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1avaland
Pope, Swift, Richardson, Defoe, Fielding, Johnson, Smollett...the rise of the British novel...formal poetry...whose novel was really the first in English...anyone wish to declare their love for Gulliver's Travels, Moll Flanders or Clarissa?
2amandameale
I loved Moll Flanders. Honestly, I think the 18th century British novel is an area where I am quite ignorant. (I'll go look in a reference book.)
3Jargoneer
One of the best 18th century novels, and one of the most readable for a modern audience, is Tristan Shandy by Laurence Sterne. It proves that the postmodern novel is actually a pre-modern novel, very clever and amusing.
The Monk just manages to squeeze in, perhaps the most over-the-top of all gothic novels it is still entertaining (although perhaps with a few too many digressions). It is novels like this that Jane Austen is spoofing in Northanger Abbey.
Another good gothic novel (technically an 'oriental' novel) is Vathek, it uses the Arabian Nights as it's inspiration.
And there is Tom Jones.
One of the biggest problems with 18th century novels is their length, with fewer distractions for readers, authors were quite happy to produce very long and detailed works. When you add the archaic language this can be off-putting for a modern readership.
The Monk just manages to squeeze in, perhaps the most over-the-top of all gothic novels it is still entertaining (although perhaps with a few too many digressions). It is novels like this that Jane Austen is spoofing in Northanger Abbey.
Another good gothic novel (technically an 'oriental' novel) is Vathek, it uses the Arabian Nights as it's inspiration.
And there is Tom Jones.
One of the biggest problems with 18th century novels is their length, with fewer distractions for readers, authors were quite happy to produce very long and detailed works. When you add the archaic language this can be off-putting for a modern readership.
4jenknox
Henry Fielding is definately my favorite from this time...Shamela is a great satire, and Tom Jones never fails to make me laugh. England was producing some wonderful comedies at this time!
5avaland
I read Tom Jones in high school but not as required reading. I loved huge books then. Now I seem to really appreciate an author who can tell a story beautifully and succinctly. I did read some form of Gulliver's Travels, but I don't remember if it was an abridgement or not.
Speaking of Gothic....I just sent for a copy of the Cambridge Companion to Gothic Literature from ABE. Couldn't resist it. Seems I came across it while trolling ABE for literary criticism on Angela Carter (found two books on that subject also...).
Speaking of Gothic....I just sent for a copy of the Cambridge Companion to Gothic Literature from ABE. Couldn't resist it. Seems I came across it while trolling ABE for literary criticism on Angela Carter (found two books on that subject also...).
6aluvalibri
Moll Flanders definitely, and Tom Jones, and the wonderful Gulliver's Travels. I never could stand Tristram Shandy or Sentimental journey by Laurence Sterne, perhaps because I was compelled to study them at the university.
As far as the Gothic novel goes, I greatly enjoyed The Monk, Vathek, The castle of Otranto, and Anne Radcliffe's The Italian.
There is certainly much more to read and discover.
Jane Austen is one of my favourite authors, but I would consider her a 19th century writer, or am I wrong?
As far as the Gothic novel goes, I greatly enjoyed The Monk, Vathek, The castle of Otranto, and Anne Radcliffe's The Italian.
There is certainly much more to read and discover.
Jane Austen is one of my favourite authors, but I would consider her a 19th century writer, or am I wrong?
7amhodge Premier message
Austen straddles the turn of the century - I think some of her novels (definitely Northanger Abbey) were written in 1798 or so.
Speaking of Gothic novels, I really like Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto. Any book that has a giant helmet falling on a character within the first couple of pages has me hooked.
Speaking of Gothic novels, I really like Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto. Any book that has a giant helmet falling on a character within the first couple of pages has me hooked.
8bohemieblair Premier message
Austen originally composed Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey in the eighteenth century, though she revised them later for publication, so I always give her to the eighteenth century. I have to say though, I'm dedicated to Samuel Richardson. Sir Charles Grandison is a more readable novel than people imagine, though I admit Tom Jones is a better crowdpleaser. Right now I'm in a year-long reading group to get through Clarissa, and it's turning out to be quite interesting.
9verbafacio
I didn't much enjoy Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, but I did enjoy the spoof, Shamela. Henry Fielding is way more fun than Samuel Richardson. I've always wanted to try reading Clarissa, but have never found the huge amount of time. I just pick it up at the book store, stagger under its weight, smirk, and put it down.
10Goldengrove
Anyone wanting to try Gulliver's Travels - or re-read - should find a copy with illustrations by the British cartoonist Chris Riddell It's retold by Martin Jenkins in a very readable, but not belittling style.
Do touchstones not read the additional authors bit? I have a copy, and I'm sure I put them in!
Do touchstones not read the additional authors bit? I have a copy, and I'm sure I put them in!
11jfetting
I wish to declare my love for Gulliver's Travels. The first time I read it I was too young to understand satire, and just thought it was a fun adventure story.
12chrisharpe
I'll put in a vote for Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Goldengrove, I am glad to see Martin Jenkins mentioned. I used to work at the same UN conservation data centre as Martin in Cambridge, UK. He left just after I did to work as a consultant and - to judge by the growing number of publications - to author books for children. From those I have seen, I'd say he is every bit as successful at his new career as he is in conservation.
Goldengrove, I am glad to see Martin Jenkins mentioned. I used to work at the same UN conservation data centre as Martin in Cambridge, UK. He left just after I did to work as a consultant and - to judge by the growing number of publications - to author books for children. From those I have seen, I'd say he is every bit as successful at his new career as he is in conservation.
13Goldengrove
Thanks for the interesting snippet, chrisharpe - I keep meaning to read his series (also with Riddell) about a Knight.
I'd like to declare my love for The Monk - especially my Folio copy with appropriately saucy pictures!
I'd like to declare my love for The Monk - especially my Folio copy with appropriately saucy pictures!
14marieke54
What do you think of The Life of Samuel Johnson?
I recently bought the Wordsworth edition (new € 5,05)
I recently bought the Wordsworth edition (new € 5,05)
15tiffin
#14: It's long, at times it's dry (particularly at the start) but there are bits which are just wonderful, full of witty anecdotes.
16SusieBookworm
I loved The Monk, The Castle of Otranto, Northanger Abbey, Tom Jones, and Shamela as well, especially the part in The Monk where one of the characters accidentally runs of with the ghost.
Another book that is similar to Shamela is Anti-Pamela by Eliza Haywood.
I've found that a lot of novels from the 18th and 19th centuries tend to ramble or go off on some tangent about one character, like the hundred pages that described Roderick's? sojourn in Germany in The Monk. Entertaining, but I think that in modern books that part would have been greatly condensed.
Another book that is similar to Shamela is Anti-Pamela by Eliza Haywood.
I've found that a lot of novels from the 18th and 19th centuries tend to ramble or go off on some tangent about one character, like the hundred pages that described Roderick's? sojourn in Germany in The Monk. Entertaining, but I think that in modern books that part would have been greatly condensed.
17tempcr
I suppose Malory’s tedious Le Morte d’Arthur is the best-known early English novel. I enjoy Gulliver’s Travels, but prefer Swift’s non-fiction for wittiness. I generally dislike the romantic novels, all of them, including Pamela and Clarissa. Given the choice of Defoe, I would pick Robinson Crusoe over Moll Flanders any day.
As far Boswell’s biographical Life of Johnson, I find curious for how much it does not say. Johnson, after all, lived in very interesting times and did more than dine out with people who adored him (according to Boswell). Macaulay’s version makes a nice antidote to Boswell’s fawning.
As far Boswell’s biographical Life of Johnson, I find curious for how much it does not say. Johnson, after all, lived in very interesting times and did more than dine out with people who adored him (according to Boswell). Macaulay’s version makes a nice antidote to Boswell’s fawning.
18quartzite
And let us not forget Oliver Goldsmith with the great She Stoops to Conquer and The Vicar of Wakefield.
19Cariola
I can posit a few 16th century works that might contend as novels: The Unfortunate Traveller by Thomas Nashe and The Adventures of Master F J by George Gascoigne. And from the 17th century, what about Aphra Behn's Oroonoko?