BIG READS (Update #4)
East Lynne
by Ellen Wood (1860)
I’ve now completed my initial plan to read six long books (over 600 pages), having finished Ellen Wood’s ‘East Lynne’ at the end of April.
First let’s talk about that book in particular before some more general comments on this project.
Ellen Wood might not be mentioned in the same breath as George Eliot or the Bronte sisters these days, but there was a time when her works were being devoured by monarchs and prime ministers, such was her cachet. East Lynne (1860-61) is the only one of her novels which seems to be in print, at least as far as major publishers are concerned.
East Lynne is probably what you might call a sensation novel, replete as it is with a convoluted plot, a murder and a catastrophic fall from grace. However, despite its apparent raciness, it is in fact a highly moralistic tale designed to warn rather than to titillate.
As usual with Victorian novels we are transported to a rural setting, the title of the novel referring to the village where the action takes place. Isobel Vane, a beautiful young noble woman, is left destitute after the death of her father, but is rescued by upright Mr Carlyle, a wealthy lawyer, who unexpectedly marries her, much to the disappointment of Barbara Hare, another local beauty who always thought Carlyle would be hers. Barbara’s family has been tainted by scandal since earlier her brother Richard had vanished after being accused of murdering the father of a local girl whom he had been seeing. Enter into the mix the devious voluptuary Levinson who comes to stay with the Carlyles, and mayhem ensues.
A great page-turner of a novel which I awarded a 9/10, knocking a point off for the rather simplistic moralising message of the ending. In addition, the prose cannot compare with that of George Eliot, but it is nonetheless an absorbing read.
So, here are the final scores for all six books attempted in this project. Overall I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed all of them, the only slight disappointment being Don Quixote.
James Joyce - Ulyssess 10/10
Miguel de Cervantes - Don Quixote 8/10
George Eliot - Middlemarch 10/10
Thomas Mann - The Magic Mountain 10/10
Ann Radcliffe - The Mysteries of Udolpho 9/10
Ellen Wood - East Lynne 9/10
More importantly, this project has revived my love of big books. There’s really nothing like starting a huge novel with the prospect of a dense and thrilling reading experience ahead of you, and it really is true that most two hundred pagers don’t leave as much of an impact, even those that are renowned. As a result, I’ve bought a load more longer works including those by Gunter Grass, George Eliot (of course!), Mircea Cartarescu, Thomas Mann, Susanna Clarke, Hans Fallada, Wilkie Collins and Anna Komnene, to name but a few. Might even dust off the two big post-modernist John Barth novels I’ve got lying around somewhere…