The History of Pendennis, His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy

Written immediately after Vanity Fair, Pendennis has a similar atmosphere of brooding disillusion, tempered by the most jovial of wits. But here Thackeray plunders his own past to create the character of Pendennis and the world in which he lives: from miserable schoolboy to striving journalist, from carefree Oxbridge to the high (and low) life of London. The result is a superbly panoramic blend of people, action and background. The true ebb and flow of life is caught and the credibility of Pen, his worldly uncle, the Major, and many of the other characters, extends far beyond the pages of the novel. Held together by Thackeray's flowing, confident prose, with its conversational ease of tone, Pendennis is as rich a portrait of England in the 1830s and 40s as it is a thorough and thoroughly entertaining self-portrait.

First sentence: SINCE that fatal but delightful night in Grosvenor-place, Mr. Harry Foker's heart had been in such a state of agitation as you would hardly have thought so great a philosopher could endure.

Year

1850

Language

English

Publisher

Kessinger Publishing, LLC

Editions

13

Pages

384

ISBN

9781432616359

Data source: Wikidata