Way We Live Now - SPOILERS

[Katy, Old School Classics]

The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope is our 4th Quarter Long Read for 2023.

This is the Spoiler Thread.

[Katy, Old School Classics]

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[Darren]

I already started this last month and am up to chapter 37 (of 100), so will wait a little while before commenting to let others catch up!

[Katy, Old School Classics]

I plan to start reading around mid-month.

[Anjali]

I got a free Kindle version. I plan to start next week.

[Darren]

I am at half way now and thoroughly enjoying :oD
although a lot of the characters are somewhat unlikeable, and I don't ultimately care what happens to them, I am interested in what happens to them ;o)

[Anjali]

I just started, reading Lady Cadbury's slandered past and tragic marriage.

[Katy, Old School Classics]

Looking forward to starting this one next week.

[Laurie]

I'm just over 1/3 through and oh, I can see that Melmotte is going to ruin some people. He is running a financial house of cards that is going to collapse. I don't have to like the characters to enjoy a book, but I wish there were some to like here. I kind of like Paul but I'm seeing him a bit more negatively now that I know about Mrs. Hurtle. And I like Roger a bit since he is an upstanding man compared to all the others, but he is a bit stuffy.

[Wobbley]

I read this book just a few months ago, which is why I'm not reading it with the group. But, Laurie, I think you've exactly hit on the problem for me. There's almost nobody to like in the book. By the end, I think I liked Roger and Nidderdale alright. With so many characters in the book, this is a pretty low percentage. Although, I did think it was a decent satire -- it certainly is pointedly critical of its times.

[sabagrey]

I am currently reading this book with another group (Victorians!) in a fairly slow-paced rhythm, 10 chapters per week.

The reaction to the characters is very similar in that group. Which leads me to realise that it is exactly what Trollope intended - and obviously achieved: there's nothing to root for in the characters who live in 'The Way We Live Now'. He takes a fairly pessimistic stance on these new times - and history has borne him out, hasn't it?

[Laurie]

I finished this a few days ago and I ended up really enjoying it. Although most of the characters were not vert likeable, they started exhibiting some more positive characteristics toward the end which let the reader see that none of them are all bad. I didn't come to the point that I liked them, but I didn't despise them as I had earlier. I guess I'm trying to say they became more like flawed humans to me. Even Melmotte realized that he lost control and started making bad decisions and regretted some of his actions. It didn't redeem his bad points,but made him more human.

[Wobbley]

Yes, I think you're right. There's nobody to really like, but there aren't any outright villains either. I personally would have preferred the book if I'd had some characters I could really get behind. But I can see how the approach here is more realistic.

[Ila]

I read this early in the year and while it has some witty, dry humor and apt sayings, the frequent meanderings tried my patience. I can deal with unlikeable characters, Wuthering Heights (my favorite) is full of them. But a stagnant plot irritates me and so I marked it unread.

[ShazM]

I've just finished the Audible version read by Timothy West and I absolutely loved it. I'd read The Warden and didn't really think much of it and I expected this to be a bit of a slog as it seemed to start slowly. I listen to Audible in my car on my way to and from work, so about an hour a day, but once all of the Augustus Melmotte plot picked up I found I was listening to a bit more at odd times when I could.

Although many of the characters were not particularly likeable I thought they were all understandable in their own way. Even Georgiana Longestaffe, although spoilt and frankly obnoxious, can be explained by the way society was at that time and the way she had been brought up.

My favourite character was Roger Carbury and I think he was the only person with genuine, pure motives. He tried hard to convince himself that Paul Montague had wronged him but even then he couldn't bring himself to lie about Paul to Hetta.

Second favourites jointly must be John Crumb and Ruby Ruggles as their story lightened the whole thing!

[Angelique]

I'm picking this up from the library this evening. I need to finish The Night Watchman first (not (yet) a classic, I know, but my reading club wanted it), but hoping to finish the Way we Live Now before the end of the year.

[GONZA]

This was my first Trollope and I liked it a lot also; I was afraid of the many pages and characters, but the author was able to create a wonderful plot and a believable cast of people. I am going to read many more books if I have time....

[Wobbley]

GONZA wrote: "This was my first Trollope and I liked it a lot also; I was afraid of the many pages and characters, but the author was able to create a wonderful plot and a believable cast of people. I am going to read many more books if I have time"

Terrific! Isn't it exciting to find a new author?

[Darren]

I finished this yesterday and enjoyed it very much.
I knocked a star off cos it was a bit overlong, what with all the re-capping of situations as the characters kept re-thinking in light of small new pieces of info - I realise Trollope was doing this on purpose, but I kept thinking "get on with it!" - probably just my modern-day impatience though ;o)

[GONZA]

Wobbley wrote: "GONZA wrote: "This was my first Trollope and I liked it a lot also; I was afraid of the many pages and characters, but the author was able to create a wonderful plot and a believable cast of people..."


It's wonderful, like a Christmas Present :)

[Lori]

I just finished what I thought was an interesting podcast about this book.
It’s titled The Great Books of Literature Podcast by Andrew Bolt and John Roksam Episode 7:The way we live now
I listened through Spotify.

[Anjali]

Resuming today.

[Jerilyn]

I read this a few years ago. Always loved Trollope! Yes, the characters are a critical social commentary. I find Trollope’s approach entertaining, humorous.