The Warden

Apr 30, 2013 Richard rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Book Circle Reads 155

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: The Warden centers on Mr. Harding, a clergyman of great personal integrity who is nevertheless in possession of an income from a charity far in excess of the sum devoted to the purposes of the foundation. On discovering this, young John Bold turns his reforming zeal to exposing what he regards as an abuse of privilege, despite the fact that he is in love with Mr. Harding's daughter Eleanor. It was a highly topical novel (a case regard...more Book Circle Reads 155

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: The Warden centers on Mr. Harding, a clergyman of great personal integrity who is nevertheless in possession of an income from a charity far in excess of the sum devoted to the purposes of the foundation. On discovering this, young John Bold turns his reforming zeal to exposing what he regards as an abuse of privilege, despite the fact that he is in love with Mr. Harding's daughter Eleanor. It was a highly topical novel (a case regarding the misapplication of church funds was the scandalous subject of contemporary debate), but like other great Victorian novelists, Trollope uses the specific case to explore and illuminate the universal complexities of human motivation and social morality.

My Review: First read in the 1980s, during the first Reagan Administration, I was struck at how little things had changed in the past 130 years. Mr. Bold's lawsuit and its unintended consequences, the fuss and kerfuffle over the uses of “public” (really now, could the specific bequest of a trust to support a charitable activity and administered by the church be considered public today?) funds in a manner the onlooker simply didn't like...think Chrysler bailout, but not International Harvester or US Steel...all of this resonated with me.

Eleanor Harding was no one's fool, hooking up with that pill of the first water John Bold! And I have to say that the portrait of Dickens as Mr. Popular Sentiment made me chortle.

But on re-reading the book in 2012...well...the magic eluded me. I think this was a book that needed the element of not knowing the ending to make the events fun. Since I knew already who was going to do what, I had no huge amount of interest in following the path laid out for me. It was still amusing. It wasn't ever gripping, but it was involving. Now, after 30 years, much of what took place had fled from my head until the words hit my eyes. But as they returned, it was as blocks and lumps and boulders, not flowing back into the river of my thoughts like cool springs and bright brooks.

Good Victorian stodge. But once was enough.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.(less)

32 likes · like · see review

Nov 10, 2009 J rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There is tranquility in a second-hand bookshop. Libraries are quiet because they must be. This is different. A kind of peace. Whatever it is, it suits me. I feel at home. It could just be the dust. Anyway, there I was kneeling in the art books, pulling them out and pushing them back. Have it, read it, not interested… I made my way down the row that way and swung round to continue on the shelf behind me. It was low. It was low and I am short and - on hands and knees - I still had to bend down to...more There is tranquility in a second-hand bookshop. Libraries are quiet because they must be. This is different. A kind of peace. Whatever it is, it suits me. I feel at home. It could just be the dust. Anyway, there I was kneeling in the art books, pulling them out and pushing them back. Have it, read it, not interested… I made my way down the row that way and swung round to continue on the shelf behind me. It was low. It was low and I am short and - on hands and knees - I still had to bend down to see. I was Carter making the tiny breach into Tutankhamun's tomb. "Yes, I see wonderful things." Little books. Little books that fit in my hands. Little books that fit in my pocket. Little books that fit under my pillow at night. Rows of little books running along the wooden floor of the bookshop like a literary baseboard. I wondered what perverse person put them there. A brilliant short person, no doubt. I imagined them laughing maniacally: Bwahaha! Finally! Tall people will need us!

Obviously this is more about the gold and green 1902 volume next to me than the story inside. You can read about that anywhere. The Warden is the first of the much loved Chronicles of Barset, first published in 1855. The theme of the book is the clash of ancient privilege with modern social awareness. Blah, blah, blah… What no one else can tell you is this: It is the exact size of my hand! How fantastic is that? The exact size! It was made (and re-bound by Alison Leakey, so states the inside cover) for me!! These are the things I love about it:

#1

#2 There’s a small stain on page 329. Tea. I know exactly what caused it.

When the archdeacon left his wife and father-in-law at the Chapter Coffee House to go to Messrs Cox and Cumming, he had no very defined idea of what he had to do when he got there. Gentlemen when at law, or in any way engaged in matters requiring legal assistance, are very apt to describe such attendance as quite compulsory, and very disagreeable. The lawyers, on the other hand, do not at all see the necessity, though they quite agree as to the disagreeable nature of the visit; gentlemen when so engaged are usually somewhat gravelled at finding nothing to say to their learned friends; they generally talk a little politics, a little weather, ask some few foolish questions about their suit, and then withdraw, having passed half an hour in a small, dingy waiting-room, in company with some junior assistant-clerk, and ten minutes with the members of the firm; the business is then over for which the gentleman has come up to London, probably a distance of a hundred and fifty miles. To be sure he goes to the play, and dines at his friend’s club, and has a bachelor’s liberty and bachelor’s recreation for three or four days; and he could not probably plead the desire of such gratifications as a reason to his wife for a trip to London.
Married ladies, when your husbands find they are positively obliged to attend their legal advisers, the nature of the duty to be performed is generally of this description.

Shocking. No, I’m telling you, it had nothing to do with the warden resigning. The chapter’s titled The Warden Resigns, for crying out loud. The warden resigning can’t have been a surprise. But something made a long-ago reader’s tea splash over the edge of the cup and onto the page. Only this page. Was it disbelief? Or recognition? Perhaps a married lady suddenly remembering: I have GOT to get to my lawyer.

#3 There are pages where every line begins with a single quotation mark. Sometimes it goes on for two or three pages. Every single line. Although Trollope was a great lover of punctuation (a semicolon on every page – sometimes as many as six), I don’t think this was what he had in mind. Clearly the typesetter is trying to get my attention. Page 228, with its 30 quotation marks (and 4 extremely hot semicolons), is a serious poke in the eye to, well, pretty much everyone: government, church hierarchy, and especially journalists. Noted. Thank you. Highlighted by 100 single and seemingly meaningless quotation marks, pages 320-323 contain Mr Septimus Harding’s resignation letters and give you the man’s character in a nutshell. It’s like Cliffnotes by Typesetters. The whole point of the book in a few pages. So why bother to read the rest?

#4 Because it’s fun, that’s why. Trollope knows people and his characters are memorable. Yes, they have ridiculous names that make me laugh, but that’s the intention. It’s satire. Playfulness with a point. I did wonder if being an American who knows nothing of 19th century church politics would make the story less accessible or even irrelevant to me. Would I get the jokes? Yes, it’s accessible. It’s written in a realistic style and I didn’t need anyone to explain the archdeacon setting the scene as if he were writing a sermon, locking the door, and pulling Rabelais from a secret drawer. My only question is what else was in that secret drawer. Yes, it’s relevant. People haven’t changed. And yes, I got the jokes. At least I think I did. If not, I was laughing at something or Trollope was laughing at me and either way I don’t really care; it was fun. God, I love semicolons.(less)

31 likes · like · see review

Jan 13, 2013 Petra X rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Very enjoyable book that is concerned about people putting their great big feet in puddles before ascertaining their depth! It's very cleverly worked out and contains just the amount of love and romance to drive the plot forward. Like most of Trollope's Barchester series, it is somewhat a comedy of manners and more enjoyable for that.

Recommended to those who like the classics and have a certain fondness for schadenfreude (even though they know they shouldn't).

19 likes · like · see review

Aug 09, 2011 Henry Avila rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Warden, melancholy story of Septimus Harding,Church of England clergyman, in the fictitious cathedral town of Barchester.(Winchester in reality) Britain ,the middle of the 19th century and
this quiet little city exists, because of the cathedral, and is dominated by the clergy .In 1434 a wealthy merchant John Hiram died, and left in his will land , to support twelve retired old men from Barchester.A hospital(nursing home) was to be built, the church to administer it by appointing a warden. Fou...more

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 26, 2013 Rick Boyer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Warden, by Anthony Trollope, is the first volume of the six-part series, "The Chronicles of Barsetshire." It tells the story of the Anglican clergyman Septimus Harding, who (as part of his clerical "preferment") is the warden, or overseer, of a hospital or "retirement home" for a group of elderly men. For this job the warden receives an annual stipend, which used to be fairly small but which now, due to profitable investing practices, has grown to a rather large sum. In the course of events,...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 09, 2009 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've always resisted the idea of Trollope. But this book has changed my opinion. It's a kind, generous, humane book--generous to a fault. I've never seen a book where the concluding chapter tells you the bad guy isn't really as bad as he seems. The writing is mostly clean and simple: more like Jane Austen (though not as clever) than Thomas Carlyle (who is parodied in one of the book's less memorable moments), or even Dickens.

The story of a weak, easily-led Anglican clergyman who is driven by hi...more

5 likes · like · see review

Feb 01, 2009 Penny rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My sister Melinda just passed this along to me -- it had been my mother's. Only enjoyable elements of this book are Archdeacon Grantly and his wife, a wonderful study of self-interest, self-regard and self-righteousness. Otherwise the characters are fairly bland. The hero, so far as there is one, is the warden himself, but it's impossible not to think he's in the wrong in the central question of the novel. In "The Warden," a 15th century benefactor had left a certain estate to the church for the...more

like · see review

Jan 27, 2009 Tim rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Can a 185-page novel (I read the Penguin edition) contain too much filler? Well... er ... yes.

This first of the six Barsetshire chronicles details the questioning in rumor, in lawsuit and in print of a clergyman who runs an almshouse (hospital, or what seems to me to be what one might almost call an old folk's home in more recent times) at which reside 12 old men. Is kind Septimus Harding being paid far more than he should, and is his wage what the founder of this charity intended? Trollope hand...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 26, 2013 Gale rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: british-classics

"A CHURCH MAN OF CONSCIENCE"

Trollope's debut novel about a man of conscience proved the first of a series set in fictional Barchester. Despite its slow start due to extensive exposition, the story gradually unfolds until the three main characters rush off to London--that great resolver of country crises. There is much internal debate as the "disinterested victim" ponders his comfortable situation. His quiescent conscience slowly awakens to a possible moral injustice, as a result of a sincere l...more "A CHURCH MAN OF CONSCIENCE"

Trollope's debut novel about a man of conscience proved the first of a series set in fictional Barchester. Despite its slow start due to extensive exposition, the story gradually unfolds until the three main characters rush off to London--that great resolver of country crises. There is much internal debate as the "disinterested victim" ponders his comfortable situation. His quiescent conscience slowly awakens to a possible moral injustice, as a result of a sincere lawsuit provoked by an ardent reformer--in tune with 19th century England's mood for social reform. Two outside forces combine to make Mr. Harding's existence miserable: the ponderous process of the Law (as represented by Sir Abraham Haphazard) and the unbridled power of the Press (in the person of Tom Towers, that "compounder of thunderbolts").

Rev. Septimus Harding at 50 is a mild-mannered Cathedral preceptor, who also serves as warden to a charity hospital for 12 aged men who are no longer able to earn their keep. Far from stealing anything from them, he has actually increased their daily allowance from his own purse, but the mood of reform which sweeps the nation has caught even Barchester in its pitiless scrutiny. The press condemns; the young reformer (who is coincidentally the suitor of Harding's younger daughter) sets in motion the legal machinery which will surely topple this 400-year-old Injustice.

Now for the critical debate: does the State have the right to dictate to the Church how it shall spend its monies? Is temporal authority to tread upon, investigate, and demand reform in sacred matters? Is there no sanctity of the cathedral Close? Gentle Harding becomes trapped in the middle of this public debate--his heart smitten with personal pain in case he has inadvertently committed great wrong through merely doing his best for the men in his kindly care. Bullied by the Archdeacon, his overbearing son-on-law, the Warden embarks on a moral journey to find peace of mind. His only consolations are his devoted daughter (who denies her own heart in order to remain loyal to her tormented father) and his aged friend, the Bishop, who is embarrassed but powerless before his pompous son, the Archdeacon. How can such a public outcry be appeased; how can true justice be done for the old beadsmen? Yet, must a man sacrifice his conscience for the good of others?

Trollope warns of the dangers of the pen: both the ruthless Press and the more subtle but effective novelist. It is difficult to stay the course of the pendulum of reform once it has been set in motion, as John Bold regretfully discovers. This is a short intense novel of personal conviction and moral courage, a classic for thoughtful readers. The author provides hints into his characters' personalities by their very names, as did Dickens. [One wonders how such a church vs state situation would be handled today. (Alabama courthouse?}

(September 15, 2010. I welcome dialogue with teachers.)(less)

like · see review

Feb 10, 2013 Stephanie Patterson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So many, many years ago, the folks at a book club called "The Reader's Subscription" offered a pretty little set of the Barsetshire novels as part of an introductory offer to join the book club. I bought the set and it sat prettily on my shelves for several years. Then I started a new job but learned before I started that I had been a sort of default hire. I wasn't anybody's first choice but nobody had any objections to me. Somehow knowing I was the least objectionable candidate was not a comfo...more

like · see review

Sep 27, 2012 Brendan Hodge rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Anthony Trollope's genial social satire has not true villains: he sees the virtues and foibles of each character.

The kindly, humble old Mr. Harding is the Warden of a charitable institution founded back in the 15th century: Hiram's Hospital, a retirement home of sorts which provides a home and an income to 12 laborers from the town grown too old to work. The lands left to provide an income to support the Hospital now provide quite large revenue, and so the Warden, a CofE clergyman appointed by...more

like · see review

Sep 21, 2012 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

The Warden is that very great rarity: A short Victorian novel(1). It is also, I will add, a very good Victorian novel.

The Warden is a quiet novel, and, for a modern reader, almost nostalgic. Trollope focuses on one of the big issues of the time, church reform, especially monetary reform. The concern is that the church is paying those appointed to charitable office far more than the job warrants and often at the expense of those for home the charity was intended. Trollope begins by narrowing the...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 02, 2012 Philip rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Though written in the mid-nineteenth century, The Warden by Anthony Trollope addresses themes that are highly relevant to contemporary issues. Prime amongst them is a consideration of the freedom and integrity of the press. In the novel, the eponymous warden, one Mr Harding, finds himself subjected to something of a public witch-hunt over payments of money that apparently cannot be justified.

Mr Harding is paid by the church, the Anglican Church, of course. At least that’s how things seem on the...more Though written in the mid-nineteenth century, The Warden by Anthony Trollope addresses themes that are highly relevant to contemporary issues. Prime amongst them is a consideration of the freedom and integrity of the press. In the novel, the eponymous warden, one Mr Harding, finds himself subjected to something of a public witch-hunt over payments of money that apparently cannot be justified.

Mr Harding is paid by the church, the Anglican Church, of course. At least that’s how things seem on the surface. He is the warden of a sheltered house that is home for a handful of aged and infirm workers, whose welfare is provided for by a long-standing trust fund. The legacy also provides for the allowance paid to their warden. The allowance is, shall we say, generous, especially compared to the funds that contribute directly to the inmates’ welfare.

Mr Harding has a daughter of marriageable age. She is courted by a Mr Bold whose character demands that he is duty bound to seek out justice where other may prefer continued indifference or ignorance. Mr Bold begins to take an interest in Mr Harding and the legacy. Stories - accusatory stories - begin to appear in the press. The newspaper, one in particular, is just not going to let the story rest. The unsuspecting Mr Harding is embarrassed in the extreme.

What the contemporary reader will find difficult in this scenario is appreciating the role and status of the church in the story. Mr Harding is employed by the Anglican Church. He is answerable to a Bishop, who lives in something known as a palace. A century and a half ago, the church was the very epitome of the establishment and respectability, whilst its employees and associates were professionalism and integrity personified. To some extent, they were above criticism and, crucially, they themselves believed this. And when the eight hundred pounds a year income that Mr Harding currently receives turns out to be misappropriated from funds that the bequest intended for the home’s inmates, all hell breaks loose.

The press continues its campaign. Both sides employ expensive, posing lawyers and both sides visit potentially influential friends in high places. And, in the midst of it all, we have Miss Harding on the opposite side of the argument from Mr Bold, her sweetheart.

But it is the involvement of the press that captures contemporary interest. Scandalised by the alleged mis-appropriation of charitable monies, stinking rich newspaper proprietors beat drums on behalf of the poor to make a hollow, if penetrating sound. The pursuit of celebrity, the nose for scandal, the propensity to claim a status above everyone else’s morals, all of these aspects of public posturing by the press remain familiar today. Apparently it was always in the public interest to sell as many copies as possible and by whatever means. And it always was the case that a public scandal over hundreds of pounds produced profits for the press barons measured in thousands.

The issues are all resolved, but not in a way that might have been predicted at the outset. A modern reader may well find the detail of the ending unlikely, but also it might be refreshingly unlikely. But it all goes to prove that in the last one hundred and fifty years some things have actually changed.
(less)

like · see review

Jul 16, 2012 Tony rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-mainstream

THE WARDEN. (1855). Anthony Trollope. *****.
I last read this novel (ready?) fifty years ago. I remembered liking it at the time, but it was probably too slow of a read for me then. Reading it now, I can better appreciate skill with plot and character, and have the patience for a slow read. This edition (the one I read not the one pictured) was from The Folio Society in 1995, and contains an introduction by Owen Chadwick and illustrations by Alexy Pendle. The novel was the first in Trollope’s “B...more THE WARDEN. (1855). Anthony Trollope. *****.
I last read this novel (ready?) fifty years ago. I remembered liking it at the time, but it was probably too slow of a read for me then. Reading it now, I can better appreciate skill with plot and character, and have the patience for a slow read. This edition (the one I read not the one pictured) was from The Folio Society in 1995, and contains an introduction by Owen Chadwick and illustrations by Alexy Pendle. The novel was the first in Trollope’s “Barchester Chronicles,” which he wrote between 1854 and 1867. There were a total of six of them, and they were probably the most admired of all of his novels. Originally titled, “The Precentor,” Trollope said he got the idea for the novel while travelling in Salisbury. While standing on a small bridge and looking at the cathedral he got the idea for the story. The story takes us into the life of Reverend Septimus Harding, a man of the church who was responsible for an endowed poor house and hospital, endowed generations ago by a successful wool carder. The stipulation was that the facilities were for twelve old, impecunious men, who were no longer able – for one reason or another – able to provide for their own livelihood. They were to receive a shilling and a pence per day plus shelter and food and medical care. Any monies left over were to go to the caretaker of the institution. Our caretaker, Mr. Harding, received 800 pounds per year for his efforts, though, indeed, there was not a lot of work required. On this, he had to provide for his own housing and food, in addition to providing for his family. This wasn’t a lot of money back then, but one could live on it. Suddenly, a Dr. John Bold – another member of the church and a man who was also in love with Harding’s younger daughter – decided that this constituted simony on the part of the church, and took the trust to law. Here is an example of an early crusade for a moral right. As it turned out, Mr. Harding hadn’t thought much about his salary, and began to wonder if Dr. Bold might not be right. He was faced with a moral dilemma. When the suit was picked up by the local newspaper, “The Jupiter,” Harding was suddenly in the limelight as a dishonest person, which he certainly was not. His moral code, however, made him think that the others might be right, and he was faced with the need to make some kind of decision. His struggle with his conscience and with his adversaries is the theme of this thoughtful novel. The novel will suck you in to the point that you will likely read all six novels in this series. Highly recommended.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jul 16, 2012 Ayrinne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Trollope, così come Jane Austen, è un autore che apprezzo per il suo realismo, il suo tono sempre pacato, nel descrivere queste vite di persone che si potrebbero definire mediocri, o banali, all'interno della scacchiera di una piccola cerchia. Questo libro è il primo di 6 libri ambientati in una contea immaginaria, e narra la vicenda di un uomo, che ho trovato molto somigliante a me, un religioso, che ricopre la carica di amministratore di una specie di ospizio con 12 poveri anziani. Un giovane...more

like · see review

Jul 06, 2012 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First, I must admit I did quite a bit of skimming as I read this book which, true to Victorian fashion, stretches details something beyond my 21st century sensibilities. That said, it was a very well done story about the warden of a small charitable "hospital" (think rather boarding house for aging men in dire straights). The hospital is funded by a trust which has grown in value over time, and the warden never questions the fact that its expanding proceeds wind up in his pocket rather than in e...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 19, 2012 Tamhack rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the first book in the Chronicles of Barsetshire which include The Warden, Barchester Towers, Doctor Thorne, Framley Parsonage, The Small House at Allington, The Last Chronicle of Barset. It is the story of Dr. Harding who is in the warden at the hospital connected to the cathedral at Barchester Towers. The hospital was created at the request of John Hiriam a well to do landowner in his will to provide for 12 elderly indigent men. Dr. Harding is responsible for these men's physical, spiri...more

like · see review

Nov 18, 2011 Lindsey Strachan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I must confess, I am a Trollope devotee and it was The Warden which started off my love affair with Trollope's literature. This book is quite short but definately left me wanting more. We are introduced to some memorable characters, most notably Archdeacon Theophilus Grantly - one of the best creations of English literature. Wily, cunning, determined, proud and yet very moral, Grantly springs off the page and captures your attention from the start. Trollope's descriptions of all his characters b...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 16, 2011 Sherwood Smith added it · review of another edition

Shelves: history-19th-c, fiction

Nobody writes about Victorian life like Victorian writers.

This is not the best of Anthony Trollope's Barsetshire novels. It is the first. It is also the shortest, but it tends to read long because it's basically a short story's worth of material spun out to nearly 200 pages.

In 1434 a wealthy merchant John Hiram died, and left in his will land , to support twelve retired old men from Barchester.A hospital(nursing home) was to be built, the church to administer it by appointing a warden. However,...more

like · see review

Aug 26, 2011 Jan-Maat added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century, british-isles, fiction

This is a conservative book and not simply because John Major enjoyed Trollope.

"The Warden"'s abiding message of 'if only everything had been left well alone, left the way things were in the first place, everything would have been better' must place it amongst the top ten most conservative books ever written. Surely even Edmund Burke would take his hat off to "The Warden".

The only possible note of positive, yet obviously pernicious change, is that the boy gets the girl. But Reader, be of good...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 19, 2011 Stefanie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Warden was published in 1864. For a Victorian novel it is quite short. For a Trollope novel, I have heard, it has a very small cast of characters. The town of Barchester where the novel is set, seems to be a quiet, bucolic sort of place. It gives the impression of being a small town but there is a rather grand cathedral there and lots of newer sorts of middle class houses.

The Warden, Mr. Harding, makes 800 a year for his very easy duties of overseeing the charity hospital that houses and fe...more The Warden was published in 1864. For a Victorian novel it is quite short. For a Trollope novel, I have heard, it has a very small cast of characters. The town of Barchester where the novel is set, seems to be a quiet, bucolic sort of place. It gives the impression of being a small town but there is a rather grand cathedral there and lots of newer sorts of middle class houses.

The Warden, Mr. Harding, makes 800 a year for his very easy duties of overseeing the charity hospital that houses and feeds twelve men. The hospital was established a very long time ago by one Mr. Hiram who made his fortune off the wool industry. The Church oversees the lands and the rents and all that feed the legacy that funds the hospital and pays the warden.

Everything is hunky-dorey until the young John Bold causes a ruckus with his reformist zeal. He questions whether Hiram's will is being carried out as he intended, whether the men living at the hospital are being cheated of income because the Church and the Warden are sucking it all up. Fair enough. But the conundrum for Bold is that he is good friends with Mr. Harding and in love with his daughter.

The novel is straightforward, pleasant, easy reading disguising a host of moral dilemmas and questions about integrity. Does Mr. Bold give up his pursuit of reform because of who the warden is? And once Mr. Harding finds out there is a question about his legitimacy can he turn a blind eye like the lawyers and the Archdeacon, who happens to be his son-in-law (married to Harding's other daughter), tell him to? Or, having had his eyes opened must he, in order to have a clear conscious give up his wardenship? And of course, what response should the Church and church leaders have? Do they fight to retain their alleged fat-cat status or do they re-examine their values?

It is a serious story lightly told with much humor, a little sentiment, and a dash of self-mocking melodrama. Trollope also takes a few jabs at Thomas Carlyle, naming him Dr. Pessimist Anticant:

According to him nobody was true, and not only nobody, but nothing; a man could not take off his hat to a lady without telling a lie - the lady would lie again in smiling. The ruffles of the gentleman's shirt would be fraught with deceit, and the lady's flounces full of falsehood. Was ever anything more severe than that attack of his on chip bonnets, or the anathemas with which he endeavoured to dust the powder out of the bishops' wigs?

Oh how this made me giggle!

Trollope takes a swipe at Dickens too, calling him Mr. Popular Sentiment:

Of all reformers Mr. Sentiment is the most powerful. It is incredible the number of evil practices he has put down: it is to be feared he will soon lack subjects, and that when he has made the working classes comfortable, and got bitter beer put into the proper-sized pint bottles, there will be nothing left for him to do. Mr. Sentiment is certainly a very powerful man, and perhaps not the less so that his good poor people are so very good; his hard rich people so very hard; and the genuinely honest so very honest.

Trollope prefers shades of gray. None of his characters in The Warden are wholly good or completely bad. And while they might lack somewhat for subtle nuances, they come across as humans struggling to do what they think is right, which sometimes means in their best interest, but who hasn't made choices from such a place?

The Warden is my first Trollope and I am certain it won't be my last.(less)

like · see review

Jan 12, 2011 Deirdre Good added it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Mr Harding, the Warden, is the main character. By the end of the book he is no longer the Warden. Whether he is guilty of misuse of Hiram's Trust funds for the maintenance of the almshouse and its elderly residents of which he is the Warden, neither he nor the reader knows. There does seem to be a discrepancy between the 800 pound income of the Warden and the meagre allowance given to the residents.

The Warden cannot bear the shame and public scrutiny of the investigation of the use of the trust...more

like · see review

Nov 16, 2010 Valetta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: trollope, audiolibro, lingua, originale, classici

Più leggo classici e più mi rendo conto di quanto siano attuali e del perchè siano diventati tali. Questo romanzo in particolare, primo del ciclo delle Cronache del Barsetshire, pur non godendo della celebrità di tanti altri romanzi dell'epoca, non mi sembra inferiore nel valore dei contenuti. Certo, rispetto ad un Dickens, la trama è pittosto lineare ma raccontata con gustosa ironia dall'autore che ama far incursione nella sua storia per mettere in luce qualità o difetti di questo o quel person...more Più leggo classici e più mi rendo conto di quanto siano attuali e del perchè siano diventati tali. Questo romanzo in particolare, primo del ciclo delle Cronache del Barsetshire, pur non godendo della celebrità di tanti altri romanzi dell'epoca, non mi sembra inferiore nel valore dei contenuti. Certo, rispetto ad un Dickens, la trama è pittosto lineare ma raccontata con gustosa ironia dall'autore che ama far incursione nella sua storia per mettere in luce qualità o difetti di questo o quel personaggio o addirittura per difendere personaggi che gli eventi narrati potrebbero mettere in cattiva luce. Questa tendenza di Trollope ad intrudursi nelle sue trame magari con lunghe digressioni è stata duramente criticata da altri grandi romanzieri come Henry James ( che però non ha potuto che lodare il realismo di questo scrittore). Come ho detto, io invece queste incursioni le ho trovate un gustoso arricchimento al romanzo, che attraverso una trama semplice espone diverse problematiche sociali. Tra i vari aspetti, sicuramente uno dei più significativi è la "questione morale" che interessa il protagonista di questo volume, il reverendo Septimus Harding, onesto amministratore di un pensionato per lavoratori che si ritrova suo malgrado protagonista di uno scandalo finanziario sollevato da un coscienzioso giovane riformatore ed ingigantito ad arte dalla stampa (memorabili le pagine dedicate da Trollope all'imaginario quotidiano Jupiter, parodia del Times) già allora non sempre ben informata ma sempre ben disposta ad infiammare gli animi con lo scandalo del momento. Il reverendo Harding, uomo magari troppo propenso a farsi trascinare dagli eventi per quieto vivere ma sostanzialmente onesto e generoso , si ritrova ad essere capro espiatorio e a subire la diffamazione pubblica ma si rifiuta di tirarsi fuori dalla faccenda accettando le ottime scappatoie fornitegli sia dai suoi superiori che dal più importante azzeccagarbugli dell'epoca. Il risultato è che il personaggio che all'inizio sembrava essere il più malleabile e privo di spessore si dimostra un tenace combattente che dà una lezione di correttezza e integrità sia ai moralizzatori senza morale sia agli alti prelati bravi nell'aggressione verbale ma incapaci di prendere una posizione chiara. Una lezione che non perde la sua validità neanche oggi.
Per concludere un autore forse privo della potenza espressiva e creativa di altri grandi romanzieri, ma capace di proporre comunque grandi personaggi a tutto tondo, non sterili macchiette ed in grado di passare sotto la lente d'ingrandimento la realtà di tutti i giorni individuandone meschinità e contraddizioni.

http://ghettodeilettori.blogspot.com/...

(less)

like · see review

Apr 02, 2010 Ross rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have read the Barchester Chronicles trilogy by Anthony Trollope backwards, which by chance is fortunate.
I happened to start with "Doctor Thorne" and enjoyed it greatly. Then checking up I found that book 2 "Barchester Towers" was the most highly regarded when published so I proceded to that work and found it impossible for the modern reader. I rated it a bare 2 stars, simply because of the excellent quality of the prose.
And because of Trollope's prose I decided not to give up and to try book 1...more

like · see review

Jan 27, 2013 Ali rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There was a time when I devoured many, many Trollope novels, I loved them. The famous Barchester chronicles are maybe his best known, understandably so for they are brilliant. The Warden is the first of those chronicles, and a novel I had remembered well. I am pleased to say therefore I still love it as much after this re-read. I gobbled it up in no time, as it is probably the shortest of Trollope’s novels, many of them actually being quite thick.
Septimus Harding, the warden of the title is a ki...more There was a time when I devoured many, many Trollope novels, I loved them. The famous Barchester chronicles are maybe his best known, understandably so for they are brilliant. The Warden is the first of those chronicles, and a novel I had remembered well. I am pleased to say therefore I still love it as much after this re-read. I gobbled it up in no time, as it is probably the shortest of Trollope’s novels, many of them actually being quite thick.
Septimus Harding, the warden of the title is a kind hearted old clergyman. For ten years, as the story begins, this good old Anglican priest has been the warden attached to an alms-house the Barchester hospital, which was set up under the terms of a will in the fifteenth century to provide comfort and shelter for twelve old single working men who without such charity would starve. The old men are thus well provided for, being well fed and comfortably sheltered, and having in addition 1 shilling and fourpence a day for all other wants they might have. In four centuries the value of this bequest has risen considerably – and so the stipend of the warden is now considerably more than it would have been originally. John Bold, a young friend of Mr Harding’s and suitor for his youngest daughter’s hand in marriage, fancies himself something of a reformer, and takes it upon himself to exposing what he sees as an abuse of privilege. The old men are now in receipt of an extra twopence a day – a gift from Mr Harding out of his own money, that he is not obliged to provide them with, however the reformers talk has unsettled them and some of the old men begin to believe they will soon be each able to claim £100 a year (a considerable sum in the 1850’s). Having been previously very well satisfied with their lot, as well as extremely fond of Mr Harding who has become a dear and true friend to the old men, there are now dissenting voices quick to believe that the warden is receiving money he should not. A couple of the old men are loyal to Mr Harding and refuse to believe him to in way wrong, but they are shouted down by their friends – who persist in believing in the miracle of £100 a year.
The warden has two daughters, his eldest daughter is married to the archdeacon, Dr Grantly a rather terrifying figure - who is always certain he is right and a little given to bullying his father in law who is a quiet gentle man and really not up to battling his fierce son in law. Dr Grantly is naturally on the side of his father-in-law as the law suit gets underway. His opinion in non-negotiable - the idea that the warden’s stipend is unjust or illegal is ridiculous to him, even the possibility that the case should go against them Dr Grantly believes will damage the church of England forever. The warden’s closest friend the bishop is Dr Grantly’s father – and even he is rather bullied by Dr Grantly, though he at least has some understanding of Mr Harding’s pain. For Mr Harding is unsure, now that the question has been raised poor Mr Harding doesn’t know if his position is right or not. The doubt is enough to drive the poor man to absolute misery. He is a good and honest man, rather bad at managing his money and very bullied by his son in law, he has always been a popular friend to all, so now he feels he can’t just carry on in the face of criticism – he begins to feel that maybe the wardenship is unjust.
“Mr Harding was a sadder man than he had ever yet been when he returned to his own house. He had been wretched enough on that well-remembered morning when he was forced to expose before his son-in-law the publisher’s account for ushering into the world his dear book of sacred music; when after making such payments as he could do unassisted he found that he was a debtor of more than three hundred pounds; but his sufferings then were as nothing to his present misery; - then he had done wrong, and he knew it, and was able to resolve that he would not sin in like manner again; but now he could make no resolution, and comfort himself by no promises of firmness. He had been forced to think that his lot had placed himself in a false position, and he was about to maintain that position against the opinion of the world and against his own convictions.”
What I love about the ‘The Warden’, aside from the lovely old warden himself – who is just such an endearingly lovable character – is Trollope’s use of irony. The reformers who say they want to improve the lot of the old bedesmen of the Barchester hospital – can’t foresee what will happen to the hospital or to the old men concerned – but the reader fears straight away for their future. Their lives so comfortable at the start – an honest old friend and clergyman who cares dutifully and faithfully for them, a little money in their pockets, a good roof above their heads and food in their stomachs – how will they fair when lawyers, journalists and senior churchman start wrangling?
“Did you ever know a poor man made better by law or a lawyer!' said Bunce bitterly.”
There is always a little romance in an Anthony Trollope novel, and here of course we have the story of Eleanor Harding and her love for John Bold, the man who really sets the cat among the pigeons. Trollope was concerned with the motivations of people, and of social morality – something many Victorian novelists concerned themselves with – and he uses the quite political story of the warden to do so. The Warden brilliantly presents both sides of the matter – therefore the reader, like Mr Harding himself is unsure of the rightness of the case, there is sympathy for both Mr Harding a truly innocent man, but also sympathy for the old men, and the intentions of that fifteenth century man John Hiram who left his money to do good.
(less)

like · see review

Jun 25, 2012 Helen Kitson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 19c, fiction

I've read this book three times now. The second time I read it, I couldn't believe how boring it was, but maybe I was just in the 'wrong place' to read it. It is perhaps the least engaging of the Barsetshire novels - it doesn't have any characters as enjoyably awful as Mrs Proudie, or the touching love story of 'Dr Thorne'. What it does provide, though, is a portrait of a quietly good man determined to do the right thing when placed in an untenable position.

Rev Septimus Harding is the cathedral...more

like · see review

Jan 03, 2012 Brenda Mengeling rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 48, fiction, ebook

The Warden by Anthony Trollope was a fun read. Trollope has a sly sense of humor and narrates as a third person omniscient voice. He, as the narrator, often breaks into the story with his thoughts on the opinions and doings of his characters, and that was fine by me. That is when he is often the most funny. However, if that isn't one's thing, don't read Trollope; you'll be very vexed.

There isn't a whole lot of story to The Warden, and the story essentially boils down to a tempest in a teapot. M...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 11, 2011 Eddie Watkins rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While The Eustace Diamonds reminded me of Wilkie Collins (at least the only Collins I've read, The Moonstone) in its detailed canvas of broad action propelled by a mystery of sorts (though, granted, The Moonstone is an actual mystery, while The Eustace Diamonds only dabbles in it); The Warden reminded me of something more complicated and hybrid, namely Balzac crossed with Dickens with the probing analytically realistic eye of Dreiser. Trollope actually takes the opportunity to criticize Dickens...more

4 likes · like · see review

Dec 26, 2012 Cal Jeannette rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love historical fiction, especially when it has wise, complex characters dealing with moral dilemmas that are relevant still today. “The Warden” shows not much has changed since the 19th century, especially with the press, the law, and man’s willingness to manipulate and be manipulated by both. Trollope (the author) “abhors the crude attempt by a dominant press to manipulate public opinion”. He mocks the press in its irresponsible exercise of power that they defend with a “combination of ratio...more I love historical fiction, especially when it has wise, complex characters dealing with moral dilemmas that are relevant still today. “The Warden” shows not much has changed since the 19th century, especially with the press, the law, and man’s willingness to manipulate and be manipulated by both. Trollope (the author) “abhors the crude attempt by a dominant press to manipulate public opinion”. He mocks the press in its irresponsible exercise of power that they defend with a “combination of rational detachment and righteous passion.” Trollope equates the press to Mt. Olympus from which thunderbolts are thrown down with impunity, ruining peoples’ lives with a stroke of the pen. Trollope also pokes fun at those who resort to the law with a “similar abandonment of moral discrimination, setting in motion the crude application of legal principle to remedy institutional abuse, irrespective of either the historical context or the unique human situation.” Same things are happening today – an out of control press that promotes an agenda rather than telling the truth, sincere hearted “reformers” who blindly use the legal process to reform and address “social justice” without any regard for the “historical context or the unique human situation” involved, and the public’s willingness to be spoon fed (and therefore manipulated) by the press rather than researching the history, facts, and truth behind everything they read and logically, with reason, analyzing the issue and reaching their own conclusion. I am amazed at how many people today just take what they read and see on the news, internet and tv and adopt it as their own. Don’t believe me? Ask anyone their viewpoint on a relevant issue and ask them to support it. Most will be unable to do so b/c they are merely regurgitating what they hear without having seriously thought it through. “The Warden” is an engaging story about Reverend Harding who finds himself in the middle of a bitter conflict between the defenders of the Church and the reformers of the mid-Victorian period. Seriously good story. Very satisfied with how the story progressed and ended.(less)

like · see review

Apr 16, 2011 Darryl Mexic rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story is simple enough and not particularly riveting, but the story is not the thing in this, my first encounter with the amazingly prolific 19th century British novelist, Anthony Trollope. I felt I should be reading the book while sunk in an overstuffed wing chair with a glass of red wine, a Mozart sonata playing on the Victrola, a crackling fire and a giant slobbering English hound at my feet. After reading so many modern novels, immersing myself in a Trollope novel was a delightful and qu...more The story is simple enough and not particularly riveting, but the story is not the thing in this, my first encounter with the amazingly prolific 19th century British novelist, Anthony Trollope. I felt I should be reading the book while sunk in an overstuffed wing chair with a glass of red wine, a Mozart sonata playing on the Victrola, a crackling fire and a giant slobbering English hound at my feet. After reading so many modern novels, immersing myself in a Trollope novel was a delightful and quiet vacation. He is a master of the English language and description and writes in a style that is pure drawing room English. Fortunately, my Kindle provides definitions simply by placing the cursor on a word, because otherwise, I would have needed to lug around a heavy dictionary and thumb through its pages too often.
Mr. Harding, a peaceful music loving clergyman is the precentor (song leader; e.g. like a cantor) at Barchester Cathedral, having been appointed by his good friend, the bishop of Barchester. His eldest daughter is married to the archdeacon of Barchester, who is also the bishop’s son. His youngest daughter is unmarried, lives with him, and is in love with young doctor Bold, who also happens to be interested in righting the wrongs of society, particularly those of the Church of England. Harding, is also, by terms of a 400 year old will, the warden of Hiram hospital, which takes in and cares for twelve old men who were in the wool carding trade. Mr. Harding’s home and salary are provided by the Church of England and the money comes from Hiram’s will. Bold challenges the right of the warden to have such a sumptuous salary when the twelve wards of the hospital get next to nothing in funds, although their every need seems to be taken care of and they have no better friend and caretaker than the mild mannered Harding. Bold files a lawsuit to determine if the will is being properly applied and the money properly distributed. The archdeacon leads the charge against Bold and anyone joining in attacking the Church, but Harding begins to wonder if he has unfairly received his stipend and becomes convinced he cannot bear up when the newspaper editorials attack him as if he were some money grubbing cleric. But, as noted earlier, the story is not so significant and one can only have a hint of a reason to read “The Warden” by a sample of Trollope’s writing. Here, he is describing the archdeacon:
Even with his father-in-law, even with the bishop and dean, he maintains that sonorous tone and lofty deportment which strikes awe into the young hearts of Barchester, and absolutely cows the whole parish of Plumstead Episcopi. ‘Tis only when he has exchanged that every-new shovel hat for a tasseled nightcap, and those shining black habiliments for his accustomed robe de nuit, that Dr. Grantly talks, and looks, and thinks like an ordinary man.
Trollope also occasionally talks directly to his readers, as he does in the last chapter. I quote here the beginning of that chapter only because it is so different than the form of novels I am used to reading.
Our tale is now done, and it only remains to us to collect the scattered threads of our little story, and to tie them into a seemly knot. This will not be a work of labour, either to the author or to his readers, we have not to deal with many personages, or with stirring events, and were it not for the custom of the thing, we might leave it to the imagination of all concerned to conceive how affairs at Barchester arranged themselves.
I am informed, and happily so, that “The Warden” is but the first of a number of novels making up the Barchester series; like a good Masterpiece Theatre play that I can look forward to after intermediate forays into horrifying news stories, politics, tv detectives, and loud television commercials interspersed between brief minutes of sporting events.
(less)

like · see review

title link	preview: The Warden
avg rating	preview: The Warden Goodreads rating: 3.71 (3593 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/206368.The_Warden?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1172679652l/206368.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/206368.The_Warden?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Warden by Anthony Trollope[/url]

The Warden (Barsetshire Chronicles #1)

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (3)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Anthony Trollope

Books by Anthony Trollope

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Warden

Quotes from The Warden