I knew nothing about this book going it, but it was quite charming! I am, it seems, definitely a sentimental reader. I have never been less persuaded by an argument than I am by the claim that the narrator is unreliable; as far as I can tell, the only evidence for such a reading is "this book's sentimentality is too silly to take seriously", which I reject.

The perfect example of a story from the Romantic period, while also taking the piss out of the common themes!

"I armed her against the censures of the world; showed her that books were sweet, unreproaching companions to the miserable, and if they could not bring us to enjoy life, they would at least teach us to endure it."
I needn't have had the benefit of over a book a day read that week to almost burst into tears at the beauty of this line, which so perfectly speaks to why I can't stop buying books. What an extraordinary one this is, with its amusingly-enacted tale shot through with that stark sense of sadness under it all. The twenty-ninth chapter is one of the most extraordinary things I think I've ever read, and as perfect an apologia for the lingering role of religion (even to this day) there may have ever been. It is exquisite.

For a book written in the 1760s, it has some surprisingly modern components.

I just finished The Vicar of Wakefield by Goldsmith. Y’all rereading is where it’s at. I read this as a teenager I believe

Not one of the books which age well.
Although I can appreciate its merits, this is the kind of thing I used to read for uni but not enjoy particularly. I tried to but no, this type of obvious satire (some don't see it as satire ???) does nothing for me, not even in modern literature.

More than I expected from the 18th century, and with an interesting pre-Dickensian rant against British jails.

Also, the Librivox recording is quite good.

I'm early on to going down a George Eliot rabbit hole - and as one other commentator here has pointed out, you can't read Victorian (especially Victorian clerical novels, like early GE) without reading "Vicar".
This is the Oxford World Classics edition, with an Intro and Notes by Goldsmith scholar Robert Mack. Not even he attempts to explain in any detail the *boring* few pages about half way through where Goldsmith enters the world of late 18th C Political Philosophy (he was a "scribe" after all, writing on all types of subjects at the drop of a hat - or the drop of a coin). Mack simply picks it up with a Note at the very end, stating that the views presented there were put forth elsewhere in Goldsmith's other works. No attempt at explaining Goldsmith's beliefs as they relate to late 18th C political philosophy, which was a very active subject at the time.
Interesting that Mack believes it is possible that the book is all a satire, which I can believe from the sermon the Vicar gives in gaol, explaining to the other prisoners that those who are poor and have a hard life of it are better off, because in the end they will appreciate heaven more than the comfortable rich!
Tough sledding at times, but the last 40 pages just flit along. I last read this about 45 years ago (hmm, never did take a 18th C English Novel class in grad school - and don't remember one being offered either!). Now to read "She Stoops" - and unless you are a Goldsmnith expert, nothing more left to read by this author!