Rating: 
Summary: It is "The Way We Live Now"
Review: Though written in the 19th century, "The Way We Live Now" is very relevant at the beginning of the 21st. The book concerns the activities of a fradulent financier who is making his way in London society. He preys on the weaker elements-in the form of dissolute young lords-as he climbs to greater heights in the social world. At the fringe of this social world, one also encounters people just trying to get by--the wife of a dead peer turning out hackneyed prose for example--as they cling to the appearances of respectability. Trollope's description of this world in many ways evokes the Internet bubble of the late 1990's. You see the same types of behavior and meet the same types of characters in this world. In this novel, Trollope has also created two very strong and memorable female characters. Hetta is the daughter of the "lady turned writer" and the sister of a very dissipated peer. Yet she somehow has a sterling character though less than sterling judgement in her suitors. Marie, the daughter of the shady financier Melmotte, is even more fascinating. At the start of the novel, she appears to be a weak little thing who is basically being auctioned off to the bidder with the most prestigious social credentials. However, after a disappointment in love, she finds the strength within herself to beat her father at his own game. Trollope develops characters so fully and with such depth that you feel as if they are living and breathing in front of you. I would recommend this book to lovers of serious literature everywhere. Yes, at times the language is dated and there are some horrifying anti-Semitic passages. But the book is a fully realized portrait of a society that still has relevance to readers today.
Rating:
Summary: It is "The Way We Live Now"
Review: Though written in the 19th century, "The Way We Live Now" is very relevant at the beginning of the 21st. The book concerns the activities of a fradulent financier who is making his way in London society. He preys on the weaker elements-in the form of dissolute young lords-as he climbs to greater heights in the social world. At the fringe of this social world, one also encounters people just trying to get by--the wife of a dead peer turning out hackneyed prose for example--as they cling to the appearances of respectability. Trollope's description of this world in many ways evokes the Internet bubble of the late 1990's. You see the same types of behavior and meet the same types of characters in this world. In this novel, Trollope has also created two very strong and memorable female characters. Hetta is the daughter of the "lady turned writer" and the sister of a very dissipated peer. Yet she somehow has a sterling character though less than sterling judgement in her suitors. Marie, the daughter of the shady financier Melmotte, is even more fascinating. At the start of the novel, she appears to be a weak little thing who is basically being auctioned off to the bidder with the most prestigious social credentials. However, after a disappointment in love, she finds the strength within herself to beat her father at his own game. Trollope develops characters so fully and with such depth that you feel as if they are living and breathing in front of you. I would recommend this book to lovers of serious literature everywhere. Yes, at times the language is dated and there are some horrifying anti-Semitic passages. But the book is a fully realized portrait of a society that still has relevance to readers today.
Rating:
Summary: Enron-style Scandal in Victorian London
Review: Trollope's sharp eye for detail in the social, economic and spiritual aspects of society never fails (although the spiritual aspects that so many enjoy in the Barsetshire novels take a back seat here). Readers following the recent stock market slide and the collapse of Enron will find parallels here, both disturbing and amusing. Mr. Melmotte and his phony railroad joining San Francisco to Vera Cruz have strong links to real-life characters and scams like the criminal financiers responsible for the savings and loan debacle of the '80s and the guys at Enron who are currently facing Congressional investigation. In addition to the financial shenanigans, there is of course a wonderful cast of characters, including Sir Felix Carbury, a wastrel who would rob his own mother (and does), Mr. Roger Carbury, a fine, upstanding man (who always has to deliver -- and receive -- bad news), and Mrs. Hurtle, an American "widow" who knows a thing or two about masculine psychology. Great literature speaks to us across the ages, and The Way We Live Now might tell us something about keeping an eye on our portfolios -- and our ethics.
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