New Year, New Post

I recently started Anthony Trollope’s The Way We Live Now.  It is different from Eureka Street in several ways.  Eureka Street is a relatively short novel, a quick read ( I usually gobble it up in a day or two).  The novel’s prose flows so smoothly and evenly that I breeze through chapters. Because it was written and set in Belfast in 1994 (both of which I have studied), the book is truly an effortless read.  The Way We Live Now, while fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable, is not an effortless read.  My copy is over 750 pages long, so even if the pages did fly, this would still be quite the undertaking.  And while I studied British history, I am not familiar enough with British Victorian society, government, and economics to properly appreciate the novel’s intricacies, and thus am constantly referring to historical resources to better understand Trollope’s characters and plot twists.  Despite this (or because of this) I am truly enjoying this novel and the historian in me is loving the miniature lessons in history and culture that each chapter offers.
Now, as may be readily apparent, I am new to blogging and the concept of posting regular updates.  I am also still trying to figure out how I want to run this novel-reading project.  Initially my plan was to read a novel and then--as I did with Eureka Street--after I had finished the novel, I would post a review.  To do this with The Way We Live Now would be impractical, though, because of the novel’s substantial length.  Not only would it necessitate a longer absence from my blog, but it would also require a more-than-lengthy review.  I have bookmarked so many pages and scribbled so many notes that I could fill pages with my thoughts and reactions to the novel, and I’ve only just reached halfway.  I am, therefore, resolved to post with greater frequency, if only to be able to accommodate my many ideas about this Victorian masterpiece.

More will follow.  Soon.