On the BBC’s Big Read Poll of the UK’s Best-Loved Books
An Electric Literature selection of 9 Toxic Friendships in Literature
“Which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire? or, having it, is satisfied?”
Generally considered to be Thackeray’s masterpiece, Vanity Fair is a resplendent social satire that exposes the greed and corruption raging in England during the turmoil of the Napoleonic
wars. Subtitled A Novel without a Hero, it traces the changing fortunes of two unforgettable women: the scheming opportunist Becky Sharp—one of literature’s most resourceful, engaging, and
amoral heroines—and her foil, the faithful but naïve Amelia Sedley. Amid the swirl of London’s posh ballrooms and affairs of love and war, their fortunes rise and fall. Thackeray’s subversive,
comic attack on the hypocrisy and “dismal roguery” of an avaricious world still resonates, more than 150 years later, with implications for our own times.
Editorial Reviews
Editorial Reviews
“The Ur-text of toxic female friendship, and the template for fictive female
relationships from Gone With the Wind
to Gossip Girl, the
story of a sweet — but dim — heiress and her ruthlessly amoral social-striving
best friend takes our two, deeply different heroines, through the whirlwind of
Napoleonic War-era England. While Amelia Sedley marries an undeserving cad but
closes her eyes to the truth, Becky Sharp remains flint-eyed: sleeping and
conniving her way to the top of the social heap. The novel’s final image: the
two women meeting on opposite sides of the titular charity-fair-table, their
diverging paths through life rendering them ultimately equal, challenges us to
wonder what way is best.” —Electric Literature
“Vanity Fair, though it does not include the whole extent of Thackeray’s genius, is the most vigorous exhibition of its leading characteristics…There is not a person in the book who excites the reader's respect, and not one who fails to excite his interest.” —Atlantic
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863) was born and educated to be a gentleman but gambled away much of his fortune while at Cambridge. He trained as a lawyer before turning to
journalism. He was a regular contributor to periodicals and magazines and Vanity Fair was serialised in Punch in 1847–8.
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Details
Details
Format:
CD
Format:
Library CD
Format:
MP3 CD
Available Formats :
CD, Library CD, MP3 CD
Category:
Fiction/Classics
Publisher:
Blackstone Publishing
Publisher:
Blackstone Publishing
Publisher:
Blackstone Publishing
CDs:
23
CDs:
23
CDs:
2
Runtime:
29.86
ISBN:
9781441741394
ISBN:
9781441741370
ISBN:
9781441741400
Audience:
Adult
Language:
English
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