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A Little Dinner at Timmins's
A Little Dinner at Timmins's is among the miscellaneous contributions to Punch , a political and topical verses magazine published from 1851-1854.
38 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2001
6 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
William Makepeace Thackeray
4,441 books1,314 followersWilliam Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist, satirist, and journalist, best known for his keen social commentary and his novel Vanity Fair (1847–1848). His works often explored themes of ambition, hypocrisy, and the moral failings of British society, making him one of the most significant literary figures of the Victorian era.
Born in Calcutta, British India, he was sent to England for his education after his father’s death. He attended Charterhouse School, where he developed a distaste for the rigid school system, and later enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge. However, he left without earning a degree, instead traveling in Europe and pursuing artistic ambitions.
After losing much of his inheritance due to bad investments, Thackeray turned to writing for a living. He contributed satirical sketches, essays, and stories to periodicals such as Fraser’s Magazine and Punch, gradually building a reputation for his sharp wit and keen observational skills. His breakthrough came with Vanity Fair, a panoramic satire of English society that introduced the enduring character of Becky Sharp, a resourceful and amoral social climber.
Thackeray’s later novels, including Pendennis (1848–1850), The History of Henry Esmond (1852), and The Newcomes (1853–1855), continued to explore the lives of the English upper and middle classes, often focusing on the contrast between personal virtue and social ambition. His historical novel Henry Esmond was particularly praised for its detailed 18th-century setting and complex characterization.
In addition to his fiction, Thackeray was a noted public speaker and essayist, delivering lectures on the English humorists of the 18th century and on The Four Georges, a critical look at the British monarchy.
Despite his literary success, he lived with personal struggles, including the mental illness of his wife, Isabella, which deeply affected him. He remained devoted to his two daughters and was known for his kindness and generosity among his friends and colleagues.
His works remain widely read, appreciated for their incisive humor, rich characterizations, and unflinching critique of social pretensions.
Born in Calcutta, British India, he was sent to England for his education after his father’s death. He attended Charterhouse School, where he developed a distaste for the rigid school system, and later enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge. However, he left without earning a degree, instead traveling in Europe and pursuing artistic ambitions.
After losing much of his inheritance due to bad investments, Thackeray turned to writing for a living. He contributed satirical sketches, essays, and stories to periodicals such as Fraser’s Magazine and Punch, gradually building a reputation for his sharp wit and keen observational skills. His breakthrough came with Vanity Fair, a panoramic satire of English society that introduced the enduring character of Becky Sharp, a resourceful and amoral social climber.
Thackeray’s later novels, including Pendennis (1848–1850), The History of Henry Esmond (1852), and The Newcomes (1853–1855), continued to explore the lives of the English upper and middle classes, often focusing on the contrast between personal virtue and social ambition. His historical novel Henry Esmond was particularly praised for its detailed 18th-century setting and complex characterization.
In addition to his fiction, Thackeray was a noted public speaker and essayist, delivering lectures on the English humorists of the 18th century and on The Four Georges, a critical look at the British monarchy.
Despite his literary success, he lived with personal struggles, including the mental illness of his wife, Isabella, which deeply affected him. He remained devoted to his two daughters and was known for his kindness and generosity among his friends and colleagues.
His works remain widely read, appreciated for their incisive humor, rich characterizations, and unflinching critique of social pretensions.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 31, 2019
3,5 🌟
Es un libro muy muy corto, que narra un acontecimiento en la vida de una familia de clase media: la familia Timmins. Rosa, la mujer, con una visión algo distorsionada de las ganancias que entran en su casa, quiere dar una cena elegante para un selecto colectivo de personas y su marido, Fitzroy, no muy convencido accede por contentarla. A medida que se va avanzando nos percatamos que las intenciones de querer demostrar que son más de lo que son en realidad, es la esencia de la trama. Las invitaciones van dirigidas a personas de clase y de posición social más alta que la suya (algunos incluso se sienten ofendidos por la invitación), mientras que sus verdaderos amigos son eliminados de la lista por una Rosa empeñada en hacer de su cena una velada de mucho postín.
No tienen ni el espacio ni los recursos para dar esa cena a tantas personas y con tanta elegancia como quieren, y observamos las mañas y los ajustes que van realizando para que todo salga lo mejor posible. Un intento patético de dar una cena muy por encima de sus posibilidades, donde finalmente el disfrute brilla por su ausencia y cuya consecuencia son situaciones bochornosas e incomodidad ante personas con las que realmente no tienen feeling ninguno.
Todo acaba con habladurías sobre el pobre Timmins (que lo único que quería era contentar a su mujer), con los enfados de aquellos más cercanos que no han sido invitados y con una serie de deudas a las que no pueden hacer frente... y ¿todo para qué? ¡ay cómo nos gusta aparentar y qué ridículo es querer ser alguien que no se es, por impresionar a otros y alimentar nuestro ego! Cosa que, tristemente, no pasa de moda.
Una historia muy cortita, con su mensaje, divertida y amena. Se lee en un suspiro. Los personajes están bien dibujados, se observa a ese Timmins algo atosigado el pobre infeliz, con una mujer que busca conseguir más de lo que él puede darle y con una suegra que le quita un poco de vida cada vez que se le acerca... menuda es ella!!!
Es un libro muy muy corto, que narra un acontecimiento en la vida de una familia de clase media: la familia Timmins. Rosa, la mujer, con una visión algo distorsionada de las ganancias que entran en su casa, quiere dar una cena elegante para un selecto colectivo de personas y su marido, Fitzroy, no muy convencido accede por contentarla. A medida que se va avanzando nos percatamos que las intenciones de querer demostrar que son más de lo que son en realidad, es la esencia de la trama. Las invitaciones van dirigidas a personas de clase y de posición social más alta que la suya (algunos incluso se sienten ofendidos por la invitación), mientras que sus verdaderos amigos son eliminados de la lista por una Rosa empeñada en hacer de su cena una velada de mucho postín.
No tienen ni el espacio ni los recursos para dar esa cena a tantas personas y con tanta elegancia como quieren, y observamos las mañas y los ajustes que van realizando para que todo salga lo mejor posible. Un intento patético de dar una cena muy por encima de sus posibilidades, donde finalmente el disfrute brilla por su ausencia y cuya consecuencia son situaciones bochornosas e incomodidad ante personas con las que realmente no tienen feeling ninguno.
Todo acaba con habladurías sobre el pobre Timmins (que lo único que quería era contentar a su mujer), con los enfados de aquellos más cercanos que no han sido invitados y con una serie de deudas a las que no pueden hacer frente... y ¿todo para qué? ¡ay cómo nos gusta aparentar y qué ridículo es querer ser alguien que no se es, por impresionar a otros y alimentar nuestro ego! Cosa que, tristemente, no pasa de moda.
Una historia muy cortita, con su mensaje, divertida y amena. Se lee en un suspiro. Los personajes están bien dibujados, se observa a ese Timmins algo atosigado el pobre infeliz, con una mujer que busca conseguir más de lo que él puede darle y con una suegra que le quita un poco de vida cada vez que se le acerca... menuda es ella!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2017
This brief work by Thackeray was published in July 1848, the same publication month and
year of his most famous novel Vanity Fair. Like that great book, A Little Dinner contained Thackeray's trademark parodying and satirizing. I really enjoyed reading this little story.
The Timmins are a social-climbing young couple living on "neat little Lilliput Street." Attractive, well-meaning, trendy, status-obsessed (and forever in debt), - Fitz and Rosa are desperate to advance to what they believe is their rightful place in society - no matter the social insults and lost money.
Of course, they eventually manage to really hurt themselves. Rosa decides to throw a too-expensive dinner party, and mails invitations to secretly-jeering and snobby relatives and neighbors (the nobility). They can't afford this "little dinner," and they (and their colleagues and "friends") know it. Hilarity ensues as their party unravels. True friendships are ruined, and the Timmims' debt mounts to sky-high proportions. Social-climbing really does come at a cost.
year of his most famous novel Vanity Fair. Like that great book, A Little Dinner contained Thackeray's trademark parodying and satirizing. I really enjoyed reading this little story.
The Timmins are a social-climbing young couple living on "neat little Lilliput Street." Attractive, well-meaning, trendy, status-obsessed (and forever in debt), - Fitz and Rosa are desperate to advance to what they believe is their rightful place in society - no matter the social insults and lost money.
Of course, they eventually manage to really hurt themselves. Rosa decides to throw a too-expensive dinner party, and mails invitations to secretly-jeering and snobby relatives and neighbors (the nobility). They can't afford this "little dinner," and they (and their colleagues and "friends") know it. Hilarity ensues as their party unravels. True friendships are ruined, and the Timmims' debt mounts to sky-high proportions. Social-climbing really does come at a cost.
March 6, 2014
Mr. and Mrs. Fitzroy Timmins live in Lilliput Street, that neat little street which runs at right angles with the Park and Brobdingnag Gardens.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 3, 2016
Buenísima crónica de una ocasión muy especial para un matrimonio de clase media-baja con ínfulas de ser de la baja aristocracia. Los pasajes de la señora Gashleigh son muy divertidos.
April 29, 2021
Un relato muy cortito, pero entretenido. Con él uno puede disfrutar de la divertida manera de narrar de Thackeray. Un retrato de la sociedad británica con un humor muy particular. Me encanta el estilo del autor, siempre haciendo complice de la historia al lector. Quizá no es de sus mejores escritos, pero leyéndolo, seguro pasas un buen rato. 😉
October 6, 2021
Reseña completa aquí -> http://inquilinasnetherfield.blogspot...
April 4, 2024
A funny little novella! My first Thackeray; he has a clever way with words. I felt that the author was trying to be clever with his play on Trollope’s character’s names. Trollope does satire better and in a cleverer more subtle way. This was laugh out loud funny at time though. It just struggled to get going, and the identity of the narrator was not really identified until near the end.
Thackeray is most famous for Vanity Fair which I would like to read sometime, but it is not near the top of my TBR pile.
Thackeray is most famous for Vanity Fair which I would like to read sometime, but it is not near the top of my TBR pile.
January 15, 2023
חשוב לי לציין שקראתי את תרגומו לעברית והוא ממש מעולה הערצה עיוורת לתשע נשמות
August 7, 2024
Una obra genial con la maestría y la ironía clara e inteligente de Thackeray.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews