Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiesue
I love Anthony Trollope. He was a British writer in the 1800's so all of his 'stuff' is public domain and there are a good number of his books posted here at Mobile Read. To me, his books 'read' a lot like Jane Austen, but lighter....like quality Chic Lit!
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I, too, love
Anthony Trollope's work. (I have about 3 boxes of literary criticism - along with Dickens - that I couldn't bring with me to Peru at this moment.)
Trollope is certainly "smart," but he's not "light." (
EDITED: He's not light in his themes. I find his writing no more difficult than contemporary fiction.)
I have a huge admiration for Victorian novels. Trollope's characters (unlike Dickens), are not characatures of types, but more delineated as individuals.
I think, however, that
Charles Dickens would make a better 'read.' I certainly find his writing more accessible (and has more entertainment value) than Trollope's work. Trollope's prose was often very plodding and pedestrian, whereas Dickens was (and remains) a pre-eminent prose stylist, his writing fresh and vibrant and alive.
Both are important Victorian writers and, in my view, completely different in their aims as artists. However, although their work is entertaining, the artistry and the issues they both deal with transcend this limited and limiting framework of Entertainment as a definition.
Don
P.S.: As
Katiesue mentions, there is a HUGE number of Trollope and Dickens already on
MobileRead.