Phineas Finn

The Irish Member

By: Anthony Trollope

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Phineas Finn is an Irish MPA who is climbing the political ladder, largely through the assistance of his string of lovers. The questions he is forced to ask himself about honesty, independence, and parliamentary democracy are questions still asked today.

Phineas Finn is the second of Anthony Trollope's six Palliser novels, which together comprise a large, coherent composition that captures the fashions, manners, and politics of two decades of society in the high Victorian period. Trollope's unrivaled understanding of the institutions of mid–Victorian England and his sympathetic vision of human fallibility are informed by an unobtrusive irony that shines in these stories.

(P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“The polished excitement that animates [Vance’s] reading comes across richly and compels the listener’s attention.”

(AudioFile)

“This gracefully written work is perfectly read by [Vance], who successfully evokes the Victorian era.”

(Booklist)

“The central tension in Trollope’s novel Phineas Finn is between independence and service. The title character is an Irish outsider who comes into Parliament vowing to be true to his individual conscience…Finn has to either chart his own course or allow himself to be put in harness for the good of the common effort.”

(New York Times)

“Phineas Finn's engaging plot embraces matters as diverse as reform, the position of women, the Irish question, and the conflict between integrity and ambition...Trollope explores the realities of political life, and the clash between compromise and conviction, that is as topical today as it was in the 1860s.”

(Oxford University Press)

Fabulous

Great book, very good voice, good recording quality.

Pretty Good

If you could sum up Phineas Finn in three words, what would they be?

This is one of the best Palliser novels.

What did you like best about this story?

(spoiler) Madame Max is one of Trollope's best characters, and one of his most modern women in a sea of bland victorian heroines, like that tedious blank slate poor Finny marries.

What three words best describe Robert Whitfield’s performance?

Everything was fine, crisp, clear and lovely, until he started voicing Lady Glencora Palliser. Then it became obvious that he hasn't read the other books, because he makes her sound snobbish and 40 years old, when she is probably only in her twenties, and every book shows her to be wonderfully undignified and a little outrageous. Hard to take if you have seen Susan Hampshire's dead on and utterly charming performance in the BBC Palliser series.

A Political Scamp

I want to second an opinion expressed in another review. Phineas Finn is not a good introduction to Trollope; read Doctor Thorne or The Little House at Allington first. This is not to detract from this excellent book, it just not the place to start with Trollope. Robert Whitfield turns in a splendid performance as narrator.

Phineas Finn liked women and women liked him. His philosophy could be best stated in the words of that 60's song,"If you can't be with the one you love, then love the one you're with". Restated: maybe a woman, in particular one Miss Mary Flood Jones, the girl back home, out of sight is a woman out of mind. Mr. Finn was a man of flexible principles and attachments. Clever, quick witted and handsome, he was scamp. I like him. He was a happy scamp, even a well meaning scamp. There were no mean bones in his body.

If you like inside politics, this is the book. He was a shooting star, flashing across the night sky suddenly appearing to be remarked upon then as suddenly gone. Elected to parliament without opposition at age twenty-five, the naive young man quickly finds himself at the center of political maneuvers and schemes. Then, suddenly, it was over but there is still the matter of the girl back home.

Good classic stuff

I'm slowly listening my way through Trollope's novels, and having a great time doing so. I enjoyed the narration for this one, the narrator does a great job with the accents. There are occasional little jumps here and there in the audio, but they don't stop you listening to the book. I chose this version since the other unabridged one on offer had warnings that the last section of the book didn't download. This one is fine, and a really enjoyable listen.

not a good first

If this had been my first Trollope novel, I probably would not have stuck with the read, but overall I liked it. The description of Parliamentary action many be too detailed for some readers, but as a Canadian with a similar system, reading such a portrait set in the period when Canada's own parliament was working for nation status was interesting.

The occasional "recaps" of plot betray that the novel originally appeared as a serial, and I found that bit annoying.

If you're new to Trollope, I'd recommend that you start with one of the Barset Chronicles rather than Phinneas.