ON THE READING AND ENJOYMENT OF A 19TH CENTURY NOVEL

One of the things I like about Trollope is this sort of thing from the opening of chapter two of Dr Thorne:

As Dr. Thorne is our hero -- or I should rather say my hero, a privilege of selecting for themselves in this respect being left to all my readers -- and as Miss Mary Thorne is to be our heroine, a point on which no choice whatever is left to anyone, it is only necessary that they should be introduced and explained in a proper, formal manner. I quite feel that an apology is due for beginning a novel with two long dull chapters full of description. I am perfectly aware of the danger of such a course. In so doing I sin against the golden rule which requires us to put our best foot foremost, the wisdom of which is recognized by novelists, myself among the number. It can hardly be expected that anyone will consent to anyone will go through with a fiction that offers so little of allurement in its first pages; but twist it as I will, I cannot do otherwise. I find that I cannot make poor Mr Gresham [introduced in ch 1] hem and haw and turn himself uneasily in his arm-chair in a natural manner till I have said why he is uneasy. I cannot bring in my doctor speaking his mind freely among the bigwigs till I have explained that it is in accordance with his usual character to do so. This is unartistic on my part, and shows want of imagination as well as want of skill. Whether or not I can atone for these faults my straightforward, simple story telling -- that, indeed, is very doubtful.