Reviews for The Three Clerks

The average rating for The Three Clerks based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-06-12 00:00:00 Jill Rice The Three Clerks offers a lively picture of the Civil Service undergoing the Victorian reforms, and also in Charley Tudor a self-portrait of Trollope himself as a young man.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-07-01 00:00:00 Ryan Yokota According to Paul Delany's Introduction to this novel "The Three Clerks (1858) is a portrait of Trollope's life when he was in his twenties, not yet successful in his career as a civil servant, published as an author, or married. The novel shows life as it appears to Charley Tudor, a clerk in the Internal Navigation Office, and an obvious surrogate for Trollope himself." However, Charley is one of three clerks whose lives we follow in this story. The other two are Henry Norman and Alaric Tudor who both work in Weights and Measures. Henry is handsome, intelligent and conscientious; Alaric is capable, ambitious, ("It was the nature of Tudor's disposition that he never for a moment rested satisfied with the round of the ladder on which he had contrived to place himself. He had no sooner gained a step than he looked upwards to see how the next step was to be achieved.") and he has good intentions but is led astray by a friend who certainly does not have good intentions. Charley, a cheerful lad, is impressionable and indulges in various vices, but at heart he's not a bad lad, and he learns from his mistakes. Like Trollope, Charley also becomes a writer. It so happened that Harry Norman's father and a certain Mr Woodward (now deceased) had been first cousins, but fortunately Mrs Woodward has three lovely unmarried daughters who befriend our three clerks. Of course there are stumbling blocks along the paths to love, but the clerks intrepidly continue on their way in search of love and marital bliss. This is perhaps not Trollope's best novel, but it has Trollope's subtle humour. Much fun is made of the Civil Service, and like his contemporary Charles Dickens, he uses names which reveal something about the characters: Sir Gregory Hardlines, the chief-clerk Mr Oldschole, secretary of Internal Navigation Mr A Minusex, mathematician Mr Alphabet Precis who specialises in "official phraseology" Mr Embryo, the new junior Mr Fidus Neverbend (with daughters Lactimel and Ugolina!) of Woods and Forests Admiral Starbod, Captain Focassel, old Hardaport and Sir Jib Boom Victoire Jaquêtanápes - apparently Trollope's Frenchified version of 'Jackanapes' M'Ruen - pawnbroker and money lender And many more... The edition that I read includes in Italics text originally deleted by Trollope. Readers may choose to read it in its entirety or not.