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dangermousieI would be surprised if anyone on my flist has heard of Charles Reade. But he is one of my favorite novelists and was very popular in 19th century.
His most famous book (and it's still in print) is "The Cloister and the Hearth," that is set in pre-Renaissance Europe and follows the adventures and travails of Gerard, a painter, who is forced to leave Netherlands due to scheming of his elder siblings. There is a doomed, star-crossed love affair that makes me cry, hair-raising adventures, funny bits, great secondary characters (my favorite is a Burgundian soldier Dennis who befriends him on the road), and great descriptions of Italy, Germany and France. This one begs to be made into a movie. It's definitely worth a look. Plus, Gerard is crush-worthy.
My favorite of his novels (that I've read) is "Hard Cash." It was wildly popular, created a sensation, and prompted reforms in the mental asylums. The plot is loosely based on a real case, and involves an Oxford graduate, Alfred, whose father has him committed to an insane asylum on the eve of his wedding because he is afraid that the son will reveal the secrets of his dishonest financial dealings and ruin him. I fell in love with the romance and stayed for the really harrowing look at 19th century mental institution conditions. This is a brilliant book. As I said, I love the romance (Alfred is intelligent, high strung and charmingly vulnerable. Also, he goes through hell. And Julia is no dishrag) and the interesting plot convolutions, but the parts that really stick with me and that haven't dated a bit are those that involve the insane asylum and the corruption and the horrible conditions in it. The situation of someone perfectly sane and intelligent who is trapped in a madhouse and cannot prove his condition because people are either bribed (they get paid per patient) or automatically assume he is mad (as they have their heads shaved etc) is a horrible situation and is made awfully vivid 100+ years before "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and similar. Alfred, who is perfectly rational, begins to slide into madness because of the conditions he is in. And of course, there are great scenes of his trying to legally prove his sanity in court. This is a wonderful book and deserves to be better known.
Why am I blathering about Reade? Well, currently I am reading another book of his co-written with Dion Boucicault, called Foul Play involving a man who gets accused and convicted of forgery and theft he did not commit. I haven't gotten much further so am not sure which way this is going, but I like what I see so far. Here's a sample quote, describing the heroine: "a young lady of fair abilities, who had gone through her course of music and other studies, taught brainlessly, and who was now going through a course of monotonous pleasures, and had not accumulated any great store of mental resources--she was listless and languid, and would have yawned forty times in her papa's face, only she was too well-bred." LOL
OK, where can you find Charles Reade books? There is a lovely answer to that one: all three I've mentioned (and some others) are all available for free on http://www.gutenberg.net
Do check him out. He is a wonderful writer.
His most famous book (and it's still in print) is "The Cloister and the Hearth," that is set in pre-Renaissance Europe and follows the adventures and travails of Gerard, a painter, who is forced to leave Netherlands due to scheming of his elder siblings. There is a doomed, star-crossed love affair that makes me cry, hair-raising adventures, funny bits, great secondary characters (my favorite is a Burgundian soldier Dennis who befriends him on the road), and great descriptions of Italy, Germany and France. This one begs to be made into a movie. It's definitely worth a look. Plus, Gerard is crush-worthy.
My favorite of his novels (that I've read) is "Hard Cash." It was wildly popular, created a sensation, and prompted reforms in the mental asylums. The plot is loosely based on a real case, and involves an Oxford graduate, Alfred, whose father has him committed to an insane asylum on the eve of his wedding because he is afraid that the son will reveal the secrets of his dishonest financial dealings and ruin him. I fell in love with the romance and stayed for the really harrowing look at 19th century mental institution conditions. This is a brilliant book. As I said, I love the romance (Alfred is intelligent, high strung and charmingly vulnerable. Also, he goes through hell. And Julia is no dishrag) and the interesting plot convolutions, but the parts that really stick with me and that haven't dated a bit are those that involve the insane asylum and the corruption and the horrible conditions in it. The situation of someone perfectly sane and intelligent who is trapped in a madhouse and cannot prove his condition because people are either bribed (they get paid per patient) or automatically assume he is mad (as they have their heads shaved etc) is a horrible situation and is made awfully vivid 100+ years before "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and similar. Alfred, who is perfectly rational, begins to slide into madness because of the conditions he is in. And of course, there are great scenes of his trying to legally prove his sanity in court. This is a wonderful book and deserves to be better known.
Why am I blathering about Reade? Well, currently I am reading another book of his co-written with Dion Boucicault, called Foul Play involving a man who gets accused and convicted of forgery and theft he did not commit. I haven't gotten much further so am not sure which way this is going, but I like what I see so far. Here's a sample quote, describing the heroine: "a young lady of fair abilities, who had gone through her course of music and other studies, taught brainlessly, and who was now going through a course of monotonous pleasures, and had not accumulated any great store of mental resources--she was listless and languid, and would have yawned forty times in her papa's face, only she was too well-bred." LOL
OK, where can you find Charles Reade books? There is a lovely answer to that one: all three I've mentioned (and some others) are all available for free on http://www.gutenberg.net
Do check him out. He is a wonderful writer.
