Doesn't disappoint

Hooray for Audible for adding this and Doctor Thorne to their library. Simon Vance does a nice job reading. If you are new to Trollope, you are better off reading the Barsetshire series in order for a full appreciation of some of the secondary characters in this novel. Start with The Warden.

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A delight

Trollope is an author who specializes in fine irony, and so it takes a particularly skilled reader to convey that tone without overdoing it. Vance is perfect. Although it may take a while to becoming involved in the story -- which at first seems like a trivial matter of a rural parson deciding to visit a duke's house despite the wishes of his straitlaced patroness -- the stakes grow ever higher, a love interest emerges and one of literature's great scoundrels appears. Soon enough, you'll be laughing out loud and looking for excuses to get back in the car and hear a little more.

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Warning: Highly Addictive

The Chronicles of Barsetshire should, as the heroine of this story suggests about a certain male character, come with a warning label. It would read something like: “DANGER: These novels will not cause drowsiness. May be taken with alcohol. Side effects include laughter, tears, utter delight and a complete inability to stop listening”.

According to Wikipedia,Trollope described this fourth Barsetshire tale this way: "The story was thoroughly English. There was a little fox-hunting and a little tuft-hunting, some Christian virtue and some Christian cant. There was no heroism and no villainy. There was much Church, but more love-making." But that hardly does justice to the delights of this story.

Foremost of these is that, being the fourth of the series, Trollope has now established enough characters and enough geography (even going so far as to opine that he may have to make a map for our easy reference) that men and women from previous volumes begin to weave in and out of this story. The good Doctor Thorne is back, as is the good-hearted (if somewhat loud) Miss Dunstable. The Archdeacon and his family also figure prominently, as do the present incumbent at the episcopal palace in Barchester, along with the real power behind his throne, the Bishopess Mrs. Proudie. Even Mr. Nearthewinde and Doctor Fillgrave have cameos. The whole effect, as with Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County or P. G. Wodehouse’s England, is to make us feel we have stepped into a perfectly three-dimensional world. I was delighted to find out, for example, that Frank and Mary Gresham were happy together after everything they had undergone in the previous story. Trollope is a master at creating characters one cannot help caring about. Even Nathaniel Sowerby, the closest thing we have here to a villain, does not merit our complete, heartfelt opprobrium.

Another aspect of these novels that make them so dangerously addictive is, I think, the underlying good humor of Trollope’s style and outlook. I find myself smiling as I listen, and wanting to get back to Barsetshire whenever I’m not listening. And Simon Vance expresses that sly, knowing, yet not cynical humor to perfection.

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wonderful

Trollope is always a delight and the narrator here is terrific. Let's have more Trollope audible!

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Could not hope for better

Trollope, of course is wonderful, and the reader is absolutely marvelous. I look forward to hearing more works by him.

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Another Chapter

Framley Parsonage, the penultimate book in the Barsetshire Chronicles, covers familiar territory and brings back a number of characters from earlier novels: Dr. Thorne, his niece Mary (now Mary Gresham), Miss Dunstable (whom I was particularly glad to meet again), the Grantleys and the Arabins, for starters. Of course, new characters also appear, primarily the Ludlows and the Robartses, and the setting shifts between rural towns and London.

While I enjoyed this novel, I need a Trollope break before going on to the final installment. I feel a bit overloaded with snobbish mothers who come between their sons and the worthy but common young women they love, male golddiggers trolling for wives, and cads who bring their friends to financial ruin.

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A triumph!

Simon Vance reads flawlessly, evoking each of the many characters through subtle accents and various inflections. You could not ask for better. And the story is, as Trollope's always are, full of the human circus and all its foibles. Is it possible to tire of Trollope? I haven't yet. Poignant and laugh aloud funny, with endlessly recognizable characters, full of pride, love, greed, hope, asininity, clearsightedness, you name it. You're included. Everyone gets their just rewards, or punishment, and all the fun is getting there. One of the best.

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What more can I say? It's Trollope

I just love Anthony Trollope. Oh, and Miss Dunstable! All of these characters have become my friends, especially with Simon Vance as the voice of Trollope.

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Hmmm...

I adore Trollope, and have loved his characters and their story lines throughout the Barsetshire series. Sadly, the goings on of Framley Parsonage seem to be direct pickups from its predecessors with none of the tension needed to support the weight. We have the haughty town matriarch attempting to control her son's romances and an ambitious but well-meaning clergyman (and absolutely everything else), the self-indulgent local lord convincing others to assume his debts, and the plain, sensible girl trying to navigate the treacherous courtship rituals of the time. We also get to revisit Grantlys and a bit of Mrs. Proudie, but neither come with their previous bluster or righteous melodrama. The problem is the lack of any real story arc or conflict set up. We simply wander from one piece of drawing room dialog to another, occasionally broken by Mr. Trollope's fantastical rants which want to borrow drama from Greek mythology rather than create it himself. While we hope Lucy Robarts finds love and Mr. Sowerby is shut down, there are no particular heroes or villains. Result: we don't especially care what happens to any of them. If you've read the first few books, I think you can skip this one without losing a bit of continuity.

My first Anthony Trollope book

A few decades ago, when I was in my 20s I decided to try reading a classic novel for pleasure (as opposed for a school assignment). My first go at this was A Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. I loved it and from that point forward I have tried to read a few classic (mostly British) novels every year. One of the things I especially loved about A Women in White was its portrayal of strong and intelligent women despite it being written in 1859 by a man. It made me realize that feminism was alive and well even back then and that (some) men recognized that women had more value than simply as housekeepers and baby makers. Framley Parsonage falls into that same category. While the plot is not nearly as riveting as Mr. Collins' book, it does, nonetheless have several smart, powerful, and independent women in it. In fact, I might say that this book is about how women are really the ones that get things done - and not just housework.
My favorite character, by far, is Miss Dunstable. She is not beautiful or young but she's funny, smart and wealthy and its very fun to listen in on her snarky conversations with people.
The book is about the folly of young men, the independence of women, the danger of debt, and the politics of Britain. And for you romantics, there's a few romances thrown in the mix. The first chapter or two are a bit hard to digest and I worried I wouldn't be able to get into the book. But you can more or less skim these chapters and not miss anything too important. They are mostly about introducing the various players and locales so you can always go back to them if needed.
A note about the narrator: Simon Vance. I have listened to several of his narratives (mostly Dickens) and he never fails to disappoint. He makes the wordy 19th century English so much more understandable and enjoyable. If you're hesitant to start reading any of these British classics, start one by listening and pick one narrated by the talented Mr. Vance.