The Small House at Allington (Pengin Classics)
by Anthony Trollope, Julian Thompson
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 128)
Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Austen fans
Loved it. He is the true heir to Jane Austen. (Strong words, I know!) This work begins perhaps more rapidly than Can You Forgive Her, so it's a great Trollope to start on, though see below.
Books are long but I can't wait for the next one. Like the master, his stories feature lively, smart women we take to right away and the dilemmas and disillusionment they face in the modern world. Many comic moments too.
A caution, I read this out of order, here's the series info:
The Chronicles o...more
Books are long but I can't wait for the next one. Like the master, his stories feature lively, smart women we take to right away and the dilemmas and disillusionment they face in the modern world. Many comic moments too.
A caution, I read this out of order, here's the series info:
The Chronicles o...more
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Read in September, 2007
This is one of those books where 1-5 stars doesn't do it. On a 100 point scale, it's in the high 80s. There are moments that are really wonderful, comic and insightful. Like many triple-deckers, there are moments where it drags. Trollope is clearly setting up future books; not only The Last Chronicle of Barsetshire, but also the Palliser novels that are to come. The latter case is interesting from the perspective of his career, but in this book it adds a little-developed sub-plot wit...more
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Read in January, 1985
This is the fifth novel in the Barsetshire series. It has Trollope's favorite heroine, Lily Dale. She is not my favorite, I think mainly because her ultimate decision about marriage seems, well, just unbelievable, even in the context of the nineteenth century, where, God knows, I have passed hundreds of hours reading. But the novel also contains Johnny Eames, another depiction of Trollope in his own youth (low ranking civil service job, in the clutches of money-lenders, barely escaping a dreadfu...more
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recommends it for:
anyone
Someone somewhere once quoted Virginia Woolf as having said that "The Small House at Allington" was perhaps the most perfect English novel. I was glad because I feel like Anthony Trollope gets nowhere near the recognition he deserves. These novels are very old-fashioned, they take 75 pages of exposition before anything happens but they still work. The characters, the dilemmas, the manners, it's all there if you are willing to keep reading past the second chapter.
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Read in July, 2007
I'm reading the Barsetshire series in my son's first year. So I have three months to read this and "The Last Chronicle of Barset."
Finished when Teddy is 17 months! My favorite so far b/c the unrequited love rings more true to me. I loves Johnny Eames being forced to propose to Lily Dale in the presence of Mrs. Dale, and then Lady Julia coming upon him weeping on the bridge. The novel is his coming of age story, and that's when he turned the corner.
Finished when Teddy is 17 months! My favorite so far b/c the unrequited love rings more true to me. I loves Johnny Eames being forced to propose to Lily Dale in the presence of Mrs. Dale, and then Lady Julia coming upon him weeping on the bridge. The novel is his coming of age story, and that's when he turned the corner.
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The 5th Barchester novel. Lovely (but too good to be true?) Lily Dale, vacuous Augustus Crosbie (the "swell"), hobbledehoy Jonnie Eames. It just stops, with very few threads resolved, and most of the characters unfulfilled, if not actually unhappy. Is such an ending clever or frustrating?
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Read in December, 2006
My favorite novel. Trollope characters so much more realistic than Dicken's. Johnny Eames/Lily Dale relationship so painful yet so believable to me. What I learned from the book? Love doesn't always work out the way we want. But I guess I knew that already.
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
People who like Jane Austen
Just finished this morning. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but definitely found Barchester Towers more satisfying. I've been reading the series out of order, apparently, but I still can't wait to read another one!
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Read in December, 2007
Anthony Trollope's writing is powerful in the everyday experiences of living life. As he is a male writer, I find this novel full of understanding on the subject of being a widow from a man's perspective.
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LOVE Trollope, who brings both great plot AND terrific character development to the table. I wanted to name my daughter Lily after reading The Small House....
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This book is #5 in the Chronicles of Barsetshire. The Warden is #1 and Barchester Towers is #2
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Read in April, 2008
What can I say? It's Trollope. It's Barchester. I loved it.
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