William Makepeace Thackeray

William Makepeace Thackeray's Books(18)

The Virginians

Literature

5.0

The Virginians by William Makepeace Thackeray

The Newcomes

Literature

5.0

The Newcomes by William Makepeace Thackeray

The History of Pendennis

Literature

5.0

The History of Pendennis by William Makepeace Thackeray

Catherine: A Story

Young Adult

5.0

Catherine: A Story was the first full-length work of fiction produced by William Makepeace Thackeray. It first appeared in serialized installments in Fraser's Magazine between May 1839 and February 1840. Thackeray's original intention in writing it was to criticize the Newgate school of crime fiction, exemplified by Bulwer-Lytton and Harrison Ainsworth, whose works Thackeray felt glorified criminals.

The History of Samuel Titmarsh, and The Great Hoggarty Diamond

Literature

5.0

William Makepeace Thackeray was one of the mid-19th century's most popular authors, and this is one of his famous works, which is still widely read today.

The History of Henry Esmond, Esq., a Colonel in the Service of Her Majesty Queen Anne

Literature

5.0

William Makepeace Thackeray was one of the mid-19th century's most popular authors, and this is one of his famous works, which is still widely read today.

Henry Esmond; The English Humourists; The Four Georges

Literature

5.0

We know exceedingly little of the genesis and progress of Esmond. "It did not seem to be a part of our lives as Pendennis was," says Lady Ritchie, though she wrote part of it to dictation. She "only heard Esmond spoken of very rarely". Perhaps its state was not the less gracious. The Milton girls found Paradise Lost a very considerable part of their lives—and were not the happier. But its parallels are respectable. The greatest things have a way of coming "all so still" into the world. We wrangle—that is, those of us who are not content simply not to know—about the composition of Homer, the purpose of the Divina Commedia, the probable plan of the Canterbury Tales, the Ur-Hamlet. Nobody put preliminary advertisements in the papers, you see, about these things: there was a discreditable neglect of the first requirements of the public. So it is with Esmond. There is, I thought, a reference to it in the Brookfield letters; but in several searches I cannot find it. To his mother he speaks of the book as "grand and melancholy", and to Lady Stanley as of "cut-throat melancholy". It is said to have been sold for a thousand pounds—the same sum that Master Shallow lent Falstaff on probably inferior security. Those who knew thought well of it—which is not wholly surprising.

The Tremendous Adventures of Major Gahagan

Literature

5.0

Classic short novel. According to Wikipedia: "Thackeray is most often compared to one other great novelist of Victorian literature, Charles Dickens. During the Victorian era, he was ranked second only to Dickens, but he is now much less read and is known almost exclusively for Vanity Fair. In that novel he was able to satirize whole swaths of humanity while retaining a light touch. It also features his most memorable character, the engagingly roguish Becky Sharp. As a result, unlike Thackeray's other novels, it remains popular with the general reading public; it is a standard fixture in university courses and has been repeatedly adapted for movies and television. In Thackeray's own day, some commentators, such as Anthony Trollope, ranked his History of Henry Esmond as his greatest work, perhaps because it expressed Victorian values of duty and earnestness, as did some of his other later novels. It is perhaps for this reason that they have not survived as well as Vanity Fair, which satirizes those values."

Barry Lyndon

Literature

5.0

Barry Lyndon—far from the best known, but by some critics acclaimed as the finest, of Thackeray's works—appeared originally as a serial a few years before VANITY FAIR was written; yet it was not published in book form, and then not by itself, until after the publication of VANITY FAIR, PENDENNIS, ESMOND and THE NEWCOMES had placed its author in the forefront of the literary men of the day. So many years after the event we cannot help wondering why the story was not earlier put in book form; for in its delineation of the character of an adventurer it is as great as VANITY FAIR, while for the local colour of history, if I may put it so, it is no undistinguished precursor of ESMOND.

The Rose and the Ring

Romance

5.0

It happened that the undersigned spent the last Christmas season in a foreign city where there were many English children. In that city, if you wanted to give a child’s party, you could not even get a magic-lantern or buy Twelfth-Night characters — those funny painted pictures of the King, the Queen, the Lover, the Lady, the Dandy, the Captain, and so on — with which our young ones are wont to recreate themselves at this festive time.

Notes of a Journey From Cornhill to Grand Cairo

Adventure

5.0

After a voyage, during which the captain of the ship has displayed uncommon courage, seamanship, affability, or other good qualities, grateful passengers often present him with a token of their esteem, in the shape of teapots, tankards, trays, &c. of precious metal. Among authors, however, bullion is a much rarer commodity than paper, whereof I beg you to accept a little in the shape of this small volume. It contains a few notes of a voyage which your skill and kindness rendered doubly pleasant; and of which I don’t think there is any recollection more agreeable than that it was the occasion of making your friendship.

The Book of Snobs

Modern

5.0

We have all read a statement, (the authenticity of which I take leave to doubt entirely, for upon what calculations I should like to know is it founded?)— we have all, I say, been favoured by perusing a remark, that when the times and necessities of the world call for a Man, that individual is found. Thus at the French Revolution (which the reader will be pleased to have introduced so early), when it was requisite to administer a corrective dose to the nation, Robespierre was found; a most foul and nauseous dose indeed, and swallowed eagerly by the patient, greatly to the latter’s ultimate advantage: thus, when it became necessary to kick John Bull out of America, Mr. Washington stepped forward, and performed that job to satisfaction: thus, when the Earl of Aldborough was unwell, Professor Holloway appeared with his pills, and cured his lordship, as per advertisement, &c. &c.. Numberless instances might be adduced to show that when a nation is in great want, the relief is at hand; just as in the Pantomime (that microcosm) where when CLOWN wants anything — a warming-pan, a pump-handle, a goose, or a lady’s tippet — a fellow comes sauntering out from behind the side-scenes with the very article in question.

The Newcomes

Modern

4.0

The Newcomes is Thackeray's most "Victorian" novel, generous in its proportions, sharp in its criticism of the morality of the age, and encyclopedic in its reference. Set in the 1830s and 1840s, a period of rapid change and of political and economic development, the novel considers thefortunes and misfortunes of a respectable extended middle-class family. At its center is Thomas Newcome, whose distinctive but old-fashioned gentlemanliness stands from the self-seeking society in which he lives. The most observant and witty of Thackeray's novels, The Newcomes is also among hismost complex and allusive, and this edition provides full and detailed notes that clarify many of his references.

The Memoirs of Mr. Charles J. Yellowplush

Modern

4.5

I was born in the year one, of the present or Christian hera, and am, in consquints, seven-and-thirty years old. My mamma called me Charles James Harrington Fitzroy Yellowplush, in compliment to several noble families, and to a sellybrated coachmin whom she knew, who wore a yellow livry, and drove the Lord Mayor of London. Why she gev me this genlmn's name is a diffiklty, or rayther the name of a part of his dress; however, it's stuck to me through life, in which I was, as it were, a footman by buth. Praps he was my father -- though on this subjict I can't speak suttinly, for my ma wrapped up my buth in a mistry. I may be illygitmit, I may have been changed at nuss; but I've always had genlmnly tastes through life, and have no doubt that I come of a genlmnly origum. . . .

Roundabout Papers

Modern

4.0

I had occasion to pass a week in the autumn in the little old town of Coire or Chur, in the Grisons, where lies buried that very ancient British king, saint, and martyr, Lucius,1 who founded the Church of St. Peter, on Cornhill.

The History of Pendennis

Modern

4.0

TO DR. JOHN ELLIOTSON My Dear Doctor, Thirteen months ago, when it seemed likely that this story had come to a close, a kind friend brought you to my bedside, whence, in all probability, I never should have risen but for your constant watchfulness and skill. I like to recall your great goodness and kindness (as well as many acts of others, showing quite a surprising friendship and sympathy) at that time, when kindness and friendship were most needed and welcome. And as you would take no other fee but thanks, let me record them here in behalf of me and mine, and subscribe myself, Yours most sincerely and gratefully, W. M. THACKERAY.

The Newcomes

Literature

5.0

The Newcomes is Thackeray's most "Victorian" novel, generous in its proportions, sharp in its criticism of the morality of the age, and encyclopedic in its reference. Set in the 1830s and 1840s, a period of rapid change and of political and economic development, the novel considers thefortunes and misfortunes of a respectable extended middle-class family. At its center is Thomas Newcome, whose distinctive but old-fashioned gentlemanliness stands from the self-seeking society in which he lives. The most observant and witty of Thackeray's novels, The Newcomes is also among hismost complex and allusive, and this edition provides full and detailed notes that clarify many of his references.

Vanity Fair

Fantasy

5.0

Vanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in 1847–48, satirizing society in early 19th-century Britain. The book's title comes from John Bunyan's allegorical story The Pilgrim's Progress, first published in 1678 and still widely read at the time of Thackeray's novel. Vanity fair refers to a stop along the pilgrim's progress: a never-ending fair held in a town called Vanity, which is meant to represent man's sinful attachment to worldly things. The novel is now considered a classic, and has inspired several film adaptations.