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annemaries_shelves's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Whew, what a journey! It took me a full month of dipping in and out and only getting ~200 pages in to finally hit my stride! I found reading at least two chapters a day kept me engaged and motivated and finishing in another 4 weeks.
Thackeray has a talent for satire and Vanity Fair truly is one of the best satires with incisive commentary that I've ever read. He explores the vices and vanities of early 19th century England without offering true condemnation or solutions to what's essentially human nature. He's also quite funny - there were a number of times he made me laugh out loud with his commentary and turns of phrase.
He uses a puppet style narrative structure with an omniscient point of view that allows for a birds-eye view of the characters and setting. Generally this worked really successfully, but I could tell when he got too focused or distracted with one storyline and would spend numerous pages/chapters on something, or drop a plot thread for too long.
Consequently, because of the serialized nature and narrative structures and choices employed, there were some meandering parts and some confusing elements where Thackeray seems to have mixed things up unintentionally. The novel overall could have benefited from a bit of tightening up; however, the sprawling nature of the story is also a highlight (so I wouldn't suggest cutting out too much!).
The length of the novel will therefore be a plus or minus for some, depending on personal preferences. Same as to the character flaws - the subtitle is A Novel Without a Hero, and truly almost no characters are redeemed or positively changed by their respective ends. Something I kind of delighted in, to be honest!
Regarding the ending, it was slightly too rushed for me (a bit contradictory, with my talk of tightening up the narrative). Much of the loose threads Thackeray attempts to tie up in the last chapter, which was slightly unsatisfactory for me (particularly as he dragged out the preceding five chapters of the Sedleys' and Dobbin's visit in Germany). Additionally,I would have preferred Amelia and Dobbin to not have married. I kind of wanted, to fit the "lack of redemption theme" for Amelia to continue pining over that bastard, George, and Dobbin to either pine over Amelia or fully move on from her. But I'll take what I got! . I also noticed that Thackeray would alternate between marking women as weak, passionless, evil, conniving etc. (depending on whether an Amelia-type or Becky-type), but then would express how much pain and suffering women live with in English, patriarchal society. It was an interesting contradiction that puzzles me as to his true thoughts.
Finally, as with pretty much every classic (and many books still today), there is racism, antisemitism, sexism/misogyny, xenophobia, fatphobia etc. Slurs and/or harmful descriptions are used throughout the text.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this story, these characters, and the biting social and personal commentary from the author. I can see how it's remained a classic of English canon, and if the sprawling story intrigues you (and you're willing to put up with the -isms of the text), I really recommend giving this novel a shot!
Thackeray has a talent for satire and Vanity Fair truly is one of the best satires with incisive commentary that I've ever read. He explores the vices and vanities of early 19th century England without offering true condemnation or solutions to what's essentially human nature. He's also quite funny - there were a number of times he made me laugh out loud with his commentary and turns of phrase.
He uses a puppet style narrative structure with an omniscient point of view that allows for a birds-eye view of the characters and setting. Generally this worked really successfully, but I could tell when he got too focused or distracted with one storyline and would spend numerous pages/chapters on something, or drop a plot thread for too long.
Consequently, because of the serialized nature and narrative structures and choices employed, there were some meandering parts and some confusing elements where Thackeray seems to have mixed things up unintentionally. The novel overall could have benefited from a bit of tightening up; however, the sprawling nature of the story is also a highlight (so I wouldn't suggest cutting out too much!).
The length of the novel will therefore be a plus or minus for some, depending on personal preferences. Same as to the character flaws - the subtitle is A Novel Without a Hero, and truly almost no characters are redeemed or positively changed by their respective ends. Something I kind of delighted in, to be honest!
Regarding the ending, it was slightly too rushed for me (a bit contradictory, with my talk of tightening up the narrative). Much of the loose threads Thackeray attempts to tie up in the last chapter, which was slightly unsatisfactory for me (particularly as he dragged out the preceding five chapters of the Sedleys' and Dobbin's visit in Germany). Additionally,
Finally, as with pretty much every classic (and many books still today), there is racism, antisemitism, sexism/misogyny, xenophobia, fatphobia etc. Slurs and/or harmful descriptions are used throughout the text.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this story, these characters, and the biting social and personal commentary from the author. I can see how it's remained a classic of English canon, and if the sprawling story intrigues you (and you're willing to put up with the -isms of the text), I really recommend giving this novel a shot!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism