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I have just finished reading "Vanity Fair" for the umpteenth time, and would be interested to hear what people think of it.

I love Thackeray's humour, which makes up for some weaknesses in character depiction to my mind. I am not sure whether Amelia Sedley is supposed to be the epitome of sweetness and virtue or weakness and silliness (or both), but I quite often found myself wanting to give her a slap. While George Osborne was obviously not worthy of her, she certainly isn't worthy of the lovely Captain (later Major) Dobbin. I cannot understand how Dobbin would fall out of love with her after 15 years because she insisted on standing up for Becky Sharp, then come back and marry her when she called.

I would also like to have seen how the relationship between Becky and the Marquis of Steyne developed, as he is really a central figure in her story. I also thought the ending was rather abrupt... what happened between Jos Sedley and Becky to make him call her "a terrible woman"? And it is implied that she drove him to his death - but how?

Mind you, I'm still a fan of this book. I am aware that many of the characters are stereotypes rather than individuals. And as I have said, I love Thackeray's humour and satirical commentary.

I read this book as part of a correspondence course I took in college. I absolutely hated it! It was way too confusing. It kept jumping around in regards to place, point of view, and storyline. Another thing I found incredibly frustrating was the fact that so many of the characters had the same name. I did finish it, but it was a challenge to say the least.

I do think you have to read it more than once to get into it. I know what you mean though - I had that problem with "Ivanhoe", and have never read anything by Sir Walter Scott since!

I read a short version of it and I don't really know why and I'm sorry to say I didn't like it.
But I was bored of reading Vanity Fairish books at that time, maybe that was the reason.

I just finished reading Vanity Fair for the first time, and I rather enjoyed it. I found some of the sentences rather confusing, and sometimes it dragged, but that could have just been my mood. I agree with you that the tone is really amusing, and possibly the novel's greatest strength.
As far as characterization, I think Thackeray could have been intentionally ambiguous about whether or not Amelia was supposed to be an admirable character. Maybe he was poking fun at the Victorian image of the "ideal" woman? I think I liked Lady Jane better than Amelia (there are really no other women that are even close to admirable, unless I'm forgetting someone). Do you think Thackeray intended her to be an alternative to both Amelia and Becky? Or were her circumstances just better?
In regard to Dobbin's return, I think his decision to stop loving Amelia was a little jarring (and possibly the only negative thing the narrator said about her without following it with several paragraphs of excuses), and I guess I just assumed that he was trying to convince himself to give up an affair that was clearly ridiculous, but when push came to shove he just couldn't do it. Maybe the narrator was also trying to show that Amelia's character flaw was that she could only love people who didn't love her back? What do you think of Amelia's jealousy of her daughter at the end?
I don't really know about Becky's affair with the Marquis. The introduction to the copy I had seemed (I'm not totally sure how) to suggest that Thackeray was intentionally ambiguous as a form of sophistication, like "nobody talks about this but we all know what's really happening," or something.
That same intro also suggested that one striking thing about all the characters is their isolation. What do you think about that?

I haven't read it, but I have seen (most of) the movie. The movie was really long and drawn out. Just when I thought it was going to be over, it kept going! I think I would like the book better than the movie, though. It sounds like there is nuanced humor in the book that is better read than depicted in a movie. I'll have to check this one out next time I go through a classics phase!

amybo82 wrote:I haven't read it, but I have seen (most of) the movie. The movie was really long and drawn out. Just when I thought it was going to be over, it kept going! I think I would like the book better than the movie, though. It sounds like there is nuanced humor in the book that is better read than depicted in a movie. I'll have to check this one out next time I go through a classics phase!

Which movie did you see? Because I just finished the book, I was thinking of trying to watch the one with Reese Witherspoon, but it doesn't sound like whichever one you saw is really worth it.

I read this a few years ago and unfortunately I've forgotten most of it. I do know, however, that I liked it very much and that Amelia is a pathetic character. Becky was much more charming

I heard a rumor that Thackeray uses a lot of allusions to his contemporaries (kind of like Dante in The Divine Comedy). The critic who mentioned this said that it really made the book hard to follow. How accurate do you think that critique is?

I really struggled with this book. I found Thackeray's style quite dry and boring, and I couldn't wait to get it finished.

Not one of my favourite classics.

I have read this book twice now and really love it, it's one of my favourite books. I enjoy Thackeray's dry wit and satirical style. I imagine at the time of publishing his social commentary would have packed quite a punch. Thought the BBC miniseries was fabulous.

One of the books that I regularly re-read and Becky Sharp, without fail, makes me love, hate and pity her all over again. I understand why some people find it hard to read, I went through the same thing the first time I read it - I think Thackeray's prose is a bit heavy-handed at times.

But once I managed to finish it and went through the whole range of emotions - it has become a recurring read.

I loved this book! The characters are so well done, and Thackeray makes clever use of 'types'. I remember powering through this book, loving Thackeray's discursive style and humour!

I am a big fan of Thackeray s humour too. I love how the charterers of etched . Rebecca, though malicious is the best drawn character in the book.

Vanity Fair is the perfect example of the Victorian Era. His representation of women is spot on I. The historical context, and he pulls no punches in showing the ridiculousness of it all. Even the title screams the vanity of the generation, in women and men alike. I think any independent woman today would want to slap each and every character in this book. And that is exactly the point.