The Two Vanrevels

by Booth Tarkington, Henry Hutt (Illustrator)

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Literature

376 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1902

About the author

Newton Booth Tarkington was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novels The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams. He is one of only four novelists to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction/Novel more than once, along with William Faulkner, John Updike and Colson Whitehead. Although he is little read now, in the 1910s and 1920s he was considered America's greatest living author.

Reviews

[Evan]

I vacillated about buying this from the clearance shelf at Half Price, even though it was a good condition original hardcover for only $2, mainly because it's an obscure Tarkington novel. But when I read the following first paragraph, I had to have it:
"It was long ago in the days when men sighed when they fell in love; when people danced by candle and lamp, and did dance, too, instead of solemnly gliding about; in that mellow time so long ago, when the young were romantic and summer was roses and wine, old Carewe brought his lovely daughter home from the convent to wreck the hearts of the youth of Rouen."

[Amy Imboden · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've never read any of this 2-time Pulitzer Prize Winner, this is a great quick read to give you a taste of his writing. I read it twice - once for myself, and once for a book club. The older writing style is challenging to get used to, and there are quite a few archaic words, but it is an enjoyable and witty story, with themes centered around pride. There are some original characters, a bit of mystery, and I was left wanting to see it on a stage.

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

4th book from Tarkington is another tale which holds some interest.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Two Vanrevels”, originally published in 1902, is either Booth Tarkington’s third or fourth novel, depending on if you count “Cherry” which had been published as a serial in Harper’s Magazine in 1901, but was not published as a novel until 1903. In many ways it is a merging of the all three of these earlier works, taking the setting of rural Indiana from “The Gentleman from Indiana” and the much of the light romantic comedic feel of “Monsieur Beaucaire”, and the romantic triangle from “Cherry”, though it does a much better job of it than was done in that earlier effort. Another device taken from “Monsieur Beaucaire” is to thrust the reader into the story immediately, with almost no setting of the scene. He effectively fills in what the reader needs to know in the conversation of the characters, or with smaller sections of exposition. It is true, that it is not as dramatic here as it was in his second book, but there is no time wasted up front in setting the scene.

The romantic triangle is created fairly quickly. The beautiful Betty Carewe returns from the convent where she was studying, guarded over by her father, a rich and powerful citizen of Rouen. The two young men who ultimately vie for her attentions are Tom Vanrevel and Crailey Gray who are also the two young men that her father wants her to stay away from. There is a quarrel between Tom Vanrevel and the powerful Mr. Carewe, and Crailey’s youthful antics are well known to the entire town. Crailey is currently engaged to Fanchon Bareaud, a young woman who also knew Betty from the convent which she had graduated two years before.

This story also borrows the idea of false identities from “Monsieur Beaucaire”, though in this case the mistaken identity is accidental at first. Betty Carewe gets the initial impression that Tom and Crailey are each other, and when Crailey finds this out, he decides to keep it that way. He and Tom share an office, and an apartment, so as Betty’s father works at keeping her away from Tom, it is relatively easy for him to pretend that he is the famous Vanrevel. Slowly clues are given to Betty about which man is which, but she has become so convinced that she ignores the words of her father and Mrs. Tanberry, a friend of the family who comes to stay with Betty, and keep an eye on her while her father is out-of-town. Tom is unaware of the deception until Betty sends a letter to the address that he and Crailey share.

Unlike his first novel, this novel is set in the past. Tarkington uses 1846 as the year, as the politics leading into the Mexican American war play a role in some of the events in the novel. During the initial part of the novel, there are hints given about this, but it isn’t important to the story until the news of the Mexicans crossing of the Rio Grande hits town. This event also serves as a change in the mood of the story. Prior to the event, it is mostly about Crailey’s antics in which he plays on Betty thinking that he is Tom Vanrevel. The feud between Mr. Carewe and Tom Vanrevel (or one way feud as it is only Mr. Carewe that is upset) is spoken of, but no actions are taken by Mr. Carewe. This all changes with the coming of the war, and the events are more serious, with much more tragic consequences.

This book is superior in many ways all of Tarkington’s prior efforts. While perhaps not up to the level he would later achieve, one can see definite improvement in all aspects of telling the story, from the character development, to his ability to set the scene quickly, and his ability to keep the story moving at a fairly quick pace.

[Ceejay · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novel was written quite some time before Booth Tarkington received his two Pulitzer Prizes for literature. I made it half way through and stopped. It is very dated, but not in an enjoyable way. There are novels from the 19th century that I enjoyed more than this. I threw in the towel after I worked my way through a chapter in which the man servant filled the chapter speaking in "negro diatect". One can forgive Mark Twain, but this was just horrible. My lesson learned? Don't read novels written by Booth Tarkington prior to 1920. I have read and enjoyed a lot of his books, but certainly not this particular one.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful old-fashioned romance involving the classic elements of "star-crossed" lovers and mistaken identity, with a twist at the end which, although heavily foreshadowed and unsurprising, is nonetheless moving. Plenty of scanning errors in this copy, particularly where the author makes use of song lyrics, but nothing that can't easily be gotten past... especially since we live in a world where song lyrics can simply be looked up on the internet.

[Isabelle Himmelberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. The descriptions are so clever and picturesque. Ending could have been a bit better, but still thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Tom Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice period piece.

[L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I've so far enjoyed Tarkington's books, this one is my least favorite.

[Susan C Lance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very confusing story. Good writing though