Barchester Towers (Chronicles of Barsetshire)

I thought this work (2nd in the Barchester Chronicles) would not live up to The Warden, but it is every bit as good with a little more expansiveness and majesty. Trollope is perceptive about the vagaries of human character; the individuals in his novels are multi-dimensional, capable of being both foolish and wise, blissfully blind and sharply aware. It is a robust human community of emotions and motivations. On top of all this, the clergy politics of late 19th century England prove to be intricate and fascinating.

The historical account is extremely accurate and well balanced. The complex historical background of the is also sound though the account deals with events mostly occurred in the U.S. The human aspects of people so deeply connected to the entire Hiss Story, like FDR, Dean Acheson and other importanto political figures, might have been better investigated so as to understand how the whole Hiss story became possible

It seems like ordinary story about life in province back in a day but it correlates to my perception of current life. The book makes sense today. Multiply the presentation by presents of humor and the rating will end up as maximum

Do not waste your money on this supposed "deal" from General Books in Memphis. Instead, find a used copy from a reputable publisher. I purchased this book not knowing (because it is not obvious from the website) that it is an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) scanned copy; I had assumed it was a used book that had been typeset and printed in the normal manner. There are so many typos in this OCR copy from General Books, it's annoying to read and I'm giving up after two chapters. I'm going to throw the book away; I wouldn't give it to anyone else to endure. Do not waste your money on this supposed "deal," find a used copy from a reputable publisher.

Terrible format. The size of the pages is wrong, resulting in lines of text being too long. Paragraphs are badly formatted. It looks like somebody threw an electronic copy of the text into a word processor, and shipped that straight to a print on demand shop. Deil colic the wame o' them.

For my author project this year, I’m reading more of Anthony Trollope, and since I’d already read The Warden, this was the first Trollope I read for the project. It was fantastic and really elevated my opinion of Trollope.

Barchester Towers centers around the community of Barchester as it receives a new bishop. Bishop Proudie is a marked by his weakness, and so everyone around him--in particular his wife Mrs. Proudie and her chaplain Mr. Slope--is out to use or influence him. Mr. Slope especially drives the action of the novel. He serves as the Bishop’s mouthpiece in the community, and he attempts to manipulate every situation to increase his power and to get himself into the good graces of one of the wealthy and beautiful women of the town. His machinations throw everything in the novel into chaos. Will Mr. Harding get to be the warden of Hiram’s Hospital again? Will Mr. Slope get to be the dean? Does Mrs. Bold (the widow) really love Mr. Slope? The novel is excellently plotted, woven together by the characters’ misunderstandings and by interesting moral questions.

I found the characters to be compelling and believable. The novel has Trollope’s typical loveable characters (Mrs. Bold, Mr. Harding), ambitious and pitiable ‘villains,’ and Victorian eccentrics (like Signora Neroni), and their interactions build a tremendous amount of suspense that Trollope manages to sustain to the end of the book. I also found Trollope to be surprisingly humorous--both with the absurd situations he crafts and his funny observations of the characters. Overall, I thought this was excellent, one of the very best Victorian novels I’ve read, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.

A new bishop is coming to town (the fictional Barchester in the fictional Barsetshire) greatly disturbing the stagnant water of long-standing clerical balance in the diocese and almost instantly holy(?) WAR is declared between resident clergymen (High Church) lead by Archdeacon Grantly who got disappointed in his hope of becoming the new bishop after his father’s death & Dr Proudie’s (the new bishop, Low Church) entourage namely his formidable wife & his chaplain, Mr Obadiah Slope, a beneficiary of Mrs Proudie’s patronage.

This is, however, not the only war that is waged in the novel. There is a contest for primacy in the diocese between Mrs Proudie & Mr Slope, because the hen-pecked Dr. Proudie is bishop only in name and so both strive to become the real power behind his ecclesiastical throne. :)

Additionally, a there is battle for love (and/or for money – depending on the parties involved) to gain the hand of the young & rich widow, Eleanor Bold (sister-in-law to Archdeacon Grantly). The contestants are Mr Slope, MrBertie Stanhope (never-do-well, though harmless, spendthrift son of Dr Vesey Stanhope, prebendary of the Bishop) and Reverend Francis Arabin, a scholar and Fellow of Lazarus College at Oxford & a supporter of Archdeacon Grantly.

You’d think after this summary that the clerical war is about some elevated subjects with deep, underlying philosophical ideas, but it is fought much more on social (wives joining husbands, daughters supporting fathers) & political (which camps can soldier bigger troops & more supporters) levels in drawing/dining rooms, at parties as well as in churches. This gives Trollope the chance to depict clergymen as men with a very much tongue-in-cheek approach, which makes the whole novel delightful & funny.

"Wars about trifles are always bitter, especially among neighbours. When the differences are great, and the parties comparative strangers, men quarrel with courtesy. What combatants are ever so eager as two brothers?"

Also the insight into his characters is wonderful: the most memorable from this novel are Mr Slope, Mrs Proudie, Signora Neroni & Archdeacon Grantley.

Trollope never ceases to amaze me with his power of characterisation, which is precise, complex and utterly hilarious at the same time. The way he portraits Obadiah Slope is genious. He is one of the most obnoxious, obsequious, slimy appalling characters in classic literature (he brings Jane Austen's Mr Collins in P&P to my mind - in some respects) and yet you cannot help, but admire his cunning and enterprise as he sets about fulfilling his ambitions. He is a smarmy sycophant and no mistake, but he is never painted as black or even as a truly viscous person. - And here I have to mention the divine Alan Rickman, who played him to perfection in the 1982 BBC adaptation. (That is also highly recommended.)

The Barchester Towers referred to in the title of this book, the second in Trollope’s The Chronicles of Barsetshire series, refers to the towers of Barchester Cathedral, the center of action of this novel. Barchester Towers is concerned with the goings on of the Barsetshire ecclesiastical scene and its interactions with the surrounding town.

Although the action in the story is muted, the writing is lively and engaging. The stilted and overly ornate language typical of Victorian prose is virtually absent. Trollope does an especially good job of exploring the psychology of his characters, bringing them to life. It’s the characters that drive this story forward. The plot is intricate, involving a broad host of characters.

A good portion of Barchester Towers is based on events that took place in The Warden, so it is advisable to read that book first. Barchester Towers is a novel of ordinary Victorian life, so little exciting happens in it. Nevertheless, it is a good example of the Victorian novel of manners.

This is quintessential Trollope. At the outset of the novel, the Bishop of the cathedral city of Barchester is on his deathbed, with his son, the Archdeacon Grantly, beside him. The Archdeacon knows that the current Prime Minister will probably name him to succeed his father as bishop, but he also knows that the Tory government is about to topple and that the next Liberal prime minister will name someone else. "[I]t must be now or never." If his father lingers on, his hopes of becoming bishop will be forever dashed. "Thus he thought long and sadly, in deep silence, and then gazed at that still living face, and then at last dared to ask himself whether he really longed for his father's death."

That is just the first of many exquisite Trollopean dilemmas in BARCHESTER TOWERS. It was only Trollope's fifth novel (out of forty-seven), but he had mastered his craft. BARCHESTER TOWERS is so smoothly written and engaging that, as with all of Trollope's better novels, it is tempting to dismiss it as something less than first-rate literature. Trollope may not have the exalted status of Charles Dickens, George Eliot, or Thomas Hardy, but to me, if judged by the sheer pleasure of reading his novels, he is easily their equal.

BARCHESTER TOWERS picks up the story of Barchester five years after "The Warden", which was the first of what eventually came to be six Barsetshire novels. (It is worth reading "The Warden" first, but not essential.) BARCHESTER TOWERS brings back most of the principal characters of "The Warden" and also introduces a number of new ones, including two inherently repulsive ones -- the virago Mrs. Proudie and the ambitious, oleaginous Rev. Obadiah Slope. Indeed, there are more truly memorable characters in BARCHESTER TOWERS than in any Dickens novel I have read, including "David Copperfield".

The novel involves devilishly, and delightfully, complicated scrambles for money and prestige in two different arenas: the Church of England and the institution of marriage. In the first arena, three different Church positions associated with the Diocese of Barchester are at stake at different points in the novel. In the second, it is the hand (and small fortune) of the recently widowed Eleanor Bold that is at stake, for which there are three contestants, including the reptilian Obadiah Slope. Trollope is masterful in developing the intrigues of his characters through an ever-changing kaleidoscope of twists and turns and misunderstandings.

On a broader level, the novel portrays the inner workings of the Church of England in the 1850s as well as English country society of the same period. One memorable scene, a tour de force spread over nine chapters, is a grand fête-champêtre at the estate of an old Anglo-Saxon family for all of the tenants of the estate as well as all of the "quality" people of Barsetshire. Another great scene involves a reception thrown by the wife of the new Bishop of Barchester, a function that farcically devolves into a fiasco. In these scenes as well as throughout the novel Trollope pokes gentle and affectionate fun at many of the customs and conventions of Victorian England.

In the Second World War, Somerset Maugham was asked to compile a list of books that would help Americans to understand the British character. BARCHESTER TOWERS was the first novel on his list.

Before reading this great classic one should read its prequel, trollope's only perfect little gem, “the warden “. Barchester towers is a masterpiece. The comedy is hilarious. The story concerns the small world of the cathedral close in barchester. It is a comfortable english world but is invaded by a new low church bishop and his awful wife. It is war. Each side summons its allies and it is marvelous reading. Each character is unforgettable. Mrs proudie! The mysterious enchantress who wins battles with her. The loathesome mr slope! The thornes of ullathorne! I Am about to enter their world again and can’t wait. Trollope’s tone is intimAte and gossipy. The only one of his wonderful books which is as great as or greater than this is “The way we live now.”

First question: Should you read The Warden (1855) before reading the far lengthier (and funnier) Barchester Towers (1857)? Absolutely. The story of Warden Harding and his ethical dilemma is woven throughout the longer novel, and without the narrative in The Warden, Harding's character as it appears in Barchester Towers is far less interesting.

Second question: Is Trollope's satirical rendering of clerical maneuverings and their impact on various residents of a 19th century English cathedral city a novel likely to appeal only to fans of Brit Lit? That depends. Feminism does cast a different light on Mrs. Proudie, the bossy, clever wife of the shrinking new bishop of Barchester. She's intended to be a virago, but one can't help but feel for her situation, restricted by female duties from which she attempts to break loose by acting as her husband's "advisor." On the other hand, Obadiah Slope, the calculating upstart cleric looking to get ahead any way he can, including through a fortunate marriage, is entirely familiar.
Familiar too is the role of the media (newspapers, in this case), which younger clergy/politicos know how to manipulate and older ones do not.
Even though everyone is getting about in carriages and even though the servants are always listening in, even though people worry absurdly about fine gradations in social status and Trollope sometimes natters on about clerical minutiae, it's all very entertaining and oh so contemporary, if you substitute electoral politics now for clerical politics then.

So grab The Warden; it's a short novel and lays the ground perfectly for the society of Barchester Towers, where men makes fools of themselves over a bewitching "exotic" woman, desirable jobs require endless maneuvering, and rumor and innuendo keep everyone guessing.

M. Feldman

(4.5 stars) Anthony Trollope does, indeed, fill the ending of this delightful social satire with all the "sweetmeats" any reader could desire. Between the introduction and conclusion are so many moments of wry humor, genuine thoughtfulness, and satisfying come-uppances that the extra sweetness at the end is actually a bonus. In this second of the Chronicles of Barsetshire, published in 1857, Trollope continues the story of Mr. Septimus Harding, the gentle and unambitious clergyman who, in The Warden (1855), resigned his appointment as warden of Hiram's Hospital for the poor and became the vicar of a small church, living frugally above a chemist's shop. His daughter Eleanor, who married reformer John Bolt at the end of The Warden, is now a widow with a small son--and considerable inheritance.

Ecclesiastical controversies, many of them linked to the desire for power within the small world of the church hierarchy, still exist in Barchester, and the arrival of Mr. Slope, as chaplain to Bishop Proudie, signals fireworks. Slope, one of Trollope's most unforgettable characters, is one of the slimiest, most sycophantic, and manipulative clergyman ever to appear in English literature, and before long, he is controlling the bishop, clashing with the bishop's wife (who regards herself as co-bishop), using the unfilled wardenship of the hospital as a bargaining tool with Mr. Harding and Eleanor, alienating and even outfoxing Archdeacon Grantly, and seeking a wife with a large fortune.

Far more complex than The Warden, the novel has more fully developed characters acting from more realistic motivations. Victorian England, as we see it here, is a multileveled society which does not allow for much upward mobility, and the entrenched clergy regards itself as second only to the aristocracy. The human foibles, the back-biting, the selfishness, and the one-upsmanship which Trollope includes in his depiction of all levels of society are particularly ironic in the case of the godly churchmen, and the honest and straightforward Mr. Harding is a counterweight to them throughout the novel.

Several courtships and marriages are presented so unromantically here that it is difficult even to imagine the concept of sexuality, but the novel is witty and clever, and Trollope shows his continued development as a satirist. Not a writer of "sensation," like Wilkie Collins, or of social criticism, like Dickens, Trollope has his own quiet style, and his wry observations about his world may resonate with the present reader more than either of those other giants. n Mary Whipple

The Warden
Doctor Thorne (Barsetshire Novels)
Framley Parsonage

"Barchester Towers" is a gentle satire of manners about matters in the Church of England that were trivial even at the time Trollope wrote about them. However, the targets of the satire--over-paid bureaucrats, hen-pecked husbands, prodigal sons, and office politics--never go out of style. He could have edited much more judiciously, easily leaving out 200 pages of a 500 page book. That said, there are moments I laughed out loud, and there are moments of genuine sentiment, though there is very little mystery about how the various plot lines will turn out. A pretty good read, just too long.

Anthony Trollope's fiction is often criticized for being too sentimental and reaching, sometimes desperately, for a happy ending. Such criticism is probably fair, but not at all what people cherish in his work. Trollope's books are peopled with characters much like ourselves: vain and ambitious but also trying to do good, and occasionally succeeding, despite all our faults.

The cast of Barchester Towers is a veritable kaleidoscope of human foibles and frailty. The oily and unctuous Mr. Slope; proud and pushy Mrs. Proudie and the brow-beaten Bishop all arrive at the episcopacy of Barchester as the New Order. Immediately they lock horns with the old guard, headed by Archdeacon Grantley and the fun begins.

The author's satirical regard for the inhabitants is first rate. No one, save perhaps Rev. Septimus Harding is spared criticism. Some receive their just desserts, others vaingloriously carry on. If you like your satire sharp or villains lashed you need to try Thackery or Dickens. The folk in Barchester are merely delightfully disappointing spectacles--as are we all.

Subsequent to his father's death, the archdeacon is not made bishop. Dr. Proudie receives the appointment to that office. Another change in Barchester from the circumstances portrayed in THE WARDEN is the status of Mr. Harding's daughter, Eleanor Bold. She is a widow. Eight months after the death of John Bold, another John Bold is born.

Dr. Grantly and Mr. Harding find themselves disliking the bishop's chaplain, Mr. Slope, and his wife, Mrs. Proudie. If Mr. Proudie is to return to his former position of warden, Mr. Slope claims he must embrace certain conditions. Under the circumstances, Mr. Harding refuses. The position is given to Mr. Quiverful, Mrs. Proudie's candidate.

Dr. Proudie raises the issue of absent clergy, and Dr. Vesey Stanhope returns to England after having resided in Italy for twelve years. Mr. Arabin, the new man recruited by the archdeacon for the living at St. Ewold, has been on the side of the Tractarians at Oxford. (Schism has the advantage of calling attention to religion.) Arabin has become tired of his Oxford room and college life. He is forty.

Mr. Slope and Mrs. Proudie are in a contest to be puppet master to the bishop. In the book's plot, Eleanor Bold, one of the more engaging characters, shoulders an immense burden through a misunderstanding. An added interest is the jockeying of the High Church group, the archdeacon and Mr. Arabin and Mr. Harding, and the Low Church enclave, the bishop, Mrs. Proudie and Mr. Slope, for power.

That said, the larger part of the reading experience is an enounter with comedy, rather than tragedy. The characters are delightful.

BARCHESTER TOWERS is the second Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope, and continues the ideological wars of the fictitious cathedral community presented in THE WARDEN. It is a much more complex novel than THE WARDEN, and I don't feel that it is necessary to read THE WARDEN before reading BARCHESTER TOWERS, though THE WARDEN is a very enjoyable book.

The Bishop of Barchester, Dr. Grantly, Sr., has passed away, and Dr. Grantly, Jr., archdeacon of the Cathedral and son-in-law to Mr. Septimus Harding, protagonist of THE WARDEN, is vying for his fathers position. Unfortunately for Dr. Grantly, a new, leberal government has come into power days before his father's passing, and Dr. Proudie, well-known in London, who lacks any specific theological views, has been named to the post. He brings with him two characters who will drive much of the plot of the novel - his wife, Mrs. Proudie, and her favorite minister, Mr. Obadiah Slope.

Mrs. Proudie and her minister lack any theological ideas themselves, save one. The Sabbath is a holy day, and come-hell-or-high-water, they will have every man and woman in church, and every child in catechism, and more importantly, the mail trains will be stopped. The Proudies and Dr. Slope harbour Low-Church sympathies, meaning most important to the story, a distaste for ritual, while Dr. Grantly and his colleagues at Barchester harbor High-Church, though still anti-papist, sympathies. Needless to say, the two parties don't get along. The rest of the novel comprises several misunderstandings and underhandings and a comedic love-triangle (or square?). This is the second novel of Trollope's that I have read, and I found it engaging and very funny. Highly recommended.

Barchester is at war--a civil war within the church. The faction of new Bishop Proudie, under the thumb of his ambitious wife, who in turn is aided by the Bishop's chaplain, Obadiah Slope, is determined to transform the formal, conservative worship at Barchester into a low-church ambience. The established local clergy, led by Archdeacon Grantly, are just as determined to resist. Mrs. Proudie considers Slope to be her pawn in making herself the real power in the diocese, but this clever clergyman himself has dreams of supplanting her as ruler over the weak Bishop. Soon they are engaged in a private war of their own.
A major portion of the plot is concerned with whether the gentle Mr. Harding, title character of "The Warden," will be restored to the position which he resigned in the first novel.
This book is probably the most popular of all Trollope's novels, but it is not the best. Among the 6 Barsetshire novels, I would rate it no better than third, after the superb "The Last Chronicle of Barset" and "Dr. Thorne." More than in any of the other novels of this series, the author indulges in too many personal asides to the reader, which impede the progress of the plot and are not nearly so clever as they are intended to be.
On the other hand, the book presents two of the best of Trollope's many delightful characters. Obadiah Slope is a wonderfully oily villain, whose eventual discomfiture is a consummate pleasure to behold. Eleanor Bold, young widowed daughter of Mr. Harding, is very high on the list of Trollope's admirable heroines. She is wooed by 3 men (including Slope), and the man who wins this spirited lady is a truly fortunate man.
There are many other excellently portrayed characters. Mrs. Proudie, the Archdeacon, the intriguing invalid Signora Neroni, Francis Arabin, and others are all people well worth meeting. Trollope's greatest strength is in the development and handling of his highly credible characters.

I ordered this book, the second in the Barchester Series, at the same time I ordered the first of the series, The Warden. I found that novel to be so low key and undramatic as to be rather boring, and I probably would have abandoned Trollope then, if I had not already bought this sequel. I would have missed a treat.

Barchester Towers is an absolutely delightful read, with realistic and well delineated characters who are striving to gain love, money, power, and prestige. But most of all, it is quietly and slyly humorous in a very gentle and fond manner. Whereas a Dickens novel might include some broad or satirical humor amidst high drama and pathos, this Trollope novel's humor is more subtle, more based on the essential comicality of ordinary people in everyday life.

The main characters are all clericals of the Church of England and their female relatives, and the plot concerns the conflict between passionate High Church adherents and Low Church devotees, coupled with the very secular desire on the part of some to rise to higher position to gain more income and/or prestige. Thrown into this scheming and counter-scheming is a love story, as the Warden's beautiful daughter is wooed by three suitors, representatives of the warring factions. At no time is the reader in doubt as to which she will choose, partly because Trollope tells us in a direct address to the reader that she will not be seduced by the two undesirable candidates for her hand. Thus, little suspense is involved here, but the charm comes from the manner of the telling. In tone and plotting, the novel is more similar to Jane Austin than to Charles Dickens.

The villain of the piece is absolutely believable, and will surely remind you of someone you know who is entirely self serving and hypocritical. This slimy schemer, Obadiah Slope, arrogantly assumes that he fools everyone, but, in the end, he fools nobody. (Trollope, like his contemporary and literary rival Dickens, has a genius for appropriate names for his characters. Among the most amusing names is Mr. Quiverful, for the man who has 14 children.)

The story can be a bit confusing for those of us Americans who are not familiar with the elaborate clerical structure of the Church of England, with its archdeacons and deans and curates and so forth. That little detracts from the reading enjoyment, however, since the actions of the characters could as well have taken place in a modern corporate or bureaucratic setting.

From now on, I will absolutely recommend Trollope, and I plan to read the rest of the Barchester series, as well as some others of his. He wrote 51 novels, so I will have plenty from which to choose.

"Barchester Towers" has proven to be the most popular novel Anthony Trollope ever wrote-despite the fact that most critics would rank higher his later work such as "The Last Chronicle of Barset","He Knew He Was Right" and "The Way We Live Now".While containing much satire those great novels are very powerful and disturbing, and have little of the genial good humor that pervades "Barchester Towers".Indeed after "Barchester Towers",Trollope would never write anything so funny again-as if comedy was something to be eschewed.That is too bad,because the book along with its predecessor "The Warden" are the closest a Victorian novelist ever came to approximating Jane Austen."Barchester Towers" presents many unforgettable characters caught in a storm of religious controversy,political and social power struggles and romantic and sexual imbroglios.All of this done with a light but deft hand that blends realism,idealism and some irresistible comedy.It has one of the greatest endings in all of literature-a long,elaborate party at a country manor(which transpires for about a hundred pages)where all of the plot's threads are inwoven and all of the character's intrigues come to fruition."Barchester Towers" has none of the faults common to Trollope's later works -(such as repetiveness)it is enjoyable from beginning to end.Henry James(one of our best novelists,but not one of our best critics) believed that Trollope peaked with "The Warden"and that the subsequent work showed a falling off as well as proof that Trollope was no more than a second rate Thackeray.For the last fifty years critics have been trying to undo the damage that was done to Trollope's critical reputation."Barchester Towers"proves not only to be a first rate novel but probably the most humorous Victorian novel ever written.

Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) has earned his place in the pantheon of great English Victorian authors. His greatest novels are those in the
Barsetshire series dealing with the clergy and the Palliser novels concerned with politics focusing on the Palliser family.
The first novel in the Barsetshire series "The Warden"introduces us to the Rev. Septimus Harding and his charming daughters Eleanor and Susan. Harding gives up his supervision of Hiram's Hospital for elderly men as that novel concludes. His daughter Eleanor weds John Bolt the newspaperman who had criticized Harding for earning too much in a sincecure; his other daughter Susan is wed to Dr. Grantley the son of the Bishop of Barsetshire. "The Warden" introduces the characters in "Barchester Towers" which is a longer and more complicated novel.
In this novel the new Bishop has been chosen by the British government following the death of old Dr. Granley. He is Bishop Proudie the henpecked husband of one of literature's greatest shrews Mrs. Produie. The uxorious bishop must obey his dominant wife or face the consequences!
As the novel opens Dr. Grantley the scion of old Dr. Grantley is upset that he is not chosen to succeed his father as bishop. He is a member of the high church party in opposition to the evangelical wing of the Anglican church favored by the Proudies. It is time for clerical warfare to begin!
The oily chaplain to the new bishop is the Rev. Obadiah Slope who seeks advancement in the church but fights with Mrs. Proudie over who will have the wardenship of Hiram Hospital. He favors the restoration of Mr. Harding but Mrs Proudie wins out when the Rev. Quiverful, his wife and 14 children win the prize of the wardenship.
A love story is told as widow Eleanor Bold is courted by the odious Rev. Slope; Bertie Stanhope an impecunious and fatuous sculptor and the intellectual clergyman the Rev. Francis Arabin. Arabin is a favorite of the Grantley faction in the church feud with the Proudies.
The widow Neroni is Madeline, the daughter of the Rev. Stanhope, who is crippled but a bewitching temptress for all the men in the story. We also meet the Thornes who are an older brother and sister living in the country near St. Ewolds wherin is located Mr. Arabin's parish. They are hilarious!
The novel ends with the social, religious and romantic worlds in a state of calm salubrity. The novel was a bestseller in 1854 and is the bestselling and most humorous of all the Barsetshire novels. Anthony Trollope wrote about good men and women in a realistic, easy to read style which is enchanting 150 years after first being written.
I have read Barchester Towers several times and still enjoy this enchanting classic from the hand of a literary master.

In Barchester Towers you have the feeling of being in a command center during a war; everyone is in uniform; archdeacons are common, and bishops, far from rare. It is an exceedingly rare perspective of the Church of England's clerical politics, and Trollope brings it to life with Giotto-like realism. Trollope's writing is tension-filled and the protagonists' and antagonists' characters are depicted in black and white, just as their clerical garments would suggest. Barchester Towers, is a love story from start to finish, and if the reader finds the sequence of compound misunderstandings which form the basis of the plot's tension to be incredible in the extreme, Trollope would defend it as the "fog of war," which creates confusion on any battlefield.

The detail with which Trollope portrays his characters is crystal clear, yet economical: "He knows how to say a soft word in the proper place; he knows how to adapt his flattery to the ears of his hearers; he knows the wiles of the serpent, and he uses them." "Why she had chosen Paulo Neroni, a man of no birth and no property, a mere captain in the pope's guard, one who had come up to Milan either simply as an adventurer or else as a spy, a man of harsh temper and oily manners, mean in figure, swarthy in face, and so false in words as to be hourly detected, need not now be told." But it is to Mr. Slope that Trollope devotes particular attention: "If it should turn out to be really the fact that Mrs. Bold had twelve hundred a year at her own disposal, Mr. Slope would rather look upon it as a duty which he owed his religion to make himself the master of the wife and the money; as a duty too, in which some amount of self-sacrifice would be necessary." And of Mr. Harding: "He had that nice appreciation of the feelings of others which belongs of right exclusively to women." And you have to love Trollope's baptism of his characters with names which serve as labels: Farmer Subsoil, Rev. Quiverful, Dr. Fillgrave, Mrs. Lookaloft, Miss Thorne, Mr. Plomacy.

Trollope's craft is apparent throughout: "Olivia Proudie, however, was a girl of spirit; she had the blood of two peers in her veins, and, better still, she had another lover on her books; so Mr. Slope sighed in vain; and the pair soon found it convenient to establish a mutual bond of inveterate hatred." And in describing the henpecked Bishop, "If ever he thought of freedom, he did so as men think of the millennium, as of a good time which may be coming, but which nobody expects to come in their day." And our protagonist: "Mrs. Bold would have given the world not to blush, but her blood was not at her own command."

Trollope's 1857 British usage takes some acclimation, as with his liberal use of compound negatives: "...not unnecessary...quite impossible that he should now deny his love...he could not but know...he was not the last person to hear of it...her state, nevertheless, was not to be pitied...I doubt very much he won't lose his gown." Trollope's liberal sprinkling of Latin and French phrases, as with "nil admirari" and "couleur de rose," are evidence of Trollope's trust in the reader's cultural qualifications. Comic relief is less liberally sprinkled, but it is welcome when it breaks the tension, as when Mrs. Lookaloft crashes the area of Miss Thorne's lawn party reserved for the "quality," which she so ardently strove to emulate.

A significant part of Trollope's craft is also comprised of befriending the reader and confiding in us regularly: "Will anyone blame my heroine for this?" Or "You, O reader, and I, should be angry with Eleanor..." Or "The sorrows of our heroes and heroines, they are your delight, oh public! Their sorrows, or their sins, or their absurdities; not their virtues, good sense, and consequent rewards."

Barchester Towers is a masterpiece of fantasy. Trollope here rivals Austen, some forty years his senior, as a creator of misunderstood and pitiably human characters whose stars we ardently pray will cross. Unlike Austen, however, Trollope gives us the basest and vilest of antagonists, whose downfall we demand. And you, O reader, shall not be disappointed.

Trollope was one of the inventors and pioneers of the soap genre. The Barsetshire novels and the Palliser novels, both turned into BBC mini-series, provide long detailed tales about a set of people, some of them appearing in both series, though the 2 sets were written some time apart.

`Barchester Towers' is volume 2 of the Barset novels. It is, implausibly, a comedy set in the world of the clergy of an English bishop seat in the mid 19th century. The historical background is in ideological conflicts between the English High Church and evangelical tendencies; the non-separation of church and state is an essential ingredient. The story is in parts hilariously funny, and in others weirdly sinister. The sinister mood comes from a character called Obadiah Slope, who was played by Alan Rickman in the BBC series. That should tell you enough about Slope and it might arouse the interest of the Pottery crowd.

My favorite slapstick chapters are those that contain the new bishop's wife with her meddling and her disastrous dinner party at the start of her husband's time at his new seat. Trollope invented an outrageously comical family called Stanhope, who break all the local conventions and create social havoc aplenty.

The overall tone though is one of disappointment. One could call this novel a comedy of frustrations. Nearly nobody reaches any of his or her targets. In many cases we are happy about that, in others not. We are sad with old Septimus Harding, the Warden of volume 1, for not being given his old job back, which he had lost due to an injustice. Or if he gets it, poor Mr.Quiverful with his 14 kids will be deprived of a better income. We are happy that Slope is not entirely successful in all his schemes. Similarly, we can't quite shed tears that Bertie Stanhope doesn't get the rich widow either. Grantly not becoming bishop leaves us cold until we see what damage Proudie, who gets the job, does.

Obadiah Slope is the embodiment of a certain management philosophy that I have encountered in real life more often than I needed it. He is the new bishop's hatchet man, the one with the real power, the one with a vision and ruthless enough to implement harsh measures, the one who tells the old guard that they will be taken away by the rubbish cart. I feel like the old guard and I have heard the new brooms talk like that. Personally, I have so far survived all of them and seen some of them being taken away by the rubbish cart. (Lesson: don't mess with me!)
What reduces Slope's success is mainly the fact that he has an unrealistic self-evaluation in the marriage market. What a character. If I had a management school to name after someone, Obadiah Slope Management Academy sounds quite good to me.

While this may not be Trollope's best novel, it is one of his funniest and it well deserves to be called his most popular novel.

P.S. a comment about the store ratings. You will find several one star ratings to this novel. However if you read them, they refer to a special edition which is flawed, and these 1 star ratings to not refer to the novel itself nor to the Oxford edition. What is the point then, people at the store, in posting a review meant for the Penguin version under the Oxford version?

P.P.S. one more gripe with the store: the book appears on my profile page as written by John Sutherland. That kind of nonsense happens all the time. Translators or editors or even just providers of introductions are named as authors. That's unpardonably messy, friends at the store! You must do better than that!

This is Trollope's funniest and most popular novel, and the one where he really came into his own as a comic novelist. Although it is second in the Chronicles of Barset, I greatly recommend starting here if you have never read Trollope before rather than beginning with the first book in the series, THE WARDEN: you'll quickly pick up everything you needed to know that happened in the first book at the beginning of BARCHESTER TOWERS, and this is a much, much funnier novel (and is more likely to hook you into his way of seeing the world).
BARCHESTER TOWERS is the greatest novel of petty infighting ever written: it anticipates (and surpasses) the many British and American college novels written in the twentieth century. Very little happens in this novel: two old clergymen die in the course of this novel and have replacements chosen for them, and a widow is re-married. But to the inhabitants of Trollope's Barchester it is nothing less than all-out war, waged between the archdeacon's faction (representing the conservative church) on one hand and the new bishop's wife, Mrs. Proudie, and her chaplain Mr. Slope (representing the "Low Church" movement) on the other. Everyone else, including the henpecked bishop, is caught in the middle. There are two absolutely uproarious setpieces in this novel: the reception Mrs. Proudie throws at the bishop's palace, and the hilariously quaint medieval fair held at the country seat of Ullathorne (complete with such ghastly oddities as a quintain for practicing jousting) are as funny as anything Jane Austen ever wrote. Trollope may not have had Austen's genius for presenting ethical quandaries, but he comes second only to her as the great novelist of comic manners in the 19th century.

Second in Trollope's Barsetshire series, Barchester Towers concerns the family of the Reverend Septimus Harding, whom we first met in The Warden. The new bishop has arrived, accompanied by his domineering wife and her hand-picked clerical cohort, the hypocritical Obadiah Slope. A sharply satirical comedy of errors ensues, played out by a cast of memorable characters who struggle for power, position, love, and money. Trollope knew human nature, and he knew how to portray it in both its positive and negative aspects. Part of the appeal of Barchester Towers is that he is able to do so with relative gentleness, without preaching or obvious moralizing. I'm looking forward to the sequel, to find out what happens to the bishop's virago of a wife.

My only previous experience with Trollope is with two of the Palliser novels, and I liked this one a good deal more. Although wrapped in an engrossing plot, the story is really a take on the church and the people that ran it. There is a good mix of the upside and the downside. None of the characters are completely bad and none completely blameless; but all are realistic. I got frustrated with how much everyone took Eleanor Bond’s supposed preference for Mr. Slope for granted without coming out and saying what they meant, but condemned her without real evidence. I have to admit that I have experienced the same type of thing in my life, so find this to be a lesson in life, but one that few people seem to learn. I highly recommend this book and Trollope in general, as I fully intend to finish the Palliser novels. I also enjoyed reading and owning the Franklin Press edition.

Although this book is a sequel to "The Warden", it is fully a standalone book. The reader does not need to read the first book to fully enjoy this one. The story is about clerical intrigue centering on the power struggle between an obnoxious and imperious bishop's wife and her scheming, sneaking chaplain. It is a light and entertaining novel, but Trollope's characterizations lift it up to the realm of a great novel. The book itself consists of a number of subplots which are related to the main ecclesiastical struggle. It is a funny and warm book that reaches the reader's heart. Trollope does show himself very clearly throughout this work, and this can cause some difficulty. Either readers like his work or they hate it - there's really no middle road. I happen to like it very much. It's not as good in my mind as Vanity Fair, but still worth a look for sure.

Anthony Trollope, like Miniver Cheevy, was born at the wrong time and in the wrong place. Nineteenth century England produced some of the greatest novelists the world has ever known--Dickens, Austin, the Bronte sisters, Hardy, etc. In this company Trollope has been somewhat lost and that is unfortunate. His books are interesting and filled with humor, pathos and the stuff of life. They are also literate (Trollope was especially versed in the Greeks and Shakespeare), full of good humor and provide lessons for life. It is clear from the limited number of reviews on the store.com that Trollope is not widely read. It is equally clear from the mostly positive results that he is a good writer who should get more attention.

Barchester Towers is the second of the six books in the Barsetshire series. The books run in historical sequence but can be read independently. The first in the series, The Warden, tells of Mr. Harding and his younger daughter, Eleanor. Rev. Harding is forced to resign as the warden (a kind of manager/minister) of a hospital for elderly men because the salary is too high. He is exposed by John Bold, a reformer, and a local newspaper. But Harding is a good man and he accepts the situation gracefully; his daughter, in fact, marries Bold who then dies but leaves his widow well off financially and with a baby boy.

Barchester Towers picks up the story at that point and switches the focus to another group of largely religious individuals. It should be noted that the novel is not about religion as much as it is about power. On the other hand it would be a good idea to know something about the Church of England, such as what the various religious titles represent (archdeacon, dean, vicar, prebendary, etc.), as well as the attitude of the two political parties (Whigs and Tories) toward religion.

At the start of the novel the bishop of Barchester dies and a new bishop, Dr.Proudie, is appointed in his place. Proudie is a short, indecisive man who is dominated by his wife. He picks Obadiah Slope as his second in command. Slope is reminiscent of Dickens' sly, scheming Uriah Heep. His objective is to be the de facto bishop, a position that Mrs. Proudie aspires to in her own way as well. Set against this trio are the local Barchester clergy led by Archdeacon Grantly. The recently deceased bishop was the archdeacon's father and the son hoped to succeed to the office. The ambitious Grantly takes an instant dislike to the officious Mr. Slope and their rivalry is one of the main focuses of the book

A number of other characters and sub-plots suffuse the novel. The Stanhope family--mother, father, two daughters and son, soon arrive on the scene. This group includes Madeline, a beautiful but physically impaired young woman who toys with men's affections and Bertie, a shiftless but essentially decent young man. Also joining the cast is the Rev. Mr. Arabin, brought in by the archdeacon to help combat Mr. Slope. The other major plot is the efforts of three men to secure the hand of the widow Eleanor Bold. Slope is one schemer who is primarily intent on securing her money. Bertie Stanhope, the irresponsible prodigal son in the Stanhope family is also encouraged to marry her for her fortune. Finally there is Mr. Arabin, a decent man, but inexperienced in matters of love. Early in the book (page 112) Trollope enters the story to reassure the reader that "It is not destined that Eleanor shall marry Mr. Slope or Bertie Stanhope." This tactic, engaged in by other British writers (Fielding for example) can be irritating, but Trollope does it in a good humored way.

The central power struggle involves who shall be appointed to the Warder position which has now been restructured. The archdeacon pulls for Mr. Harding to be reappointed, while Mrs. Proudie pumps for the Rev. Mr. Quiverful who has a wife and 14 children to look after and needs the income the job will provide. Mr. Slope slides between the two contenders, depending on how he sees his advantage. When another position opens up, that of Dean, the stakes get even higher.

The novel reaches a climax at a party given by an elderly matron, Miss Thorne. Eleanor's two ill suited suitors make their pitch, Trollope's caution to the reader comes true, and the novel proceeds to a happy ending for almost everyone.

A final comment. I read a news report recently that president-elect Obama will stop reading novels and spend more time in the gym because of what he sees as the increased demands on his new job. That is, in my view, a big mistake. Novels give us insights into how to live our own lives and we are all better off for reading them. For example in Barchester Towers there is a scene between Archdeacon Grantly and Mr. Williams in which Mr. Williams has received a letter from Mr. Slope for his daughter. Both men object to Slope both as an individual and especially as a suitor for Eleanor. The archdeacon gets very angry and says that Eleanor has disgraced him and that if she marries Slope he will not have anything further to do with her. Mr. Williams, on the other hand, while equally distressed at the prospects of his daughter marrying Slope, says that he will accept that choice and continue his relationship with her. Here we have a clear difference in character. The archdeacon will only have friendship with people who agree with his views--much as George Bush's comment after 9/11, "you are with us or you are against us." But we can't live in a world like that. We have to live as Mr. Williams suggests, by accepting that other people can have different views from our own. So lets hope Obama spends less time on the treadmill and more time on Trollope!

In this amazing novel Anthony Trollope continues his saga of clergymen of the Church of England in the little town of Barsetshire. A feud erupts when a new bishop and his chaplain, Mr. Slope, demand reforms in the church service. The main players quickly line up in either the conservative or progressive camps, and spend much of their time plotting the downfall of their enemies. While this novel is often called a "comedy", that's a misnomer. It is, however, a dead-on portrait of ecclesiastical politics and manners of mid-nineteenth century England, and one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read.

While this style of writing is kind of "old-fashioned" and rambling, I really liked the leisurely unfolding of the story and the author's wry humor! The setting reminded me of a multi- episode BBC series. Don't be scared off by the length of the book - it really moves along at a nice gentle pace!

Barchester Towers is one of the most timeless British classics I have read. Told to us in narrative, this is a story of hierachy, power, love, and downfall, in this sacred, private, ecclesiastical world. Written with an intuitive perception for sights, sounds, and characters, there are no protagonists to whom you can sympathize, and yet each of these characters will leave you spellbound for there depth and sensitivity. The story is set in Barchester, a small divided city in the northern part of England. On one side of this division, and from where our story focuses, we have a wealthy church diocese, who with its own rules all must obey. Enter: Mr. Obadiah Slope. Single, sinister, and the new Dean of Barchester. From his very arrival he knew only of one thing, reform and change. And was met with scrutiny, and hostility, from a conclave where no secrets are shared or revealed. Poignantly written, the truths of this diocean world and its parshioners are slowly unveiled, as the author cleverly manoeuvres from chapter to chapter, giving us insight into conflicts among prominent families and the clergy. And it is these scenes of conflict among our characters: deceit, revenge, vanity, prosperity, and moral convictions, which are the most graphic, mesmerizing, and suspenseful, as any author could have written, and will leave you wanting more information as each page is turned. Written in an era when victorian men were considered strong parochial figures, and seduction among women sacrilege, the script is turned. And it is the women who dominate these pages, for there intelligence, independence, strength, and complexity. And ironically, it is the men who in my opinion, who are reduced to timid, naive, hypocrites. Though not to be deceived, male dominance does prevail, as passion wins over compassion, love for lust, and reverence for irreverence, as our author delivers a masterpiece of a finale in English literature, between two destined lovers. Barchester Towers is my introdution to Anthony Trollope, and will not be the last, that I plan to read in the future.

After a slow start due to the language and writing style, I enjoyed Barchester Towers very much. The plot is exquisitely interwoven with the many well-drawn characters coming together in the last third of the book. The humour and satire is gentle as we revisit characters from Trollope's prequel, The Warden, which isn't necessary to understanding this novel. Barchester Towers will not be an easy read for many people, but this British classic is well worth the effort.

Intricate relationships and serious subject matter told in a light-hearted story. As with many classics, this is not for everyone because it is not as easy a read as a modern day bestseller but the reader will learn a lot about English church history and the fact that clergy are only human. Although the book is long, it is thought-provoking and reads quickly.

This is an excellent book. I particularly liked the "high church" vs "low church" conflict that permeates the entire story. However I found it necessary to do some research on the Church of England and the various clergy members and their rank. There is a bishop, archbishop, archdeacon, warden, vicor, curate etc. There is also the political appointment of the bishop that resulted from a change in the government. Once all of that became a bit more clear I could enjoy the story. I would recommend this to anyone who likes Jane Austen or George Eliot.

I have just finished reading Barchester Towers, and my only sadness is at finishing it. I read The Warden first, and Barchester Towers more than fulfilled my desire to live with all the wonderful people in The Warden a little longer. It was the most delightful book I have ever read. It was so funny, and so moving, and so real. What a wonderful experience! If only modern life could afford us some of the same simple pleasures! One would have to be terribly jaded not to get caught up in its intrigues. What a wonderful, talented man Trollope was.

My review I about the Penguin edition, not the novel. In order to save space, Penguin editions are printed with type size so tiny that it is unnecessarily difficult to read. I recently discovered this fact to my chagrin when I began reading my copy of the Penguin Moonstone this morning. I ordered it not realizing there was an Oxford edition that is 50 pages longer. The Oxford editions are priced just as inexpensively as are the Penguins but have far more pages and a normal, very readable type size. The Moonstone (Oxford World's Classics) I will now order the Oxford edition of The Moonstone; ditto for the Oxford edition of any other work of literature in future. (Just checked and see that the Oxford edition of Trollope's The Way We Live Now, which I just read, is about 200 pages longer than the Penguin edition.)

From another century comes a voice that speaks to us today. Most writers hope for a shelf life of a year or two. Did Anthony Trollope have a clue that we'd be reading and relishing and learning and find ourselves mesmerized by him so many decades after he wrote this book? Is the TV age, the media and internet age lowering all our IQ's and ability to concentrate, as the contemporary author Sven Birkerts suggests? All I know is that re-reading this book last month was a joy, and I suggest all here turn off the TV, get off the internet and win back our minds with the wonderful book.

I became hooked on this Victorian Brit writer after reading The Way We Live Now- excellent read. I laughed my behind off reading Barchester Towers. If your churched Anglican in any way you'll enjoy this novel.

Note well: the Oxford Bookworms Library edition of "Barchester Towers," is not Trollope's book, but a "retelling" of Trollope's work by Clare (RTL) West. If you want Trollope's original follow this link: http://www.the store.com/Barchester-Towers-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0192834320/ref=cm_cr_dp_orig_subj.

This edition is an adaptation, a fact that is *not* mentioned in the item record *at all*. I ordered it, and when if FINALLY came (6 months after I ordered it), I had to return it because I prefer the real edition of a book, not some dumbed-down "retold" version to go with the TV version of the story.