Customer Reviews

Phineas Finn: The Irish Member (Oxford World's Classics)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

PHINEAS FINN is a book of many virtues and one unfortunate flaw. The flaw lies in the ending, of which I can say nothing here without giving away a bit of the plot. Let me just say that the ending is a bit of a "tack on." Trollope himself confessed in his AUTOBIOGRAPHY that he botched the ending, and explains that when he decided to write a second novel starring Phineas Finn, he awkwardly had to correct the mistakes he made in the ending of the previous book.

The virtues of the book lie in part in its presentation of the social complexities of the British upper class in 1860s. While a political history of the period could explain the various ins and outs of the major pieces of legislation dealt with at the time, Trollope shows us how many individuals at the time actually felt about these issues from the inside. In this way, Trollope performs a service that no historian ever could. Virtually all the major political figures of the time, from Gladstone to Disraeli appear under thinly veiled aliases.

But the true heart of the book is Trollope's great characters. I absolutely love Jane Austen. She is one of my two or three favorite writers. But sometimes I find the enormous propriety of her characters to be a tad tiring. In these way her characters, as magnificent as they otherwise might be, sometimes seem a little less than fully human. Trollope's characters, on the other hand, often fail to act with complete propriety. They do improper things, and feel improper emotions. Our hero falls in love with one woman, then another, feels attraction to another, and falls in love with yet another, and in general fails in his role as a great romantic hero. A woman marries someone she doesn't love, yet retains feelings for another, and suffers from the threat of a bad marriage. Another woman is attracted to two men, and must decide which. Two close friends love the same woman. I find all this emotional complexity to be extremely compelling.

Trollope's most compelling and interesting characters are nearly all female. In the book, Lord Chiltern seems cardboardish and unbelievable, the title character likable but not terribly vivid. But whenever Lady Laura, or Madame Goesler, or Violet Effingham take the stage, the novel comes to life. This is not unique to this novel. In nearly all his books, Trollope's most compelling characters are female.

If we could give half stars, I would give this one four and a half stars because of the weak ending. But I will stick with five rather than four, partly because the rest of the book easily makes up for the weakish ending, and one can view the excellent PHINEAS REDUX as the real ending of the novel. Either way, I heartily recommend the novel.

Recently, a personal tragedy resulted in a rare hiatus in my reading. In attempting to return to normal, I found the only author that suited (and soothed) me was Anthony Trollope. As an English major at Dartmouth, I never encountered his works, and none were on the required reading list; yet now, there are few writers who can "embed" me in their world so easily as Trollope.

This is the second of the Palliser series of six novels, the first of which was CAN YOU FORGIVE HER? Although it is not a prerequisite to understanding PHINEAS FINN, I recommend that readers start at the beginning, so that they have some idea of British parliamentary politics in the mid 19th century and the characters of Plantagenet Palliser, his wife Lady Glencora and their circle.

To begin with, there was at that time no monetary recompense for being a member of the House of Commons. The assumption was that: (1) the member was independently wealthy or (2) the member had a day job which paid his bills. This becomes an overriding issue in the novel.

Enter Phineas Finn, an engaging Irishman, who gives up the practice of law to run for an Irish seat in the House -- much to the consternation of his friends and relatives who worry how he is to make ends meet. He joins in with a group of Liberal politicians centered around Lord Beresford and his beautiful daughter, Lady Laura Standish. No sooner does Phineas get up the courage to propose to her than he finds he has been beaten to the punch by a wealthy Scottish member, who happens to be a dour and rigid Presbyterian.

Next he targets Violet Effingham, who has an on-again, off-again relationship with Lord Chiltern, the brother of Lady Laura. In targeting Violet, Phineas runs up against the choleric Chiltern, whose "red hair is no lie," to quote one of my favorite lines in THE QUIET MAN. The two actually fight a duel across the Channel on a Belgian beach with no serious injory to either party. But Violet makes up her mind for Lord Chiltern, and Phineas is out in the cold again.

As Phineas eventually makes it into the Treasury, which does carry some salary, he meets a beautiful wealthy Jewess named Mme Max Goesler, who has some feelings for him. Unfortunately, he had fallen under the tutelage of Mr. Monk, another Liberal politican who runs up against the prevailing political winds in the house. Not only does Phineas become a victim for his principles, but the Liberals are voted out; and Phineas is out of a job and flat broke.

He returns to Ireland, marries an old childhood sweetheart, and gets a sinecure position in Cork as the Tories busily redraw the political map under Disraeli (called Daubeny in the novel).

In addition to being a charmer -- though a bit feckless at times -- Phineas finds himself liked wherever he goes. Mind you, not enough to nab a beautiful, wealthy wife -- but there is a sequel to come called PHINEAS REDUX, which I am reading now, in which Phineas makes a comeback in his old haunts.

As in all of my favorite Trollope novels, there are the obligatory fox hunting scenes, including one in which Phineas helps save Lord Chiltern, whose horse rolls over on him. He even saves the life of Mr Kennedy, Lady Laura's husband, by driving away some muggers. There is something sunny about the title character, and this quality shines throughout the novel.

Anthony Trollope wrote some 47 novels: This one is one of the best, and will certainly make for an enjoyable read.

The chances are that "Phineas Finn" will not be the first or the second or even the third Trollope novel that you read. Several Barsetshire novels and "The Way We Live Now" are likely to get pride of place. This is probably fair enough. But that fact says more about the merits of the other books than of any defect in "Phineas Finn." It isn't perfect, but it is a very satisfying novel, indeed - perhaps the best "political" novel since Disraeli's "Sybil," It is "political," that is, not in the sense that it tackles big issues, as "Sybil" does - "Phineas Finn" gives a once-over to voting rights, tenant rights and the Irish but it's all somewhat perfunctory. No: it is "political" in the sense that it is about the lives and fortunes of a public man, and of those who offer help or hindrance on the way.

The core elements of the plot are fairly familiar: callow youth sets out to conquer the world and finds out that it's trickier than it looks. Impetuous young woman enters into marriage full of high hopes only to find out that she is stuck with a bad deal. But then, you don't read Shakespeare for plot. I wouldn't say that Trollope is Shakespeare. Still, it is impressive how much by way of character and situation both writes can milk out of a structure that is almost haphazard.

Other commentators have also noted that the ending to "Phineas Finn" is weak, but I don't see that as a crippling vice: I'm hard put to think of a really good novel whose ending is not weak.

One of the many notable facts about the cast of characters is its great range: we have the home folk in Ireland. We have a marvelous portrait of Finn's landlord, the law-copyist, and his employer, the successful barrister - in each case, along with their wives. We have a narrow-minded country squire and a feckless young playboy. And we have a sketch, brief and incomplete but still convincing, of the grandest peer in the realm.

Aside from the sheer breadth of reach, the other thing to be said about the cast is the extraordinary range of interesting women. Phineas, devil that he may be, catches the fancy of at least one back home in Ireland and three more in London. Trollope is often good with women and here in particular he shows remarkable sympathy and comprehension of what they are up against. And not least of the three is, of course, the remarkable Madame Max Goesler, who is surely in contention for recognition as the most remarkable Trollope character at all-for a lady named Max with a touch of a moustache, she is a Victorian sexpot.

It would be fun to read this in comparison with Henry Adams' "Democracy" another novel of politics in more or less the same period, though on another continent. Meantime, I'm clearing time to read the rest of Trollope's "political" novels, in the hope that he maintains the high standard that he has set here.

I find it hard to explain my fondness for Trollope to my friends - one of them, an ex-English major, makes gagging sounds when I talk about my love for long, Victorian novels. I guess you have to have patience, and like long, drawn-out books that can take months to read (I do.) I didn't love Phineas Finn in the same way that I loved Barchester Towers - a book I wished never ended - but it's still enjoyable. One hallmark of Trollope's style is to make long digressions into the lives of characters - some of them not central to the book- but that is what makes him interesting to me. Phineas Finn is nominally about the rise to power and the fall from power in Parliament of a young Irishman. It also concerns his search for "love" (or at least a woman who will marry him), and it goes into the travails of several of the female characters. The one part that American readers may have difficulty with is the details of Parliament and how it works - I was very confused by it. But, all in all, I enjoyed the book. For me, reading Trollope is like looking into a very detailed snowglobe - there's a whole little world going on there that you can just sit back and watch. Trollope sometimes speaks directly to the "dear Reader", which may put some off, but which I find charming. He also has a very subtle humor that shows up in his comments about certain of the characters.

Phineas Finn, the hero (if he can be called that), is a young Irishman who gets elected to Parliament at the age of 25 and enjoys a spectacular rise, although he lacks money, title, and social position. His assets are extreme good looks, sincerity, a modest but confident charm, and lots of luck.

The most interesting parts of the plot deal with his relationships with 4 women: little Mary Flood Jones, his childhood sweetheart back in Ireland; Lady Laura Standish Kennedy, who takes a special interest in the new MP and helps to further his career; Violet Effingham, as rich as she is beautiful; and Mme. Marie Max Goesler, a very wealthy widow, beautiful, intelligent, and very interesting (my personal favorite). Phineas proposes to 3 of these women and receives a direct proposal from the other.

The portions of the plot dealing with parliamentary business may be a bit mystifying to those who know little about the British governmental system or Victorian history, but this is a good place to add to your education. Some consider "Phineas Finn" to be the most tedious of the Palliser series; however, I found it fascinating throughout.

Graham Greene writes in one of his novels of a troubled person who relaxes from work-related stress by reading Anthony Trollope on the weekends. Why? Nothing happens. The writing is peaceful, serene, and very proper.

"Phineas Finn" is the second volume in the famous "Palliser" series, and it is a typical Anthony Trollope novel. Trollope's style is so refined and polished that one really doesn't mind reading a 700+ page book just to learn of the commonplace events that serve the purpose of plot and character development in his novels. This book will not give one any great insight into the human mind or soul, but it will entertain with its delightful description of Victorian manners and morals. As seems typical of many 19th century English novels the triumvirate of love, marriage, and money drives the main events of the story. The mating dance of love is primly and at times ironically portrayed as it plays out in drawing rooms, dinner parties, and visits to country estates. Phineas Finn, upon completing his education, is offered the opportunity to run for Parliament, and gets elected. Considerable space in the novel is dedicated to the nuts and bolts of 19th century British politics (a possible drawback for contemporary American readers). Members of the House of Commons serve their districts without compensation. Phineas, alas, is not wealthy. This lack of personal wealth is the catalyst for many of Phineas' subsequent actions. Phineas embarks on a search for love, a suitable wife, and financial means. He is drawn to several women. Mary Flood Jones, Lady Laura Standish, Violet Effingham, and Madame Marie Goesler at different times engage his romantic interest. The most interesting of these women is Marie Goesler, an independently minded widow of means. She is German, her late husband was Austrian, and many of the stuffy Victorian rules about a woman's proper place don't suit her personality. As this is only the second volume of the Palliser series, we will see more of Madame Goesler. She has already enchanted the Duke of Omnium, an elderly nobleman who is Plantagenet Palliser's uncle. Palliser and his wife, Lady Glencora, are the main characters of the series, but only play a minor role in this book.

"Phineas Finn" has the delighful charm of a fine old painting or a piece of carefully preserved antique china. It's light weight, but entertaining. It charms with its grace. The pace is leisurely. Reading this novel is an escape in time to another world. A world apart from cell phones, cable TV, and all the rest of noisy modern life. One can quietly relax while dozing in the twilight of this peaceful book.

This Oxford World's Classics edition contains two appendices titled Explanatory Notes and Who's Who. Unfortunately, they give away plot developments not only for this book but also for sequels in the Palliser Novels, of which Can You Forgive Her? is the predecessor to this work. This seems altogether unforgivable, so I recommend you seek out another edition. The novel itself is quite good if you have a lot of time; I was looking forward to the sequels, but now that I know so much of what is going to happen...

All merits of the novel itself aside (and I did enjoy it very much), this edition seems to have been cobbled together either hastily or carelessly. It was full of errors in punctuation and spelling (including inconsistent spelling of characters' names) which I can hardly believe are the author's. It was a disappointment to me, especially given the fine tradition of the Everyman Library.

Also, the notes on the text, as is unfortunately so common, give away major plot points. I would strongly advise anyone reading for pleasure rather than scholarship skip the notes, or read them only once you've finished the book.

That said, Phineas Finn was a wonderful read. I began Trollope with Can You Forgive Her?, and while I did like it, I liked Phineas so much more. Unlike many male novelists of the period (especially those who were, as Trollope, embraced at the time), he demonstrates a sympathy for and understanding of the difficult choices presented to the women of his time, and does not shrink from presenting women who are intelligent, complex, and quite at home in the political world of London. Lady Laura Standish, Miss Violet Effingham, and Madame Max Goesler might each have been the heroines of their own novels--indeed, their complexities and the depths of their emotional and political lives throw Phineas's own lack of depth and complexity into relief. And by that I don't mean that Trollope nodded while writing his hero, but that he rather deftly endowed him with indifferent qualities as compared to the women his life.

I wouldn't give away the ending of the novel, but I confess I was a little disappointed in Phineas's final choice. Trollope was, after all, a Victorian gentleman, and perhaps he must be forgiven for wrapping up his hero's adventures in what seemed to me rather a prosaic way. I have yet to read Phineas Redux, and perhaps that sequel may redeem Mr. Finn yet.

This is possibly Trollope's most political novel (admittedly I have read only about 10% of his output). It deals with the mechanisms of British parliament in the 1860s: elections, rival parties, instable governments, cabinets, coalitions, whips, jockeying for places on the bench... And Reform!

And yet, this is a surprisingly un-political world insofar as most processes are people-oriented, not issue-oriented. The parties fight bitter feuds over nearly nothing, their basic positions are nearly identical, their leaders and speakers attack each other in deeply personal ways, but they fraternize privately. (It is not so in the US, says Trollope. There the leaders of parties really mean what they say when they abuse each other.)

Despite all the muddling through, and the lack of vision and material differences, some things did get done in the time: the Reform Bill, which is the key topic of the novel, did pass after all, enlarging the electorate. However the opposition might have passed just about the identical bill...

It had a sub-item, or rather it didn't include the popularly demanded `ballot', a rule which would have prescribed secret voting in parliament. This issue was hot enough to cause demonstrations and arrests. That's as heated as Trollopian politics have become in my reading experience. Dickens for sure was less shy about mixing with the masses.

We follow the parliamentary career of a naïve young MP from Ireland. Phineas Finn is one of the main characters of the Palliser novels, which follow British politics over the 1860s and 70s. Real life leaders seem to be recognizable under pseudonyms (like Gladstone or Disraeli), but most politicians are `characters'.

Finn has career aims as well as romantic ambitions. His problem is: he has no money. Also, he is honest, which reduces access routes. His strengths: looks, charm, a nice personality, an oratory gift... Finn is setting his sight on some unreachable amorous targets and has to admit defeat, but career wise, he succeeds better than expected. His mind is rather split about things. What comes easily can't be of much value. When he is at home in Ireland, he is quite a different person than among his mentors and foes in London. His career, which seemed on a safe trajectory, stalls when personal issues interfere with matters of political protection and alliance. He turns Irish again (to be resurrected from the Irish bogs in a later Palliser novel).

A group of strong upper class women provide a background of suffragette talk. Despite all the grand talk though, the dominating subject of personal interest is `who marries whom?' Upper class women marry reasonably. That's the ultimate situation; in the meantime, as one of the ladies says: danger and dangerous men are always more attractive than safety and safe men. In the end, reason generally dominates. Money makes the world go round, even among rich people. However happiness is not guaranteed. The danger loving lady settles for decency and money, and learns to regrets it.

What makes Trollope worth reading today? He knew his world and his people. He was a sharp observer of vanities and ambitions. Though institutions and social mores have changed over these nearly 150 years, basic psychology has not. For me his books are amusing and informative. His politics are rather tame and his existential concerns are not given to high drama.

His political world is oddly insular. References to places outside the UK are minimal. A young playboy had adventures in Paris, as it should be. The queen still asks her husband's teacher for advice, in Germany, years after Albert's death. A military supply scandal is investigated; it involves potted peas from Holstein. A populist leader is admiring whatever is done in the US (odd, in 1866?). Phineas becomes Undersecretary for the colonies and works on a Canadian railways project.

Not much internationalism, is it? Civil War in America, power struggles in Central Europe between Prussia and Austria, an upcoming war between France and Prussia, the mutiny in India just 10 years past... These don't signify, as Trollope likes to express it.

At least one of the smart young rich ladies knows: the real issue of the decade, and one that the politicians don't even talk about, is the need to furnish the navy with iron ships.

This is one of Trollope's more politically minded novels, but one that's no less enthralling for that focus. As others have noted, it revolves around the rapid ascendency of Phineas Finn, an Irish country doctor's son whose life is transformed when he wins a seat in Parliament. How Phineas deals with his sudden change in circumstances (or doesn't quite), and whether or not his moral fiber will begin to unravel accounts for the bulk of the story. Some wonderful new characters are introduced, including Madame Max Goesler, a charming widow of dubious provenance, and the Kennedys, a rather passionate, unbalanced couple with distinctly different opinions of our hero. It's all presented with tremendous style, humor and insight (this is Trollope, after all), and makes for delightful reading. Most importantly, it's a set-up for "Phineas Redux," which is, in my opinion, one of the greatest literary entertainments ever produced. So, by all means, dig in. If you haven't read Trollope before, this is the perfect place to start; if you have, and enjoy his writing, you won't be disappointed.