El custodio (1855)

Good but over long and detailed,except the ending which is rather the opposite ( )

So antique--but in a good way. Somehow that 19th C. venality seems less toxic and things can come right in the end, not perfectly but adequately. The humor is mild but Trollope's eye for human psychology is clear. Our hero's refusal to be dishonored is rather striking in our day when Dishonor R Us. On to Barchester Towers. And, guess what: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/04/trollope-trending
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Re-reading this after a long time made me remember the wonderful TV adaptation of 1982, probably one of the best small-screen adaptations ever of a classic. Covering the next book, Barchester Towers, as well, the castings were perfect. Donald Pleasance, who normally played baddies, was a wonderful, gentle whimsical Mr Harding. Janet Maw was lovely as his daughter, Nigel Hawthorne at his most bombastic as Archdeacon Grantly, and Donald's daughter Angela Pleasance as Mrs Grantly: "Oh, Archdeacon!" The bishop's scheming wife was Geraldine McEwan, and who could forget Alan Rickman in one of his early roles as the unctuous Mr Slope?
Normally I prefer the book to the film in every case, but when I read this, that's who the characters look like.

The story is about Harding, the warden, and his struggles to do the right thing. What is the right thing? Is it according to the law, your conscience, or what the public thinks. Legally Harding is not wrong, but he cares much what people think and whether he can live with his deeds. He chose what he is comfortable with, and in the process, stood up to his son-in-law whom he fears. ( )