I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, moreso than I originally thought I would. Even though it is long and tedious at some points, there was always an absorbing, intriguing scene that followed and swept me along. Reading the interspersions of the narrator's (Thackeray's) pov on Victorian society is what you should be focusing on. Pay attention to this, and the story will become much richer.I didn't care too much for Amelia, especially in the middle of the book. By the end, when she ascertained the truth and realized her emotions, it was too late for me to rally behind her. Becky, on the other hand, was my favorite character, and I sped through all of the chapters with her in feature. Too bad there isn't an novel which describes her escapades after the ending of the novel! A truly captivating character! It was refreshing to have a character that was not a pious saint. All of the characters in the novel had depth and variation, and each on their own were used as satire.
Thackeray wrote in the same time period as Dickens - Vanity Fair at times reads like a Dickens novel, minus the street urchins and life of the urban poor. It was originally written in a serialized format. Yes, it can drag at times, yet as I mentioned before, it's not overbearing. Take the time to sit down with the classic and you will be pleasantly suprised how Thackeray's writing can pull you in over 150 years later.