The Way We Live Now [Paperback]

Much has been said about how nothing changes in business and finance. That the same lessons are painfully relearned with echoing outrage from previous events of a similar nature. The Way We Live Now holds parallels to the financial crisis of 2008 as it has with the dot com bubble, the Great Depression and all other such events and their greedy machinations. But what this book actually showcases are the foibles of people in pursuit of wealth. The stinging indictment being we people cannot outgrow our base behaviours. And in that comparison we can match the novel's characters with people we ourselves know, others we learn of in the news and, in fact, ourselves.

This is Trollope's longest novel ... his Bleak House. And like that Dickens novel it requires patience but there is reward. This is a stunning satire replete with rich messages. Trollope's characters tend to be a little less full than Dickens but his contribution are never-ending bon mots of observations and critiques. Consider these lines:

- "He kept his head above water, and was regarded by those who knew about him, but did not know him, a successful man." In one sentence the author captures how society ascribes a pedigree to someone without the requisite facts to do so

- "And her face was a true index of her character." A terrific brief line which is at once detailed but puts the effort back on the reader to envision the character in full

My favourite aspect of the novel was the subplot damning the publishing industry. Many of the observations could apply to today's bloggers and self-publishers...those who deliver no new content but get "puffed" or promoted. This is the Lady Carbury plot line which is deliciously vacuous ... "She had no ambition to write a good book, but was painfully anxious to write a book that the critics should say was good." Within the book, too long to quote, is a perfectly scathing passage of the book review process which was obviously visceral to Trollope.

The characters sashay through the book attempting to best each other be demonstrating "superiority in fashionable intellect". This reminded me of the pompous literary and advertising industry events I have attended whereby everyone attempts to prove they are intellectually everyone else's better. By all means pick this novel up but give it generous time to finish. It was one of those books I needed to put down for a few days and then come back to. Finally, beyond the substance of this review, it must be noted that the value-for-money is notable given the version I downloaded was free.

This book was my first encounter with the works of Anthony Trollope. While it is not entirely surprising that Trollope's legacy is overshadowed by the ones of contemporaries like Dickens, Austen, Elliot and Thackeray, this book gives such a juicy historic precursor to the Enron and WorldCom scandals, that it deserves a spot on the current bestsellers list.

In detailing the rise and fall of the swindler-turned-tycoon Melmotte and the pathetic tendency of the bankrupt gentry to simultaneously woo and despise him, Trollope gives us a satire for the ages. Moreover, the repeated dogma that it's OK to do the wrong thing and have the wrong friends as long as everybody else is doing it, is also right on the money. While Theodore Dreiser took the psychological analysis of the swindler to a whole other level in his "The Financier", Melmotte is still a wonderfully well rounded crook.

The second memorable character is lady Carbury. Trollope shaped her and her literary aspirations after his own mother. While I was not too impressed with the exposure of the "literary world" that her character allowed, the lady is a nice archetype of the survivor, who yet is willing to sacrifice everything for her loser son.

Apart from these main characters, archetypes, there is a large supporting cast adding themes of love, betrayal, abuse and manipulation. While many of the players provide the context of a society sucking up to Melmotte, the great number of themes and intrigues leads to too much diffusion of the central theme. While characters like Roger Carbury and Ms. Hurtle are well rounded, the resolution of their "issues" is rather lackluster.

In his portrayal of the demise of the British gentry after passage of the two reform bills Trollope has drawn parallels with the decline of the roman Empire and includes many a reference to good old Horatius. A lot of the book can be encompassed in the non-included quote: ad spectatum veniunt, veniunt spectantur ut ipse (=they come to the spectacle, (yet) come to be seen themselves). In addition, this book provides one of the best examples that I have encountered, that you can't be doing the wrong thing as long as everybody else is doing it.

A good, entertaining and fairly easy read.

... Too many plots, characters not given enough space to breathe, and way too much wrap-up yields a less than satisfying experience. But Trollope is a great writer, and when he's on top, as he is often throughout this book, he is untouchable. The Beargarden is astonishing, and has anyone ever written about so many different wastrels and made them all unique? Georgina and her brother Dolly could make a novel themselves. Poor Marie....desperate to be loved. Very touching stuff.

But the main story gets lost under so much weight that the overall novel loses its focus and just stunbles to a number of unconvincing conclusions. My favorite book is He Knew He Was Right. The sub-plots there enhance the story, and the characters are more vivid and less simplistic.

If you're here after the PBS series, note please...that series is adapted from this novel. There is a lot missing and a lot changed (all to the worse, I would argue). If you are new to Trollope, I would suggest The Palliser series or HKHWR. This is much less worth the time, though still a sparkling read with brilliant flashes.

Anti-Semitism? People are too touchy. The characters are certainly narrow-minded bigots, but Trollope himself is clear and potent. The "old, fat Jew" is among the most noble, most intelligent, and touching characters in Trollope. A gentleman, a sincere man, and one touched by the ugliness of his world but rising majestically above it.