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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
No doom and gloom in this Victorian novel., 2 Nov 2004
Although its principal character, Mr Harding, the Warden of Barchester, suffers abject misery and extreme anxiety during most of this novel, the reader of "The Warden" will enjoy one of the happiest, richest and warmest experiences to be gained from the whole of English Literature. Untypically short, yet three years in the making, "The Warden" has a simple structure that Trollope utlized again and again. Take a moral dilemma of some sort, one that provides endless pros and cons to be argued, one that possibly takes many hundreds of pages to resolve, explore is social, political and financial implications, and show how it touches the lives of characters not too unlike ourselves. The dilemma here concerns the income of Septimus Harding, the Warden of Barchester. Under the terms of a will, dated 1434, twelve superannuated woolcarders were to be accommodated in an almshouse, receiving one shilling and fourpence per day. A residence was to be provided for a warden who was to receive the income from the remainder of the testator's property. Now, more than 400 years later, there seems to be an imbalance in these depositions. The almshouse inmates continue to receive only one shilling and fourpence, while the warden, living on the proceeds of some valuable properties, receives eight hundred pounds annually and the use of the warden's house. The dilemma faces a young Barchester surgeon, John Bold. If he allows the imbalance to continue, the wishes of the original benefactor, he believes, are being nullified. If he succeeds in having the warden's comfortable living discontinued, he will lose forever the possibility of making the warden's daughter his wife. And so the issue is taken up, argued and publicized. As Anthony Trollope reveals in his autobiography, this tiny novel was successful enough (it earned him twenty pounds) to lead him to consider writing more of the same, and he soon began "Barchester Towers". English actor Sir Nigel Hawthorne, brilliant as Archdeacon Grantly in a memorable TV adaptation of this novel, revisits Trollope's Barchester to provide a robust, opulent, complete and unabridged reading that no Trollope enthusiast should miss hearing.
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Warden - the introductory novel to a great series, 9 Jul 2003
The Warden follows the story of Mr Harding, a cleric who is warden of Hiram's Hospital, a charitable home for twelve men who are no longer able to work. A local man, John Bold, is campaigning against corruption in the Church of England. He challenges the high income that the warden receives from the hospital (as a result of increased profits over the years from the estate which supports it, the hospital has more income than the gentleman who set up the charity ever envisaged). He feels more of the money should go to the twelve men themselves. Mr Harding is a good man caught up in a scandal not of his own making, and wrestles with his conscience, his loyalty to the church, and the defensive stance taken by the Archdeacon, his son-in-law.The Warden is the first, and certainly not the best book in the Barchester Chronicles series, but it does display Trollope's easy to read style of narration, and the subtle humour that underlies it. The storyline is perhaps a bit slower than in the later books, and some of the interesting characters have yet to appear. The series is written in such a way that you could probably pick up any of the books and enjoy them as a single novel. Having said that, I think you would miss something special if you don't read the whole series. It is the characters that he creates in their own unique setting that makes Trollope's work worth reading, and to follow their development through each book makes the whole series far more satisfying than just one book. The other books in the series are Barchester Towers, Dr Thorne, Framley Parsonage, The Small House at Allington and the Last Chronicle of Barset.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good old-fashioned story, 7 Jan 2008
I stumbled on Trollope's novels by sheer coincidence, until very recently he was to me what he apparently is to many: a largely forgotten Victorian novelist (one, however, who seems to be enjoying a well-earned revival lately). I decided to go about things in an orderly manner and start with his Barchester-chronicles of which 'The Warden' is the first novel.
And a delightful novel it is too! Contrary to what we've perhaps come to expect from a present-day 'good' novel nothing much really happens: Mr. Harding, an elderly priest and warden of an almshouse in (the fictional cathedral town) Barchester, suddenly finds himself in the eye of a public storm when a leading newspaper - instigated by his own future son-in-law - claims he is misappropriating funds meant for charity. What follows is the profound soul-searching of Mr. Harding as to whether or not he is guilty of such a fact.
'The Warden' throws you right back into an age with completely different mores and morals, and yet has a relevancy for our current day and age. Mr. Harding is - to our 21st century eyes - so utterly innocent, naive and well-meaning as to seem almost a dinosaur, but on the other hand you cannot help but think that the world would probably be better of if there were a few more Mr. Hardings around.
The writing is delightful, though what happens to Mr. Harding is not, and there is that undefinable something in Trollope's style and handling of the subject that draws you in and keeps you turning pages, sympathizing with Mr. Harding's plight (at least, that's what I felt) and wishing him well.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and will definitely continue with the next novel in the Barchester-chronicles.
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