Did I Mention I Have a Master's in English?

The past few nights I have been getting to sleep pretty late. Ben and Janae have been in bed on time, and even Jason has gone to sleep, but I have stayed up with only my bedside lamp for light--even though I know I'm going to be too tired to get up in the morning. Why? I'm reading an incredibly suspenseful novel where each chapter ending is a cliff-hanger.

The other day it struck me as absurd that I am reading in this way--when the book was written almost 200 years ago. The story in its entirety has been sitting there in a book for two centuries, but I am still staying up late, reading until my eyes can't stay open another second, to find out what happens. Where have I been the past 200 years?

 

This particular novel is Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, and I should have read it much earlier (it would have been great to draw upon in my master's thesis) but it's true that I'm reading it for the first time. It's also the first Victorian novel I've read in about three years, and it got me thinking about why I love that period of writing.

I've read a few modern novels this year that have been well written and very interesting, but a 19th century novel--well, it's just so much more.

I know many (probably most!) people would disagree--I've had lots of conversations with people who argue against the value of "the classics," but I thought I'd list a few reasons why I love Victorian novels. Any of you who'd rather not have an English lesson can stop reading now (You probably should have stopped reading after the title!).

The suspense: Victorian novels were written in periodical installments, so the authors had to keep their readers buying magazines to find out what would happen in the story. Oliver Twist has had scenes where people were about to tell secrets and then died, people who were supposed to have dangerous liaisons and then restrained so they could not attend--those types of things. These situations may sound cheesy, but the book is so well-written that I feel they are actually happening--and I have to find out how they will turn out.

The characterization: Victorian novels tend to be LONG, and this allows the authors to develop the characters into people who are very complex and real.

The descriptive writing: This relates to both of the above, but the settings, situations, and people are so well described that I feel drawn into the novel's world during the time I'm reading.

The absence of graphic language and scenes: Many gruesome things happen in 19th century novels, and the great themes of literature (which my students who complained about reading "the classics" used to summarize as death, insanity and adultery) are definitely there, but because of the authors' more subtle use of language, I find the material is treated in a more artistic (less offensively graphic) way.

The Great Novelists: The Victorian period was the era of the novel; my three favorite 19th century novelists are Charles Dickens, George Elliot, and Thomas Hardy (in alphabetical order because I can't rank them). I am amazed at how many intriguing characters and plots these three authors have created; one of my life's goals is to read everything they have written.

It's no secret that I love to read, and there is great literature from every time period, but I do still find it amazing that I can become so involved in stories written centuries ago.

I know this post is too long already, but I have to mention one more thing: tonight I'll be reading the last three chapters of Oliver Twist . . . so if in the past 200 years you have been able to find out what happens at the end, be sure to keep it to yourself for the next few hours :)