deb Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Are there any Nineteenth Century novels written in the form of letters by multiple characters? Something like those by Samuel Richardson or Tobias Smollett, but 19th C ? Ideally I'd like titles which are readily available in paperback. Are there such novels, or had that form gone out of fashion by then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 I would be interested in that myself. I don't know although I suspect faster communication in real life like the telegraph had made that form unpopular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 The one that springs immediately to mind is Bram Stoker's Dracula where letters, diary entries, newspaper articles etc. are used to tell the story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 I would be interested in that myself. I don't know although I suspect faster communication in real life like the telegraph had made that form unpopular. Hmm, I hadn't considered that. Isn't it interesting though that there are quite a few modern Epistolary Novels despite we have almost instantaneous communication now. A hankering for simpler days, perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 The one that springs immediately to mind is Bram Stoker's Dracula where letters, diary entries, newspaper articles etc. are used to tell the story. Oh, I didn't know that. Thank you, Chrissy. Have you read it? Is the original novel as far from the movie versions as Frankenstein tends to be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I have read, and really enjoyed it. The movie that I enjoyed the most is the Coppola 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' version with Gary Oldman. I'm a (no pun intended) sucker for a vampire movie, so have seen many a cheesy film version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 A couple more I can think of are Lady Susan by Jane Austen and The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. Speaking of Frankenstein, isn't that an epistolary novel too? It's been a pretty long time since I read it but I'm sure it's at least partly made up of diaries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 I'm a (no pun intended) sucker for a vampire movie (laughs) I might try it. The novel, that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 Lady Susan! I don't know why I've never gotten around to reading that. Yes, lovely suggestion. The Moonstone is already on my list, but because it's a 'sensation' novel (didn't know it was in the form of letters, diaries, and such). Thanks, Hayley. Yes, Frankenstein begins (and perhaps ends - can't recall) as letters from a brother to his sister. But the major section of it isn't quite the form I'm looking for at the moment. Ideally I want novels written entirely in the form of letters, and preferably of a non-fantastical nature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Good luck deb, let us know what you turn up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 (edited) Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos de Laclos fits the bill but it was published a bit before the 19th century... I'm sure there are others that I know about, but I'm drawing blanks Edit: Letters of Two Brides by Honoré de Balzac! Edit2: Poor Folk by Fyodor Dostoevsky Edit3: Not sure about this but possibly The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins Edited January 21, 2014 by frankie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Good luck deb, let us know what you turn up. Thank you And I shall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos de Laclos fits the bill but it was published a bit before the 19th century... Yes, another wonderful book from the eighteenth century. But thank you for reminding me of it - that's one I will have to revisit. Letters of Two Brides looks to be absolutely perfect! (And my library appears to have two different versions of it.) Have you read it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 And on the subject of Dangerous Liaisons, this is fun https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/86686/DangerousTweets.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Sorry, I can't work out how to edit my earlier post, so will have to do it this way. frankie, Poor folk also looks to be just what I'm looking for. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 I second Dracula - it's ace! And I know it's about 20 years too early, but Evelina by Frances Burney is an epistolary (if I remember correctly). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Ooh, and maybe Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 Ooh, and maybe Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall? Good suggestion, but I think it's another of those where the major part is told in one huge chunk. Ideally, I want a novel told in lots of letters, rather like the examples I've given (but which are all eighteenth century), or like the Letters of Two Brides which frankie recommended. Frances Burney's books are well worth reading, aren't they? I do like those. Eighteenth century books I do know about, but am almost wholly ignorant of nineteenth century novels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Can I ask what has got you chasing these type of novels deb? Is it something you found you liked and just wanted more of? Why 19th century in particular? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 Can I ask what has got you chasing these type of novels deb? Is it something you found you liked and just wanted more of? Why 19th century in particular? The short answer why: yes, just that really - I like them and want more. The long answer: About 25 years ago I discovered C18th literature, read Clarissa, and was hooked both on the C18th as a time and epistolary novels as a form. (I also like collections of real letters.) Apart from simply liking them, it is a way to vicariously indulge my fantasy of having pen friends. The truth - the sad truth - is that I am the world's worst letter writer ever and wouldn't be able to carry on a correspondence. As to why 19th century, well this year I have decided to read mostly titles from the Penguin Classics and Oxford World's Classics ranges. Apart from the Brontë sisters, Great Expectations, Jane Austen and a handful of other novels from that century, I am in the dark. It's always seemed a less than inviting period of smoke-shrouded cities and towns full of wage-slaves eking out their lives for rich industrialists. Ohh, wait a minute, and I getting mixed up with the 21st century here? Anyway, I've decided to see what novels from the time are really like, and was curious to know if there were epistolary novels written then. That was a bit convoluted, wasn't it? I ought to have stuck with the short answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 No, it was a good answer! I do know what you mean about the prevailing image of C19 being one of smoke and dirt and poverty, and I'll be interested to hear any discoveries you might make to the contrary! I have a feeling you'll be having some great conversations with people on here (like Vodkafan and Willoyd) pretty soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 As Signor Finzione already said, It was a good answer. I am completely hooked on the 19th century. It was century of great change and London became the greatest city in the world. Not just saying that because I am British, it really was! The fascinating thing is, the more I read the more I realise that all the problems we have that we think are so modern were exactly the same then. They had terrorist bomb attacks, people living on credit, people trafficking, mail order catalogues and corrupt police and politicians and serial killers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb Posted January 23, 2014 Author Share Posted January 23, 2014 I do know what you mean about the prevailing image of C19 being one of smoke and dirt and poverty There must be some truth to it, I suppose, but it will be interesting to see if there was more than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb Posted January 23, 2014 Author Share Posted January 23, 2014 The fascinating thing is, the more I read the more I realise that all the problems we have that we think are so modern were exactly the same then. They had terrorist bomb attacks, people living on credit, people trafficking, mail order catalogues and corrupt police and politicians and serial killers... This is astonishing! I was unaware they had bombs back then, let alone terrorist attacks. And mail order catalogues? How fascinating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Yes, another wonderful book from the eighteenth century. But thank you for reminding me of it - that's one I will have to revisit. Letters of Two Brides looks to be absolutely perfect! (And my library appears to have two different versions of it.) Have you read it? I haven't read it, no, it came up when I was doing a google/wiki search for suitable novels for you Sorry, I can't work out how to edit my earlier post, so will have to do it this way. About editing: only members with 10 or more posts are able to edit, so that was the problem. Now you should be able to edit your posts frankie, Poor folk also looks to be just what I'm looking for. Thank you You're welcome! I'll come back if I find any other books. There was an article on epistolary novels on wiki, and there was also a list of novels in that genre, but rather surprisingly there were only a few titles from the 19th century, and those I've mentioned already on here. The short answer why: yes, just that really - I like them and want more. The long answer: About 25 years ago I discovered C18th literature, read Clarissa, and was hooked both on the C18th as a time and epistolary novels as a form. (I also like collections of real letters.) Apart from simply liking them, it is a way to vicariously indulge my fantasy of having pen friends. The truth - the sad truth - is that I am the world's worst letter writer ever and wouldn't be able to carry on a correspondence. As to why 19th century, well this year I have decided to read mostly titles from the Penguin Classics and Oxford World's Classics ranges. Apart from the Brontë sisters, Great Expectations, Jane Austen and a handful of other novels from that century, I am in the dark. It's always seemed a less than inviting period of smoke-shrouded cities and towns full of wage-slaves eking out their lives for rich industrialists. Ohh, wait a minute, and I getting mixed up with the 21st century here? Anyway, I've decided to see what novels from the time are really like, and was curious to know if there were epistolary novels written then. That was a bit convoluted, wasn't it? I ought to have stuck with the short answer. The longer answer was a lot more interesting, so I'm happy you obliged us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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