Russell's review
Vanity Fair (Oxford World's Classics)
by William Makepeace Thackeray
Russell's review
Vanity Fair (Oxford World's Classics) by William Makepeace Thackeray
Russell's review
rating:
Thackeray's opus is a wonder. Long, yes, but so very good in so many ways.
He's part Oscar Wilde, part Jonathan Swift, with a dash of Dickinson, but all his own voice.
Since the story is so long and sprawling, I only jotted down a few notes on my impressions.
* He breaks the 4th wall, some times with savage glee, yanking it down making you look at yourself and the characters in a new light. Other times he does it with delicacy, sliding back the wall and making you feel like it's just him and you in the same room, both of you enjoying the wit and banter of this story, you his equal and friend.
* It's long. He wrote it in installments, and got paid by the pound. Okay, maybe not by the pound, but it was in his best interest to keep the story going. And so it goes on for a long time. However, I was never bored, never wanting to skip this chapter and get it over.
* Becky Sharp? Wicked, resourceful, likable and detestable. All too human, which is why I liked her, and deplored...more
He's part Oscar Wilde, part Jonathan Swift, with a dash of Dickinson, but all his own voice.
Since the story is so long and sprawling, I only jotted down a few notes on my impressions.
* He breaks the 4th wall, some times with savage glee, yanking it down making you look at yourself and the characters in a new light. Other times he does it with delicacy, sliding back the wall and making you feel like it's just him and you in the same room, both of you enjoying the wit and banter of this story, you his equal and friend.
* It's long. He wrote it in installments, and got paid by the pound. Okay, maybe not by the pound, but it was in his best interest to keep the story going. And so it goes on for a long time. However, I was never bored, never wanting to skip this chapter and get it over.
* Becky Sharp? Wicked, resourceful, likable and detestable. All too human, which is why I liked her, and deplored...more
