WOW. That was possibly the best book I’ve ever read! I’m honestly struggling to get interested in any of my other books at the moment. I picked it up in June, but I stopped around page 100 as I was busy with readings for a summer class, but I just sped through the last 700 pages in a few days! I’ll admit, I had pretty high expectations as I’m a sucker for classics, and especially those written during the Victorian Era! but this book definitely exceeded them. The preface said the book had claims to be the best work written in the English language and it just might be (in my opinion).
I was astounded at how relevant it remains today. Thackeray’s voice as narrator was incredibly funny, ironic, and charming throughout, and I fell in love with every character (even Becky!) I was so conflicted, and still am, about Thackeray’s characters. Sometimes they felt like a caricature (like Jos for instance), but they each also had moments where they felt immensely more complex and like dear friends. I related a lot to Amelia, and I swear I was grinning when I read some of her dialogue with Dobbin, wanting to scream at her, “You love him, you fool!”
And while I thought it was immensely enjoyable, it wasn’t until the very end that it was solidified as such a masterpiece to me. Never have I read a book with what I think to be such a perfect, bittersweet ending—
“Emmy scurrying off on the arm of George (now grown a dashing young gentleman) and the Colonel seizing up his little Janey, of whom he is fonder than of anything in the world— fonder even than of his History of the Punjaub.
‘Fonder than he is of me,’ Emmy thinks with a sigh. But he never said a word to Amelia that was not kind and gentle, or thought of a want of hers that he did not try to gratify.
Ah! Vanitas Vanitatum! which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire? or, having it, is satisfied?”
—Ah! I’m still mulling over the ending, days later! Amelia, even with the happy, perfect family that she has always wanted, still must find a flaw within her own life. It always astonishes me how I can read something that seems so obvious (of course we’re all always dissatisfied! of course we all want what we can’t have!) but I can still take away so much.
by TheLittleAndromeda
12 Comments
If you like the book, I’d highly, highly recommend *Barry Lyndon* (1975), the film adaptation of Thackeray’s first novel. It’s the period film I’ve seen that best captures the aesthetic of the historical period in which it was set and the story itself is, in some sense, about a male Becky Sharp.
The film also captures the interplay between narrator and story you mentioned.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjPSGuJskxM&t=1s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjPSGuJskxM&t=1s)
Vanity Fair is one of my top 2-3 novels. Brilliant, ruthless, wickedly funny, and it carries lessons about life and society that are just as fresh today. Plus it might be one of the most perfect plots in literature. I used to return to it every couple of years. Now you’ve prompted me to pick it up once again.
And, whatever you do, do not see the film adaptation with Reese Witherspoon. It was so far removed from the book that I felt like suing someone when I left the theater. Michael Palin’s ten-part miniseries was far closer to the spirit of Thackeray.
Thackeray could freaking write.
I love Vanity Fair so much – I read it specifically because I wanted to see how Thackeray got away with having such a unsympathetic main character. The answer was just layers and layers of irony. It is such a funny book.
I would really recommend the recent series. Olivia Cooke is a fantastic Becky
Delighted to hear from someone else who was struck by the narrative voice. Re-read it last year & though of course plot & characters held my interest it was that congenial cynicism of the very occasionally intrusive narrator that seemed outstanding.
Unlike you though I felt nothing about, let alone for, the characters, and I’m not at all sure that Thackeray did either except for what a puppet-master feels for his marionettes, though he did imply a mild contempt for Amelia.
If you haven’t already done, google Thackeray’s illustrations for the novel. His draughtsmanship won’t have you falling into a swoon. Nonetheless, they’re interesting.
Thanks for the post.
It’s one of my favourite novels too. I just finished reading ‘The Rise and Fall of Becky Sharp which is a simpler, modern retelling. Not a patch on Thackeray, but enjoyable nonetheless.
I think Amelia’s thoughts that Dobbin is fonder of their daughter than he is of her also hint at the possibility that, even though Dobbin is this longsuffering romantic hero, he might be harboring a tiny bit of resentment towards Amelia for ignoring him for years while she swoons over the memory of sainted fuckboy George. Because, well, nobody’s perfect.
Ironically, what Becky, the absolute worst person in the book, does for Amelia, supposedly the best person in the book, is probably the best thing anyone’s ever done for her: convincing her to get over George. Ugh, what a great book.
I’m a little over the halfway point and absolutely loving it.
I love Vanity Fair. It’s absolutely Thackeray’s greatest work. It is close to being the greatest English novel; East Of Eden edges past it, but it’s close.
Anyone here ever read Pendennis? Is it half as fun as VF? I’ve got a very nice copy of it, and absolutely loved Vanity Fair, looking for more Thackeray.
You’ve inspired me to re-read it. First time I read it, I remember being totally absorbed in it and didn’t want it to end.
I swear that Vanity Fair could literally be about a 23-year-old girl living in Miami. It really is insane. How irrelevant that is today!!!