04-22-2004, 05:03 PM | #1 |
Lady of Letters
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England
Posts: 2,476
|
Victorian Literature
Does anyone else have a special fondness for Victorian novels and/or poetry? Personally I'm a big fan of George Eliot, Thackeray, Trollope and Wilkie Collins. Not Dickens so much, though I'm sure I'd get it if I tried...
__________________
And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool. |
04-22-2004, 10:03 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Narnia
Posts: 1,656
|
I like Dickens, esp. "A Tale of Two Cities"; "Great Expectations" was ok...not as good as < though.
Planning to read George Eliot...once my term paper and other projects...and school entirely...is over.
__________________
Mike nodded. A sombre nod. The nod Napoleon might have given if somebody had met him in 1812 and said, "So, you're back from Moscow, eh?". Interested in C.S. Lewis? Visit the forum dedicated to one of Tolkien's greatest contemporaries. |
04-23-2004, 09:28 AM | #3 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Mirkwood, well actually I live in North-west Scania, Sweden
Posts: 9,481
|
My favourites among 19th century literature are Frances H Burnett's The Secret Garden and A Little Princess.
|
04-23-2004, 06:04 PM | #4 | |
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Narnia
Posts: 1,656
|
Quote:
__________________
Mike nodded. A sombre nod. The nod Napoleon might have given if somebody had met him in 1812 and said, "So, you're back from Moscow, eh?". Interested in C.S. Lewis? Visit the forum dedicated to one of Tolkien's greatest contemporaries. |
|
04-24-2004, 03:39 AM | #5 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Mirkwood, well actually I live in North-west Scania, Sweden
Posts: 9,481
|
And of course,
Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Books (I think they are absolutely terrific) |
04-26-2004, 05:22 PM | #6 |
Lady of Letters
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England
Posts: 2,476
|
I forgot to mention Thomas Hardy. He's great
__________________
And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool. |
04-26-2004, 05:28 PM | #7 | |
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Narnia
Posts: 1,656
|
Quote:
__________________
Mike nodded. A sombre nod. The nod Napoleon might have given if somebody had met him in 1812 and said, "So, you're back from Moscow, eh?". Interested in C.S. Lewis? Visit the forum dedicated to one of Tolkien's greatest contemporaries. |
|
04-26-2004, 05:34 PM | #8 | |
Lady of Letters
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England
Posts: 2,476
|
Quote:
__________________
And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool. |
|
04-26-2004, 05:36 PM | #9 |
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Narnia
Posts: 1,656
|
I've only read bits of that--We do it next year in English Lit. Its good (as far as I can tell).
__________________
Mike nodded. A sombre nod. The nod Napoleon might have given if somebody had met him in 1812 and said, "So, you're back from Moscow, eh?". Interested in C.S. Lewis? Visit the forum dedicated to one of Tolkien's greatest contemporaries. |
04-29-2004, 04:17 PM | #10 |
The Blobbit
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Kent, England (Not Oxford! ... yet...)
Posts: 1,596
|
Or 'Tess of the Ubersomethings' as my friend has it. I've never really read this stuff, nor, an example off the top of my head, corrected my headteacher over the finer details of Thackery in a mock interview...
Mercutio! I'm not a potato head!
__________________
Janny's Songs Janny's lyrics and random photographs Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who happen to be walking about. ~ Mercutio... erm, GK Chesterton. |
04-30-2004, 03:04 PM | #11 |
Enting
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 90
|
I like reading Wives and Daugthers by Elizabeth Gaskell.
__________________
Audio Editor |
05-02-2004, 06:37 PM | #12 |
The Fleet-Footed
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 913
|
I like the poetry of the VIctorian era. My favourite Victorian poet is by far Tennyson. I love his poems, especially, "The Lady of Shalott." I'm not much of a fan of Victorian novels, though.
__________________
Jesus saved me "To remain ignorant of things that happened before you were born is to remain a child" (Cicero, 106-43 B.C.) "Art is a lie which makes us realize the truth" (Picasso) |
05-02-2004, 11:39 PM | #13 |
Elven Warrior
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 369
|
Victorian lit! Good stuff........
No one has mentioned yet Jane Austen or the Brontes. I'm not a big fan of Hardy myself, Tennyson rocks. One of my favorite poets of all time. George MacDonald is a favorite as well, and of course, you must love Dickens. Forkbeard *SIGH* So many books, so little time. |
05-03-2004, 03:23 AM | #14 |
The Buckleberry Fairy/Captain
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Washington State again (I miss Texas).
Posts: 1,345
|
The Brontes=yuck. I read Jane Eyre, and was depressed by the end of it, that I hadn't the heart to touch Wuthering Heights.
But Dickens...Great Expectations excluded, I really like Dickens. I think the reason that so many people can't stand him is that everyone reads Great Expectations in their English classes first. Before you get to the good stuff, like Tale of Two Cities, or even, A Christmas Carol. Seriously. Why is Great Expectations so great? An abused child who grows up into an arrogant young man, an ice queen, and a loopy old woman who runs around in her wedding dress 50 years after she was jilted at the altar. Magwitch is a colorful character, yes, but he only livens things up at the very beginning and ...ehm, maybe I shouldn't give away the whole thing. So help me out here--why is Great Expectations assigned first? It isn't to help keep the characters straight--Hard Times is the novel with the fewest characters. Current Favorite Dickens read: Our Mutual Friend (or Pickwick! Pickwick was hilarious!) [edit: Yay for G. MacDonald! I love his Fairy Tales. Has anyone read The Light Princess?]
__________________
A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun. |
05-03-2004, 03:26 AM | #15 |
The Buckleberry Fairy/Captain
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Washington State again (I miss Texas).
Posts: 1,345
|
Y'all left out Oscar Wilde. Ravenna is a beautiful piece of poetry. And then there's An Ideal Husband, and The Importance of Being Earnest.
__________________
A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun. |
05-03-2004, 10:10 AM | #16 | |
Lady of Letters
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England
Posts: 2,476
|
Oh, I forgot Oscar Wilde! His life gets more attention than his writing usually, which is a pity IMO.
Yuck indeed for the Brontes Quote:
As for Dickens, I actually quite liked Great Expectations, though I preferred Hard Times. Somehow, as with Shakespeare, you know the characters and stories of Dickens quite well without having read the books, so I haven't finished one of his in ages. I like reading the sensation novels too - I'm currently loving Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon.
__________________
And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool. Last edited by sun-star : 05-03-2004 at 10:12 AM. |
|
05-03-2004, 06:09 PM | #17 | |
Enting
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 90
|
Quote:
__________________
Audio Editor |
|
05-03-2004, 06:45 PM | #18 |
Elven Warrior
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 369
|
Sheesh.....Austen died after publishing Northanger Abbey in 1817, Victoria was born in 1819 and took the throne in 1837. Heaven forfend that we should be off by 2 years, because we all know that in those two years, or in those 20, the world and society of Britain changed so drastically as to make Austen so clearly Regency in contrast to Victorian.
Apparently we can't say that Dickens is Victorian either. Born in 1812, he published his first "fiction" story in 1833, Sketches by Boz began to appear in 1836 as did the first of the Pickwick Papers. Note that he is born before Victoria and begins to publish before she takes the throne. By definition, not Victorian. Niether is Conan-Doyle, some of whose Sherlock Holmes stories were written while Victoria was on the throne.....but ooooppppsss, she died before he did and he continued to write afterwards. Huh, guess he's not Victorian either. Periodization is all well and good folks, but let's not be ridiculous. If you love Victorian literature you're likely to enjoy Austen and Regency literature and at least some Edwardian literature, even if it isn't "technically" Victorian. FB |
05-04-2004, 10:39 AM | #19 |
Lady of Letters
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England
Posts: 2,476
|
OK, calm down Those twenty years were actually very significant both culturally and politically, but I won't quibble with you on that.
In fact, what we mean by "Victorian literature" is an interesting question, leaving aside the literal 1837-1901 dates. Some say it didn't really end until 1914 and the outbreak of WW1 Personally I think that "Victorianism" took a lot longer to die than it did to emerge, and of course the dates are inexact. The Victorian era saw such a great deal of change in society that as a term it's hardly applicable to one style of literature. The 1890s were very different to the 1850s (Oscar Wilde was not very Victorian in spirit or style, I'm sure we all agree ). In general I would echo your points, except in the case of Jane Austen. I still maintain there was very little of the Victorian about her
__________________
And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool. Last edited by sun-star : 05-04-2004 at 10:40 AM. |
05-04-2004, 01:28 PM | #20 | |
The Buckleberry Fairy/Captain
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Washington State again (I miss Texas).
Posts: 1,345
|
Quote:
__________________
A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun. |
|
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
How many people would make up a knights retinue in literature and reality? | afro-elf | General Messages | 8 | 10-24-2003 10:45 PM |
Holocaust Literature | Linaewen | General Literature | 11 | 07-28-2003 11:48 PM |
Russian Literature | katya | General Literature | 18 | 12-16-2002 09:09 PM |
are comic books considered "general literature? | Bantan | General Literature | 7 | 01-26-2002 08:16 PM |