Pauline Francis

William Makepeace Thackeray

Pearson Education, Inc.

Classic / British English Becky Sharp, an intelligent young lady with no family or money, becomes a governess. But this type of life is not enough for her. She has big plans for herself. Is she clever enough to find success? Will she marry and be happy? Or will life be unkind to her?

Vanity Fair

Sarah Sammis

Vanity Fair (Penguin Classics)

Irene Alegre

Vanity Fair is a good novel overall. Character development is good -especially regarding Becky-, plot is quite well planned. Writing is excellent, with a good use of language and irony. BUT it's too long. Way too long. Like 'they could spare me 400 pages' long. I literally skimmed through and skipped entire pages. I get it, the longer a novel was, the more money ou got from it back in the XIX century, but it feels like too much nowadays.

Yulande Lindsay

Barbara Williford

I’ve got to Mark this as a DNF. I absolutely love the classics but this is one I struggled with. Although some of the satire was humorous, I just found the storyline tedious. It did not capture my attention at all and I struggled with the 20+ chapters I did read. I tried sticking with it but was so bored I couldn’t see wasting any more of my time. I already regret the time I did spend.

Sarah Escorsa

I've nothing against thick books or classics. Actually, some of my favourite books are thick classics, but I won't be adding Vanity Fair to the list. I had been looking forward to this read but I simply struggled with it from beginning to end. 

I think it could have been a great read had it been told in a more concise manner. Thackeray's writing is excellent but his descriptions were tediously detailed and I'm afraid I was bored throughout the book. None of the characters were likeable (they were actually quite annoying), which certainly didn't help. A disappointing read.

Jeni Enjaian

This is a decent "classic," at least in my opinion. Thackeray avoids cluttering the narrative with excess information and characters. I did not particularly enjoy the book however because it felt very contrived. Perhaps if I had read it slower I would have understood the point Thackeray was trying to convey. I probably would have gotten more out of the book if I had read it being in a fiction mindset rather than a non-fiction mindset. I've been reading so much non-fiction lately, it's hard to make the shift.
I do love the inclusion of the illustrations. It's a nice break in the text.
For a reader of the classics, definitely read this one. For a casual reader? There's nothing extremely compelling. It's a take it or leave it kind of book in that situation.

Becky Sharp is sly, cunning and will do anything for money and power, while her friend Amelia Sedley is good-natured but naïve. In this scandalous tale of murder, wealth and social climbing, the two women's fortunes cross as they search for love and success across nineteenth-century Europe in the Napoleonic Wars. While Vanity Fair was criticized on publication as being a cynical view of mankind, Thackeray's epic adventure is a searing portrayal of men and women at their most vulnerable.

Rocio Postigo

Matthew Chasco

Heather Margaret

Haleemah Sadiah

savannah eden

adinda

Will Vunderink

Vanda

J. L. Askew

Barbara

Hope Gamble

Arjo Gupto

Gillian Rose

Becky Sharp is a poor orphan when she first makes friends with the lovely Amelia Sedley at Miss Pinkerton's Academy for Young Ladies. She may not have the natural advantages of her companion but she more than makes up for it with her wit, charm, deviousness and determination to make a success of herself whatever the cost.

Savindi Jinasena

Ronda Bender

Proserpina

Chronicles the exploits of Becky Sharp, an unscrupulous young woman who is determined to achieve wealth and social success.

Vanity Fair

Reviews