Castle Richmond

Anyone know much about Castle Richmond or have an opinion about it? It is listed in 1001 Books You Must Read but doesn't seem to be all that popular here (i.e only 40 or so copies in LT). It has me wondering why it was listed ahead of some of AT's more well known works such as The Way We Live Now?

Very interesting, digi!
This is the first time that I come accross a special recommendation for this novel. But actually the reviews on amazon.com are rather promising!

I think I will add it to my list of "standalone novels to be read" alongside Dr Wortle's School and Orley Farm!

Thanks lese. Yes, another one to add to the list! :)

I have Castle Richmond and The Claverings on order, so I will let you know. I am new to this and am wondering what ":)" means.

Welcome marise.

:) is a 'smiley' happy face emoticon, same as :-) The sad version is :(
I personally prefer the look of :) or :( to :-) and :-( (i.e. I tend not to use the dash symbol)

Here is a list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_emoticons

Thanks for the help! :)

But digifish, the dash is the nose!!!
:-)))

OK, but what are those extra parentheses? Double chins?! :D

Nooo...extra smiles!

Well, I have finished Castle Richmond and personally I cannot imagine how it could be listed ahead of The Way We Live Now. Has anyone else read this yet?

Not yet; I just picked up my interlibrary loan copy.

Oh, good! Let me know what you think! I may start on The Claverings next, haven't decided.

I haven't read Castle Richmond yet, either. Its difficult to track down a copy in my part of the world. I do have an e-book version, however, so I may just stick with that, esp. if its not all that good. The Way We Live Now is on my TBR shelf, along with a DVD of the TV series. I had better get cracking!

#10
Thanks marise, this is interesting. Further to your post I will put off reading Castle Richmond for the moment (as it is not readily available anyway).

I don't want to discourage you from reading it!!! Maybe it was just me. I also don't want to say much about it until others have finished with it.

Did anyone else read it? What did you think?

I still haven't gotten around to it yet, Marise... maybe you should propose a 'group read' ? ;D

Nah, I'd rather encourage everyone to read The Claverings.

But please understand, I don't want to discourage anyone from reading CR! I just wanted to discuss the question you posed in your beginning post on this thread with anyone else who might have read the book. :)

Marise ~ don't worry, I'm not put off .... eventually I hope to read most of Trollope's works incl. Castle Richmond, The Claverings, Orley Farm, etc. I am still working through the Barset Series at present. Unfortunately The Last Chronicle of Barset is a huuuge book, which could take me forever when I get to it!

I have copies of The Way We Live Now and He Knew He Was Right in the cupboard (and the DVDs) so I hope to tackle these 'soonish'... :)

Let me know when you read them and maybe we can get others to join in a discussion! I too want to read all or most of Trollope's works. Last Chronicle is also on my TBR shelf.

Between Trollope and Dickens, I should be busy for YEARS! :)

Finished Castle Richmond the other day, and agree that it's not anywhere near TWWLN's league. While AT resists the most obviously happy ending for some of his characters, he does resort to a plot device fairly easy to foresee, especially if one has read Dr. Wortle's School . And Clara Desmond is one of the most insipid of his heroines.

I also found the insertion of the famine chapters to be most incongruous with the rest of the novel. There was really no need to add them. There was nothing about that horrific time that had any bearing on the main action. The novel would have been stronger without them.

That being said, I found myself admiring the lawyer Prendergast. Now THERE was a man not afraid to look disaster in the face.

It seemed to almost be two halves of two different books to me. And the only characters I did like were the Countess and Owen Fitzgerald. Although Trollope was trying to contrast what a good woman/mother Lady Fitzgerald was and what a bad woman/mother the Countess of Desmond was, I thought the Countess was the only female character with any interesting qualities.

Why did Trollope have this fascination about unintentional bigamy? Did this happen frequently in the 1800s?

For me, the famine chapters just emphasized how unimportant were the problems of these silly rich people. So how did this book get on to the 1001 list, I wonder?

> 22 I believe CR is one of the few contemporary novels that showed realistically what happened in Ireland, hence the place on the list. England was pretending that things were fine, that the Irish were being lazy. I recall reading that grain exports from Ireland continued unabated during the famine period. AT wanted his readers to squirm a bit and care what happened in a country he loved, and the only was he could get them to read about the situation was to sugarcoat the delivery with the romantic overlay.

(As an aside, it still astonishes me that an island with a strong fishing industry would have mass starvation, but there you have it.)

That being said, I agree that the Countess was the most vivid character. She was fighting tooth and nail for her child, to prevent a second generation from experiencing what she had, and having her own heart torn out at the same time. I give her props for that. Owen, however, I can't agree is anywhere near as interesting. He's the usual self-absorbed, borderline stalker type male who thinks that his feelings are paramount over any other consideration, including the preferences of his putative lady love. We're supposed to admire "the hunter" who won't release his prey, but let's be real: it's just creepy.