1771, Signet Classic edition 1960
Tobias Smollett
The Expedition of Humphry Clinker
Original and purchase price unknown
Cover just fell off but otherwise not bad condition for its age
B-
Mr. Clinker is not one of the five letter writers in this novel, and indeed doesn't show up till about a quarter of the way in. He's revealed to be the bastard son of one of the main characters, but it's much less of a revelation than Tom Jones's parentage. Overall, plot and even characterisation are not the strengths of this story. I most enjoy the whole travelogue aspect: descriptions of Bath, London, Edinburgh, etc. This is roughly halfway between the times of Henry Fielding and Jane Austen, so it's an interesting stop on the journey. How can I not be amused by the description of a strange sport the Scots enjoy--golf?! Or how about the part where the traveling party is hosted by that charming Scotsman, Mr. Smollett? This is definitely a minor contribution to literature, but it's a pleasant one.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
Tristam Shandy
1759 to 1767 (one or two volumes published at a time), Norton Critical Edition 1980
Laurence Sterne
The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy, Gent.
Original price unknown, bought used $8.95
A bit ratty paperback
C+
More digressive than A Tale of a Tub, this story is more about the lives and opinions of Tristam's father and uncle, with Tristam not yet born during many critical scenes. While some of the gimmicks, like a black page to represent someone's death are clever, it does get a bit wearisome by the middle. It's notable that not only does Sterne, like other 18th-century British writers, admire Cervantes, but he manages to slip in a reference to Candide.
Laurence Sterne
The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy, Gent.
Original price unknown, bought used $8.95
A bit ratty paperback
C+
More digressive than A Tale of a Tub, this story is more about the lives and opinions of Tristam's father and uncle, with Tristam not yet born during many critical scenes. While some of the gimmicks, like a black page to represent someone's death are clever, it does get a bit wearisome by the middle. It's notable that not only does Sterne, like other 18th-century British writers, admire Cervantes, but he manages to slip in a reference to Candide.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Candide
1759, Bantam Classic edition 1988
Voltaire (born François-Marie Arouet), translated by André Maurois, illustrated by Sheilah Beckett
Candide, or Optimism
Original price $2.25, probably bought new
Slightly worn paperback
B
This pessimistic satire is similar to Gulliver's Travels, but it's mostly set in the real 18th-century world. Gulliver travels the globe and finds that all humanity is corrupt. Candide travels the globe and finds that only in El Dorado is this the best of all possible worlds. As in Cymbeline and Pericles, disasters rain upon Candide and nearly everyone he encounters, but the crises are told so wittily that the short novel is constantly entertaining, even things that wouldn't be the slightest bit funny in reality (mutilations, murders, rapes, an earthquake, etc.). I will admit that the first chapter, where things are just absurd, is the most enjoyable and, if the story had gone on much longer, it would've worn thin. The ending, with its message that "we must cultivate our garden," is not exactly optimistic but at least holds out more hope than the idea that the best we can do is try to live like horses.
This translation is smooth and presumably captures both Voltaire's dry understatement and his blunt honesty. Beckett's illustrations in this edition are more explicit than necessary, with nudity included even when it's not supported by the text. (Check out Cunegonde hovering naked in the murder scene on page 38.) The best of these line drawings is the one on page 69, where Candide is in El Dorado.
Voltaire (born François-Marie Arouet), translated by André Maurois, illustrated by Sheilah Beckett
Candide, or Optimism
Original price $2.25, probably bought new
Slightly worn paperback
B
This pessimistic satire is similar to Gulliver's Travels, but it's mostly set in the real 18th-century world. Gulliver travels the globe and finds that all humanity is corrupt. Candide travels the globe and finds that only in El Dorado is this the best of all possible worlds. As in Cymbeline and Pericles, disasters rain upon Candide and nearly everyone he encounters, but the crises are told so wittily that the short novel is constantly entertaining, even things that wouldn't be the slightest bit funny in reality (mutilations, murders, rapes, an earthquake, etc.). I will admit that the first chapter, where things are just absurd, is the most enjoyable and, if the story had gone on much longer, it would've worn thin. The ending, with its message that "we must cultivate our garden," is not exactly optimistic but at least holds out more hope than the idea that the best we can do is try to live like horses.
This translation is smooth and presumably captures both Voltaire's dry understatement and his blunt honesty. Beckett's illustrations in this edition are more explicit than necessary, with nudity included even when it's not supported by the text. (Check out Cunegonde hovering naked in the murder scene on page 38.) The best of these line drawings is the one on page 69, where Candide is in El Dorado.
Friday, December 9, 2011
David Simple
1744 for The Adventures of David Simple, 1753 for David Simple: Volume the Last, Penguin Classics edition 2002
Sarah Fielding
Original price $15.00, bought used for unknown but definitely much less
Worn paperback
C
As with Don Quixote, I'm treating the second part as a continuation rather than a sequel, despite almost a decade's gap. In fact, "Volume the Last" opens with "Book 5." Henry Fielding's sister shared his love of Shakespeare and classic literature, so this is a more erudite book than most of the other early novels by women I own. Also like Henry, Sarah was greatly influenced by Don Quixote, and her "Simple" hero has the Quixotic quest of searching for a true friend. Unfortunately, along the way he meets many insincere and unkind people. As his story goes on, the lives of himself and those he cares about become increasingly disastrous, but he endures with Job-like patience.
The problem is, I find this more depressing than inspiring. Mrs. Orgueil may've been an accurate portrayal of a type of 18th-century fine lady, but I got tired of reading of her casual cruelty, which among other things leads to the death of a child. On the plus side, Sarah does a better job incorporating "side stories" into the larger narrative than Henry did in Joseph Andrews, although ironically she may've contributed Leonora's letter to that novel.
Sarah Fielding
Original price $15.00, bought used for unknown but definitely much less
Worn paperback
C
As with Don Quixote, I'm treating the second part as a continuation rather than a sequel, despite almost a decade's gap. In fact, "Volume the Last" opens with "Book 5." Henry Fielding's sister shared his love of Shakespeare and classic literature, so this is a more erudite book than most of the other early novels by women I own. Also like Henry, Sarah was greatly influenced by Don Quixote, and her "Simple" hero has the Quixotic quest of searching for a true friend. Unfortunately, along the way he meets many insincere and unkind people. As his story goes on, the lives of himself and those he cares about become increasingly disastrous, but he endures with Job-like patience.
The problem is, I find this more depressing than inspiring. Mrs. Orgueil may've been an accurate portrayal of a type of 18th-century fine lady, but I got tired of reading of her casual cruelty, which among other things leads to the death of a child. On the plus side, Sarah does a better job incorporating "side stories" into the larger narrative than Henry did in Joseph Andrews, although ironically she may've contributed Leonora's letter to that novel.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Tom Jones
1749, 1993 Wordsworth Classics edition
Henry Fielding
The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling
Original price not shown, bought used for 50 cents
Starting to get a bit ratty
B+
My last paperback copy of Tom Jones, from around 1965, fell apart from too many rereadings. As with Don Quixote, I like going on a journey with these characters. Fielding gives an even broader world than Cervantes did-- with scoundrels and heroes and folks in between, with lawyers, doctors, parsons, innkeepers, the idle rich and their servants, and so on. Also, Fielding offers us town vs. country. All the while, Fielding comments on, well, everything, from ethics to boxing. Some things are wonderfully timeless, like the remark about people who name-drop books they haven't read. And some things are rooted in that world of 1740s England.
Why isn't this an A-, or higher? Well, I don't like either squire. Western is a crude brute and Allworthy is a sanctimonious bore. Fielding seems to think they're both lovable. Also, the view of marriage and relationships is often bleaker than a rollicking comedy should have. I never know whether to take the novel as a Hogarth comic strip or as a drawn-out soap opera. (Everyone has a back story!) I don't love this book, but I'm very fond of it and will probably continue to read it every couple years.
Henry Fielding
The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling
Original price not shown, bought used for 50 cents
Starting to get a bit ratty
B+
My last paperback copy of Tom Jones, from around 1965, fell apart from too many rereadings. As with Don Quixote, I like going on a journey with these characters. Fielding gives an even broader world than Cervantes did-- with scoundrels and heroes and folks in between, with lawyers, doctors, parsons, innkeepers, the idle rich and their servants, and so on. Also, Fielding offers us town vs. country. All the while, Fielding comments on, well, everything, from ethics to boxing. Some things are wonderfully timeless, like the remark about people who name-drop books they haven't read. And some things are rooted in that world of 1740s England.
Why isn't this an A-, or higher? Well, I don't like either squire. Western is a crude brute and Allworthy is a sanctimonious bore. Fielding seems to think they're both lovable. Also, the view of marriage and relationships is often bleaker than a rollicking comedy should have. I never know whether to take the novel as a Hogarth comic strip or as a drawn-out soap opera. (Everyone has a back story!) I don't love this book, but I'm very fond of it and will probably continue to read it every couple years.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Joseph Andrews
1742, 1960 New American Library edition
Henry Fielding
Joseph Andrews
Original price not shown, bought used for $1.95
Decent condition considering the age
C
While the idea of a male version of Pamela (a novel that I couldn't get through years ago because I was disgusted by the manipulative villain/love interest) is a good one, Fielding's first novel is weakened by boring characters (main and supporting), a meandering style, and frequent outbreaks of violence. These last two qualities are perhaps due to this story being "written in the manner of Cervantes." But what Fielding apparently didn't understand is that we care about Don Quixote, Sancho Panza, and the rest, and we're happy to wander with them, as well as see them suffer and survive. Even the "off topic" stories introduced in Don Quixote are more entertaining than the ones in Joseph Andrews. Also, Cervantes had compassion and humor. Fielding had these qualities in Tom Jones (coming up next), but not here.
So what does the story have going for it? Some nice turns of phrase, like the bit about hunger being better than a French chef, and surprisingly the portrait of the manipulative villainess/not-love-interest. Lady Booby at least has a conflict and character arc, unlike the actual love interest, Fanny Goodwill, whom Irvin Ehrenpreis observes in his afterword, has "the main function in the plot...to be nearly raped." Repeatedly.
Henry Fielding
Joseph Andrews
Original price not shown, bought used for $1.95
Decent condition considering the age
C
While the idea of a male version of Pamela (a novel that I couldn't get through years ago because I was disgusted by the manipulative villain/love interest) is a good one, Fielding's first novel is weakened by boring characters (main and supporting), a meandering style, and frequent outbreaks of violence. These last two qualities are perhaps due to this story being "written in the manner of Cervantes." But what Fielding apparently didn't understand is that we care about Don Quixote, Sancho Panza, and the rest, and we're happy to wander with them, as well as see them suffer and survive. Even the "off topic" stories introduced in Don Quixote are more entertaining than the ones in Joseph Andrews. Also, Cervantes had compassion and humor. Fielding had these qualities in Tom Jones (coming up next), but not here.
So what does the story have going for it? Some nice turns of phrase, like the bit about hunger being better than a French chef, and surprisingly the portrait of the manipulative villainess/not-love-interest. Lady Booby at least has a conflict and character arc, unlike the actual love interest, Fanny Goodwill, whom Irvin Ehrenpreis observes in his afterword, has "the main function in the plot...to be nearly raped." Repeatedly.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Gulliver's Travels
1726
Jonathan Swift
Gulliver's Travels
B
While the misanthropy keeps this from being a great book, it also drives the satire. The Lilliput adventure is best known, although in high school I think I was most drawn to the mockery of the pseudointellectuals of Laputa. At the time, this collection (the short works even more so) was probably the most obscene thing I'd ever read, and having now moved on to the 1740s, the way that four-letter words are bluntly thrown around here still startles. (Changes in censorship and/or mores in the England of George I and that of George II)? Also, while most of Swift's worlds are dystopias, or at least places you might want to visit but not live in, it is striking how even in the "perfect" land of the Houyhnhnms (which I pronounce in my head as "homonyms" just to get through that section), there are such things as race and class, with certain breeds of horses working as servants. And, yes, this is the novel where the word "Yahoo" (for "stupid human") comes from.
Jonathan Swift
Gulliver's Travels
B
While the misanthropy keeps this from being a great book, it also drives the satire. The Lilliput adventure is best known, although in high school I think I was most drawn to the mockery of the pseudointellectuals of Laputa. At the time, this collection (the short works even more so) was probably the most obscene thing I'd ever read, and having now moved on to the 1740s, the way that four-letter words are bluntly thrown around here still startles. (Changes in censorship and/or mores in the England of George I and that of George II)? Also, while most of Swift's worlds are dystopias, or at least places you might want to visit but not live in, it is striking how even in the "perfect" land of the Houyhnhnms (which I pronounce in my head as "homonyms" just to get through that section), there are such things as race and class, with certain breeds of horses working as servants. And, yes, this is the novel where the word "Yahoo" (for "stupid human") comes from.
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