Vanity Fair : A Novel without a Hero

Rating:
Summary: The Funniest Book to Ever Come out of The Reign of Queen V.
Review: This Book always has me laughing: Becky Sharp is just a hoot, as is old Rawdon's aunt, his father, SIR PITT, but you know who is just the greatest? JOS SEDLEY!!!!! Ha, ha , ha!!! I can't get over him and his flowered robe, so the ending is a bit tragic (I won't give it away, because this book is just capital). In my opinion, Thackeray is one of the great wits ever--much, much better than Jane Austen, though I do think she is funny also, but does she have any characters equal to the immortal JOS SEDLEY? The funniest I can think of is dear Augusta Elton, who is funny, but she's certainly no Jos. Well anyway, I think you know that there will be a new film of this coming up in November for our lucky England folks. Cross your fingers that it will hit the states. I just love the 70's version of this because it has the greatest Becky and Jos ever imaginable, so I am a little afraid of seeing the new one, but with such a great novel as this, I will give it a try. But I think that everyone should read this book. It even upped my gambling luck, and now I never go to Vegas without a copy of Vanity Fair tucked in my back jeans pocket!!!!

Rating:
Summary: thumbs up
Review: A wonderful novel, that perhaps is not as wonderful as its reputation suggests. But nonetheless first-rate. It's what Dicken's books should be. And Thackery was rather brave in that his main character Beckey Sharp is a bi*ch. And not an endearing one like Scarlett O'Hara. But you still enjoy reading about her.

Rating:
Summary: Great Fun Read
Review: Not a particularly beautifully written book since it was written in installments. Bits of the end have clearly been tacked on. The characters are somewhat two-dimensional. But does every book have to be chock full of fleshed out characters? Certainly not. It's great fun to read. If you, like me, enjoy long novels that move fairly quickly you'll love Vanity Fair.

Rating:
Summary: An epic journey...
Review: ...with characters one, at novel's end, almost feels as if one knows. Epic in its proportions, the novel spans both the decades and the lives of its characters. From the first page, with Becky and Amelia's hilarious exit of Miss Pinkerton's Academy, to the end, I found myself truly caring for the characters and their fates. Thackeray's style is wickedly satirical and simply delightful. What a wonderful read.

Rating:
Summary: All's fair in love and "Vanity"
Review: Greed, gold-digging and deception sit at the heart of "Vanity Fair." It's no joke that it's subtitled "a novel without a hero" -- William Makepeace Thackeray mercilessly skewered the pretentions and flaws of the upper class all throughout it. The result is a gloriously witty social satire.

It opens with two young women departing from a ladies' academy: dull, sweet Amelia (rich) and fiery sharp-witted Rebecca (poor). Becky Sharp is a relentless social climber, and her first effort to rise "above her station" is by trying to get Amelia's brother to marry her -- an effort thwarted by Amelia's fiancee. So instead she gets married to another family's second son, Rawdon Crawley.

Unfortunately, both young couples quickly get disinherited and George is killed. But Becky is determined to live the good life she has worked and married for -- she obtains jewels and money from admiring gentlemen, disrupting her marriage. But a little thing like a tarnished reputation isn't enough to keep Becky down...

"Vanity Fair" is actually a lot more complex than that, with dozens of little subplots and complicated character relationships. Reading it a few times is necessary to really absorb all of it, since it is not just a look at the two women in the middle of the book, but at the upper (and sometimes lower) social strata of the nineteenth century.

The main flaw of the book is perhaps that it sprawls too much -- there's always a lot of stuff going on, not to mention a huge cast of characters, and Thackeray sometimes drops the ball when it comes to the supporting characters and their little plots. It takes a lot of patience to absorb all of this. However... it's worth it.

Like most nineteenth-century writers, Thackeray had a very dense, formal writing style -- but once you get used to it, his writing becomes insanely funny. Witticisms and quips litter the pages, even if you don't pick them all up at once. At first Thackeray seems incredibly cynical (Becky's little schemes almost always pay off), but taken as a social satire, it's easier to understand why he was so cynical about the society of the time.

Becky Sharp is the quintessential anti-heroine -- she's very greedy and cold, yet she's also so smart and determined that it's hard not to have a grudging liking for her. Certainly life hasn't been fair for her. Next to Becky, a goody-goody character like Amelia is pretty boring, and even the unsubtle George can't measure up to Becky.

To sum up "Vanity Fair": think a period soap opera with a heavy dose of social commentary. In other words, it doesn't get much better than this, Thackeray's masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: Once you get into it you'll enjoy it.
Review: Vanity Fair is not a book for the casual reader. It will probably always be neglected in schools and will be unread by those without patience. However, if you are willing to devote yourself to reading this long novel, it is well worth it.

The main characters that the story centers around are Becky and Amelia, two girls who are polar opposites, yet their lives intertwine in fascinating ways. In many ways they are caricatures, but the book is long enough to give them complexity and in the end you have two unexpectedly interesting and multifaceted characters. Of course they are not the only characters, there are probably 500 more of various importance. Some readers may have difficulty keeping track of them all, especially when several have the same last name. However, Thackeray manages to keep focus through all the characters and it ends up that there are only about a dozen major characters, all very well developed.

The story itself is concerned mainly with the relationships and wealth of Amelia and Becky, but there are as many subplots as there are characters. Occasionally the story becomes stagnant, but there are enough stories and settings that I never became bored. The influence of the Napoleonic Wars is much stronger in Vanity Fair than in any of Austen's novels, which creates some interesting settings such as the battle of Waterloo, as battle that has a profound influence on the story. There is plenty of humor in the story as well and also Thackeray's famous societal commentary. This makes having notes in the book important, as there are references to events, places, languages, and things that a modern reader would normally not be familiar with.

This is a long book and the beginning isn't much fun to read, but it is interesting and insightful once you get into it. The setting might be over a hundred years ago, but the people in it are not outdated and their motivations and characters will seem familiar to the modern reader. Whether or not someone would like this novel comes down to if one can get past the length, archaic language, obscure references, and number of stories and characters. It certainly took me awhile and I almost stopped reading it, but I came to care for the characters enough that I began enjoying it.

Rating:
Summary: Long but fascinating
Review: This book was long, but I definitely enjoyed it. A couple of sections I skimmed over, but the heart of the story is compelling. I never thought of putting it down, mostly because, one of the main characters, Rebecca, fascinated me.

Much like the author, I could not completely make up my mind about Rebecca. I had to find out what would become of her in the end. Even in the end I could not decide whether she was bad or simply had several bad circumstances occur.

It was a good social commentary, and I am glad I read it. However, it is not a book I will ever pick up to read again partly due to its length, but also because once was all I needed. There were no overly complex ideas that warrant any more than a one time reading.


Rating:
Summary: Worth the Effort
Review: Amusing, insightful and truly worth the title 'classic'. A lovely critical satire of the times (1800, 1850 and today!)

Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly my favorite book.
Review: Yes, you must take your time reading it.
Yes, you must weave your way through Thackeray's references to the culture of his time.
Yes, it is worth your time to read.

Vanity Fair is, quite frankly, a staggering achievement. It is a witty, engaging, and scathing look at status in society: How people get it, how people lose it, and how people get it back. And in 840 pages, Thackeray manages to encompass virtually every interlocking element of 19th Century England.

For the life of me, I cannot understand the other two reviews, both of which refer to this book as boring. Every page is rewarding, and only becomes more so with repeated readings. Becky Sharp is a relentlessly interesting, amoral character, and we can only watch the arc of her life with fascination and grudging respect.

Thackeray refers to Vanity Fair as "A novel without a hero," and rightfully so. No one is spared his barbs, including the sweet, yet dull, Amelia. Thackeray holds up a mirror to the pretensions of the middle and upper classes, but does so without sanctimony or tendentiousness. All in all, it is a very approachable book.

So, read Vanity Fair. You will want an edition with copious footnotes (I prefer the Oxford edition) so you understand some references to the events of Thackeray's day. However, once you get used to the rhythms of Victorian prose, you will find it a very energetic and entertaining read, and the themes it encompasses remain true to our day.

Rating:
Summary: Frustrating
Review: I very rarely put down a book before finishing it, even if I don't like it. This one was impossible for me to read, though, and even though I tried, I could only get a quarter of the way through it (200 pages) before I decided life is just too short for such aggravation.

I wanted this to be one of those books that you can get lost in and sticks with you once it's over...it's very long, spans many years in the lives of the characters, interesting plot idea, definitely seemed to fit the bill of a pleasurable read. It didn't turn out to be one of those books, however. To begin with, it's slow. On top of that, the story unfolds through a narrator (the author I suppose) who goes off on tangents unrelated to the story, making personal observations on people and life and society in general that last for paragraphs and even pages. Very frustrating! The book would have been half as long if the author had stuck to what we wanted to read about...the story.

I gave this book 2 stars instead of one because I can see how the story itself would be an engaging one. Too bad the author's own voice torpedoed it.