John, I must confess that I don’t find even Trollope’s top drawer to be very

high. There is funny ecclesiastical politicking in Barchester Towers, and

the details of being an MP are interesting. But Trollope is my beach author.

I take him to the Caribbean, where the lulling surf makes it almost

impossible to concentrate anyway; the lack of anything to concentrate on in

his pages is thus no problem. Indeed, I once had a surprising experience, in

the novel with the proud, impoverished curate who is obsessed by the loss of

a check (the names do escape one). I realized with a shock that I

was…engaged.