名利场（英文原版）Vanity Fair

在主题上，这本书和《如今世道》有异曲同工之妙，只不过一个从金融骗局的角度切入，一个以男女婚姻关系为主线。这本书又名为A Novel Without A Hero，角色塑造上Thackeray全程紧贴主题，每一个人物的性格上都留下了他/她独特的缺陷，在故事的起承转合间体现，让读者忍不住产生共鸣，或是憎恶、或是叹息，感慨他们的不完美，又感慨他们的无可奈何。 Amelia是那个年代（或许现在仍是）男性所喜爱的女性形象：单纯、忠贞、善良、温柔。 “She was not brilliant, not witty, nor wise overmuch, nor extraordinarily handsome. But wherever she went she touched and charmed every one of the male sex, as invariably as she awakened the scorn and incredulity of her own sisterhood. I think it was her weakness which was her principal charm - a kind of sweet submission and softness, which seemed to appeal to each man she met for his sympathy and protection.” Amelia像白莲，生于乱世可出淤泥而不染，面对诱惑毫不动摇，因为她本身有种钝感的惰性，这也让她对许多事情选择视而不见。她对Dobbin的爱表面充满感激，其实唯独对这个从始至终忠于自己的男人展现出了对别人没有的残忍。 “It is those who injure women who get the most kindness from them; they are born timid and tyrants, and maltreat those who are humblest before them.” 比起同样真诚的Dorothea（《米德尔马契》)和Melanie (《飘》），她缺乏那股韧劲，也没有什么人格魅力可言，男人们喜欢的是从她身上折射的驯服感，而Dobbin爱的是“我深爱着她”这个熟悉的感觉，而非她这个人本身，就如他的独白所说：“it was myself I deluded, and persisted in cajoling; had she been worthy of the love I gave her, she would have returned it long ago. It was a fond mistake. Isn’t the whole course of life made up of such? And suppose I had won her, should I not have been disenchanted the day after my victory?” 其实Dobbin根本不会回头，那才是Amelia应得的报应。 另一位女主角Rebecca像曼陀罗，表面人畜无害，却带有致幻和麻醉作用的毒。她没有好的出身，但她机灵、大胆，靠着左右逢源一步步跻身上流社会。如果他是个男人，或许能用自己的聪明才智做一番事业，风靡一时，但她注定会从云端坠落，就像《如今世道》中的Melmotte，因为用谎言铺的路，终究走不长远。 “But that is the misfortune of beginning with this kind of forgery. When one fib becomes due as it were, you must forge another to take up the old acceptance; and so the stock of your lies in circulation inevitably multiples, and the danger of detection increases every day.” 其实她的聪明很像《飘》中的Scarlett O’Hara，可是她没有Tara那片土地为Scarlett带来宿命绑定，所以她漂浮不定，渐渐迷失在虚荣中。 “Ah, how dreary it seemed, how miserable, lonely, and profitless! Should she take laudanum, and end it, too - have done with all hopes, schemes, debts and triumphs?” 读到这里时我想起了《安娜·卡列尼娜》，想起了《包法利夫人》，或许Rebecca也像她们一样死在了故事的这个转折点，像绚烂的烟花，消失在黑暗的夜空中。 可她和她的谎言都活下去了，且在获得了Jos的信任后，她又有了东山再起的资本。而Amelia和Dobbin也在书末重归于好。如此唐突的快乐结局下，或许正是Thackeray隐藏的讽刺：骗子吸干了信徒的血，施暴者重得她的忠仆。 这就是名利场。

Maybe the writer owes readers a sad ending.i think the writer is forced to write a happy ending.But why?This book should have been a sad ending.it is a pity just for me.

“You determined long ago, that nothing should stand in your way. Not birth, not money, nor the opinions of others.”

读过最好的英文小说！社会人情的细节，对于人的心理变化，都描述得复杂而不冗长。这份将无甚唯美之处的琐屑日常算计都描述得生动趣味的功力太难得了。让我想起了是大臣系列。这本书是否是英式幽默的集大成者呢？

birth,childhood,education,marriage,life for Vanity Fair of two heroine women, different friendship and love, how to face with bankruptcy, death, sepatation, and any difficulties , different life endings for them, only the most kind ,heat-warmed, affectionate heroine has a happy ending . And most importantly is that families has always been our trust-worthy and dependable harbour whenever we go or whatever had happened to us, we can always depend on our families.

这一版除了章节排版混乱外，其他还行。萨克雷的成名作和代表作，语言辛辣讽刺。