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Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Angus Ross
ISBN13: 9780140432152
Condition: NEW
Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Pressured by her unscrupulous family to marry a wealthy man she detests, the young Clarissa Harlowe is tricked into fleeing with the witty and debonair Robert Lovelace and places herself under his protection. Lovelace, however, proves himself to be an untrustworthy rake whose vague promises of marriage are accompanied by unwelcome and increasingly brutal sexual advances. And yet, Clarissa finds his charm alluring, her scrupulous sense of virtue tinged with unconfessed desire. Told through a complex series of interweaving letters, "Clarissa" is a richly ambiguous study of a fatally attracted couple and a work of astonishing power and immediacy. A huge success when it first appeared in 1747, and translated into French and German, it remains one of the greatest of all European novels.
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| A novel for its time, but maybe not for ours... |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
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Clarissa / 0-140-43215-9
You've got to feel sorry for Richardson. After some careful soul-searching over the literary success of his earlier and similarly-themed (but more cheerfully ended) Pamela, he decided that he'd pen a novel for the ages, a novel that would finally put to rest the idea that reformed rapists make good husbands. Imagine his disappointment when his laboriously long novel, full of the evil wrongdoings of the horrible Mr. Lovelace, only evoked passionate sighs from the literary community as they waited for the `inevitable' (in their minds) wedding between lovely Clarissa and cruel Lovelace.
Clarissa the Novel is one of the longest English novels ever written. The plot advances through the sometimes torturously slow "letter writing method", wherein Miss Clarissa writes her friends breathlessly describing the horrible things that have occurred to her within the past hours, weeks, or months. As a person, Clarissa embodies a struggle between the genders and classes of her time; her family resents her inheritance and intends to marry her forcibly off to a much older gentleman in the expectation that he will die before conceiving an heir and his wealth will revert to Clarissa's family. She despairs of being used in this manner, but can't really bring herself to elope with the more eligible (in terms of age and attractiveness) Lovelace, because she doesn't exactly think that much of him, either - Clarissa would like to love, or at least like, the man she marries. Nevertheless, he persuades her to run off with him for her own safety and, once ensconced in his home, he brutally and cruelly rapes her, expecting that she will be forced to marry him once he takes her virginity. Clarissa stuns the conventions of the day and takes Lovelace to court and then slowly and perversely (again, according to conventional mores, not our own) wastes away and dies from a broken heart. Lovelace echoes the conventions of his day, wondering in confusion what crime he could have committed against Clarissa that a wedding ring wouldn't have set right? Richardson insists that it isn't that simple - marriage does not magically create love where there was once hate and fear.
The story itself is wonderful, but the pacing is very slow. Clarissa's letters span dozens of pages to describe a single afternoon's worth of action. Richardson labors over hundreds of pages to ensure that the society of his day would not find Clarissa too disobedient for refusing her family's marriage plans - we are treated to pages and pages of insistence that Clarissa really IS a sweet, perfect, wonderful girl, really, honestly. I do not say this to denigrate the novel in any way - this is an important classic, and a crucial piece of our literary history, but a reader needs to know what s/he may be purchasing and choose accordingly - no one likes to waste money. If you are brave enough to slog through this novel, you will find it touching, fascinating, and an important turning point in gender relations. Just be aware that there is quite a time investment you're getting into when you start Clarissa.
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| What a read! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I am reading this for my M.A. Thesis Project. I am quite pleased I chose this book. It has everything, courting, rape, virtue, sword fights/dueling, and death. The longest book published in English literature is exquisite.
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| Stick with it & it'll stick with you. |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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What a group of despicable characters! By page 500, I was hoping every character would be put to the rack. By page 1000, I was hoping for a mass hanging. By page 1500, I was willing to grant clemency to a few.
Dozens of times I nearly relegated this book to the pile of books to be sent to an enemy - BUT - each time would pick it up again because I had to know if my hopes would be realized.
Should you read Clarissa? By all means; if for no other reason than to serve as penance for all past sins of omission or commission wreaked on others.
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| If Clarissa is too hard for you,,,,try Sir Charles Grandison |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Clarissa besides being one of the longest novels out there is also a hard book to read. Written in a series of letters from the main characters, it is truly work of art. You need to have a dictionary handy when reading this book as you will find many words that are not in your present vocabulary. I am reading Clarissa and I am ONLY on page 157, that is not to say that it is not an interesting book because it is. It's just that if you undertake to read this huge mammoth book, give yourself time alone to squint at the tiny print, look up words you don't know and digest some of the character's unbelievable thoughts and actions. While reading the book, I had to suppress the urge to scream at the sheer absurdity of all of Clarissa's relative. What a bunch of morons. I like it though that this book gives me reason to want to scream at these folks.
While trying to read this book, I noticed that Samuel Richardson also wrote another book similar to Clarissa but slightly more lighthearted and readable. The book is called The History of Sir Charles Grandison. It is the story of the most perfect gentleman you will ever hope to find stuck between the affections of two very beautiful but different women (don't you feel sorry for him?). Like Clarissa, this book is long. You will not be able to find a single volume that contains the whole book unless you are willing to shell out big bucks. Save your money and right here in Amazon you can purchase the digital edition of this book. With this digital edition you can download onto your PDA, eBook or PC and read it from there. Or you could do like I did, I downloaded the book to my PC and then printed myself a hard copy. I must warn you, the book is long. On a regular 8 x 11 1/2 paper, this novel takes up 1,600 sheets so be prepared. That being said, this is one of the best investments I have made as it cost less than 10 bucks and I am thoroughly enjoying this story, daresay I, more than Clarissa.
I will write a review of Sir Charles once I finish reading it but waste no more time, go out and purchase your own copy and read some of the finest literature out there.
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| Clarissa Harlow: The angelic heroine of Richardson's mammoth 1747 novel |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Samuel Richardson (1689-1761)is one of the founders of the English novel. His 1741 novel "Pamela" was one of the best sellers of the 18th century. In 1747 the printer/novelist issued the behemoth "Clarissa" which is over 1500 small printed pages and logs in at over one million words!Clarissa is a novel of manners written in an epistolatory style. It consists of 543 letters written by the prolific Clarissa; her good friend
Anna Howe; her cad of a lover Robert Lovelace and his friend Mr. Belford. Several other letters are included written by minor characters.
The plot is a simple one. Clarissa Harlow is a wealthy young lady who refuses to marry the odious Mr. Solmes. Clarissa flees to London with the rakish, highly intelligent and utterly charminig Robert Lovelace. This arch seducer places her in a brothel; she is drugged and Lovelace has intercourse with her. Clarissa then goes into a steady mental and physical decline dying before her 20th birthday.
We read Clarissa over 250 years after its first appearance due to its psychological insight into the human soul. Richardson gives us an in depth look at the mind and heart of Clarissa and Lovelace. Clarissa dies as a Christian looking to Christ for salvation; forgiving her enemies and at peace with her unfortunate situation. Lovelace is killed in a duel. The evil characters are suitably punished. The story is a tragedy as the reader mourns the loss of such a brilliant young woman as Clarissa. Credulity is strained since I doubt if a teenager could write like Clarissa! And who would write such lengthy and minute letters dealing with daily affairs?. Perhaps they had more time in the eighteenth century.
Richardson along with such eighteenth century literary figures as Henry Fielding; Oliver Goldsmith and Daniel DeFoe gave the novel a popularity among the new middle class which was literate and craved for
stories which would instruct and entertain them in their homes.
I read this novel in eight days. My eyes are trying to recover but the experience is one I savor. Clarissa will never be popular due to its great lengths and complexity. It will, however, never die but live as long as great novels are read and savored by sagacious souls.
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