The Way We Live Now
Edition: New Ed edition
Publisher: Modern Library
Published: March 5, 1996
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 825
ISBN-13: 9780679601838
Subjects: 19th century fiction; Modern fiction; London (England); Trollope, Anthony, 1815-1882; Literature - Classics / Criticism; Fiction; Satire; Essays; General; Fiction / General; Angleterre; Capitalists and financiers; Commercial crimes; Investisseurs; Londres; Romans, nouvelles, etc
Description: "Trollope did not write for posterity," observed Henry James. "He wrote for the day, the moment; but these are just the writers whom posterity is apt to put into its pocket." Considered by contemporary critics to be Trollope's greatest novel, The Way We Live Now is a satire of the literary world of London in the 1870s and a bold indictment of the new power of speculative finance in English life. "I was instigated by what I conceived to be the commercial profligacy of the age," Trollope said.

His story concerns Augustus Melmotte, a French swindler and scoundrel, and his daughter, to whom Felix Carbury, adored son of the authoress Lady Carbury, is induced to propose marriage for the sake of securing a fortune. Trollope knew well the difficulties of dealing with editors, publishers, reviewers, and the public; his portrait of Lady Carbury, impetuous, unprincipled, and unswervingly devoted to her own self-promotion, is one of his finest satirical achievements.
Notes: Modern Library