Reviews for The Pit

The average rating for The Pit based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-09-07 00:00:00 Zsigmond Zsolt Another fantastic Trollope read. I adored it. I cried and smiled and had a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience. A fantastic end to a great series.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-03-16 00:00:00 Ken Franke For the last 15 months, I have enjoyed entering Trollope's England, Barchester and the Duke of Omnium's world. About every month, I would come back to familiar settings and characters and especially wondering how it will all end. Having just finished his last in the series, I wanted to comment about the whole before going on with the book review. When I began with "The Warden", I had no idea what a ride I was in for because though I enjoyed that book, it was lacking a little for me. Don't get me wrong I loved it but I did not think that as I read on that these two series were quite the treasure that they ended up for me! The next in the series started more characters interplay and social issue combined which continued to be Trollope's formula for success throughout. Sometimes you can guess how things are going to turn up but many times there were a tremendous amount of surprises. Not everyone ends up happy and some seem to be happy but troubles may come ahead. Though religion and politics are the crux of these series, the human interactions are the key which makes the story exciting to read. Some books concentrate more on the institutional aspect but that is not in abundance to cause a reader to become bored because even that is exciting. You have some characters come over to the other series but mostly these series are kept divided. Plantagenent Palliser makes his first appearance in Barchester's The Small House at Allington when he tries flirtation with a married young lady. Thinking back at this it is so unlike him and one wonders if Trollope when first thinking of this character changed his mind to his personality and virtuous behavior. The Palliser from the series is quite the true person of honesty and would not be thinking of an affair with a married women. If I had to choose between the series, I would pick Palliser but luckily I can love both! Now to comment on "The Duke's Children"; The politics in this are very little compared to some of the others. This is kind of a full circle in a way from the first, "Can You Forgive Her?" but instead of Glencora dealing with an unsuitable suitor, you have the daughter's love interest which brings memories back from both the parents. Should someone not of rank think they can attain a position in society to high? Can you marry who you love or must you succumb to others' demands? That is the main of this story. "The man she loved was a gentleman, and an honest man, by no means a fool, and subject to no vices. Her father had no right to demand that she should give her heart to a rich man, or to one of high rank. Rank! As for rank, she told herself that she had the most supreme contempt for it. She thought that she had seen it near enough already to be sure that it ought to have no special allurements. What was it doing for her? Simply restraining her choice among comparatively a few who seemed to her by no means the best endowed of God's creatures. " Trollope lives in a time of changing society, really every society always changes to a point but the church structure, political changes with certain rights and society changes. He shows us the changes that have occurred and were occurring during his lifetime. In this story an American girl comes to England and has taken a liking for a man of rank. As I read this subplot, I remember Edith Wharton's unfinished work "The Buccaneers" which is about American wealthy young girls looking for husbands overseas, which was based on these true occurrences. The son sentiment to social changes that the father is not aware yet. "And he thought that there were certain changes going on in the management of the world which his father did not quite understand. Fathers never do quite understand the changes which are manifest to their sons. Some years ago it might have been improper. " There is a lot of fatherly advice that is not always taken which is hard up on the Duke. Gambling, expulsion from school, scandals and loss of large amount of money. A kind of triangle with an extra character, quadangle, which makes it interesting. I love the name of the race horse, Prime Minister. Again a brother's friend tried to control the brother and brings trouble to a sister for that friendship! I am so happy that I decided to start with "The Warden" & finish up with "The Duke's Children", I highly recommend for classic and non classic fans that love drama with social issues that are not overly handed. Also this novel which was first published in 1879, as a serial in Charles Dickens' All the Year Round. I suppose his reference to Turveytop from "The Bleak House" and especially a couple times was a wink to Dickens! I did not read this edition but a Delphi Collection of his works which has lots and lots of notes and highlights, if interested. I love my travels with these characters and Trollope gives stories with heart.💖💖💖💖💟💟💟💖 I am sorry of this coming to an end but so many more stories of his I have yet to read and maybe a character from these series maybe mentioned! SPOILER ALERT BELOW 💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢 Glencora dying was unexpected and it was then you saw how much Palliser loved her. Tregear though he wins out and is allowed to marry Mary but I wonder how much he loves her and how much is the position and money part of his love. I was glad Mabel did not win Silverbridge. I also grew to like Silverbridge more and more. Mabel subconsciously wanted to let Silverbridge of the hook but then she saw her mistake but it was too late. Silverbridge grows out of his boyhood and no longer is told by Tregear how to behave because he has found his footing.