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Vanity Fair

(Bantam Classic)

By William Makepeace Thackeray

(9)

| Mass Market Paperback | 9780553214628

Book Description

A deliciously satirical attack on a money-mad society, Vanity Fair, which first appeared in 1847, is an immensely moral novel, and an immensely witty one. Called in its subtitle “A Novel Without a Hero,” Vanity Fair has instead two heroines: the faithful, loyal Amelia SedlContinue

A deliciously satirical attack on a money-mad society, Vanity Fair, which first appeared in 1847, is an immensely moral novel, and an immensely witty one. Called in its subtitle “A Novel Without a Hero,” Vanity Fair has instead two heroines: the faithful, loyal Amelia Sedley and the beautiful and scheming social climber Becky Sharp. It also engages a huge cast of wonderful supporting characters as the novel spins from Miss Pinkerton’s academy for young ladies to affairs of love and war on the Continent to liaisons in the dazzling ballrooms of London. Thackeray’s forte is the bon mot and it is amply exercised in a novel filled with memorably wicked lines. Lengthy and leisurely in pace, the novel follows the adventures of Becky and Amelia as their fortunes rise and fall, creating a tale of both picaresque and risqué. Thackery mercilessly skewers his society, especially the upper class, poking fun at their shallow values and pointedly jabbing at their hypocritical “morals.” His weapons, however, are not fire and brimstone but an unerring eye for the absurd and a genius for observation of the foibles of his age. An enduring classic, this great novel is a brilliant study in duplicity and hypocrisy…and a mirror with which to view our own times.

3 Reviews

  • 1 person find this helpful

    Quotable

    "He would like to have done with life and its vanity altogether--so bootless and unsatisfactory the struggle, so cheerless and dreary the prospect seemed to him."

    "Everybody is striving for what is not worth the having."

    "Be gentle with those who are less lucky, if not more deserving. Th ... (continue)

    "He would like to have done with life and its vanity altogether--so bootless and unsatisfactory the struggle, so cheerless and dreary the prospect seemed to him."

    "Everybody is striving for what is not worth the having."

    "Be gentle with those who are less lucky, if not more deserving. Think, what right have you to be scornful, whose virtue is a deficiency of temptation, whose success may be a chance, whose rank may be an ancestor's accident, whose prosperity is very likely a satire."

    "Any person who appreciated her paid a compliment to the Major's good judgement--that is, if a man may be said to have good judgement who is under the influence of Love's delusion."

    "Which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire? or, having it, is satisfied?"

    Is this helpful?

    ― MoirneStark said on Apr 3, 2009 about the Paperback edition | 1 feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    "Vanity Fair" is a sweeping epic set at the every end of the Napoleonic era, specifically the Battle of Waterloo. Though, this has less to do with military tactics and more with social conventions and hypocrisy. Thackery created the immortal, unforgettable anti-hero Becky Sharpe, his exquisitely ch ... (continue)

    "Vanity Fair" is a sweeping epic set at the every end of the Napoleonic era, specifically the Battle of Waterloo. Though, this has less to do with military tactics and more with social conventions and hypocrisy. Thackery created the immortal, unforgettable anti-hero Becky Sharpe, his exquisitely characterized weapon of choice in his cutting, witty satire. Becky has captivated and frustrated readers for over a century now. Although Margaret Mitchell denies having read "Vanity Fair", fans of "Gone with the Wind" cannot fail to draw comparisons between the two scheming, spirited main characters, though the aims of the novels are very different.

    Is this helpful?

    ― guaddess said on Dec 3, 2007 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

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9780553214628 Mass Market Paperback $6.95 $6.95 Amazon US
£4.67 -- Amazon UK
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