Anthony Trollope wrote a staggering 47 novels, and I am going to take a crack at reading all of them. I started with the six Barsetshire Chronicles, and then read the six Palliser Chronicles followed by The Way We Live Now. Last year I took a deep breath and plunged into the obscurer corners of his oeuvre.
I kicked it off with Miss Mackenzie (spinster begins anew; contemplates marriage proposals), followed it up with Dr. Wortle's School (how should we assess the moral weight of making an unacceptable decision for a compelling reason?), moved on to The Three Clerks (don't judge your books by their covers, and don't underestimate the Department of Internal Navigation), and then read The Fixed Period (a comically weird book set in a dystopian future). Last month I also read one of his pieces of short Christmas fiction, Christmas Day at Kirkby Cottage.
For those of you counting along at home, this means I have 30 Trollope novels to go. If I aim for one per season, I'll be done when I'm 60 (pushing 61, but let's go with the round number). I do love a good long-haul reading project.
This year I am going to begin with Marion Fay, a book chosen randomly from my Kindle version of the complete works. (Parenthetically, isn't it astonishing that I can fit the complete works of Trollope in my pocket? Let's hear it for living in the future!) Later this year I will probably read The American Senator and Orley Farm, but we'll see which way my fickle impulses steer me. I also think I'll read one more Christmas story before the Christmas season ends, even though Christmas Day at Kirkby Cottage was a little disappointing.
The trouble with an obscure hobby is that it doesn't usually make for very compelling blogging. If I tell you that the first chapter of Marion Fay reminds me of the beginning of The Duke's Children, it's unlikely to make you say "oooh! tell us more!" But perhaps we'll hear again from the hypothetical Aspasia. In any event, I continue to find that a daily Trollope chapter is a pleasant peaceful way to end the day. And if a person reads enough chapters for enough nights, eventually she will read all of Trollope.
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