Book Review: Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope
Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Beware: Spoilers are hidden on GoodReads, but not here.
Phineas Finn is one of those people for whom the toast always lands jelly-side up.
He’s a sweet guy – kind and a little go-with-the-flow. He isn’t ingratiating, but somehow – almost accidentally – makes friends with important people and they bring him along because they like him and he shows up to do the work. They respect him in a way that he doesn’t expect or fully understand.
Trollope says he’s good-looking but not vain; he has a good heart. I joked with some friends that he reminds me of Harriet Smith from Emma in some ways – he knows he’s out of his depth but tries to make the best of it anyway (view spoiler)[“It really was too much to hope that even of Phineas, that he could be in love with more than three women in one year.” LOL (hide spoiler)]
I was intrigued when Trollope spoke of Finn’s two separate selves – the English self and the Irish self. That brought to mind Susan Howatch’s Starbridge series where the only-lightly connected characters follow book on book integrating their inner lives to become whole. Was Howatch inspired by Trollope? I see I’m not the first to make the connection between the two writers. There is a sense in Phineas Finn that one had to supersede the other (view spoiler)[Finn had to become all Irish – marry the Irish girl, go back to Ireland, turn down the English women, and give up his seat in the English parliament. (hide spoiler)]
The politics of the day and the running of the House of Commons is a little confusing from time to time. There’s a great aside about how the opposition in Parliament could be heated but then the MPs could be great friends outside of Parliament as opposed to the Americans who say and believe awful things about each other – perhaps a little to on the nose even today.
The side-stories here continue Trollope’s examination of marriages and their meanings. By showing us views from his women – Lady Laura, Violet Effingham, and Madame Max Goesler and the the travails of their loves and marriages (view spoiler)[(and the sense that they’d all be best off with Phineas) (hide spoiler)] he continues the threads begun with the three relationships in Can You Forgive Her?
I begin to wonder if the Palliser Novels as a whole are really about marriage – and the politics of marriage. The politics of the day being the vehicle to explore those relationships: the family being the microcosm of the society and it’s structures – who holds the power, how is it exercised, what makes a good marriage or a good government. Watching to see if those ideas continue to be developed in the coming books of the series. The romance here was not the most romantic romance ever, but was satisfying nonetheless in its outcome.
Finally, Phineas had to hold a line in integrity. He had to give up work and honor because of his own opinion. In some ways he reminded me of Mr. Harding from The Warden in his insistence to do what he deemed to be right in the face of opposition. They both were respected and placed out of respect for their own character and choices even when they were not understood.
The more I think about it, the more I like it 4.5 stars. There was a lot going on in this story and sometimes it seemed to be extra. It would bear a reread someday which might bump it to 5. Timothy West, per usual, was a great narrator for Trollope.
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