellor of the Exchequer; and George Vavasor dips into his fiancee's fortune to run twice as a Member of Parliament for Chelsea. Trollope had always wanted to become an MP himself, and ran once (and lost) for the borough of Beverley. His bad experiences were the stuff of some masterful election scenes in novels, notably the much underestimated _Ralph the Heir_.
Other Trollope set pieces include a fabulous fox hunt in Book I, in which the author himself appears under another name. There is also a dispute over an inheritance; fascinating legal trickery in George Vavasor's borrowings from his fiancee; and the typical Trollope developing of his characters' weaknesses until they pop.
While over 800 pages in length, I felt as if this was less than half that. Yes, reading Trollope requires a commitment; but his books are intriguing enough to reward it. This is one of my favorites.