Massie's essay makes a very good point. In some ways, Meredith was way ahead of his time. _The Egoist_ is a great book and the most subversive novel of 1859 was not any of the sensation novels making waves then (think, _Woman in White_ by Wilkie Collins), but Meredith's _The Ordeal of Richard Feverel_. Unlike other novels of the era, _Feverel_ ends on a shocking (for the time) note of cynicism.
Hear, hear -- let's see someone write the Meredith bio. and inspire people to read his novels. Massie, maybe?
Massie's essay makes a very good point. In some ways, Meredith was way ahead of his time. _The Egoist_ is a great book and the most subversive novel of 1859 was not any of the sensation novels making waves then (think, _Woman in White_ by Wilkie Collins), but Meredith's _The Ordeal of Richard Feverel_. Unlike other novels of the era, _Feverel_ ends on a shocking (for the time) note of cynicism.
ReplyDeleteHear, hear -- let's see someone write the Meredith bio. and inspire people to read his novels. Massie, maybe?