The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. (Clear Print)
by William Makepeace Thackeray
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 26)
Read in May, 2007
It took me six months to read Henry Esmond. A friend of mine claims that Thackeray has three genres--social, biographical, and historical. This is one of the historical novels, and it gets so overwhelmed in the history that the plot vanishes. For example, it was fun that Richard Steele and Joseph Addison are characters. It was not fun to read a (very) extended chapter of Spectator pastiche, attributed to Henry Esmond. It was fun that Henry Esmond served under the Duke of Marlborough. It w...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone who enjoys long and complicated 19th-century novels
This is one of my all-time favourite novels, which I've read several times over the years. I loved Thackeray's style, with his blend of satire and melancholy, as much as ever, but this time round I noticed more than I have done in the past how hard he is on women, especially on beautiful "bad girl" Beatrix.
At times the historical events are quite hard to follow, so I was glad that the edition I was reading has footnotes and other material to explain the background. I also got hold o...more
At times the historical events are quite hard to follow, so I was glad that the edition I was reading has footnotes and other material to explain the background. I also got hold o...more
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Read in April, 2008
Astute observations of the institution of marriage, history, politics, and "great" men along with fluid prose, but what a cop-out of an ending! Disturbing, even - and almost entirely at odds with the rest of the book. But then again, considering what happened to Becky Sharp (of Vanity Fair fame)...
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Read in February, 2008
Much dryer and dark than his other books but apparently he wrote this after being spurned so all the sturm and drang makes sense...still...his writing never disappoints...this one just requires more from the reader.
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Many Victorians considered this to be Thackeray's masterpiece, but it's very hard to understand why. There are a couple of memorable characters, but its insights now seem very humdrum.
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You know what? This book isn't all that great. Sorry, William Makepeace Thackeray.
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