Clarissa Volume 3 by Samuel Richardson

Clarissa or The History of a Young Lady by Samuel Richardson
Vol 3: Letters 93 - 154
Published: 1748
Rating: 5
Vol 1 post
Vol 2 post
Other posts: 2012 Year long reading co-hosted by Terri and JoAnn.  Post at Delaisse.
Challenge: The English Novel 

I have switched to reading the ginormous paperback bought a few weeks ago at a local library sale, mainly because the previous owned is like me, a "scribbler" (one of Richardson's favorite ways to describe his heroine's need for writing): underlining sentences, writing in the margins, circling words, writing the major theme of the page at the top, asking questions and displaying emotion with the occasional swear word, explained below.  I find it fascinating to see what another reader thought of the work.

This is my favorite volume - I couldn't read it fast enough.  In the first two volumes, the story is told primarily from Clarissa and her best friend, Anna's point of view with only 3 letters from Lovelace.  We are left dangling at the end of volume 2, when C confesses to A that she has run away with LL.  In volume 3, roughly one-third of the letters are from LL to his friend, John Belford.  So now, we are privy to his point of view - the cad and rogue.  Richardson has chosen to show the villain LL in all his vain, conceited and ugly glory (can you tell I can't stand the guy?)

I have been wracking my brains for the past few days to think of another villain in literature that is as bad as LL and had to resort to a Google search for help.  Here is a list called the "50 Greatest Villains In Literature", in which LL ranks six, beat out by 1) Satan in Paradise Lost, by John Milton, 2) Samuel Whiskers from The Tale of Samuel Whiskers, by Beatrix Potter, 3) Cruella de Vil from The Hundred and One Dalmatians, by Dodie Smith, 4) Iago from Othello, by William Shakespeare and 5) Voldemort from the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling.  To round out the top ten, the villains that follow are 7) Ambrosio from The Monk, by M G Lewis, 8) Claudius from Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, 9) Mr Kurtz from Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad and 10) Vindice from The Revenger's Tragedy, by Thomas Middleton.

The only book I have read from this list is Harry Potter and would agree that Voldemort's cruelty and disregard for human life surpasses LL.  Some of these books are on my TBR so as time goes on, I will be able to form my own opinion on the order.  Suffice it to say, to be in the top ten is pretty bad.  Surprisingly, one character who did not make this list is the ultra creepy, self-justifying pedophile, Humbert Humbert from Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.  More interesting is that another character from the book, Clare Quilty is ranked 34.  I did read Lolita and do not remember Quilty so had to read the Wikipedia synopsis.  To me, HH should be in the list in lieu of Quilty and ranked higher.

Why is LL so bad and noted as a bastard several times by the previous owner of my book?  He is a pathological liar who reminds me of a sly, cunning, hungry cat that ultimately plans to kill and eat the poor, naive, innocent mouse but thoroughly enjoys toying and playing with it before delivering the fatal blow.  What follows are quotes that make my blood boil.

He proudly admits to manipulating C's entire family with the sole purpose of driving her to utter and total dependence upon himself.

I knew that the whole stupid family were in a combination to do my business for me....working for me, like so many underground moles; and still more blind than the moles...unknowing that they did so, I myself, the director of their principal motions; which falling in with the malice of their little hearts, they took to be all their own (Letter 97: LL to Belford).

To LL, it is all a game with Clarissa as the prize.

It was her character that drew me to her, and it was her beauty and good sense that riveted my chains, and now all together make me think her a subject worthy of my attempts, worthy of my ambition (Letter 110: LL to B).

In the midst of his game, he must show self-control but it is hard.  He dreams of the day when he can do what he wants.

....will kiss her when I please; and not stand trembling, as now, like a hungry hound who sees a delicious morsel within his reach (the froth hanging about his vermilion jaws), yet does not leap at it for his life (Letter 115: LL to B). 

The lies he tells to C are too many to note.  Then he writes this to Belford in Letter 127:

I love when I dig a pit, to have my prey tumble in with secure feet and open eyes; then a man can look down upon her, with an oh-ho charmer!  How came you there!

And even more horridly in Letter 152:

Here, I have been at work, dig, dig, dig, like a cunning miner at one time and spreading my snares like an artful fowler at another, and exulting in my contrivances to get this inimitable creature absolutely into my power.

Poor Clarissa!  She is intuitive enough to know that LL is not one who can be fully trusted but because of the increased estrangement from her family, largely due to LL's "contrivances", she has no choice but to rely upon him; a most unfortunate place to be.

February 2012 Books - updated March 1

A Poetry Handbook: A Prose Guide to Understanding and Writing Poetry by Mary  Oliver
Published: 1994
Rating: 4
Goodreads

Poetry has become an important part of my grief journey and is a genre requiring much self-education.  Thus a trip to the local Barnes & Noble yielded this slim book as well as the denser How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry by Edward Hirsch.  Oliver's book gives a high level view of poetry and its terms.  Most of it was easy to comprehend although I confess to my eyes glossing over in the chapter discussing line, length and rhythm as they relate to the metrical verse and such words as feet, stresses, scansion, iamb, trochee, dactyl, anapest, spondee, iambic pentameter, etc.

She has a high standard for her own poetry and thinks about writing....

for a stranger who will be born in some distant country hundreds of years from now....it reminds me, forcefully, that everything necessary must be on the page.  I must make a complete poem - a river-swimming poem, a mountain-climbing poem.  Not my poem, if it's well done, but a deeply breathing, bounding, self sufficient poem.  Like a traveler in an uncertain land, it needs to carry with it all that it must have to sustain its own life - and not a lot of extra weight, either. 

It takes 40-50 drafts before she is begins to feel content with one of her poems.  Not surprisingly, she is the winner of the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for American Primitive and the 1992 National Book Award for Poetry for New and Selected Poems.   I look forward to reading her work.

I love how she describes language, the tool of poets, as "vibrant, malleable, living material."

My favorite quote is at the end:

A mind that is lively and inquiring, compassionate, curious, angry, full of music, full of feeling, is a mind full of possible poetry.  Poetry is a life-cherishing force.  And it requires a vision - a faith, to use an old-fashioned term.  Yes, indeed.  For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.  Yes, indeed. 

Reading Like A Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and For Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose
Published: 2007
First read: 2010.  Re-read: Feb 2012
Rating: 4
Other review: A Guy's Moleskine Notebook

Prose begins her book with an interesting question: "Can creative writing be taught?"  This book answers that question with a definitive "yes".  She, as the author of numerous fiction and non-fiction books for adults and children, says that while she learned valuable information in classes and workshops, she really learned to write by writing and from reading, more specifically, from "close reading," focusing on words, phrases and paragraphs, quite opposite of speed reading, which is what I tend to do.

By reading and re-reading her favorite authors, she learned the tricks of the trade: how to structure a plot, create characters, the effective use details and dialogue - "private lessons in the art of fiction".  Her goal in this book is to "help the passionate reader and would-be writer understand how a writer reads."

There is a list of 117 books in the back called "Books To be Read Immediately".  I've read 11 and 19 are on my TBR.  This means that according to Prose, I need to add another 87 books to my wish list - yikes!

Clarissa or The History of a Young Lady - Volume 1 by Samuel Richardson
Published: 1748
Rating: 5
My Vol 1 review
My Vol 2 review
My Vol 3 review
2012 Year long reading co-hosted by Terri and JoAnn

I am reading this huge tome as part of my own challenge to read through the bibliography of The English Novel, an audio course by Professor Tim Spurgin.  I plan to write a post on each of the nine free volumes downloaded to my iPad.  I bought the book at a library book sale but it is so thick and the type so small that I will stick with the ereader.

Richardson is a genius of the epistolary form; he tells a tension-filled story with fully drawn characters, all by the letters they write!

Modern Scholar audiocourse: Giants of Irish Literature: Wilde, Yeats, Joyce and Beckett by Professor George O'Brien
Rating: 3

Not my favorite course.  Not sure if it was because of my unfamiliarity of the authors or the professor's flat delivery of the material - probably a bit of both.  Unfortunately, I am not motivated to read any of the works that were discussed.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Published: 1605
Rating: 4
Goodreads
My review
Read as part of Risa's challenge

Astrid and Veronika by Linda Olsson
Published: 2005
Rating: 2
Goodreads

Looking for a break from the more challenging works of Shakespeare, Richardson and How to Read Poetry, I choose this book, recently bought at my local library's book sale; intrigued by the description on the back page:

"Veronika, a young writer from New Zealand, rents a house in a small village in the midst of a harsh Swedish winter.  She has come here alone hoping to come to terms with a recent tragedy while finishing her latest novel.  Her arrival is observed by Astrid, her elderly, reclusive neighbor who harbors a dark secret from her past.  Astrid offers Veronika companionship in her grief, and the two embark on an unusual and unexpected friendship." 

I expected a moving story about a writer on her grief journey and was sorely disappointed.  I was unmoved at the unveiling of both character's tragedies which is surprising, as my personal grief lies so close to the surface and is easily pricked by the words of skillful writers.

I found Olsson's writing to be cliche and forced.  The characters were one-dimensional, shallow and uninteresting.  Astrid's ultimate tragedy, occurring while a young married woman, was downright unbelievable.  

That said, I did find some quotes that resonate with me.

Astrid - on her memories:

My life's memories take up space with no regard to when they happened, or to their actual time-span.  The memories of brief incidents occupy almost all time, while years of my life have left no trace (30). 

Like memories.  You can make yourself believe that they have been erased.  But they are there, if you look closely.  If you have a wish to uncover them (67). 

Grief quote - at the beginning of chapter 25:

Grief, it's shadow in the room
doesn't move with the sun
doesn't become dusk
as dusk beings to fall (151).

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Published: 1597
Rating: 5
Goodreads

I found this play the most accessible of the three read thus far.  A Midsummer Night's Dream would be next, followed by Macbeth.  I still used the No Fear Shakespeare version which happily, I found the paraphrase matched my understanding of the original text.  Is this because the language gets easier with each play?  I am not sure but look forward to finding out next month, when I read Henry V as part of Risa's challenge.

I continue to enjoy Shakespeare's mastery of the English language and reading the context of infamous phrases such as "O Romeo, Romeo!  Wherefore art thou Romeo?" and "Parting is such sweet sorrow", both spoke by Juliet in Act II, Scene II.

I love this quote - when Juliet is impatiently waiting for her nurse to catch her breath so as to impart important news about Romeo.

How are thou out of breath when thou hast breath
To say to me that thou art out of breath?
The excuse that thou dost make in this delay
Is longer than the tale thou dost excuse.

I have written two detailed posts on Josh's blog.  One that focuses on the teenage suicidal ideation within the play and the other, on the loss and grief expressed in both this play and in Macbeth.

Aspects of the Novel  by E. M. Forster
Published: 1927
Rating: 4
Goodreads

A short, easy-to-read book that is a publication of lectures given by Forster at Trinity College, Cambridge in the spring of 1927.  The tone is witty and informal, reminding me of the published lectures of Virginia Woolf in the Virginia Woolf Reader.   I envy those who were able to hear the pearls of wisdom from both these authors!

In the introduction, Forster readily admits that while English poetry has no equal, English literature takes a back seat to the great Russian authors, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky in their treatment of a man's personal/heroic life and the soul respectively, and to Marcel Proust in terms of illuminating of man's consciousness.

The lectures, for they read as lectures, define critical aspects of the novel, helpful for both the budding novelist and the wanna-be-a-more discerning reader, which is me.

Story - "is a narrative of events arranged in time sequence."  'The king died, and then the queen' is a story.

Plot - "is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality.  'The king died, and then the queen died of grief' is a plot....Plot demands intelligence and memory.....The plot-maker expects us to remember, we expect him to leave no loose ends."

The best chapter is on the subject of people or characters.  Here we find the famous discourse on the difference between "round" and "flat" characters.

Flat characters - "are sometimes called types, and sometimes caricatures.  In their purest form, they are constructed round a single idea or quality, when there is more than one factor in them, we get the beginning of the curve towards the round." Forster says that most of the characters in Dickens are flat, and while they are "types and caricatures, people whom we recognize the instant they re-enter", the genius of Dickens is that they are not "mechanical" or "shallow".

Round characters - "the test of a round character is whether it is capable of surprising in a convincing way.  If it never surprises, it is flat.  If it does not convince, it is flat pretending to be round."  Forster says that all of Jane Austen's characters are round and "they are ready for an extended life".  I totally agree which is why there are numerous sequels to her books - we simply do not want them to end.

He references numerous books and authors that I have yet the pleasure to read: Tristam Shandy, War and Peace, Vanity Fair, Moby Dick and Dostoevsky, Thomas Hardy, D.H. Lawrence, and Dickens.  I will have to re-read this gem of a book after doing so.

Ajax by Sophocles translated by Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb
Published: 420 BC
Rating: 4
Goodreads
Great Authors challenge

Next to Achilles, Ajax was one of the most valuable Greek warriors. In Homer's Illiad, he single-handedly prevented the Trojans from burning their ships.  He expected to receive the dead Achilles' armor as the worthiest successor - instead, by vote, it was giving to Odysseus.

Ajax took this as an affront; dishonoring his name and deeds.  So he plots revenge - no less than killing his Greek comrades.  Athena intervenes and makes him mad, such that he tortures and kills sheep, thinking they are men.

Ajax comes to his right mind and is so filled with shame and remorse that he is suicidal.  He does not listen to the pleas of his wife on behalf of herself and their young son.

When the deed is done, Teucer (Ajax's half-brother) wants to bury him but Menelaus says no.  Odysseus intervenes, convincing all that Ajax deserves to be buried.

We meet Ajax again, in Homer's Odyssey, where he meets up with Odysseus in the underworld and refuses to speak with him, thus nursing the grudge even in death.

"Clarissa" Volume 1 by Samuel Richardson

Clarissa or The History of a Young Lady by Samuel Richardson
Vol 1: Letters 1 - 44
Published: 1748
Rating: 5
Other posts: 2012 Year long reading co-hosted by Terri and JoAnn
Challenge: The English Novel audiocourse bibliography

This has the distinction of being the longest English novel and at just under 1,500 pages, my paperback is HUGE.  I prefer reading the free downloads (9 volumes) on my iPad.

Like Pamela, Richardson's use of the epistolary format is brilliant, allowing the reader to see the events from each character's point of view.  In Volume I, most of the letters are from Clarissa to her best friend, Anna Howe but we also hear from both of C's parents, her uncles and one aunt, the horrible brother and sister, James and Arabella (think Cinderella's jealous and vengeful stepsisters, hundred fold); Mr. Lovelace, the handsome, rich scoundrel who relentlessly pursues Clarissa;  Mr. Solmes, the ugly and disagreeable chosen husband for Clarissa whom she despises, and Anna.  The view is close and personal.  Richardson uses all the novelist's tools within these letters: scene and setting, description and dialogue.  It is fascinating to read.

Regarding the plot, not a whole lot happens within the first 44 letters but the story remains interesting and the drama/tension between the characters is high.  Clarissa is pressured from all sides to marry Mr. Solmes, a wealthy man whose fortune, if tied with the Harlowe family could result in a coveted peerage for James.  When she continues to refuse, she suffers the ultimate "time-out", banished to her room, sees her personal maid dismissed and must resort to corresponding with her family members living in the same home via, you guessed it, letters.

I am taking notes while I read and writing down favorite quotes.  At this pace, I may be reading this book for most of the year!   Here are a few quotes and why I like them.

Anna writes very candidly about the greed and envy that motivates James and Arabella's actions against Clarissa.

Avarice and envy are two passions that are not to be satisfied, the one by giving, the other by the envied person's continuing to deserve and excel.  Fuel, fuel both, all the world over, to flames insatiate and devouring (Letter 10).   

Poisons and poniard have often been set to work by minds inflamed by disappointed love, and actuated by revenge.  Will you wonder, then, that the ties of relationship in such a case have no force, and that a sister forgets to be a sister? (Letter 15) 

...they must look upon you as a prodigy among them, and prodigies, you know, though they obtain our admiration, never attract our love.  The distance between you and them is immense.  Their eyes ache to look up at you.  What shades does your full day of merit cast upon them?  Can you wonder, then, that they should embrace the first opportunity that offered, to endeavor to bring you down to their level? (Letter 27)

Anna and Clarissa both recognize that wealth does not equal happiness.

...none of your family but yourself could be happy were they not rich.  So let them fret on, grumble and grudge, and accumulate; and wondering what ails them that they have not happiness when they have riches, think the cause is want of more, and so go on heaping up, till Death, as greedy an accumulator as themselves, gather them into his garner (Letter 10: A to C). 

I am fully persuaded, that happiness and riches are two things, and very seldom meet together (Letter 19: C to A). 

Both girls liken C's situation to being a bird caught in a snare.

My brother got me into his snares; and I, like a poor, silly bird, the more I struggle, am the more entangled (Letter 22: C to A).  

I most heartily despise that sex! ...but to be cajoled, wire-drawn, and ensnared, like silly birds; into a state of bondage, or vile subordination; to be courted as princesses for a few weeks, in order to be treated as slaves for the rest of our lives (Letter 27: A to C). 

In spite of tremendous pressure to marry Solmes, Clarissa remains stubborn in her refusal. 

But surely they will yield - Indeed I cannot.  I believe the gentlest spirits when provoked (causelessly and cruelly provoked) are the most determined.  The reason may be, that not taking up resolutions lightly - their very deliberation makes them the more immoveable (Letter 14: C to A).

Letter 30 - finally one from Mr. Lovelace to his friend, John Belford. This letter reveals LL's pursuit of C to be motivated by a selfish and vain love; she rejects him which makes him want her more. This is very reminiscent of Mr. B in Pamela. What is it with men?  They like the chase, the pursuit, the challenge, the conquest?  The following quotes show his true colors to the reader which makes it even more awful when we see Clarissa's skeptical distrust of LL slowly eroding.  I want to warn her - watch out!

He makes plans "to secure her mine, in spite of them all; in spite of her own inflexible heart; mine without condition; without reformation-promises....bringing that sordidly imperious brother to kneel at the footstool of my throne."  As he imagines his victory..."then the rewarding end of all!  To carry off such a girl as this, in spite of all her watchful and implacable friends and in spite of a prudence and reserve that I never met with in any of the sex; - what a triumph! - What a triumph over the whole sex! - and then such a revenge to gratify....."

With writing like this, I am looking forward to reading Volume II.

January 2012 Books and Audiocourse

This post will be updated throughout the month as I finish books and write the mini review.

Anne Frank: The book, the life, the afterlife by Francine Prose
Published: 2009
Rating: 3
Goodreads review
Prose decided to re-read Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl as research for her new novel whose narrator would be a 13-year old girl.  While reading she came to believe that this was "a consciously crafted work of literature" showcasing Anne's prodigious talent: "her technical proficiency, the novelistic qualities of her diary, her ability to turn living people into characters, her observational powers, her eye for detail, her ear for dialogue and monologue, and the sense of pacing that guides her as she intersperses sections of reflection with dramatized scenes." This is amazing - don't most people go to writing classes to learn how to do this?

I enjoyed the chapters that elaborated on why Prose made the two statements quoted above and skimmed over those which dealt with the drama surrounding the subsequent movie and theatrical productions. The chapters that covered the few short months between the last diary entry and Anne's death were tough.  Like Prose, I also marveled "at the fact that one of the greatest books about the Nazi genocide should have been written by a girl between the ages of thirteen and fifteen."

If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Published: 2009
Rating: 5
Goodreads review
Author web site
I saw this book soon after Josh's death, and knew that I would want to read it as the story is about a girl hovering between life and death.  At the time, I was probably reading survivor of suicide and parental bereavement books.  At this point in my grief journey, I am fascinated with questions about death: what happens up to the point of death, what happens afterwards, can my Josh see or hear me?  And since no one knows, fiction is the genre in which this topic can be explored.  As morbid as it sounds, it is what I want to read.

Found in the inner flap is the summary: "While in a coma following an automobile accident that killed her parents and younger brother, seventeen-year-old, Mia, a gifted cellist, weighs whether to live with her grief or join her family in death."  The author handled this "in-between" state, the thin line separating life and death in a realistic and believable way.

This tear-jerker, told from Mia's point of view, was a quick read.  The following quotes made me stop and think:

I realize now that dying is easy.  Living is hard.  

I've heard people talk about the sleep of the dead.  Is that what death would feel like?  The nicest, warmest, heaviest never-ending nap?  If that's what it's like, I wouldn't mind.  If that's what dying is like, I wouldn't mind at all.  

I don't know if once you die you remember things that happened to you when you were alive.  It makes a certain logical sense that you wouldn't.  That being dead will feel like before you were born, which is to say, a whole lot of nothingness.

After finishing, I wanted to read the sequel right away so used an iTunes gift card received at Christmas to download it - then stayed up until the wee hours reading.  After I woke up, I grabbed my iPad and finished.  Isn't technology wonderful?

Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Published: 2011
Rating: 5
Goodreads review
In the sequel, Forman chose a different narrator to tell the story: Adam Wilde, Mia's emotionally scarred and vulnerable ex-boyfriend, whom we met in the first book and is another likable character.

The story picks up three years later and is told in present time and in flashbacks.  The writing is simple, direct and powerful.   The books are seamlessly tied together and the ending is extremely satisfying.

On Forman's website is a link to her blog on which the posts are candid and honest, giving a window into the life of a novelist.  The post where she asks readers to comment on whether or not a third book should be written and the one where she compares the launch of her two books are especially interesting.

Pamela by Samuel Richardson
Published: 1740
Rating: 5
Lists: 1,001
My review

The Life and Writings of C. S. Lewis by Professor Louis Markos
Audiocourse from The Teaching Company
Rating: 2

While I learned some interesting things about C.S Lewis (he was never given full professorship at Oxford University despite teaching for thirty years) and bought an anthology of his apologetic works, I found the professor to be a bit preachy and did not finish the lectures.  I did, however, find a gem in the bibliography where Prof. Markos referenced Tennyson's epic poem on loss and grief, In Memoriam A.H.H which I am now slowly reading.

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
Published: 1595
Rating: 3
Goodreads review

I read this for the Shakespeare Reading Month Challenge hosted by Allie at Literary Odyssey.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well I could follow along (only had to check out Wikipedia once and that was in Act 2, Scene 1, to figure out who Oberon and Titania were) and how quickly the story moved along.  When Helena told Demetrius, "And I am sick when I look not on you", I was reminded of what Mr. B said about Pamela, "This lovely creature is my doctor, as her absence was my disease."   I believe that authors write their masterpieces on the shoulders of previous literary giants.  I look forward to making more connections as my foray into the classics continue.

The Giants of Russian Literature: Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Chekov by Professor Liza Knapp
Audiocourse by The Modern Scholar
Rating: 3

The lower rating has more to do with my unfamiliarity of these author's works than of the course itself for I found the three lectures on Anna Karenina, a recently read novel, to be quite interesting.  The professor notes that not all translations are the same and suggests Constance Garnett or the husband/wife team of Richard Pevear/Larissa Volokhonsky.  She also points out why several names exist for one character, consistent with Russian culture but confusing to many readers.  She gives detailed background on the historical time period of these authors, their own backgrounds, how and when they intersected and what they thought of each other's works.  She also reflects on the following questions: What makes Russian literature unique and timeless and what was its impact on literature from other countries?  

I have been a bit intimidated by such tomes as War and Peace, Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, Fathers and Sons but after listening to these lectures, I look forward to tackling them.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Published: 2006
Rating: 3
Goodreads

I'm having a hard time rating this book, alternating between a 2 (it was okay) to a 4 (really liked it) so have settled on a 3 (liked it).

Why the 2?  Overall, I found this to be a heavy, dark and depressing book which could only be read a few sections at a time.  But upon closer reflection, this is not the reason for the low rating. Now that I am working on being a more discerning reader, I find myself reacting to certain things such as 1) uncharacteristic behavior that moves the plot forward but is unbelievable (I am thinking of when Hans does something very impulsive and stupid which puts his whole family and Max at risk); 2) when Death, who is constantly portrayed as a sympathetic character, finds Liesel's book and does not return it to her, an unsympathetic and therefore inconsistent action and 3) when the ending, as an attempt to tie the plot lines together, is too neat and therefore unsatisfactory.

Why the 4?  1) I found the author's choice of Death as the narrator to be interesting and his observations of human behavior, running the gamut from extreme cruelty to kindness, thought-provoking. 2) The character development of Rosa Hubermann was well done, a very round character, to use the definition put forth by E.M. Forster in Aspects of The Novel.  3)  Of course I loved the protagonist, Liesel Meminger, a spunky girl who works hard to overcome her illiteracy, becoming an avid reader and writer.  Because she is a book lover, and can only obtain them by stealing, she becomes a thief, preferring to steal books over food.

There is a character who commits suicide.  Death's comment about him and all those who chose to meet him in this way is haunting, but rings true.

"Have me," they said, and there was no stopping them.  They were frightened, no question, but they were not afraid of me.  It was a fear of messing up and having to face themselves again, and facing the world, and the likes of you.
There was nothing I could do.
They had too many ways, they were too resourceful - and when they did it too well, whatever their chosen method, I was in no position to refuse. 

Would I recommend this book?  It depends on who was asking and I would only do so with some caveats.

Update - I am rereading this review and wonder if it is a bit harsh.  I will leave it for now and see if time makes a difference.

Pamela by Samuel Richardson

Pamela by Samuel Richardson
Published: 1740
Rating: 5
Lists: 1,001

This is the first book in my English Novel Challenge and I LOVED IT!  Considered one of the first books written in the novel format, Richardson tells the story through letters that the heroine Pamela wrote to her parents and through her diary.

At the beginning of the book, we are introduced to Pamela, a beautiful, young servant girl of sixteen.  After her Lady's death, she is pursued by the misogynistic unmarried son, Mr. B (Prof. Spurgeon likens him to Mr. Big in Sex and the City) who will not allow Pamela to return home.  While many girls in her situation may have welcomed and accepted being these advances, Pamela has been raised to honor God with her mind, soul and body. Therefore her virtue must be protected at all costs.  This is reinforced by her parents who write, "Arm yourself, my dear Child, for the worst; and resolve to lose your Life sooner than your Virtue."

The constant rejection drives Mr. B mad.  His treatment of poor Pamela worsens until he basically kidnaps and holds her prisoner at one of the family estates with a horrible woman keeper, Mrs. Jewkes.  Pamela's description is priceless and reminds me of Madame Thénardier in Les Miserable.

Now I will give you a Picture of this Wretch!  She is broad, squat, pursy, fat Thing, quite ugly, if any thing God made can be ugly; about forty Years old.  She has a huge Hand, and an Arm as thick as my Waist, I believe.  Her Nose is flat and crooked, and her Brows grow over her Eyes; a  dead, spiteful, grey, goggling Eye, to be sure, she has. And her Face is flat and broad; and as to the Colour, looks like as if it had been pickled a Month in Salt-petre: I dare say she drinks! - She has a hoarse man-like Voice, and is as thick as she's long; and yet looks so deadly strong, that I am afraid she would dash me at her Foot in an Instant, if I was to vex her - So that with a Heart more ugly than her Face, she frightens me sadly; and I am undone, to be sure, if God does not protect me; for she is very, very wicked - indeed she is.

What makes this story so interesting is to see the affect this beautiful but penniless and powerless girl has on others as they come to realize that her outward beauty is not her greatest asset; it is her inner character of virtue, humility, and kindness.  Mr. B comes to appreciate her after confiscating and reading her letters.  Beforehand, he thought she was like other women - rebellious, manipulative and playing games with his affections.  Her letters reveal something else entirely.  Some of my favorite quotes show the progression of Mr. B's realization.

You are possess'd of an open, frank and generous Mind; and a Person so lovely, that you excel all your Sex in my Eyes.  All these Accomplishments have engaged my Affections so deeply, that, as I have often said, I cannot live without you; and I would divide with all my Soul, my Estate with you, to make you mine upon my own Terms.  These you have absolutely rejected; and that, tho' in sawcy Terms enough, yet, in such a manner, as to make me admire you more.

He writes of the willingness to turn his back upon centuries of social expectation to marry beneath his class:

I found the Tables intirely turn'd upon me, and that I was in far more Danger from you than you was from me; for I was just upon resolving to defy all the Censures of the World, and to make you my Wife.

What he says to her on their wedding night:

Your Mind is as pure as that of an Angel, and as much transcends mine.  Your Wit and your Judgement, to make you no Compliment, are more than equal to mine: You have all the Graces that Education can give a Woman; improv'd by a Genius which makes those Graces natural to you.  You have a Sweetness of Temper and a noble Sincerity, beyond all Compare; and in the Beauty of your Person, you excel all the Ladies I ever saw.  Where then, my Dearest, is the Obligation, if not on my side to you?  But to avoid these Comparisons, let us talk of nothing henceforth but Equality; for if you will set the Riches of your Mind, and your unblemished Virtue, against my Fortune (which is but an accidental Good, as I may call it, and all I have to boast of) the Condescension will be yours; and I shall not think I can possibly deserve you, till, after your sweet Example, my future Life shall become nearly as blameless as yours.

What he says unashamedly to his friends as they are introduced to his wife:

My Pamela's person, all lovely as you see it, is far short of her mind; that first impressed me in her favor; but that only made me her Lover.  But they were the beauties of her mind, that made me her husband.

Through Pamela's conviction to live a virtuous and righteous life, Mr. B follows suit and their marriage ends up being fulfilled and happy.  Poetic justice prevails!  I look forward to reading Clarissa, Richardson's tragic novel.

On a side note, it is interesting to see passages that remind me of other works.   When Pamela is imprisoned, she thinks about escape.  "But let Bulls, and Bears, and Lions, and Tygers, and what is worse, false, treacherous deceitful Men stand in my Way...." Did the Wizard of Oz's "lions, tigers and bears, oh my!" come from this, I wonder?

When Pamela sees that plans are moving forward for her upcoming nuptials with Mr. B, she writes, "He was so good as to tell me, he had given Orders for the Chapel to be clear'd.  O how I look forward with inward Joy, yet with Fear and Trembling!"  This reminded me of Jane Eyre's overflowing happiness when she prepares to wed Mr. Rochester, the first time.  I wrote in the margin, "too good to be true?"