Reading 1001 discussion

I read this book as part of my 2018 Random Challenge. I would rate this book 3.5 stars but that is a bit deceptive as it is a delightful read. The primary narrator is Old Thady (Thady Quirk) a life time servant to the lords of Castle Rackrent. His father's services and his own come with the inheritance of the estate and as such he has seen many masters and mistresses come and go over his time. He is undyingly loyal to his masters but on the other hand has little good to say about them.
The book was published in 1800 right before the union of Ireland and England and it reflects a very cynical view of the English and Irish aristocracy. All the masters are constantly in debt up to their eyeballs, mortgage their estates, are horrible to their tenants in an effort to get more out of them, marry only for money and in general do not care at all about their Irish lands other than the funds they can get. In this way, the book is about the slow falling apart of the estate and the eventual signing it over to a middle class lawyer who happens to be Thady's son. Overall the book questions the ancient system of landed gentry although our narrator is all for it as it is the only system he knows.
The reason the book is on the 1001 list, I presume, is that there is an unnamed editor who writes a forward and introduction and constantly steps into the main narration to translate and explain some of Thady's language and references. The editor references Maria Edgeworth, the author, in the third person, and interjects so that the "Ignorant English reader" can understand the book. Yet clearly the editor IS the author. With Old Thady narrating and the editor translating, it is a nice play on reader, narrator, writer and is a very early example of this methodology.
The reason I gave it only 3.5 stars is because the plot lines are not much to speak of, it has highly uneven language usage and there is little character development. However, as I said, it was a delightful light read and I did get a take on Irish culture that I was not previously aware.