.اِمی با اندوه گفت: کاش به من محبت پیدا می‌کردند. همیشه با من سرد بودند
جورج پاسخ داد: طفلکِ من، به تو هم اگر دویست هزار لیره داشتی، محبت پیدا می‌کردند. اینها را این‌جور بار آورده‌اند. جامعهٔ ما، جامعهٔ پول و پَله است. ما در میان صرافان و کَله‌گُنده‌هایِ بازارِ شهر زندگی می‌کنیم که لعنت بر همه‌شان باد و هرکس که با آدم حرف می‌زند صدای جرینگ‌جرینگِ لیره‌های جیبش
را درمی‌آورد

اولا
جائی خواندم، رمانِ "بازار خودفروشی"، این داستانِ بی قهرمان را، یکی از بیست رمانِ بزرگِ قرن 19اُم دانسته اَند، اکنون که مطالعه اَش را به پایان بُرده ام، بعید می دانم که ادعائی بی راه و گزافه باشد
نویسنده، "ویلیام تکری"، با نگاهی نقادانه به زندگیِ مُزورانه و بَزَک-دوزَکیِ بریتانیائیهایِ هم عصرش، که شخصیت هائی از طبقاتِ مختلفِ اجتماعی اَند، داستانِ زندگی دو زن را مبنایِ روایتَش قرار می دهد. یکی فَلک زَده اما آب زیرکاه والبته در اندیشه یِ در صَدر بودن و قَدر دیدن و آن دیگری، ساده دلی مهربان و مُرَفه که در مدرسه ای شبانه روزی با هم آشنا -اگر نگوئیم یک روح در دو بدن- شده اند. ابزارِ اصلیِ تکری در ساختنِ این یاوه بازار، تغییر و تبدیلِ روزگارِ این دو زن است که ضمنِ آمدن و رفتنِ گاه و بی گاهِ شخصیت هایِ دیگر، جذابیتی دوچندان می یابد. این دو "آملیا" و "ربکا" هستند

دوم
الف: سبکِ ترجمه یِ "منوچهر بدیعی" در این کتاب، از لحاظِ بهره بردن از نسخه نسبتاََ به روز و قابلِ فهمی از فارسیِ قَجری، با ترجمه دریابندری از "بازمانده روز" مشابه است
ب: ترجمه دوست داشتنیِ بدیعی پُر بود از عباراتِ زیبا و ناشنیده یِ فارسی که گرچه خواندنش دلنشین بود اما یاد سپردنش، البته سخت
ج: بدیعی در مقدمه ای ارزشمند، ضمن اشاره به عبارت "یاوه بازار"، با استدلالاتی مقبول و با عنایت به بیتِ زیر از حافظ، عنوان برازنده یِ "بازارخودفروشی" را به سایر مواردِ متصور ترجیح می دهد

در کویِ ما شکسته دلی خَرند و بَس /// بازارِ خودفروشی از آن سویِ دیگر است

سوم
تاریک روشنِ بازارِ "خودفروشی"، برایِ خواننده اَش، نَه یک چاله و چاه، که مَغاکی است هَم تاریک و خَلسه آور، هَم روشن و دوس داشتنی!. متنِ سخت خوانِ رمان، گاهی خواننده را -هر قدر هم که بلحاظِ عادت مطالعه، منظم و سخت جان باشد-، به زمین گذاشتنِ کتاب و دوری جستن از "تکری" می خواند، آنهَم نَه یک ساعت و یک روز بلکه گاهاََ چند روز. بعنوانِ نمونه، برای خودِ من، برآوردِ هفت تا 10 روزه برایِ اتمامِ رمان، عملاََ به یک ماهِ تمام رسید. شایان ذکرست که جاذبه و دافعه یِ توصیفاتِ خُردکننده یِ تکری از جلوه فروشی هایِ تفاخرگونه و نمایشی، چنان مایه و پایه درستی دارد که در عیب جوئی، هیچَش نَتوان گفت اِلا سکوت
رخصت دهید مثالی بیاورم. کیست که به "اورست"، این دست نَیافتنی ترین خاکِ عالم برایِ آدمیان صعود کند و در خاطره گوئی اَش، توصیفاتِ دل انگیز از شعفِ نیل به قله را وانَهد و از اِفلاس و جان کَندن هایِ کوهپایه ها نوحه سرایی آغازَد؟!. تکری اما، در بازارِ خودفروشی اَش، راهی دیگر در پیش می گیرد. اگر که از کوهپایه هایِ سخت گذرِ توصیفاتِ تکان دهنده و مواجهه با سوال هایِ گاه و بی گاهِ تکری از وجدانِ خواننده بِسلامت بگذرید و نگاهی به پشتِ دُکانِ کاسبانِ پرشمارِ بی روی و چشمِ بازارِ خودفروشی بیندازید، آنگاه همچو خریداری دقیق، از لابلایِ 846 صفحه -که هر صفحه اَش یک دُکان از بازار خودفروشی است- به قُله خواهید رسید
!و چه سخت است این، هَم اگرکه حاصل شود، چه شیرین


چهارم
در این رمان که به روشی بیشتر شبیهِ "دانایِ کُل" روایت شده، نویسنده، گهگاه سوالاتی با مَطلعِ n  "کیست که نداند / نتواند..."n، می
پرسد که هدفش را می توان خواندنِ مخاطب به عرصه یِ مَحکِ ریاکاریِ خویشتنِ خویش در معرکه یِ بازار خودفروشی دانست و بَس
در پایانِ ریویو، چند نمونه از این دست را -از متن کتاب-، پیشکشِ نگاهتان می کنم


مگر در زندگیِ هَمگان فصلهایِ کوتاهی وجود ندارد که ظاهراََ چیزی به نظر نمی رسند اما در بقیه زندگیِ آنان اثر می گذارد؟
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پس ای بانوانِ جوان!، محتاط و به بِهوش باشید که چگونه دل می بندید. چنان به خانه شوهر روید که در فرانسه می روند. در آنجا حقوق دانان ساقدوش و ینگه عروس و داماد هستند. عهدی مَبندید که به وقتِ ضرورت نَتوانید بر آن چیره شوید. در بازار خودفروشی راهِ حُرمت دیدن و فضیلت یافتن همین است

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فقط زنها می توانند این گونه زخم بزنند. نوکِ تیرهایِ کوچکِ آنان به زهری آلوده است که هزاران بار بیش تر از شمشیرِ مردان کارگر می افتد
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نمی دانم آیا اینکه مردمان، شجاعت را تا بدین اندازه می ستایند ، بِدان سبب است که در نهان بُزدل هستند؟
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فلان عضوِ شورایِ ولایتی که از ضیافتِ بوقلمون می آید، دیگر از کالسکه اش پایین نمی پَرد تا رانِ گوسفندی بِدُزدد، اما همین آدم را گرسنگی بدهید، می بینید که از کِش رفتنِ یک قرصِ نان هم ابایی ندارد
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هر مردم‌آزاری، صرفاً به حکم عقل و منطق، ناگزیر است که خباثتِ مردِ از اسب اُفتاده را ثابت کند – وگرنَه بَدطینتی خود را ثابت کرده است

لینکِ مقاله فرج سرکوهی درباره رمان بازار خودفروشی در کافه بوک
https://kafebook.ir/%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B...

لینکِ مقاله یِ رادیو فردا درباره رمان بازار خودفروشی
https://www.radiofarda.com/a/f3_weekl...

I'm in the minority here, and the lovers of this book wouldn't be so pleased with what I have to say. But I must have my say. It is only Thackeray's use of satire that held me through the novel. When that collapsed at the end, being replaced by sentimentality instead, and when an unwanted twist, just to give a touch of eeriness, trespassed on the coherent flaw, there was nothing for me to cling to, the floor being blown under my feet. Beaten and exhausted, with a sense of waste of time, is something quite unpleasant to feel after reading a classic that is said to be a 'must-read".

Some of the lengthy Victorian novels have soap-operatic quality, and Vanity Fair would easily pass as one. The introduction chapters in which the author introduced his story and characters were unalluring, and I had to struggle to find my way through the novel. Despite my indifference to the story and the greater aversion for its characters, I found ground in Thackery's satire. The whole of Victorian society, from the people's individualistic behaviour to their morals and conventions, hasn't escaped Thackery's satirical eye. The caricature portrayal of the characters, whether they are from the houses of Crawleys, Osbornes, Sedleys, or Steyns, or individuals - either not attached to a prestigious house, like our "remarkable" heroine, Rebecca Sharp, or attached to a house to which much credit wasn't given, like that of our hero, Dobbin - was entertaining.

This brings us to the point where I must address the contradictory nature of the novel's subtitle: A novel without a hero. Notwithstanding Thackeray's protestations against a hero, he has unwittingly introduced two, not one, from both genders. If one can see the story of Vanity Fair as a battle between good and bad, the hero, Dobbins, and heroine, Becky, were the respective representatives of the two factions. Even though Thackeray was cynical of both sides, and unintentional in appointing a leader to each side, there is no denying that he has brought about a heroine and hero to a story.

I didn't care much about the story, nor I cared for the characters - they exasperated me to no end. But I enjoyed the satire which enveloped the story. This was unchanged until towards the end when Thackeray decided to change the colour in favour of sentimentality. This is where the total estrangement ensued between him and me. When the only thing to which I have anchored my reading has been pulled out, I was completely drowned. However, I later learned Thackaray's reason for switching modes and adopting a sentimental tone - part of the story being semiautobiographical; but it didn't help me change my opinion about the book.

This is my personal perspective, and no one should be guided by it. Given its popularity, I feel the book deserves an audience. Although my response to the novel was poor, yours may be better. For my part, I was disappointed in my expectations.

More of my reviews can be found at http://piyangiejay.com/

Vanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero, William Makepeace Thackeray

Vanity Fair is an English novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, which follows the lives of Becky Sharp and Emmy Sedley amid their friends and families during and after the Napoleonic Wars.

A novel that chronicles the lives of two women who could not be more different: Becky Sharp, an orphan whose only resources are her vast ambitions, her native wit, and her loose morals; and her schoolmate Amelia Sedley, a typically naive Victorian heroine, the pampered daughter of a wealthy family.

عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «بازار خودفروشی»؛ «آملیا»؛ «بازار غرور»؛ «یاوه بازار» نویسنده: ویلیام تکری؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال 1990میلادی

عنوان: بازار خودفروشی؛ نویسنده: وی‍ل‍ی‍ام‌ ت‍ک‍ری‌‏‫؛ مت‍رج‍م: م‍ن‍وچ‍ه‍ر ب‍دی‍ع‍ی‌؛ تهران، نیلوفر، 1368؛ در 868ص؛ شابک9644481046؛ چاپ چهارم سال1396؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده 19م

عنوان: آملیا؛ نویسنده: دبلیو.ام. تاکری؛ تلخیص: ای.ام آتوود؛ مترجم: نوشین ریشهری؛ تهران، نگارینه، 1386؛ در 320ص؛ شابک9789648935455؛

عنوان: بازار غرور؛ نویسنده: ویلیام میکپیس تاکری (تاکرای)؛ مترجم: موحده السادات موسوی؛ سیرجان، نشر وافی؛ 1394؛ در 172ص؛ شابک9786009485321؛

عنوان: یاوه بازار؛ نویسنده: وی‍ل‍ی‍ام‌ م‍ک‌ پ‍ی‍س‌ ت‍ک‍ری‌؛ ت‍رج‍م‍ه‌ ف‍رح‌ ی‍ک‍رن‍گ‍ی‌ (دواچ‍ی‌)؛ تهران، بنگاه ترجمه و نشر کتاب، 1341؛ در 148ص؛ چاپ دیگر: تهران، 1351؛ در 146ص؛

‏‫ای‍ن‌ ک‍ت‍اب‌ در س‍ال‌ 1334خورشیدی ب‍اع‍ن‍وان‌ «ی‍اوه‌ ب‍ازار» ب‍ا ت‍رج‍م‍ه‌ جناب «ف‍رح‌ دواچ‍ی‌ (ی‍ک‍رن‍گ‍ی‌)» در 148ص؛ و در سال 1341؛ و در سال 1351؛ در بنگاه ترجمه و نشر کتاب م‍ن‍ت‍ش‍ر ش‍ده‌ اس‍ت‌

بازار خودفروشی: رمانی بدون قهرمان؛ اثر «ویلیام تاکری» نویسنده «بریتانیایی» است که برای نخستین بار در سال 1847میلادی تا سال 1848میلادی منتشر شده‌ است؛ این رمان یکی از بیست رمان بزرگ سده نوزدهم میلادی است که از سوی «سامرست موآم» داستان‌نویس و نمایشنامه‌ نویس «بریتانیایی» برگزیده شده است؛ در کوی ما شکسته‌ دلی می‌خرند و بس - بازار خودفروشی از آن سوی دیگر است؛ حضرت حافظ

بازار خودفروشی سرگذشت یک دورهٔ بیست ساله (از سال 1811میلادی تا سال 1830میلادی) را در فضایی واقعی و با شخصیت‌هایی غیرواقعی در برمی‌گیرد؛ در شرایطی که طبقهٔ بورژوآ به‌ نوعی حاکمیت جامعه را در دست گرفته است؛ حکایت زندگیِ خانواده‌ های اشرافی در برابر خانواده‌ های فقیر «بریتانیایی» است؛ محوریت داستان دو‌ شخصیت به نام‌های «آملیا» و «بکی»، دو دختر از طبقهٔ پولدار و تهی‌دست هستند، که درگیر ماجراهای بسیاری می‌شوند؛ «آملیا»، دختر رئوف و‌ خوش‌قلب داستان است، که بارها اسیر بدجنسی‌های «بکی» و همسر خیانتکارش می‌شود، و «بکی» با مکر و ‌‌دسیسه‌ های زنانه با پسر رئیسش ازدواج می‌کند، و داستانش این‌گونه رقم می‌خورد؛ اما این ظاهر رخداد است، خوانشگر از همان آغاز داستان با چیزی فراتر از یک داستان سادهٔ عشقی مواجه می‌شود؛ بازار خودفروشی داستان مردمانی عادی است و قهرمان ندارد؛ بازار خودفروشی شرح دردها و رنج‌ها و خوشی‌های طبقات گوناگون جامعه است، که دچار حرص و طمع و حسادت و کینه شده‌ اند؛ در بازار خودفروشی دلال‌ها کلاه‌برداری می‌کنند، زن‌ها را به بردگی خود درمی‌آورند، از گناه‌ کردن نمی‌هراسند، قمارخانه‌ ها پُر از کسانی‌ است که برای حفظ منافعشان دست به هر کاری دست می‌یازند، آدم‌ها را می‌خرند و می‌فروشند، به‌ راحتی به هم بهتان می‌زنند، و هزاران کار می‌کنند تا زندگی کنند، و در نهایت رضایتشان جلب نمی‌شود؛ در حقیقت این کتاب به جزئیاتی اشاره دارد تا به قول نویسنده در یک جمله نشان دهد که «آدم‌های درجه دهم همواره در کارند تا به درجه نهم برسند!»؛ در صفحه ی شماره265کتاب از اختلاف طبقاتی جامعه گفته شده است: -«امی» با اندوه گفت «کاش به من محبت پیدا می‌کردند؛ همیشه با من سرد بودند»؛ - «جورج» پاسخ داد «طفلک من، به تو هم اگر دویست هزار لیره داشتی محبت پیدا می‌کردند؛ اینها را این‌جور بار آورده‌ اند؛ جامعهٔ ما جامعهٔ پول و پَله است، ما در میان صرافان و کله‌ گنده‌ های بازار شهر زندگی می‌کنیم، که لعنت بر همه‌ شان باد، و هرکس که با آدم حرف می‌زند، صدای جرینگ‌ جرینگ لیره‌ های جیبش را درمی‌آورد.»؛ در بازار خودفروشی، پول و ثروت بهترین چیزهاست، لقب و کالسکه‌ های مجلل به‌ یقین ارزشمندتر از خوشبختی هستند، در میان مردان بازار خودفروشی، پیروزی در عشق پس از پیروزی در جنگ مایهٔ مباهات است! جای جای این رمان حکایت از این دارد که هرگونه رفتاری که از ما انسان‌ها سر می‌زند، طبیعی‌ است حتی اگر مثل کینه و حسد، اعمال نکوهش‌ شده‌ ای باشند؛ اما جهان به مرور همانند یک آینه، چهرهٔ هر شخص را به خودش نشان می‌دهد؛ پس چه بهتر که به آن بخندیم و با آن مهربان باشیم، تا بازتابش را در خود ببینیم؛ ما نیز همراه با تک‌ تک شخصیت‌های این رمان بزرگ می‌شویم، اشک می‌ریزیم، افسوس می‌خوریم، و گاهی هم به حماقت‌های آنان می‌خندیم؛ ابتدای داستان کمی کند و کسل‌ کننده است، اما هر چه پیش می‌رویم، مجذوب رویدادهایی می‌شویم که برای شخصیت‌ها رخ می‌دهند، و ریتم داستان هم تندتر می‌شود؛ و پایان داستان بر خلاف تصور خوانشگر رقم می‌خورد، و شاید این مورد، وجه تمایز این رمان با دیگر رمان‌های کلاسیک باشد؛ از نکات بسیار جالب در این کتاب، می‌توان به مواردی اشاره کرد که نویسنده گاهی رویدادهای فصلهای پیشین را برای خوانشگره مرور می‌کند، و گویی خارج از موضوع دارد با خوانشگر سخن می‌گوید، و دیگری طنز تلخ و پُر از کنایهٔ آن است: مارهایی هستند که آدم گرمشان می‌کند و سپس به آدم نیش می‌زنند، گداهایی هستند که شما سوار کارشان می‌کنید، و اول کسی که زیر لگد اسب آنها پامال می‌شود خود شما هستید (رمان بازار خودفروشی – صفحه 261کتاب)؛

برهان گزینش چنین عنوان پارسایی برای کتاب این بوده است که «ونیتی» به معنای بی‌حاصلی، و بیهودگی و بی‌ارزشی است، و در ادبیات فارسی، واژهٔ «خودفروشی» بر طبق «لغتنامهٔ دهخدا»، هرگزی به معنای فاحشگی نبوده، و به معنای «جلوه‌ فروشی»، خودنمایی و خودستایی است، و ازاین‌رو مترجم کتاب استاد «منوچهر بدیعی»، این عنوان را برگزیده‌ اند، که بسیار مناسب و در خورِ رخدادهای داستان است؛ ترجمهٔ بی‌بدیل استاد «بدیعی»، رمان را چنان دلنشین کرده که از ‌هر لحاظ ارزشمند و تحسین‌ برانگیز است؛ این اثر شامل شصت و هفت فصل است، و هر فصل عنوان ویژه ی خودش را دارد؛ شخصیت‌های داستان بسیارند، و گاهی باعث سردرگمی خوانشگر است، که نویسنده بعضاً آنها را از میانه های داستان، به خوانشگر یادآوری می‌کند؛ و‌ نکته ی پایانی اینکه عکس روی جلد کتاب اثر خود نویسنده است

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 12/04/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

Cómo me sorprendió y divirtió este libro en el que el narrador mantiene un continuo diálogo con el lector y en el que disecciona en una mordaz caricatura a la sociedad de su tiempo, donde el tanto tienes tanto vales es ley y donde la mujer solo tiene una salida airosa: el matrimonio.

Un libro que llega a provocar carcajadas y que se lee siempre con una sonrisa, aunque no sea siempre alegre. No hay piedad por nadie, ni por los hombres ni por las mujeres, cuya situación parece denunciar aunque sin quitarles a ellas ni un gramo de su responsabilidad y con un cierto grado de misoginia. Por su parte, los hombres, que pueden ser ambiciosos, ridículos, vengativos, patéticos, antipáticos, vanidosos, son, en el fondo, nobles.

Fantástica la mala leche, la forma en que el narrador dice las cosas sin decirlas e incluso diciendo las contrarias; como juega con el lector, en ocasiones levantando el velo solo un poquito, en otras desvelándolo completamente, algunas más dejándonos todo a la imaginación. Sus continuos comentarios al margen dirigidos al lector son tan interesantes como la propia historia. Una delicia de libro.

The premise I believe that Mr. William Makepeace Thackeray reveals here in his accomplished novel Vanity Fair is people are complex , yet still they strive for their own self- interest above everything, all else is irrevelant. Our Becky (Rebecca) Sharp is a prime example of this fact she goes too far in climbing the ladder to respectability, lies, cheats and steals to reach goals unattainable if her ways were nominal. A poor orphan when the teenager married Captain Rawdon Crawley lacking intelligence though, nonetheless from a wealthy family before the decisive battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's last bloody struggle. And her maybe friend Amelia Sedley also of the consequence becomes widowed to a man who loved another, Becky, no surprise unfaithful husband George Osborne. A tiger cannot change his stripes and this truism applies to our anti- heroine Becky most emphatically as she enters High Society.These people spend money they can't afford just to give the impression of limitless riches which few have but debts acquired, a silly condition in order to deceive the quite pompous empty lives of their fellow hypocrites trying to show how great it is to be them, in opulent parties, if only the public knew the reality. The numerous people fall for the concept and many will regret this fallacy like Becky however the family of her estranged husband hates her with a passion and disowns the pretentious woman, here the writer shows his knowledge of England. The impoverished Amelia disliked by her father-in- law with her little son George, pines for her late mate while Captain William Dobbin loves her but is rejected feeling guilty, she. Mr.Thackeray's best book gives a glimpse into the human character warts and all, the good and bad not the superficial but the authentic, this is quite refreshing. A European tour after the war by Amelia tells us her situation has improved and meeting Becky in a small German town not very comfortable for them however a place which helps both reach their ultimate destiny. The fun if that is the proper word in Vanity Fair (this the correct title) as Miss Becky Sharp manipulates those who deserve to be fooled by the smart, pretty girl who for a time gave the mirage of being one of their kind. Not quite an honest person but neither were the so called elites and we the countless reader are the delighted benefactors.

DNF na 150 stron przed końcem.
Wrzuciła mnie w zastój czytelniczy. Raczej nigdy do niej nie wrócę.
2,5/5

I realize that I'm not making friends here by only giving what is considered a masterful piece of literature what amounts to a "meh" review but that's really how I felt about this book.

On a small scale, I thought the writing was too long-winded. This is not a fancy story and it could have been told more concisely. I was mostly bored reading it.

On a bigger scale, I had serious issues with the heroine. Rebecca is the type of woman who has always made my stomach churn in anger and to ask me to sympathize, even for a brief moment was just too much for me. I ended up despising every single character in the book. Which, if you want to get all literatti about it might be a good thing - having a visceral reaction to the written word is often seen as a power few can manage but it didn't make me like the author, the characters or the plot any better.

Written in 1848, Vanity Fair is an excellent satire of English society in the early 19th Century. Thackeray states several times that it is a novel "without a hero", and at a couple of points tries to claim that Amelia, a good person but who inevitably comes across as rather wishy-washy, is the heroine. But we all know that a "bad" girl or boy is infinitely more interesting than a "good" girl or boy, so I suspect Thackeray of dissembling even here. Becky Sharp is out and out the anti-hero(ine) in this book, which could well have been named, "The Rise and Fall of Rebecca Sharp".

Thackeray apparently saw people as "abominably selfish and foolish", and this negative view comes across loud and clear with his use of vicious vocabulary, and his unremittingly dark portrayal of human nature. The author's voice is continually present, and his wry observations do contribute to making the novel vastly entertaining. They were also intended to make it instructive to his readers.

Interestingly the author makes a habit of commenting on particular instances of female behaviour, and drawing from this to make a general observation of all women. At first the reader is inclined to think how astute this is; how well Thackeray knows women and how unusual and refreshing it is to find this in a male writer of his day. However, these observations are invariably judgemental, whereas he tends not to apply the same maxims to his male characters. The men are seen much more as individuals. A modern reader becomes uneasy with this after a while; it begins to seem less witty and apt, and in fact rather tiresome.

Here is an example of Thackeray's views on women:

"What do men know about women's martyrdoms? We should go mad had we to endure the hundredth part of those daily pains which are meekly borne by many women. Ceaseless slavery meeting with no reward; constant gentleness and kindness met by cruelty as constant; love, labour, patience, watchfulness without even so much as the acknowlegement of a good word; all this, how many of them have to bear in quiet, and appear abroad with cheerful faces as if they felt nothing. Tender slaves that they are, they must needs be hypocrites and weak."

Thackeray's perceived audience will have been male readers, of course, and this is clear when he addresses the reader personally referring to "your wife", "your sister" or "your servants." And the audience will have been educated, land-owning white males at that. Some of the "witty" observations about an heiress from St. Kitts, or a black manservant called "Sambo" make the modern reader cringe. The author is scathing about all his characters' partialities and weaknesses, yet because he is a man of his time, culture and class, he cannot see his own prejudices, complacently considering that this is the only correct stance.

Vanity Fair was serialised in 20 monthly parts. As with other novels which were originally issued in this way, the structure is not as tight as the reader would wish. There are great swathes of writing about charades, or a play, or a battle, which are rather flabby. Some parts seem very ponderous, or lead nowhere, whereas others are extremely witty and/or exciting. Authors such as Thackeray and Dickens (to whom this applied for nearly all of his novels) would surely have wished to edit their work, or even rewritten scenes or altered characters, had they had the opportunity. It is incredible to a modern reader that they fared as well as they did under this draconian regime. And it is therefore unfair to compare this with the more structured later novels, as it is not a level playing field.

"Vanity Fair is a wicked foolish place, full of all sorts of humbugs and falsenesses and pretensions,"

states the author. This theme of "Vanity Fair" is reiterated over and over again, and throughout the reader will be thinking that nothing has changed over a century later. Thackeray's observations of human behaviour are so apposite, the descriptions of situations, personalities, expressed motives and hidden motives (which are inevitably very different) are timeless. And this of course, coupled with the deliciously droll manner of Thackeray's writing, is what makes this novel a classic. It is hugely entertaining in parts, and would have been a 5 star novel had Thackeray's voice and attitudes not been quite so dominant throughout.

n  EDIT:n

Interestingly each monthly installment of Vanity Fair only ever sold 5000 copies at the most. At the same time, the hugely popular figure Charles Dickens was publishing his novel "Dombey and Son", which was also being serialised by the same publisher. Before long the episodes of "Dombey and Son" were selling 40,000 copies per month - eight times as many! Yet of the two, nowadays, probably Vanity Fair is the more popular.

welcome to...JANITY FAIRBRUARY.

i'm going to read this huge scary book for the next two months (i.e., january and february), one chapter a day, trying all the while not to run away in fear as per my project long classics directive.

on that note, did authors from old times know it was possible to write something that wouldn't take future readers three months, a huge amount of confidence, and the energy of an eleven year old with a sugar rush to read?

just wondering.


CHAPTER I: CHISWICK MALL
whenever characters in books prepare for a journey with a bit of hard cheese and bread, or crackers and an apple, or (in this case) seed-cake and a bottle of wine i get so jealous. that sounds so much more appealing than my $6 bottle of water and protein bar from an airport hudson news kiosk.


CHAPTER II: IN WHICH MISS SHARP AND MISS SEDLEY PREPARE TO OPEN THE CAMPAIGN
oh i love a deceitful schemer...i think this becky sharp and i are going to get along just great.


CHAPTER III: REBECCA IS IN PRESENCE OF THE ENEMY
poor rebecca is trying to nab a rich husband and all she got for her trouble was a spicy food-based prank.


CHAPTER IV: THE GREEN SILK PURSE
both of our protagonists have found promising beaux, so something better go wrong fast. we're only 5% in! i'd die of boredom before we're a third through.


CHAPTER V: DOBBIN OF OURS
it doesn't matter how many books i read, i will always be a sucker for any bullied kid. easiest way to win my sympathy.


CHAPTER VI: VAUXHALL
i'm not sure what "knock up" implied in 1847, but i'm going to go ahead and guess it wasn't the same meaning as today. unless rebecca's target is planning on getting the archbishop of canterbury pregnant.


CHAPTER VII: CRAWLEY OF QUEEN'S CRAWLEY
okay, rebecca has struck out with jos. sorry to becky, but i'm thrilled. i think she has a long, full, happy life of scheming ahead of her.


CHAPTER VIII: PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL
this chapter concludes with six paragraphs warning us about the crazy old sinners we're going to fearfully read about in the next 900 pages. don't threaten me with a good time, william.


CHAPTER IX: FAMILY PORTRAITS
i gotta say, thackeray really lets himself have fun in these closing sentences. the end of this chapter is about how it must rock to have a rich aunt.


CHAPTER X: MISS SHARP BEGINS TO MAKE FRIENDS
i took a solid long weekend off this project, and now i'm rested, restored, and ready to get back at it. (just kidding. i spent a weekend eating takeout and watching football with my siblings and my brain feels like a lump of play-doh. let's see what happens.)


CHAPTER XI: ARCADIAN SIMPLICITY
this is a chapter made up purely of the most elegant sh*t-talking.


CHAPTER XII: QUITE A SENTIMENTAL CHAPTER
oh, our poor amelia is down bad. the secondhand embarrassment of witnessing an intense crush reverberates throughout time.


CHAPTER XIII: SENTIMENTAL AND OTHERWISE
well, george osborne appears to be the original f*ckboy.


CHAPTER XIV: MISS CRAWLEY AT HOME
honestly it's no surprise feminism took so long to come into itself. back in the day women were so frail they'd develop days-long debilitating illnesses from eating too much at a lobster-based lunch. i wouldn't fall over myself to hand over the right to vote either.

WAIT PLOT TWIST?


CHAPTER XV: IN WHICH REBECCA'S HUSBAND APPEARS FOR A SHORT TIME
well, i was debating whether to spoil this million year old book for you, but then the chapter title decided to do it for me.


CHAPTER XVI: THE LETTER ON THE PINCUSHION
well becky. you've gone and done it now: made everyone in a family so enamored with you that you received multiple marriage proposals from within it and ran off with one of them. well call me a crawley because i'm obsessed.


CHAPTER XVII: HOW CAPTAIN DOBBIN BOUGHT A PIANO
now amelia is ruined and becky's life rocks. oh, the games we play.


CHAPTER XVIII: WHO PLAYED ON THE PIANO CAPTAIN DOBBIN BOUGHT
low stakes, sweet, boring, barely even a question. sounds like the world's first cozy mystery.


CHAPTER XIX: MISS CRAWLEY AT NURSE
it's kind of wild that aunts have had such a bad reputation as nosy / overbearing / annoying throughout time. justice for aunts! all of mine are cool.


CHAPTER XX: IN WHICH CAPTAIN DOBBIN ACTS AS THE MESSENGER OF HYMEN
oh my god. i mean. i don't even want to make a joke! it's too easy. i'm all about the chase.


CHAPTER XXI: A QUARREL ABOUT AN HEIRESS
i think i might be a bad person. whenever i read one of these 19th century classics about being in love with someone with no fortune while being romanced by someone with 10,000 pounds a year, i'm like...i'd be at least a LITTLE tempted.


CHAPTER XXII: A MARRIAGE AND PART OF A HONEYMOON
honeymoon is one of those words that doesn't seem as old as it is. there's something outrageously 1950s about it.


CHAPTER XXIII: CAPTAIN DOBBIN PROCEEDS ON HIS CANVASS
just rolling around london, being yelled at for telling people your best friend married your crush. this is almost as bad as the horrific boarding school bullying. war will be fine compared to this.


CHAPTER XXIV: IN WHICH MR. OSBORNE TAKES DOWN THE FAMILY BIBLE
note to self for future betrayals: immediately find a large fancy bible, cross out the person's name within its pages (aside: may have to write the name and then cross it out), find your will (aside: may have to write one), crumple it up, throw it in a nearby fireplace (aside: locate fireplace), and write a new will (aside: look up how to write a will).


CHAPTER XXV: IN WHICH ALL THE PRINCIPAL PERSONAGES THINK FIT TO LEAVE BRIGHTON
going straight from a poolside vacay to war. it's what george osborne deserves.


CHAPTER XXVI: BETWEEN LONDON AND CHATHAM
sure, amelia seems very boring and annoying and generally a bad hang, but there is no character in these pages worse than GEORGE. bring me back to becky already.


CHAPTER XXVII: AMELIA JOINS HER REGIMENT
i expected this to be facetious, but no. we've shipped the girl straight off to war.


CHAPTER XXVIII: IN WHICH AMELIA INVADES THE LOW COUNTRIES
i'm going to be honest with you: england and france being at war a decade into the nineteenth century...it feels a little late. leave that behavior in the 1700s. it's time for you guys to team up and rebrand as the world's good guys.


CHAPTER XXIX: BRUSSELS
if george has 100 haters i'm one of them. if george has 1 hater it's me. if george has no haters i'm dead.


CHAPTER XXX: THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME
at this point we should take bets on who won't make it back from war. of course i personally want george dead, rawdon would be the most plot-convenient passing, and dobbin is the only one i personally need to survive. watch it be him.


CHAPTER XXXI: IN WHICH JOS SEDLEY TAKES CARE OF HIS SISTER
i have to admit, i doubted amelia. i did not expect she could square up against becky and survive.


CHAPTER XXXII: IN WHICH JOS TAKES FLIGHT, AND THE WAR IS BROUGHT TO A CLOSE
the whole war was like one chapter long. one chapter that was filled with sentences like "surely we shall never forget..." and "a story we have all heard countless times and never made sense of..." william, not even wikipedia can help me sort this one out.


CHAPTER XXXIII: IN WHICH MISS CRAWLEY'S RELATIONS ARE VERY ANXIOUS ABOUT HER
i have been punished for my crimes of sh*t talking amelia to becky's benefit by being subjected to a full chapter about becky's in-laws when the biggest event of the book so far just happened to amelia.


CHAPTER XXXIV: JAMES CRAWLEY'S PIPE IS OUT
make that two chapters.


CHAPTER XXXV: WIDOW AND MOTHER
spoiler alert for this unbelievably old book: george is dead. that's what happened earlier. sorry amelia but i used to pray for times like these.


CHAPTER XXXVI: HOW TO LIVE WELL ON NOTHING A YEAR
this is the kind of budgeting advice that i'm looking for.


CHAPTER XXXVII: THE SUBJECT CONTINUED
okay. so the answer is mostly to take advantage of poor people. i guess i don't know what i expected.


CHAPTER XXXVIII: A FAMILY IN A VERY SMALL WAY
i have to say...i don't have as much interest in the amelia / dobbin will they won't they as i would like.


CHAPTER XXXIX: A CYNICAL CHAPTER
me if i was a chapter.


CHAPTER XL: IN WHICH BECKY IS RECOGNIZED BY THE FAMILY
as she should! not because it's the right thing (it's not) or she deserves it (she doesn't), but because from a narrative perspective i'm a proponent of becky getting everything she wants.


CHAPTER XLI: IN WHICH BECKY REVISITS THE HALLS OF HER ANCESTORS
okay. i have been holding this in but i can keep the secret no longer. confession: i am not enjoying this book like i thought i would. i can't believe we're past halfway.


CHAPTER XLII: WHICH TREATS OF THE OSBORNE FAMILY
never mind. for some reason this chapter and the last won me right back over. jinxed it.


CHAPTER XLIII: IN WHICH THE READER HAS TO DOUBLE THE CAPE
now dobbin has to race from india to england to try to prevent amelia from getting married. some romcom tropes never change.


CHAPTER XLIV: A ROUND-ABOUT CHAPTER BETWEEN LONDON AND HAMPSHIRE
the fact that becky's main opp is her eight-year-old son? she is just built different.


CHAPTER XLV: BETWEEN HAMPSHIRE AND LONDON
i will confess that 600 pages into this book, i do not know what the plot is. but that's okay. there are worse things.


CHAPTER XLVI: STRUGGLES AND TRIALS
controversial opinion, but...amelia's mom is right. kinda crazy that amelia is hoarding all this money to buy her son new christmas clothes when they're about to be evicted and also could be rich if she was willing to hang out with him less.


CHAPTER XLVII: GAUNT HOUSE
i was under the impression that dobbins was racing across eurasia like it was an airport in a rom-com but we haven't heard from him in like 4 chapters. maybe the commute just takes 6 weeks in a steamboat or something.


CHAPTER XLVIII: IN WHICH THE READER IS INTRODUCED TO THE VERY BEST OF COMPANY
i love becky and her waterproof blush and her fake crying and her incomprehensible finances and her schemes.


CHAPTER XLIX: IN WHICH WE ENJOY THREE COURSES AND A DESSERT
now i'm just having a blast. i hope we never hear from amelia again.


CHAPTER L: CONTAINS A VULGAR INCIDENT
well, the chapter name got me excited, but it was really just us hearing from amelia again. she shipped her son off to grandpa's.


CHAPTER LI: IN WHICH A CHARADE IS ACTED WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT PUZZLE THE READER
sorry, i was completely taken aback by what constitutes "charades" here. count me puzzled.


CHAPTER LII: IN WHICH LORD STEYNE SHOWS HIMSELF IN A MOST AMIABLE LIGHT
are rawdon junior and george junior going to be school buds? is that what we're building toward here? i'm having fun but i'm still at a loss.

and now rawdon senior is locked up.


CHAPTER LIII: A RESCUE AND A CATASTROPHE
becky's downfall? and dumb old RAWDON is the one to bring it about??? i don't believe it. my girl will come back stronger than ever (and then maybe fall again, i don't know, we have a fair number of pages left).


CHAPTER LIV: SUNDAY AFTER THE BATTLE
if i was about to die in a duel and my last meal was "some devilled kidneys and a herring," the duel would be canceled. i'd take myself out.


CHAPTER LV: IN WHICH THE SAME SUBJECT IS PURSUED
i would hope so! if we went back to amelia at this point i would completely freak out.

rawdon senior has been shipped off to the colonies, rawdon junior is essentially an orphan, and becky is for all intents and purposes single and childless. where do we go from here??? to amelia's boring plotline i would imagine.


CHAPTER LVI: GEORGY IS MADE A GENTLEMAN
it is clear to me that this 19th century eleven year old was making more than my 2025 salary in yearly allowance.


CHAPTER LVII: EOTHEN
well, dobbin is here, and it turns out he's been wearing a lock of amelia's hair that he bribed a maid to take while she was sick with fever this whole time. now i'm even less invested in this love story.


CHAPTER LVIII: OUR FRIEND THE MAJOR
it would be extremely awesome if at some point in these 1,000 pages amelia could develop a personality trait beyond "obsessive love for someone named george," but it appears we're running out of time for that.


CHAPTER LIX: THE OLD PIANO
dobbin declares his love. amelia is like "i'm actually married. to a ghost, but still." dobbin says okay can i just hang around and look at you sometimes. amelia says for sure. miserable!


CHAPTER LX: RETURNS TO THE GENTEEL WORLD
this is, essentially, a "nice guy who will wait as long as it takes" montage.


CHAPTER LXI: IN WHICH TWO LIGHTS ARE PUT OUT
there have been reconciliations, wills updated and read, last rites, final prayers, fortunes made, lives lost. in other words we're wrapping things up.


CHAPTER LXII: AM RHEIN
quick detour for a german vacation.


CHAPTER LXIII: IN WHICH WE MEET AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE
i suppose it'd be too much to hope for that we finally reconnect with becky, chapters since we last saw her and 4 to go until the end. instead we'll hang out with a guy named tapeworm.

NEVER MIND. I SHOULD NEVER HAVE DOUBTED YOU, THACKERAY.


CHAPTER LXIV: A VAGABOND CHAPTER
sheesh. how the mighty have fallen. becky can't even take a little vacay to rome without getting death threats from her exes.


CHAPTER LXV: FULL OF BUSINESS AND PLEASURE
in so many ways, emmy is no match for becky. girl, you just got played.


CHAPTER LXVI: AMANTIUM IRAE
i haven't been a particular dobbin fan ever since his bullied origin story, but man, amelia. you are just the worst.


CHAPTER LXVII: WHICH CONTAINS BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS
i have to say, i have no idea how old these ladies are. and i've heard it's in poor taste to ask.


OVERALL
this was very long and at points made me very angry, but mostly i had more of a good time than bad. i know all of these characters are supposed to be unlikable, but they are very well fleshed out in the ways they're supposed to be frustrating. moments of humor. moments of romance. in short i recommend it, if you have 400 free hours to spare.
rating: 3.5

The author makes his presence known towards the end of the book. It was both eerie and uncanny. He kept breaking the fourth wall, then he conjured that apparition of his in one of the last chapters.

Vanity Fair contains no real heroes. That was a fact that Thackeray himself stated, and who am I to dispute that. This book of his is quite droll in its stitching together. There is a threat of a continuum, then everything is put back into question.

Classics are a strange beast. With them, I feel attachment like it's the result of Stockholm Syndrome. My delight at finishing these Mesozoic beasts is unique to the genre. Long may it continue.

"But as we are to see a great deal of Amelia, there is no harm in saying, at the outset of our acquaintance, that she was a dear little creature. And a great mercy it is, both in life and in novels, which (and the latter especially) abound in villains of the most sombre sort that we are to have for a companion so guileless and good natured a person. As she is not a heroine, there is no need to describe her person; indeed I am afraid that her nose was rather too short than otherwise and her cheeks a good deal too round and red for a heroine..."

I just chose this passage randomly out of the first few pages of the novel to illustrate how much I love Thackeray's voice. He himself is the best character in the novel. To use theatre terminology, he definitely breaks the 4th wall into the story quite frequently. Reading it is rather like watching the play, but with periodic pauses for the playwright to jump up on stage and offer his commentary upon the action, and also upon his perceptions of the feelings of those watching his creation. (Thackeray himself terms the "Vanity Fair"- his comment on society in general- a sort of play.) This might sound annoying to some, but, really, it isn't. If you're already reading the book critically... I suppose it could also be compared to reading a chunk of a book for class and then stopping to discuss your reactions with a professor determined to make you see things beyond the surface and expose whatever prejudices you might have against the book. I loved debating with Thackeray in interpreting scenes and actions. The margins are filled with my disagreements or indulgence of his point of view. And I almost never write in books. It was irresistable in this case.

It is as interesting trying to draw a portrait of Thackeray's character as it is the rest of them. He is sometimes defensive, sometimes judgemental of his audience, at times quietly insightful, at times ironic, at times as gleeful as a child at some trick he believes he's played upon us. You can just see him cackling over his writing, clapping his hands when he thinks of something good and scribbling away furiously into the night. He makes the tale seem brightly, urgently alive just in the sheer immediacy of his feeling and force of personality.

Right. As to the story itself? Very solid, old fashioned tale of love, war, betrayal, money, family. All the standards for an epic. But in the way it is executed, it is anything but standard. Particularly for its time. It was subtitled, "the novel without a hero," by Thackeray. It is a book filled with, as the best are, very grey characters with motivations and actions sometimes very hard to fathom. The epitome of this is of course Becky Sharp, the main character if not the "heroine," of the piece. Capable of both acts of great kindness and selflessness, and sheer, naked cruelty when it suits her, it is hard to either condemn or praise the woman in the end. I grew to root for her anyway, though. She's awful, she really is, but she does seem to learn by the end of the book. She changes, progresses, and all while getting everything she's ever really seemed to want. She's ambitious and cutthroat, but manages to do well in a world that tries to slap her down at every turn. (Not that she doesn't deserve it sometimes, I will admit.) There is also a more standard, sweeping love story for those of you in it for the more conventional aspects. The above described Amelia is involved in that plotline.

Also? This book has the best, the longest, the most throughly researched and detailed description of the battle of Waterloo that you are likely to find. A huge chunk of the book is devoted to that day and the reaction to that day, and it is as epic a war novel as one could hope to find for that space of time.

In some ways, I feel like Thackeray was trying to encompass his century as a whole, not just the very specific time of the Napoleonic wars. He deals with class, money, ambition, war, roles and rights of women, questions of morality, and times that inevitably change and change again, pushing the old world and the old ways into ever faster irrelevance. Just as the 19th century did. I think Becky Sharp might well be a fitting symbol of the whole century: she wants to rise high in society, she wants as much money as she can get her hands on, she wants the appearance of morality (but doesn't much care for the actuality), she is from the lower class and spends the book working her way up the ladder tooth and nail through representatives of the "old guard," at any cost to herself or others. And yet, she still holds sentimental feelings for Amelia, for her husband, she does what she thinks is best for her son (however controversial that might be and at whatever cost in pride), and she cannot quite bear to be completely alone.... I don't know. I'm really just remembering things I wrote down when I read this over two years ago, re-piecing together theories, so I hope you'll forgive me if they're a wee incoherent.

There is more to it than that, but I do not think that any review of reasonable length can encompass everything in this book, particularly when I've already rambled about my favorite things for so long, and things are already this disorganized. Fitting, I suppose, in such a merrily chaotic book. So I'll just leave you with the quote that I think explains and drives much of the action and is one of the major points of the novel:

"Vanitas Vanitatium! Which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire? Or having it, is satisfied?"

Here I am, 54 years old, and for the very first time reading William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair. "Vanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero." I disagree with Thackeray. The 'Hero' of Vanity Fair is the steadfast and stalwart William Dobbin; of that there is no doubt. This novel is not the coming of age, or bildungsroman, of Becky Sharp. No, Miss Rebecca Sharp sprang from the womb enlivened with her desire to claw her way to the top. She can't help it, and nor should she; is she really any different than any of us? No, she's not. It is her methods that vary from what you and I might use; or do they?

To me, the narrator's voice in the novel was most amazing. It seemed that at every opportune moment, the narrator took a step back and informed us, the reader, of some nugget, some little moral, that placed the actions of the participants in the Fair in context. Vanity Fair is with us, all around us; and many times we never fully understand the roles that the players play. This voice of reason grounds us; makes us understand the joy, the pain, the happiness, and the sorrow that accompanies each of us in our journey through life. If we care to, we can learn to become better parents, better husbands, better wives, and better friends.

I also learned through the course of the novel that I can't outright condemn Becky Sharp. Becky is perhaps not a woman easily liked, but she is an admirable woman, a tough woman, and a woman I can respect. Strong-minded and willed, a terrible mother, but a battle-axe to those who take her head-on. Miss Becky Sharp -- Mrs. Rawdon Crawley -- is committed to living life at its fullest, and not one jot less. She is a woman of purpose, and that is a rare quality in many people.

The novel drips with satire from page to page; it is full of wit and sardonic humor. It is through the use of satire that we realize that the characters at the Fair are us -- have been us, and always will be us -- generation after generation, and nothing will change; only the time will change. There will always be Lord Steynes, Jos Sedleys, Old Osbornes, Mother Sedleys, Sir Pitt Crawleys, Miss Crawleys, the George Osbornes, William Dobbins, and Amelias. Our task, according to Thackeray, is to figure out how best to treat them, how best to interact and understand them, how to live with them. The real challenge, however, is how best to love, appreciate, and care for the Miss Becky Sharps in our lives. We do deserve to know her, to care for her, to appreciate her for whom she is, and she deserves to be brought in from the rambunctiousness and vagaries of the Fair.

In the end, it is Miss Sharp that gains at least some measure of redemption. It is she, and she alone, that removes the mote from Amelia's eyes regarding her feelings for William Dobbin. For Becky Sharp does understand honor, virtue, and integrity (or, does she?). Thackeray finishes appropriately -- For truly it can be said, "Vanitas Vanitatum! Which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire? or, having it, is satisfied? -- Come, children, let us shut up the box and the puppets, for our play is played out."

A magnificent novel from start to finish.