The Warden - Reading Schedule/Background Information

[Lynnm]

"The Warden" is a short book so we'll still do our usual 5-6 chapters but it will only take a month to read it. (By usual, I mean that we'll read the Trollope novels for the Trollope Project slowly as we did for the Dickens Project).

Reading schedule for "The Warden":

June 5 - June 11: Chapters 1-5
June 12 - June 18: Chapters 6-10
June 19 - June 25: Chapters 11-15
June 26 - July 2: Chapters 16-21

[Lynnm]

Feel free to post any background information on either Trollope or The Warden here in this thread.

I'm going to be posting things throughout the week.

One thing that I hope everyone keeps in mind. The Warden probably isn't the best Trollope novel to start with. There's not much to it, theme-wise. But it is still wonderful. You can see his writing style, and meet the characters. I love the characters in this book. But again, not as much substance as the other novels.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I read the Barsetshire chronicles in the 70's so it will be like reading them for the first time. The Warden is a slight book, but it is also a nice light introduction to Trollope. I started reading the Palliser books before my daughter was born in 1979 and have not revisited them since. I am really looking forward to our group reads.

[Lily]

May want to approach with caution, but an excellent site/resource on Trollope:

https://trollopesociety.org/trollope/

Another:
http://victorianweb.org/authors/troll...

But neither of these seems to be the site I was trying to find, unless it was the first and it has been vastly redesigned since last I visited it.

(Correction, 5/16/16. Somehow I repeated an entry. Sorry. Not even sure now what I intended, but the Victorian Web is always a good site, too, for an author like Trollope.)

[Lily]

About "The Warden":

"His novels did indeed portray a world altogether outside of his own. He had no interest in or knowledge of church affairs and had never spoken to an archdeacon when he wrote 'The Warden' (1855), the first of his six 'Chronicles of Barsetshire' about life in a cathedral town and its surrounding county. The book, he said, was entirely the product of his 'moral consciousness,' the church being merely the setting for a tale about 'two opposite evils'—the iniquities of the church and the iniquities of the press presuming to expose them. "

From this (worth reading in entirety): http://www.wsj.com/articles/book-revi...

[Lynnm]

Lily, thanks for the links!

But I can't get into the WSJ link from here - you have to sign in. I think I can find it through my college's library database though.

[Lily]

Lynnm wrote: "Lily, thanks for the links!

But I can't get into the WSJ link from here - you have to sign in. I think I can find it through my college's library database though."

Hmm -- it let me in. Maybe as a first time guest? Sorry about that. It is a good article on his autobiography and Henry James comments. (Try coming in from a Google search -- I just tried from the link itself and got stopped, too.)

[Madge UK]

Trollope may not have spoken to an archdeacon but he knew a great deal about the workings of the Church of Ireland, which is affiliated to the Church of England:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/82...

He was also very interested in Church reform so when reading The Warden and other Trollope novels touching upon the Church of England it may be helpful to bear in mind Trollope's own religious views and the controversy surrounding the Oxford Movement and between 'High' and 'Low' churches at that time. This Victorian Web piece on Trollope's essay Clergymen of the Church of England gives a brief insight into that schism, which persists to this day:

http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/t...

[Lynnm]

Thanks for all the information!

I've been on vacation for a week but will be adding information this week.

Psyched that we'll be starting The Warden in a week!

[Everyman]

Edit: I realize that since some place names are included in the maps that aren't in The Warden, these maps or their associated comments could be considered to include spoilers.

For those like me who love maps in books, a word of caution. Trollope sketched maps of his Barchester countryside where the six books we're about to read are set, but he isn't consistent about following his map. Places move, distances change. A number of attempts have been made to reconcile all his geography, but in my opinion none succeed. There are many websites associated with mapping Trollope; here are just two.

From the Trollope Society:
http://www.trollopeusa.org/map-of-tro...

From the Victorian Web:
http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/t...

[Plethora]

Removed so as not to give wrong impression. I had nothing to do with this article, wasn't mine or anyone I know. I was just trying to find the WSJ linked above and this was closest reference I found.

[Deborah, Moderator]

A Bookworm Reading (Plethora) wrote: "Here is a little more intro to the Wall Street Journal article."

Please supply the original article - not somebody's review of it. My gut is telling me you wrote this, and this may be a way to show your blog. I'm hoping I'm wrong because do not allow author self promotion

[Plethora]

I found more from Henry James on Trollope.

[Plethora]

Deborah wrote: "A Bookworm Reading (Plethora) wrote: "Here is a little more intro to the Wall Street Journal article."

Please supply the original article - not somebody's review of it. My gut is telling me you wr..."

Sorry, absolutely is not connected to me in anyway.

[Tracey]

I am really looking forward to reading the books in the series. I read the first 2 many years ago and thoroughly enjoyed both. Unfortunately my local library do not have many copies of works by Trollope which I find surprising and sad. This being the case I decided to buy myself all 6 books in the series. I look forward to reading them together with all you knowledgeable and enthusiastic people.

[Margaret]

And you do know about the old BBC production called, I think, Barchester Towers, which is a combination of the first two novels? perhaps from the 80s. And features as the odious Mr. Slope of book 2, the wonderful, awesome, late (and then young) Allen Rickman?

[Lynnm]

Margaret wrote: "And you do know about the old BBC production called, I think, Barchester Towers, which is a combination of the first two novels? perhaps from the 80s. And features as the odious Mr. Slope of book 2..."

Margaret - I just checked it out. Yes, there was a BBC production called the Barchester Towers - appears to be more on the second book rather than the first.

It is available on Neflix (DVD) and also on YouTube.

Thanks for the heads-up! Although I won't watch it until we've finished the two novels. I've read both novels before but don't want to get the actors mixed up in my thoughts when visualizing the characters until I've read the novels again.

[Everyman]

Margaret wrote: "And you do know about the old BBC production called, I think, Barchester Towers, which is a combination of the first two novels? perhaps from the 80s. And features as the odious Mr. Slope of book 2..."

Yes, I did see it, and yes, Alan Rickman was a perfect Mr. Slope. Won't say more until we get to him in our reading schedule.

[Tracey]

Yes dear Alan Rickman played the part perfectly. I always see him in my mind for the character of Mr. Slope.

[Tracey]

Everyman wrote: "Edit: I realize that since some place names are included in the maps that aren't in The Warden, these maps or their associated comments could be considered to include spoilers.

For those like me ..."

Everyman, I too love maps so thank you for your post. I find that I refer to maps often if one is available to get the story pictured in my mind.