The Way We Live Now

Paperback, 880 pages

English language

Published Aug. 1, 2005 by Barnes & Noble Classics.

ISBN:: 978-1-59308-304-5
OCLC Number:: 62476568

(5 reviews)

From a review of the Anthony Trollope canon in The Economist (2020/04/08 edition): “The Way We Live Now” (1875) is as much a portrait of the last few decades as it is of the high Victorian age, and every bit as addictive as HBO’s hit series “Succession”. The novel’s anti-hero, Augustus Melmotte, is one of the great portraits of the businessman as ogre—a “horrid, big, rich scoundrel”, “a bloated swindler” and “vile city ruffian” who bears an uncanny resemblance to the late Robert Maxwell (and to living figures who had best not be named for legal reasons). Despite his foreign birth and mysterious past, Melmotte forces his way into British society by playing on the greed of bigwigs who despise him yet compete for his favours. He buys his way into the House of Commons; he floats a railway company that is ostensibly designed to build a line between Mexico …

From a review of the Anthony Trollope canon in The Economist (2020/04/08 edition): “The Way We Live Now” (1875) is as much a portrait of the last few decades as it is of the high Victorian age, and every bit as addictive as HBO’s hit series “Succession”. The novel’s anti-hero, Augustus Melmotte, is one of the great portraits of the businessman as ogre—a “horrid, big, rich scoundrel”, “a bloated swindler” and “vile city ruffian” who bears an uncanny resemblance to the late Robert Maxwell (and to living figures who had best not be named for legal reasons). Despite his foreign birth and mysterious past, Melmotte forces his way into British society by playing on the greed of bigwigs who despise him yet compete for his favours. He buys his way into the House of Commons; he floats a railway company that is ostensibly designed to build a line between Mexico and America but is really a paper scheme for selling shares. The Ponzi scam eventually collapses, exposing Britain’s great commercial empire for a greed-fuelled racket and its high society as a hypocritical sham. “The Way We Live Now” is an excellent place to begin an affair with Trollope. It is relatively short by his standards and exquisitely executed. If you don’t like it, Trollope’s world is not for you. If you do, another 46 novels await you.

39 editions

jami reviewed The way we live now by Anthony Trollope (Wordsworth classics)

Review of 'The way we live now' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

A very nice free audio book reading is available here:
http://www.archive.org/details/waywelivenow_dl_librivox

I can't say what English aristocracy was really like in the late 19th century, but The Way We Live Now paints an enjoyable picture of titled aristos striving to marry the gauche lesser people who've sullied themselves by getting their hands on some cash (or have they?). Kanye West (creator of the song "Gold Digger") might really get a kick out of this book.

The Way We Live Now is like a soap opera (a soap opera whose characters use the words "comity" and "contumely"), in that myriad characters suffer all kinds of triumphs and defeats over the course of the long story. Trollope doles out just desserts with a large ladle at the end, but I won't ruin the book by saying whether reward and comeuppance go to all the most deserving characters. In fact, I suspect there's …

A very nice free audio book reading is available here:
http://www.archive.org/details/waywelivenow_dl_librivox

I can't say what English aristocracy was really like in the late 19th century, but The Way We Live Now paints an enjoyable picture of titled aristos striving to marry the gauche lesser people who've sullied themselves by getting their hands on some cash (or have they?). Kanye West (creator of the song "Gold Digger") might really get a kick out of this book.

The Way We Live Now is like a soap opera (a soap opera whose characters use the words "comity" and "contumely"), in that myriad characters suffer all kinds of triumphs and defeats over the course of the long story. Trollope doles out just desserts with a large ladle at the end, but I won't ruin the book by saying whether reward and comeuppance go to all the most deserving characters. In fact, I suspect there's some disagreement as to who the most reprehensible characters are, and whether there are any admirable characters at all.