Rating: 
Summary: No doom and gloom in this Victorian novel.
Review: Although its principal character, Mr Harding, the Warden of Barchester, suffers abject misery and extreme anxiety during most of this novel, the reader of "The Warden" will enjoy one of the happiest, richest and warmest experiences to be gained from the whole of English Literature.
Untypically short, yet three years in the making, "The Warden" has a simple structure that Trollope utlized again and again. Take a moral dilemma of some sort, one that provides endless pros and cons to be argued, one that possibly takes many hundreds of pages to resolve, explore is social, political and financial implications, and show how it touches the lives of characters not too unlike ourselves.
The dilemma here concerns the income of Septimus Harding, the Warden of Barchester. Under the terms of a will, dated 1434, twelve superannuated woolcarders were to be accommodated in an almshouse, receiving one shilling and fourpence per day. A residence was to be provided for a warden who was to receive the income from the remainder of the testator's property. Now, more than 400 years later, there seems to be an imbalance in these depositions. The almshouse inmates continue to receive only one shilling and fourpence, while the warden, living on the proceeds of some valuable properties, receives eight hundred pounds annually and the use of the warden's house.
The dilemma faces a young Barchester surgeon, John Bold. If he allows the imbalance to continue, the wishes of the original benefactor, he believes, are being nullified. If he succeeds in having the warden's comfortable living discontinued, he will lose forever the possibility of making the warden's daughter his wife. And so the issue is taken up, argued and publicized.
As Anthony Trollope reveals in his autobiography, this tiny novel was successful enough (it earned him twenty pounds) to lead him to consider writing more of the same, and he soon began "Barchester Towers".
English actor Sir Nigel Hawthorne, brilliant as Archdeacon Grantly in a memorable TV adaptation of this novel, revisits Trollope's Barchester to provide a robust, opulent, complete and unabridged reading that no Trollope enthusiast should miss hearing.
Rating:
Summary: "No good is unalloyed..."
Review: Anthony Trollope's The Warden (1855) raises interesting ethical questions concerning questions of right and wrong, and ideas of fairness. The novel is grounded in conflicting interpretations of how funds earmarked for the poor from a wealthy man's four hundred year old will should be spent. The novel focuses on Reverend Septimus Harding, the good natured Warden of Hiram Hospital, who is at the center of the controversy. The plot of Trollope's novel chronicles Mr. Harding's internal struggles with public accusations of malfeasance. As Warden of Hiram's Hospital, Mr. Harding has been charged with overseeing the welfare and spiritual well-being of twelve aged bedesmen-poor elderly men supported by John Hiram's trust. In performing his duties towards the bedesmen, Mr. Harding's efforts are universally regarded as beyond reproach; nevertheless, questions arise as to whether the amount of money Mr. Harding receives as Warden, eight hundred pounds annually, contradicts the original intention of John Hiram's 1434 will to help the poor. John Hiram, a wealthy magnate of the Barchester wool industry, had stipulated in his 1434 will that an almshouse be created to take care of twelve aged men who had worked as cardsmen in the wool trade. The will directed that funding for the almshouse come from rent from Hiram's lands to be overseen by the Anglican Church. From 1434 to the mid-nineteenth-century-the present of the novel-the amount of money raised for the rent of these lands has increased considerably. When the novel begins, most of this extra money has been given to the Warden himself. Trollope's The Warden raises this basic question: how should the extra proceeds from the rent be distributed? Throughout the novel various interests-the popular press, the church, and legal authorities-weigh in on this question, each with its own unique point of view and stake in the matter. This novel offers no easy answers and instead dwells on the ambiguity of moral issues. In chapter 15, the narrator (and by extension Trollope) hints at this perspective: "in this world no good is unalloyed, and that there is little evil that has not in it some seed of what is goodly." The Warden is definitely worthwhile read. It is not as funny as Barchester Towers, which made me laugh out loud, but it is as sophisticated and subtle. This would be an interesting novel to complement a college course on ethical issues.
Rating:
Summary: "No good is unalloyed..."
Review: Anthony Trollope's The Warden (1855) raises interesting ethical questions concerning questions of right and wrong, and ideas of fairness. The novel is grounded in conflicting interpretations of how funds earmarked for the poor from a wealthy man's four hundred year old will should be spent. The novel focuses on Reverend Septimus Harding, the good natured Warden of Hiram Hospital, who is at the center of the controversy. The plot of Trollope's novel chronicles Mr. Harding's internal struggles with public accusations of malfeasance. As Warden of Hiram's Hospital, Mr. Harding has been charged with overseeing the welfare and spiritual well-being of twelve aged bedesmen-poor elderly men supported by John Hiram's trust. In performing his duties towards the bedesmen, Mr. Harding's efforts are universally regarded as beyond reproach; nevertheless, questions arise as to whether the amount of money Mr. Harding receives as Warden, eight hundred pounds annually, contradicts the original intention of John Hiram's 1434 will to help the poor. John Hiram, a wealthy magnate of the Barchester wool industry, had stipulated in his 1434 will that an almshouse be created to take care of twelve aged men who had worked as cardsmen in the wool trade. The will directed that funding for the almshouse come from rent from Hiram's lands to be overseen by the Anglican Church. From 1434 to the mid-nineteenth-century-the present of the novel-the amount of money raised for the rent of these lands has increased considerably. When the novel begins, most of this extra money has been given to the Warden himself. Trollope's The Warden raises this basic question: how should the extra proceeds from the rent be distributed? Throughout the novel various interests-the popular press, the church, and legal authorities-weigh in on this question, each with its own unique point of view and stake in the matter. This novel offers no easy answers and instead dwells on the ambiguity of moral issues. In chapter 15, the narrator (and by extension Trollope) hints at this perspective: "in this world no good is unalloyed, and that there is little evil that has not in it some seed of what is goodly." The Warden is definitely worthwhile read. It is not as funny as Barchester Towers, which made me laugh out loud, but it is as sophisticated and subtle. This would be an interesting novel to complement a college course on ethical issues.
Rating:
Summary: It was the beginning of an wonderful adventure . . .
Review: I first read Anthony Trollope's book "The Warden" in 1995 at the age of 54; three years later I had finished all forty-seven Trollope novels, his autobiography, and most of his short stories. "The Warden" provides a necessary introduction to the Barsetshire Novels, which, in turn, provide a marvelous introduction to rural Victorian society, and its religious, political, and social underpinnings. However, "The Warden" is a small literary masterpiece of its own, even though the more popular "Barchester Towers" tends to obscure it. "The Warden" moves slowly, of course, but so did Victorian England; soon the reader is enveloped in a rich world of brilliantly created characters: in the moral dilemma of a charming and innocent man, Reverend Septimus Harding, who is probably the most beloved of all Trollope's characters; in the connivings of Archdeacon Grantly, who will become a significant force in the later Barsetshire novels; in Eleanor, an example of the perfect Victorian woman, a type that appears in many of Trollope's subsequent novels; and in the sanctimonious meddling of John Bold, whose crusade for fairness throws the town into turmoil. In modern terminology, "The Warden" is a "good read" for those readers with patience, a love of 19th century England, and an appreciation of literary style. Trollope's sentences have a truly musical cadence. "The Warden" was Trollope's fourth novel and his first truly successful one. It provides a strong introduction to the other five novels of the Barsetshire series, where the reader will meet a group of fascinating characters, including the Mrs. Proudie (one of Trollope's finest creations), the Reverend Obadiah Slope, and the Grantly family. The reader will soon find that Trollope's well-developed characters soon become "friends," and that the small cathedral town of Barchester becomes a very familiar and fascinating world in itself. It is a wonderful trip through these six novels. (I read all six in about three weeks.) But one must begin with "The Warden." Brew a cup of tea, toast a scone on a quiet evening, and begin the wonderful voyage through Trollope's charming Barchester. When you have finished the six novels, you may, like me, want to commence reading the Palliser series (another six novels) and follow Plantagenet and Glencora Palliser through their triumphs and travails! However, that remains another story.
Rating:
Summary: It was the beginning of an wonderful adventure . . .
Review: I first read Anthony Trollope's book "The Warden" in 1995 at the age of 54; three years later I had finished all forty-seven Trollope novels, his autobiography, and most of his short stories. "The Warden" provides a necessary introduction to the Barsetshire Novels, which, in turn, provide a marvelous introduction to rural Victorian society, and its religious, political, and social underpinnings. However, "The Warden" is a small literary masterpiece of its own, even though the more popular "Barchester Towers" tends to obscure it. "The Warden" moves slowly, of course, but so did Victorian England; soon the reader is enveloped in a rich world of brilliantly created characters: in the moral dilemma of a charming and innocent man, Reverend Septimus Harding, who is probably the most beloved of all Trollope's characters; in the connivings of Archdeacon Grantly, who will become a significant force in the later Barsetshire novels; in Eleanor, an example of the perfect Victorian woman, a type that appears in many of Trollope's subsequent novels; and in the sanctimonious meddling of John Bold, whose crusade for fairness throws the town into turmoil. In modern terminology, "The Warden" is a "good read" for those readers with patience, a love of 19th century England, and an appreciation of literary style. Trollope's sentences have a truly musical cadence. "The Warden" was Trollope's fourth novel and his first truly successful one. It provides a strong introduction to the other five novels of the Barsetshire series, where the reader will meet a group of fascinating characters, including the Mrs. Proudie (one of Trollope's finest creations), the Reverend Obadiah Slope, and the Grantly family. The reader will soon find that Trollope's well-developed characters soon become "friends," and that the small cathedral town of Barchester becomes a very familiar and fascinating world in itself. It is a wonderful trip through these six novels. (I read all six in about three weeks.) But one must begin with "The Warden." Brew a cup of tea, toast a scone on a quiet evening, and begin the wonderful voyage through Trollope's charming Barchester. When you have finished the six novels, you may, like me, want to commence reading the Palliser series (another six novels) and follow Plantagenet and Glencora Palliser through their triumphs and travails! However, that remains another story.
Rating: 
Summary: Social satire for anglophiles
Review: I got this initially just to have the background for Barchester Towers (it wasn't necessary; BT can stand alone) but it made a Trollope fan of me. Now I'm working my way through the whole Barchester series, enjoying the language and dry wit. It probably helps to be an Anglican/Episcopal so the vocabulary of the English church is not so unfamiliar, but once past that Trollope draws some great characters, who with some minor modifications would transcend time and place.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to Trollope
Review: I read "Barchester Towers" which is the sequel to this some years ago, and I must confess that whilst I liked it I found it very padded out in the second half. "The Warden" is a shorter and in my opinion a superior book. It is the first of the Barchester series and it makes an excellent introduction to Trollope's work. It tells of a dispute that arises between the Church of England and reformers over the rights of the warden of a hospital to the excess proceeds of the land which funds the hospital. In modern terms the hospital is a kind of retirement home for poor workers. The reformers led by John Bold believe the excess funds should go to the hospital residents. The church hierarchy led by Dr Grantly, the archdeacon of Barchester defend the rights of the church, but are content with legal technicalities. This turns into a great public scandal, and the warden Mr Harding suffers a moral dilemma over whether he really is entitled to the money. Trollope looks at both sides of the dispute dispassionately. His sympathies are with the warden who is shown to be the only person who really cares about the wellbeing of the hospital residents. Things are complicated by the fact that Dr Grantly is married to one of Mr Harding's daughters and John Bold is in love with the other. For those such as myself who are more familiar with the works of Charles Dickens it is interesting to see 19th century England from a different (more conservative) perspective. The novel also includes a satire of Dickens via a character called Mr Popular Sentiment.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to Trollope
Review: I read "Barchester Towers" which is the sequel to this some years ago, and I must confess that whilst I liked it I found it very padded out in the second half. "The Warden" is a shorter and in my opinion a superior book. It is the first of the Barchester series and it makes an excellent introduction to Trollope's work. It tells of a dispute that arises between the Church of England and reformers over the rights of the warden of a hospital to the excess proceeds of the land which funds the hospital. In modern terms the hospital is a kind of retirement home for poor workers. The reformers led by John Bold believe the excess funds should go to the hospital residents. The church hierarchy led by Dr Grantly, the archdeacon of Barchester defend the rights of the church, but are content with legal technicalities. This turns into a great public scandal, and the warden Mr Harding suffers a moral dilemma over whether he really is entitled to the money. Trollope looks at both sides of the dispute dispassionately. His sympathies are with the warden who is shown to be the only person who really cares about the wellbeing of the hospital residents. Things are complicated by the fact that Dr Grantly is married to one of Mr Harding's daughters and John Bold is in love with the other. For those such as myself who are more familiar with the works of Charles Dickens it is interesting to see 19th century England from a different (more conservative) perspective. The novel also includes a satire of Dickens via a character called Mr Popular Sentiment.
Rating:
Summary: Thar be good readin, matey!
Review: If anything, this book provides ample evidence that the quality of the writing is often the far more decisive factor in one's enjoyment of literature than said literature's supposed content (_Crime and Punishment_ offers similar evidence, from the opposite side of that equation). The most inadequate book jacket of the copy I'd read promised a "deliciously barbed" tale of ecclesiastical intrigue and for some reason gave me the false impression of the presence of sixteenth century clergymen who would engage in witty repartee as well as learned theological debates. Indeed, there was some disappointment on my part at finding the setting to be rural and Victorian, theology nonexistent, and the "intrigue" to be moving at the pace of a nineteenth century tea party. And yet the author's style (though the "barbs" do not so much sting as perhaps provide a gentle tickling sensation), with its intentionally comical verbosity, its narrator's frequent self-referential digressions, its pleasantly ironic look at humanity, renders the characters and their fictionalized setting likeable completely in spite of my lack of empathy with the values and concerns of Victorian England. If any reader is familiar with the short-lived American television show _Picket Fences_ -- this book, as does the entire series to which it belongs, comprises the closest I have seen to a nineteenth century English equivalent thereof.
Rating:
Summary: Very modern theme
Review: In a world where ostensibly not-for-profit universities have amassed assets of, in at least one case, more than $20 billion, this book is very relevant. Trollope asks whether there is anything wrong with being a ridiculously rich non-profit organization with staff that soaks up most of the money intended for the folks whom the organization was created to assist. Well is there?
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