It has been way too long since I have blogged. I hope to change that. Please keep an eye out for more classic literature and history-related posts.
Kandy
It has been way too long since I have blogged. I hope to change that. Please keep an eye out for more classic literature and history-related posts.
Kandy
Today, I finished my first book by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment. I have enjoyed Leo Tolstoy since high school, but it was my seventeen-year old son who got me into Dostoevsky. My son knows my love of nineteenth-century psychological novels. Dostoevsky fits that love.
I have to say, I did enjoy this work. As you may be able to tell from the annotation tabs, I notated plenty of things that stood out to me. I was especially drawn to Raskolnikov's thoughts prior to the murder he committed - how he pieced together random happenings to convince himself he was supposed to commit this crime. I also notated the mindset of characters who were abused. For example, Marmeladov revealed to our protagonist how his daughter, Sonya, was pushed into prostitution by her stepmother, Katerina Ivanovna. Of course, the stepmother was affected by her own tuberculosis and the starvation of her children. However, the guilt Sonya felt was, no doubt, caused by the abuse of Katerina Ivanovna, who beat the girl and insisted she prostitute herself to help her younger siblings. This is why Sonya felt the need to sacrifice herself throughout the novel, even for Raskolnikov after he confessed the murder to her and even when he was cruel to her.
Speaking of self-sacrifice, I find the relationship between Raskolnikov's mother and sister interesting as well. At the beginning of the novel, Raskolnikov received a letter informing him of his sister's impending marriage. He quickly saw her marriage, which was approved of by their mother, would be mainly for his benefit. He recognized his sister's soon-to-be husband for the scoundrel he was and, later, became responsible for saving his sister from a painful future. Now, we could say that his mother had not put two and two together to see what type of husband her daughter would have. However, was it because she put her son above her daughter - his needs were more important than hers? Did she, too, expect her daughter to sacrifice herself for her brother? In today's terms, this would be rightly considered narcissistic parenting.
My reading completed for 2022.
I had promised my next post would be about the classic novel Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin. And so it is. Granted, Melmoth was not the only book I read between my last post (The Secret History) and now. I often read several books (both fiction and nonfiction) at the same time. While reading Melmoth, I also read Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House, R.F. Kuang's Babel, and finished a nonfiction book about true hauntings. You may have noticed a theme of dark academia, which is a genre that has gained my fascination (but that is another post).
Back to Matruin's Melmoth the Wanderer. Let me begin by saying Charles Maturin was the great uncle of Oscar Wilde. My Oscar Wilde research is how I discovered this particular work, why I purchased it, and why I began the journey of reading it. I say the journey of reading it because a journey is a good way to describe the reading of this work.
Let me begin the discussion of this journey by saying I can see how Melmoth influenced Wilde. Oscar Wilde scholars know when the playwright and author went into exile after his imprisonment, he took the alias Sebastian Melmoth (Sebastian after his favorite Catholic saint and Melmoth after his great uncle's famous novel). As I read Melmoth, I saw so many ideas that were reflected in Oscar's own life and writing. Perhaps the most striking is how similar the theme of The Picture of Dorian Gray is to Melmoth the Wanderer. As I read the words of the Wanderer, I was reminded of the dialogue of Lord Henry Wotton in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Like any good devil (or one influenced by such a devil) both Melmoth and Lord Henry knew how to twist truths to influence their victims (I suppose one could consider Dorian a victim of Henry, after all). At the same time, it seems both Maturin and Wilde made interesting points through these devilish characters.
I must admit I also see some striking comparisons between Maturin's ideas in Melmoth and in the life of Oscar Wilde. I find it interesting that Oscar took the alias of Melmoth. In the novel, there is more than one Melmoth. There is Melmoth, an old and curmudgeonly miser. There is Melmoth, a curious and determined nephew. Of course, there is also Melmoth the Wanderer, the being who wanders the world looking for souls to gather for his demonic master. Why did Oscar take this name? Was it that he felt he was doomed to wander after his imprisonment? Was it that he believed worse about himself - that he had harmed others beyond their ability to heal? We know he never saw his sons again, and he did express remorse over how his circumstances affected his wife, Constance. I couldn't help but think of Oscar when I read the following quote from the Wanderer, "...I alone must sustain the penalty. If I have put forth my hand, and eaten of the fruit of the interdicted tree, am I not driven from the presence of God and the region of paradise and even sent to wander amid worlds of barrenness and curse for ever and ever?" (Maturin). I find it amazing that this book written thirty-four years before Oscar's birth, could so well describe his possible emotions.
But Maturin seems to be an expert at understanding human emotions - human psychology. Much of what is written in Melmoth the Wanderer is Maturin's criticism of Catholicism. However, what he writes struck a chord with me. The thoughts and feelings of those affected by Maturin's ideas of cruel religion are reflective of the thoughts and feelings of those who have been affected by legalistic religion and spiritual abuse. I took so many notes over the accuracy of Maturin's analysis of the human mind - the human mind that has been abused and tortured by painful doctrine that induces guilt and frustration.
I am often amazed at how well nineteenth-century authors understood the human mind. I think this is one of the reasons nineteenth-century literature is probably my favorite fiction. Charles Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer is worth reading for this very understanding. At times, the novel can be somewhat drawn out or dense. However, it is a powerful work that I will be using in my own future writing.
I am been studying the life and works of Oscar Wilde for a few years now. I am writing what I call a "dissertation" (in quotation marks because I have not yet begun my PhD. However, I hope to possibly use this work for my actual dissertation when the time comes). As a part of this study, I have also researched and read various books that influenced Wilde himself. (Keep an eye out, in future posts, for my discussion of Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin). Imagine my thrill with reading a more contemporary book (published in 1992) that reminds me of Oscar Wilde, his ideology, and his works. Oscar Wilde is still an influence on today's writers.
A few months ago, I ran across a book called The Little Friend by Donna Tartt in a little library/book drop. What caught my attention was the vintage doll pictured on the cover of the book. (I collect dolls, as well as other vintage and antique oddities). Once I began reading this book, I could not put it down. I was so impressed with the author's literary writing style. Once I read this Southern Gothic novel, I just had to read more of her works. I was especially intrigued by the dark academia in and of The Secret History. (Please note: the remainder of the post contains spoilers).
I want to share a bit about what you can expect from this blog.
I am a historian and a lover of classic literature. My historical foci are social and literary history of the nineteenth century. These areas of history will be themes of this blog. Because classic literature was a part of history, I will also write about literary works - especially, but not limited to, works of the nineteenth century. I believe we need more historical and literary studies in our world today. I want this blog to show why history and classic literature are important. Please note: the posts I share may contain spoilers of the works.
I am going to begin this blog with today's post about the novel Poor Miss Finch by Wilkie Collins. I, just today, finished my reading of this classic work. Wilkie Collins was a nineteenth-century, British sensationalist author. Edgar Allan Poe was the inventor of detective fiction, with his short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." Around twenty years later, Wilkie Collins wrote The Moonstone, the first full-length detective novel. His use of page breaks and pauses kept his readers wanting to read what came next in his novels. I consider him one of the first thriller writers.
I began reading Wilkie Collins novels around three years ago, thanks to his monumental work The Woman in White being mentioned by the author of a book I had read. (The Woman in White was so monumental, in fact, that the title is written on his tombstone). Being interested in the history of asylums (a theme of The Woman in White), I had to read this classic novel. I became hooked on Collins' writing. I am still regularly reading Wilkie Collins' novels. Like his friend Charles Dickens, Collins wrote several. My latest reading was, of course, Poor Miss Finch.
It has been way too long since I have blogged. I hope to change that. Please keep an eye out for more classic literature and history-relate...