Sybil has the dubious honour of being probably the best book by a British Prime Minister.
It definitely feels like a political novel. It’s an angry book. Disraeli is not happy about the conditions of the working classes. Which is – duh – a good thing. However, I didn’t feel entirely clear on what the rest of his politics were. Certainly not in favour of revolution. Hardly in favour of the working classes seeing as the ‘noble’ working class characters turn out to be actually noble. In fact the aristocracy generally tend to come off fairly well.
Still he comes out basically for universal suffrage and decent living conditions for the working classes. That’s pretty enlightened even by today’s standards.
Enough about the politics, is it a good book?
Hard to say. I would say the first chapter, a look at dissolute London life, is probably the strongest. It feels realest. The rest… The characters are pretty static. Sybil is your typical boring blonde, though, at least she has some strong opinions. Some strong feelings, in some ways her sense of the political situation is equal to or greater than her father’s. So maybe I’m wrong to write her off. But she’s so pretty and kind to children and childlike and innocent and all the other things Victorian heroines tend to be.
I wouldn’t say it was one of the top 100 books of all time, but in a top 1000? Maybe? If you feel you have to include a few Victorian novels. Even Dickens doesn’t do much for me so I guess this was never going to be a huge winner.
1000 Little Pieces 