Book completed

[eve_prime]

August Folly, by Angela Thirkell. Barsetshire #4. This is another of my favorites (of the five or so books in the series that I’ve read), and it held up well enough this time, other than one character using the N-word for no reason on page 49. At least this time (unlike in Wild Strawberries) it was not the most sympathetic character. Anyway. In this book, two families spend time together in the summer. The Tebben family has nerdy middle-class parents (he’s a scholar of Norse sagas and she’s written economics textbooks) and two young adult children, male and female. The male, Richard, has done poorly at Oxford, is rather annoying, and finds his mother especially embarrassing; he’s our main point-of-view character, and the fact that the book is quite enjoyable anyway is something of a feat. The female, Margaret, is just fine, but her family doesn’t pay much attention to her. The Dean family is well off, and they have nine children, of which some are adults and some are younger, and Mr Dean’s sister is Mrs Palmer; the Palmers are also quite wealthy, and Mrs Palmer puts on a play every year; this time it’s going to be Hippolytus. My favorite scene is the dinner party, where Richard, Margaret, and Laurence Dean do all the cooking and cleanup so the Tebben family can host the Deans. The final rehearsal of the play is also pretty entertaining, as is the event that shows us that Richard does have some good qualities after all. And when everyone else has gone to bed, the cats and the donkey have amusing conversations.

I finished this one last night too, maybe an hour after the third book. I’ve got two more Barsetshire books to read, but I’m going to take a bit of a break from them first.

Comments

[kaishin108]

That sounds fun too. I finally finished Anthony Trollope Vol 1 last night. After reading Vol 2. It was sooooo good. Especially the story of Dr. Thorne. Oh gosh I want to read them all over again. Shocked how much I like his writing. I will try Wild Strawberries now. Her first book I didn't find at all like Trollope but maybe this one I will. :)

Thanks!

[eve_prime]

I still haven't tried Trollope but I did buy the first of his Barsetshire books!

[kaishin108]

Oh, you will have to let me know how you like it. Not all of them are romances but all are still very good storylines. He is my new favorite writer, even more than Jane Austen which shocks me. The end of his plots are so much richer. I don't think he is like Dickens much at all.

[eve_prime]

Oh good!

I have to say that I'm not a huge fan of Dickens. I have been reading some of David Copperfield, though, which I am definitely enjoying more than my attempt at Bleak House.

I agree that the way Austen ended her books tends to be rather odd compared with the rest of the books. Instead of showing us what happens to everyone, she usually takes a step back and explains it - which makes more sense in terms of timing (because what she wants to describe often takes several years to unfold), but it also feels rather colder, I think.

[kaishin108]

I think the book/story called 'Dr. Thorne' is the best. It starts out about him but it is a very intriguing romance about his daughter. He lives in a shire near Barsetshire. And then the people he is involved with show up in Barsetshire, later.

[eve_prime]

Oh, that's good to know, thanks! :)