Vanity Fair -- William Makepeace Thackeray [Book Review] [Spoilers]

This incisive 1848 caricature of society still offers modern readers plenty of food for thought.
0:00 Intro
2:06 The ever-present narrator
6:37 A tale of two women
9:45 Products of circumstance and society
12:10 A rigged game
13:09 Delightfully flawed characters
22:09 Outro
=======================
Suggested Videos:
Meonicorn (The Bookish Land) -- • VANITY FAIR by William...
Alana Estelle -- • Book Review: Vanity Fa...
Isabel’s Digest -- • Why you should read Va...
Davood Gozli on “deathbed scenes” in Don Quixote and in general -- • Part 3 on Don Quixote ...

[@58christiansful]

Superb review - one of your most in-depth peceptive - and most entertaining.

[@ManWhoLovesTheMary]

You made a lot of amazing points. Vanity Fair is such a complex novel; originally being a series no doubt had a lot to do with it. So commentaries like this help me significantly.

[@mikegseclecticreads]

Thanks Matthew! Yes, it's definitely the type of novel where I could see it being helpful and enjoyable having to just read one section at a time and then wait for the next one to come out. I guess I've never really experienced a novel in this way before (aside from modern series where an entire book is released at a time).

[@58christiansful]

A very happy year to you! Looking forward to more of your excellent book reviews in 24!

[@mikegseclecticreads]

Thanks, happy new year to you too! Going to put up a video my best reads of 2023 sometimes this week -- ran into some slight technical difficulties yesterday but I think everything is in order now.

[@58christiansful]

@@mikegseclecticreads What about the promised Cat Among the Pigeons??

[@58christiansful]

@@mikegseclecticreads Also perhaps your worst reads? That’s always more fun.

[@mikegseclecticreads]

@@58christiansful I swear it's next (after best of 2023 that is) 😂 I fast-tracked my "Old Man and the Sea" review just because I was using it to test-run recording with a new computer before recording my best of 2023 video.

[@DavoodGozli]

Your enthusiasm for this novel is wonderfully expressed in this video, which is in part a celebration of the community of readers and commentators who have been gathering around this book and collaboratively interpreting it and delighting in it.

[@alanaestelle2076]

I read Vanity Fair earlier this year and enjoyed it as well. Becky is such a savage 😂 Excellent review! And thank you for linking my review!!

[@58christiansful]

Wonderful in-depth analysis! Certain scenes are memorable - but sadly beaucoup de tedium as well. It is too long. Have you seen any of the film/tv adaptations?

[@mikegseclecticreads]

Not yet -- are there any you'd recommend? I was thinking at the time about watching the 2018 edition, not sure why I never did but could be worth watching this year.

[@58christiansful]

@@mikegseclecticreads I have a fondness for the 1967 bbc tv series - but the 2008 film with Reece Witherspoon as Becky is fine too.