I could now scratch reading Vanity Fair off my bucket list, if it had ever been on my bucket list. I was seduced into reading it because it was one of those free classic titles offered for the Kindle that make you feel like you no longer have an excuse not to read them (although, let's face it, the price of a paperback copy of Vanity Fair wasn't preventing me from reading it years ago). I can't say that i would ever consider putting it on a list of favorite or "must-read" books, though i do admire Thackeray's wit and ability to turn a phrase. But what an annoying cast of characters! With the exception of the perverse and opportunistic Becky Sharp, i found myself overcome by the desire to slap each and every one of them silly. Becky may have been a bad girl, but i imagine i would be equally duplicitous and evil if i were surrounded by that simpering band of nincompoops.
I suspect that i would have enjoyed reading this 800+ page opus in book form more than i did on the Kindle--i would have had my little pencil out underlining all kinds of clever phrases, something that gives me no pleasure at all on the Kindle because i can't imagine actually scrolling through it six months from now to see what i highlighted. No matter. I've read it. I'm a little less culturally illiterate. And now i think i'll go back and watch Mira Nair's film adaptation again.
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