At last: the point

Pendennis is certainly becoming tedious as Thackeray spreads his story more and more thinly so the plot lasts for the required number of pages. I can barely bother to keep squinting at the philosophical debates inserted to pad out these chapters.

For no apparent reason, the curate who was the tutor of young Pen's youth who unsuccessfully proposed to Pen's widowed mother has popped up as thr extremebly High Church local vicar in the village where Pen's most unbeloved potential fiancee has holed up. This gave him the chance to discourse at length about surplices, candles, confession and other examples of what the local Dissenters denounced as the rise of popery in the anglican church. Yawn. I'm sure it was a live debate in 1830 or something.

And as for the slender plot: yes WM, I understand the whole point is the conflict between the worldling's need to marry well and the sentimentalist's need to marry for love. That's great. It's just annoying that it's impossible to believe that Pen thinks of the supposed love object as anything other than his baby sister. I'd much rather read about his career in journalism because at least it sounds like you know what you're talking about there.

Only 70 pages to go.