Phineas Finn is superb, I'm glad you are really getting into Trollope, a wonderful writer.

Thank you. I especially love your discussion of the irrelevance of spoilers here.

Glad you enjoyed this. I’m the proud owner of a rescue harrier called Finn . He was no good at hunting, hence the rescue, but I love him. I’m not sure how you’ll feel about The Eustace Diamonds. It’s really a standalone about the machinations of Lizzie Eustace who is beautiful, cunning, and wants diamonds she’s not entitled to. Not much politics. Madam Max is younger than you think.

Ebullient, erudite, and entertaining as usual. If I could devote as much time reading as I do watching and enjoying your videos, I could plow through Trollope in a trice, though I'm not convinced I would feel the time was as satisfyingly spent. So for now I think I'll just keep buying the books (there's always time for that) and watching you enjoy them.

Isn't Trollope supposed to be the quintessential Victorian novelist -- that is, the individual most representative of the species? I remember reading something of his a long while ago, Joe, and you seem to have summed up my impression: a want of profundity. But perhaps I read the wrong thing (or didn't read enough of the right things) and dismissed him prematurely.