Trollope is amazing, and Timothy West is amazing

This is my first and only review of a Trollope novel. It is not my favourite of his novels, but I think it’s in the top five. I love ALL of Trollope’s novels and have listened to almost all of them available on Audible.

I’m a fan of classic fiction and I appreciate good classical writing. My favourite another’s are Dostoevsky, Jane Austen, Willkie Collins… and now Trollope. I went through an Audible Trollope marathon and started to find the books all resembled one another so much I was losing track of which characters stared in which books. So I went on to some modern fiction (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) and some other classics like the Count of Monte Cristo and Madame Bovary. Then I went back to Trollope and am now convinced that he is one of the best writers I’ve come across. His characters make you love them AND hate them, sympathize with them AND censure them. I’m very sad that I’ve almost listened to them all.

My favourite is The Way We Live Now, but they are all really good. I recommend listening to the chronicled books in their proper sequence, so you don’t get confused (there are websites that can help) and I recommend the recordings narrated by Timothy West; his voice is perfect for these novels.

20 people found this helpful

What is a Little Bigamy Among Friends?

Timothy West turned in his usual five star performance with this story. He has an amazingly flexible voice, narrating seemingly without effort bringing out the nuances of Trollope's work. This narrative was of special interest to me because the two villains as well as the heroine are fellow Louisianans. I say the two villains but actually I think their blackest crimes are almost venial in comparison to the evil done by the gossiping women, particularly Mrs. Stanalope in this story. Indeed, the pain and damage inflicted by gossips is a real evil today as it was during the time of this story.

Trollope had a talent for picking hot topics, in this case, the heroine was a bigamist albeit unwittingly. This subject is just as hot today judging from stories in the press. What paper or television news program could restrain itself from leading with such a story? Trollope, I think rather liked taking on heroines with flaws. For instant, in Doctor Thorne the lady was born illegitimate. In essence, Trollope digs a hole for himself to scramble out dragging his heroine with him. The author's job is to make the reader like the heroine. Bigamy certainly didn't make his job any easier but these stories sold newspapers, then and now.

18 people found this helpful

trollope rocks!

What did you love best about Dr Wortle's School?

just loved all the characters and the story just moved right along - sorry it ended so soon

What did you like best about this story?

the shock of the storyline - couldn't believe it in victorian times

Which character – as performed by Timothy West – was your favorite?

the doctor who timothy west plays to perfection - makes you see that person.

Any additional comments?

as much as i love mr. west i am always amused the way he portrays american women with a deep voice

5 people found this helpful

A modest Trollope gem

If you are already a Trollope addict you'll enjoy this sharply etched study of manners and morals among the rural Victorian clergy and gentry. If you're new to the master, start with one of the more famous classics, where the pace is faster and the humour more pronounced. Timothy West, as always, is superb.

4 people found this helpful

Charming and short

Dr Wortle is a fiercely loyal man whose very loyalty brings about a terrible crisis for him. A married couple at the school turn out to be not quite married. All of Trollope's most charming traits as a writer are in evidence, and Timothy West gives his usual sterling performance.

2 people found this helpful

Wonderful story

Excellent story and narration. Thoroughly enjoyed each characters. I love the spunk of the doctor and how he ran his school and selected the applicants.

2 people found this helpful

well-done

Trollope is no too popular these days, which is a shame. This a good story, with modern sensibilities. The narration is excellent, with the exception of Mrs. Peacock's voice. Fortunately, as in much of Dickens, the female characters in Trollope are not very important actors, so this is not such a big deal.

5 people found this helpful

Great narration, minimal plot

I have read a lot of Trollope and I know that there isn't a lot of action. But this one seemed to consist of a lot of people rehashing the same events in multiple conversations. It reminded me of soap operas where you can miss them for days or weeks and pick right up. There are a couple unique elements here, a trip to America, where pistols are drawn. The view of Americans is entertaining. The narration is very good.

1 person found this helpful

B +

Life is full of ironies. I bought this book because, after the six-volume odyssey of Barsetshire, I was wondering what Trollope was like in a shorter format. Maybe I could get the same enjoyment for a less daunting time commitment. Alas, I ended up wishing the book was longer.

True, I was enchanted by Trollope’s opening gambit—revealing the “mystery” of the story and declaring that he would not rely on that to draw me on, but rather would try to hold my interest by showing the ways in which the doctor, the bishop, the schoolboys, their parents, the neighborhood and society in general discover and react to that mystery. Human nature, human actions and reactions, are the heart and soul of Trollope’s best works.

But by the end, something was missing. I perused online reviews and reactions; was I missing the finer shades, or did others have that same, weird, stepping-on-the-last-step-that-somehow-isn’t-there feeling about this novel?

Turns out some think it a minor masterpiece, while more sense the disappointment I felt. As mentioned above, Doctor Wortle is vintage Trollope: an exposition of what happens when good intentions get misunderstood; an exploration of the tension between the clear-cut doctrines of faith and faith as you and I live it out in the less clear-cut circumstances of everyday life. Trollope knows we need doctrine, a common understanding of right and wrong. But we also need to weigh cases on their individual merits. (the Peacocke’s, for all their misfortunes, nevertheless acted wrongly). But the real complications of the story—complications that threaten to destroy Doctor Wortle’s School—are the result of gossiping backbiters who, over their teacups and muffins, forget the delicate balance between unbending truth and unfailing mercy.

Doctor Wortle’s School is a place where we can learn a lot. But ultimately, the story is unsatisfying. The ending is rushed. The loose ends get tied up too neatly—and too happily. For all his acknowledgement that the young Mary Wortle and her affianced may be headed for trouble—a standard dose of Trollopeian Reality, and another aspect of his work that makes me place him higher in the Pantheon than Dickens—we’re left wanting to see what that trouble might be. Unlike Mr. Harding, who lost his post as warden in the first of the Barset novels, or young John Eames who, in the fourth and fifth installments, fails to win his ladylove, the Peacocke’s end up happily (and legally) united, Doctor Wortle’s School recoups the boys it lost, and the doctor’s daughter gets her sprig of nobility. I’m not saying a Trollope novel can’t end happily. But there’s usually more suffering and uncertainty along the way. In other words, more pages.

Before embarking of the Barset Chronicles, I had to decide between Simon Vance and Timothy West. Vance won, so now I was eager to see how West read Trollope. Overall, he does an exceptional job; clear, crisp diction, the perfect lilt of irony or humor, characters who sound like people. My only real quibble (beyond mispronouncing some American place names) is his tendency to make the American Mrs. Peacocke’s southern accent sound very much like her gravelly, ne’er-do-well brother-in-law’s.

2 people found this helpful

Riveting modern day conflict

Navigating moral issues, the doctor must accept the destruction of his life’s work of a notable school. Mr. Peacock likewise must accept with courage the chance to right wrongs.