The Way We Live Now is the longest of Anthony Trollope's many novels, first published in 1875. It's been adapted into two miniseries and a radio drama.
The novel's main plot is about the conman Augustus Melmotte, who arrives in London and immediately starts swindling people. Its many subplots revolve around the loathsome Sir Felix Carbury; his less despicable but quite boring sister Hetta; Paul, the man Hetta wants to marry; Mrs. Hurtle, the woman who wants Paul to marry her; and Ruby, an idiot in love with Felix.
It makes no pretensions of being anything but a satirical novel, and in the process it falls into the same trap as Dickens' Our Mutual Friend: whole subplots exist solely for the sake of satire. Probably they were compelling reading for Trollope's contemporaries. Unfortunately, I found them downright dull. The entire "Hetta thinks Paul is betraying her" subplot drags on and on and on until I gave up reading and skipped ahead. Same goes for the Felix/Ruby/John love triangle.
The truly interesting part of the novel is about Melmotte, his family, and his eventual downfall. About half-way through I started skimming over the rest of the story to focus on the parts about them. Marie, Melmotte's daughter, is one of the few sympathetic characters in the whole thing. I'm glad she got some sort of happy ending, and a chance to get away from the mess her father made.
Maybe it's because it took me ages to finish this novel, with long gaps in-between each chapter. Or maybe my opinion of it was coloured by the underwhelming 2001 series. Whatever the reason, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I expected to. Perhaps some time in the future I'll try rereading it and see if my opinion changes. For now, though, it's not one of my favourite books.
Is it available online?: Yes, on Gutenberg.
Rating: 5/10.
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