The Kellys and the O'Kellys
3.5/5
()
Anthony Trollope
<p><b>Anthony Trollope</b> nació en Londres en 1815, hijo de un abogado en bancarrota y de Frances Trollope, que, tras fracasar montando un bazar en Cincinatti, escribió <i>Usos y costumbres de los americanos</i> (ALBA CLÁSICA núm. XLVIII), con la que inició una carrera literaria que le reportó fama y prosperidad económica. Anthony se educó en Harrow, Sunbury y Winchester, donde se sintió a disgusto entre los miembros de la aristocracia, y nunca llegó a la Universidad. En 1824 empezó a trabajar en el servicio de correos, donde permanecería hasta 1867. Tras siete años en Londres fue trasladado a Irlanda, y de ahí a nuevos destinos por el Reino Unido, Egipto y las Indias Occidentales.</p> <p>En 1847 publicó su primera novela, <i>The Macdermots of Ballycloran</i>, y en 1855 <i>El custodio</i>, la primera del ciclo ambientado en la mítica ciudad de Barchester (trasunto de Winchester) y en las intrigas políticas de su clero. Este ciclo lo consolidó como autor realista y le dio una gran popularidad. En 1864 inició con <i>Can You Forgive Her?</i> otro ciclo, el de las novelas de Palliser, en el que retrataría los entresijos de la vida política y matrimonial de los parlamentarios londinenses. En 1868 él mismo se presentó como candidato liberal a las elecciones, pero no fue elegido. Entre sus últimas obras cabe destacar <i>The Way We Live Now</i> (1875), una gran sátira del capitalismo. Murió en Londres en 1882.</p>
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Reviews for The Kellys and the O'Kellys
41 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Trollope's second novel, published in 1848, and not the breakthrough he was hoping for (that would only come with The Warden, seven years later). With hindsight, the middle of the great famine was a spectacularly tactless moment to publish a pleasant social comedy set in rural Ireland, and Trollope obviously didn't do himself any favours by setting the opening chapter in the public gallery at the 1844 trial of Daniel O'Connell — very much old news by 1848, as O'Connell had died in obscurity the previous year, and it also gave readers the misleading idea that this was going to be a political novel. The subtitle, "landlords and tenants", also promises a wider social range than the book actually delivers: the tenants in this case (the Kellys) are very middle-class, while the O'Kelly landlords are superficially-anglicised country squires, only a rung or so higher on the social ladder, and more or less level with their tenants economically.There are some signs of beginner's clumsiness — Martin Kelly's elder brother John, for instance, introduced in the opening pages as though he were a major character, but then never mentioned again — but overall Trollope gives us a very pleasant and readable story, with plenty of glimpses of what is to come. There's the splendid fox-hunting parson, Mr Armstrong, who through the absurdities of an established protestant church in a catholic country, has precisely one parishioner outside his own family (which is arranged along the lines of that of the future Parson Quiverfull). Or that gloriously dignified bear of very little brain, the Earl of Cashel, "ruling the world of nothingness around by the silent solemnity of his inertia". Or Mrs O'Kelly, "a very small woman, with no particularly developed character, and perhaps of no very general utility." We get a fox-hunting chapter, a lot of dialect, and far more detailed financial transactions than we could possibly want, but we all know that's part of the price we have to pay for enjoying Trollope, and put up with it. And there are some nice surprises, too. This is possibly the only place in Victorian fiction where a lawyer is significantly less dastardly than his client, for instance. And whilst Trollope uses the conventional idea of parallel "high" and "low" plots, he resists the temptation to play the low plot for laughs and give all the dignity to his upper-class characters: dignity and absurdity are even-handedly distributed on both sides of the social divide — and in any case, he wants us to see that the social divide in an Irish provincial setting is really much smaller than English readers would have imagined.Not mature Trollope, not a place to start if you haven't read him before, but good fun and definitely worth a look.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This early Trollope novel concerns two romances – that of Francis O’Kelly, Lord Ballindine, and Fanny Wyndham, and of Lord Ballindine’s tenant, Martin Kelly, and Anastasia “Anty” Lynch. At the instigation of her guardian, Lord Cashel, Fanny has broken off her engagement with Frank. Fanny is hurt that Frank seems to show more interest in race horses than in herself, not realizing that his apparent neglect is at least partly due to her guardian’s interference. It’s not smooth sailing for Martin and Anty, either. Anty’s father’s will gave her an equal share with her brother in their father’s estate. Barry Lynch will stop at nothing to get his hands on his sister’s inheritance.Trollope is already exploring themes that he will develop better in his Barsetshire and Palliser novels. This isn’t the place to start with Trollope, but it’s interesting to compare this with his later and better works to trace his development as an author.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I read this early Trollope novel with a group read led by Liz, always a rewarding experience. This is set in Ireland - different than I'm used to reading from Trollope, where I'm used to an English setting. There's a bit more mixing between the social spheres here. I also felt the characters were a little more one-sided than in Trollope's later novels. This novel revolves around two women, Fanny and Anty, who inherit large fortunes and therefore become the target of marriage. There is manipulation and threat from those who stand to benefit if they don't marry or marry differently than they would prefer. I liked this, and it's interesting to see the early seeds of Trollope's later excellence, but I wouldn't say it is quite present yet. Enjoyable, certainly, but most likely to be enjoyed by those with a good grounding in Trollope already.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Comedy-melodrama written early in Trollope's career, and set in the Ireland of early 1844 (i.e., just before the Great Hunger). The plot revolves around two separate cases where men are eyeing marriage to heiresses, in spite of competition (a lord that wants, in effect, a bailout of his scapegrace son, and a greedy elder brother). Pretty much what you'd expect from the plot, with a lot of tears, and emotional words, but what saves this is the setting, which evokes the Ireland of just before, as I say, the Great Hunger, and just before the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy was to start to lose its power. The way Trollope transliterates Irish English might be "stage Irishmen" to some, though many of the phrases he uses are the authentic thing (and were still in use in 20th century Ireland). The grasping nature of (some) Irish peasants is also true to life, based on what has been told to me by my family. A very readable early work, though not for everyone.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5At first you think this is going to be book about the Repealers' trial of 1844, but as soon as you have read the explanatory notes and worked out what the Repeal movement was all about, Trollope largely abandons the poor repealers and settles down to the love lives of Martin Kelly, a Catholic farmer, and Lord Ballandine, Martin's Protestant landlord (and the O'Kelly of the title). Martin is courting Anastasia Lynch, who is older than him and has unexpectedly inherited some money from her father on his death. This makes Anastasia's brother Barry furious (he expected to inherit everything) and she escapes from his abuse to move in with Martin's mother and sisters. The plot line concerning Barry's evil and unscrupulous scheming is fairly entertaining, but Anastasia herself is a strangely insubstantial character. She is at times a) petrified of her brother believing whatever he tells her, b) wise enough to keep hold of her inheritance, c) loving to her brother and concerned for his salvation, d) determined to leave him all her money after he scares her (almost literally) to death. I did not feel that her character was consistent and fully drawn. Martin's mother, on the other hand, was excellent and very believable.Lord Ballandine does not see his fiancee (Fanny) at all until the final chapters as her guardian keeps them apart. While Fanny is fairly well fleshed out, I found Frank also to be a bit shadowy and inconsistent. The plot by her guardian to have his dissolute son court Fanny was one of the most successful parts of the story for me. The two strands (Martin and Frank) were only loosely connected and the switches between the two parts of the story were somewhat abrupt - I tended to forget what had happened in the other half by the time we returned to it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kellys and the O'Kellys starts awfully slowly - you have to plow (or plough) through a couple of chapters on Irish politics which were probably of high interest in their day but are of none now. You should just skim them, with no harm done to the rest of the story. The parallel love stories are handled well. The novel has some of the sharpest dialogue I've yet encountered in Trollope - reminded me of the best exchanges in Barchester Towers. Trollope had an extraordinary gift for dialogue - none of the flowery 19th century declamations that become excruciating - and he was at his best when his characters "go into battle." He captures the flavor and snap of Irish repartee without descending into mockery, which is no mean feat for a writer of his era or ours.. Plus there's a terrific villain (boo, hiss!) and good pacing (after those intro chapters). While this novel is often dismissed as "early Trollope" I think it better than a good number of subsequent efforts (such as The Belton Estate or Castle Richmond).