Publisher's Synopsis
The Kickleburys On The Rhine is a satirical novella written by William Makepeace Thackeray. The story follows the travels of a family of wealthy English tourists, the Kickleburys, as they journey through Germany's Rhineland.The Kickleburys are a caricature of the nouveau riche, with their ostentatious displays of wealth and lack of cultural refinement. They are accompanied by a cast of equally ridiculous characters, including a snobbish tour guide, a flirtatious young woman, and a pompous German aristocrat.Throughout the novella, Thackeray skewers the pretensions and superficiality of the Kickleburys and their companions, highlighting the stark contrast between their shallow concerns and the rich history and culture of the Rhineland.Despite its satirical tone, The Kickleburys On The Rhine also contains moments of genuine pathos and introspection, as the characters grapple with the emptiness of their lives and the futility of their pursuits.Overall, The Kickleburys On The Rhine is a witty and incisive commentary on the excesses of Victorian society, as well as a poignant exploration of the human condition.I burst out in a scornful laugh. ""THAT!"" I say; ""he is a captain of dragoons, and his father an attorney in Bedford Row. The whiskers of a roturier, my good Lankin, grow as long as the beard of a Plantagenet. It don't require much noble blood to learn the polka. If you were younger, Lankin, we might go for a shilling a night, and dance every evening at M. Laurent's Casino, and skip about in a little time as well as that fellow. Only we despise the kind of thing you know, --only we're too grave, and too steady.""This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
