Intriguingly, the “Printer Richardson” exploited his tools of font, type, symbol, and punctuation to mimic the actual physical form of the letters, deepening the experience of the epistolary form. According to Ian Gadd of the Ambient Literature Project (which supplied these pictures of the text), Richardson claimed, “I seldom read but as a Printer.” This is
Many critics consider Clarissa the first “psychological novel,” as it explores the main characters’ emotions, thoughts, and values. Richardson does this by overlaying their first-person accounts of the events, contrasting their understandings of each event. These “dueling perspectives” illustrate not just the difference in the characters’ personalities, but how they change because of the plot
Lovelace and the Dark Triad Read More »
Fielding’s contempt did more than just infuriate Richardson. It inspired him. While he never forgave the insult, Richardson learned from the criticism to transform his “housemaid’s tale” into his masterpiece Clarissa. While he never admitted it, Richardson crafted his next huge novel Clarissa to remedy some of the specific critiques Fielding’s satires had made. While
Henry Fielding Falls in Love… with Richardson’s Clarissa Read More »
After its release in November 1740, Pamela’s huge success naturally created envy and resentment in London’s intense literary community. According to Bernard Kreissman, there followed many unauthorized sequels, editions, and imitations, including at least three stage productions and what seems to be a book of “Pamela Porn.” Kreissman writes that many Londoners in the know
The Post-Pamela/Shamela Feud Read More »
Pamela vs. Shamela: The Origin of the First Novelist Feud, and Still the Greatest Part 1 about Pamela here. Richardson’s epistolary novel Pamela was an enormous bestseller in the 1740s. Naturally this attracted some envy and resentment among the burgeoning population of London “scribblers” who worked as essayists, playwrights, poets, and early novelists. Other writers
Pamela vs. Shamela: The Origin of the First Novelist Feud, and Still the Greatest Read More »
This was not a post I wanted to write. (Picture from here.) The post World War II United States—and to a large extent the world—was built on science. Not just science, mind you. The US was the Big Boss after the war as the only powerful country that wasn’t in one way or another gutted
The End of America as We Know It Read More »
Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded. In a Series of Familiar Letters from a Beautiful Young Damsel to her Parents. Now first published in order to cultivate the Principles of Virtue and Religion in the Minds of the Youth of both Sexes (1740) is not just one of the longest titles in novel history. It is one
The Pre-modern Post-Modern Novelist: Samuel Richardson, I mean, “The Editor” Read More »
I’ve been immersed in 19th century Britain for much of the American 21st Century—researching my Regency-era novels, binge-watching BBC historical dramas, and analyzing the stories of Sherlock Holmes and novels of Anthony Trollope. As a reader and as a novelist, I’m especially drawn to the 19th Century because that was the time when the novel
“Dear Reader”: A new blog series on the epistolary novel Read More »
On the second day of our Sister Trip, Jo and I found another memento of Charlottesville’s past, The Memorial to Enslaved Laborers (MEL). The University of Virginia, like many important institutions and buildings in the south, was built by people kept in slavery. This monument—a circle of local “Virginia Mist” granite — commemorates the more
A Poignant Memorial to a Complex Past Read More »
The final stop on our sisters’ trip was Harpers Ferry, up in the eastern corner of WVa, where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers meet. It’s also a tri-state moment: West Virginia in the point of the triangle, Maryland just across the Potomac, and Virginia just across the Shenandoah. We travelled through all three states in
Harpers Ferry– A Historical Hotspot Read More »
Back Home Again in Indiana “Back Home Again in Indiana” is our state song (composed, btw, by the brother of the great author Theodore Dreiser), and it’s sung to start our little local race (aka The Indianapolis 500). Here is the annual rendition by the late great Jim Nabors. Now I am always “back home
Back Home Again in Indiana…. Read More »
America has given the world many amazing inventions, good and bad—the lightbulb, the atomic bomb, the airplane, Kraft Mac & Cheese. But I’m going to argue that the most pervasive and probably the most useful isn’t a machine or a snack food, but a word. Now it’s the most widely used word in the world.
The Most Popular Word in the World Read More »
For some reason I decided I had to have a story where my sleuthing couple are at a cricket match and the batter gets “beaned” by the ball. Only it’s not a ball, it’s a meteorite. (The result is Meeting at the Cricket Pitch, a Regency novella.) No prob! Of course, I know nothing about
An Unlikely Event – Meteor Meets Cricket Match Read More »
