After reading (a bit over half of) The Pilgrim's Progress, it seemed likely that Vanity Fair was going to be more interesting. And it was.I wasn't sure what to make of this book, but I certainly enjoyed reading it. Could have been compressed without losing much, I think (700 pages). But I was in no particular hurry, and like a long movie, it permits more acquaintance with the characters and more development of the plot. Definitely reminded of Balzac and Dickens. Like so many of the novelists, he sees us and is able to describe us.
Like Dickens (and others), this was published in serial form. This one from 1847-1848. So it was an interesting period in history, with revolution across Europe.
Becky Sharp is a very original character. The first few pages - where she leaves the finishing school - are very well done. She says that she could have been an honest woman for 5000 (pounds, I suppose) a year - which is a pretty perceptive comment. And it builds from there. Amelia is a bit of a
twit; Dobbins is a fine character; Jos Sedley is a dork; Rawley Crawdon and the entire Crawdon clan; the dashing George Osborn; chasing the aunt's inheritance; O'Dowd and the regiment; the principality of Pumpernickel (Thackery spent some time in Weimar with Goethe); on and on it goes. Thackeray famously describes this as a novel without a hero, but I don't know that I entirely agree.Edith Wharton must have had Becky Sharp in mind when writing about Undine Spragg (Custom of the Country).
Thackery's take on Waterloo was interesting. His drawings added a lot.
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