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Summary: My Thoughts on Vanity Fair
Review: In his novel, "Vanity Fair", W.M. Thackeray weaves an enjoyable tale that will prove pleasing to many audiences. Within his work, Thackeray explores the role vanity plays in his characters lives. This novel is set in various places in Europe and is focused around two main female characters, Ameila and Rebecca. The novel opens as the girls are leaving a boarding school and follows them througout most of their lives. Both experience different types of marriages and come from different backgrounds, but their friendship remains strong throughout the novel. Chapters usually focus on either Amelia or Rebecca and ocassinally incorporate both into several, especially the first few. I find this to be a very intreseting and helpful style of organization. Thackeray also directly addresses his readers during various parts of the novel and helps them to form their own opinions about the topics at hand. Within the novel, our main characters prove themselves to be very dynamic and interesting. Amelia and Rebecca have very different personalities, that do clash at times, but thier interaction adds to the drama of the novel. The humorus explaination of other flat characters, such as Sir Pitt, help this novel to take a on lighter tone after more serious matters are discussed. Although this novel incorporates more serious undertones about roles humans play in society and the importance of wealth and status, it also brings forth a warm romance that many readers are sure to enjoy. Wealth does prove to be an important aspect of this novel, as it is in many pieces written during this time period, and plays roles in both of the main characters lives. Amelia and Rebecca experience both poverty and riches, each at different times, throughout the novel. As the characters true personalities are revealed, throughout the novel, many shocking secrets are brought forth. And, as many novels do, the reader will most certianly find themselves wishing they could tell the characters what they should do. Although, I personally find Thackeray's style somewhat exhausting, as he repeats previous facts and discusses unrealted imformation, he does create a very enjoyable novel that is sure to entice readers for many decades to come.
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Summary: On the abridged audio version
Review: The abridged audio version of this book boils 800+ pages down to 3 cassettes, which results in a recitation of the plot with little characterization, historical background or social context. The reader was very good however, and if she does the unabridged version I'd opt for that one.
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Summary: Fabulous satire
Review: This book is often called biting or cynical, but what most appealed to me was its realism. It is very different from many other books written during this time period in that it doesn't get too sentimental about innocence. Amelia is in many ways the ideal woman of her day, but Thackeray sees her as a human being with weaknesses as well as virtues. Becky would normally be branded as the gold-digger or adventuress, but she has some excellent qualities which really shine through, particularly towards the end of the book. It is an enjoyable read, filled with wit and humour as it explores the ups and downs of the heroines' lives. The only slight drawback is that it is very long and sometimes convoluted (the only reason I couldn't give it 5 stars) but the conclusion for me was absolutely worth it. A classic for a reason.
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Summary: It's Hard to Remember This was Written in the19th Century!
Review: Who among us could not appreciate the social satire in this novel that translates perfectly to modern day? Heh. Thackeray's constant rhetorical questioning does get a little annoying at times, but that's my only complaint. If you are tired of dry, boring, altruistic, overly melodramatic, and/or maudlin novels from this era, this is the book for you. Even though times have changed considerably, Thackeray's observations on society still ring true as if they were written yesterday. You will see people you know in his characters, and perhaps, although you might not want to admit it, yourself. Becky Sharp and her "artful" ways will draw you in and you will lose sleep, but it's worth it.
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Summary: A nice book, I think.
Review: Rebecca Sharp, although charming and witty, isn't born into the nobility of England. But she is determined that she will become part of it before she dies. Her best frinde, Amelia Sedley, has a sweet and gentle neture. Her only ambition is to be married to a handsome army officer called George Osborne. However, Rebecca flirts with George eben when he is marrived to Amelia. Will the friendship of these girls last ?
This book is quite interesting and attractive, but the beginning is quite boring. I also think that their are too many names in the beginning and this make me confused. I need to read for more times to get the meaning. But this is a nice book for us to read during spare time.
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Summary: One of the great anti-heroines in fiction
Review: While there are many lovely and funny things in this book, the degree to which one is likely to enjoy this novel depends upon how one responds to Becky Sharp. Thackeray does a marvelous job of setting forth both her very considerable charms and her undeniable flaws. On the one hand she is irresistibly charming, lovable, vivacious, beautiful, a brilliant conversationalist, charismatic, delightfully flirtatious, and immensely talented. On the other hand, she is deceitful, unfaithful, untruthful, grasping, and manipulative. Myself, I loved Becky, and consider her to be one of the most thrilling anti-heroines in English literature.This novel is simply a great read. Like any good Victorian classic, there is an amazing array of wonderful characters. Unlike many similar novels, where you always know that all of the main characters are going to end up married--the only impediments being how the lovers will be united (the great exception being Trollope, where everyone might end up married, or everyone might end up not; he is a very difficult to anticipate storyteller)--I found it difficult to anticipate who would end up with whom. The historical period is the same as for PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, but while in that awesome novel the Napoleonic Wars merely provided a pretext for having soldiers present in towns for balls, in this novel the War is very, very much a War, and as such exerts a strong influence on the plot. In PRIDE AND PREJUDICE there is no hint that soldiers might actually have to fight and perhaps die.
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Summary: Read an original review of this classic novel
Review: Becky Sharp is one of literature's first social climbers, a woman who slept her way to the top! I came across the following review of Vanity Fair on The Atlantic Monthly's website - the review dates back to May 1865. Read and enjoy! http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/classrev/vanityfa.htm
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Summary: A Rich and Luminous Victorian Triple Decker
Review: Vanity Fair is disconcertingly lengthy, has little of laconic intellect, contains tedious catalogues of scarecly developed characters, exhibits lapses in stylistic consistency, and often verges on melodrama. Yet despite all of this, it is a vibrant and scathing portrait of 19th century British society and a luxuriant horde of nuanced characterizations and delightfully fascinating personas. Who can resist the manipulative charms of the cunning Becky Sharp, the author's wry yet ambiguous account of the foolish Amelia, the pompous arrogance of the witless George Osborne? The novel is enriched with refreshingly orignal characterizations and improvizations which converge within the context of a festival of luxuriously self-important peoples delightfully naive at their own vapidity. The compelling lives of Sharp and Sedley weave through the narrative and bind it with textual unity even within the context of a tale spilling over with an astounding diversity. Stubbornly "modern", instantly readable and blessed with a sense of interest and immediacy, Vanity Fair truly is a landmark in English fiction, and a novel worthy of its lofty reputation.
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Summary: Response
Review: I believe that the reviewer below who gave this work 2 stars should have rephrased his/her review of "This is the most boring book I have ever read. It has no meaning." as "Since there was no uncensored and excessive violent language and themes, this was really boring for me. My limited intellect could discern no meaning."
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Summary: Vanity Fair
Review: Ok, I'm known for rambling and mixing up my thoughts, so here's just a few of my jumbled impressions of Vanity Fair. Firstly- Despite the majority of readers thinking otherwise, the unwilting, witty and yes, selfish Becky Sharp was my favourite character of all. I felt I could really relate to her, which probably says something bad about me here :-S She's the ultimate femme fatale, as I think has been mentioned in another review. She's artful, but lovable, even though the latter is probably a result of the former here. But, most of all, she's real. We all know someone like her, and yes, in my experience, a lot of females have at one point or another strived to be like her. She has that mystique that we all want. Secondly, as has also been mentioned in previous reviews, I feel like Thackeray could just as easily written this saga nowadays. He seems to have a very modern perception of the era. It is also a story that can be taken out of the 1800's and laid over the 2000's. The ideas are just as relevant now as they were then. Thirdly, and yes, this has also been mentioned, although this book didn't make me laugh out loud at every page, it has a more deep thinking, teasing, cynical kind of humour embedded into it. Summing up, I would describe this as a timeless analysis of a group of characters that we can all relate to. It might not be a story that has been put together perfectly (being written in serial form), but its content is excellent, in my opinion. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but those who have the time and inclination to really think not only about the story, but about themselves, and how they relate to the issues within.
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