The Way We Live Now - Reading Schedule

[Frances, Moderator]

When Trollope returned to England from the colonies in 1872 he was horrified by the immorality and dishonesty he found. In a fever of indignation he sat down to write The Way We Live Now, his longest novel. Nothing escaped the satirist's whip: politics, finance, the aristocracy, the literary world, gambling, sex, and much else.

from the blurb to the Oxford World Classics version of 1991.

TWWLN was published between Phineas Redux and The Prime Minister, and by this time Trollope had resigned from the Civil Service and had lost in is attempt to stand for Parliament. He was writing full time, and travelling quite regularly, and his written output was prodigious.

Please feel free to post any other information about Trollope at this stage in his career, or information about London, England, or the world in the 1870's which could enlighten us about what was happening at the time of this novel.

[Frances, Moderator]

After a brief stab at a fair division of pages, I am falling back on 8 chapters/week with a final shorter week with time for overall impressions.

Feb 16-22: Chapters 1-8
Feb 23-29: Ch 9-16
March 1-7: Ch 17-24
March 8-14: Ch 25-32
March 15-21: Ch 33-40
March 22-28: Ch 41-48
March 29-Apr 4: Ch 49-56
Apr 5-11: Ch 57-64
Apr 12-18: Ch 65-72
Apr 19-25: Ch 73-80
Apr 26-May 2: Ch 81-88
May 3-9: Ch 89-96
May 10-16: Ch 97-99 and overall impressions.

So grab your copies and I look forward to discussing this with you over the next 3 months.

[Linda]

This is taken from Trollope’s autobiography and speaks to his intent in writing TWWLN. If you want absolutely no information about the novel before reading, then you should skip this, though it doesn’t contain specific plot spoilers.

“I began a novel, to the writing of which I was instigated by what I conceived to be the commercial profligacy of the age. Whether the world does or does not become more wicked as years go on, is a question which probably has disturbed the minds of thinkers since the world began to think. That men have become less cruel, less violent, less selfish, less brutal, there can be no doubt;—but have they become less honest? If so, can a world, retrograding from day to day in honesty, be considered to be in a state of progress?”...
“comfort has been increased, ...health has been improved, and education extended,”
“Nevertheless a certain class of dishonesty, dishonesty magnificent in its proportions, and climbing into high places, has become at the same time so rampant and so splendid that there seems to be reason for fearing that men and women will be taught to feel that dishonesty, if it can become splendid, will cease to be abominable. If dishonesty can live in a gorgeous palace with pictures on all its walls, and gems in all its cupboards, with marble and ivory in all its corners, and can give Apician dinners, and get into Parliament, and deal in millions, then dishonesty is not disgraceful, and the man dishonest after such a fashion is not a low scoundrel.
Instigated, I say, by some such reflections as these, I sat down in my new house to write The Way We Live Now. And as I had ventured to take the whip of the satirist into my hand, I went beyond the iniquities of the great speculator who robs everybody, and made an onslaught also on other vices;—on the intrigues of girls who want to get married, on the luxury of young men who prefer to remain single, and on the puffing propensities of authors who desire to cheat the public into buying their volumes.

The book has the fault which is to be attributed to almost all satires, whether in prose or verse. The accusations are exaggerated. The vices are coloured, so as to make effect rather than to represent truth.”

[Lori, Moderator]

Thanks, Linda! Sounds like it will be interesting.

[LiLi]

Great, it looks like I'm not too late to join you all!

[Frances, Moderator]

Welcome, Elizabeth, it's never too late to join-the threads will stay open a long time.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I'm in too but I need to finish some other books first. I know it is going to be hard to limit myself to just 8 chapters a week, so I start a bit later.

[Frances, Moderator]

Rosemarie, Adria, great to have you joining us.

[Daniela]

I am still coping with my kindle (and the mobi version from project gutenberg) but I will begin today or tomorrow, I hope to catch up!

[Frances, Moderator]

Daniela wrote: "I am still coping with my kindle (and the mobi version from project gutenberg) but I will begin today or tomorrow, I hope to catch up!"

Glad you'll be joining us, Daniela.

Adria, I'm also doing a second reading this time around, and also appreciate his prose and his subtle humour and satire.

[LiLi]

I'm also using the Kindle, but I think my copy comes from Feedbooks.

[Frances, Moderator]

Hello everyone, just a heads up that I plan to start our last book in our Trollope project, Ayala's Angel, on June 14th. This will allow everyone to finish up The Way We Live Now, find a copy of AA, finish Lorna Doone, start Evelina and then meet back here to finish up our project with one of his later and lesser known (but still very popular) works. I hope you will join us!