35. Emile, or, On Education

Another novel by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, which I've just finished.  I found this fascinating, both as philosophy and as an insight into French society in the eighteenth century.

The novel was published in 1762 in Paris.  In the guise of a tutor talking about the education of his student, Emile, Rousseau expounds his views on topics such as education, religion, the role of women, citizenship, city vs country life, and marriage.  I begin to understand what the French Enlightenment was about, because some of his ideas must have been quite revolutionary for the time.

Before I read this, I associated Rousseau's name with the idea of the social contract (thanks to an anthropology class some years ago) and now have a better understanding of what that actually means.

34. Rameau's Nephew by Denis Diderot

Now this I know I did read.  Denis Diderot lived in France, 1713 to 1784, and was a major philosopher of the French Enlightenment.  He edited the world's first Encyclopedia.

The narrator is a philosopher and describes his conversation with the nephew of the composer Rameau, who lives by his wits.  They discuss morality.  The philosopher says happiness is gained by being virtuous, and the nephew argues happiness is being rich and well-regarded by other people.

(I'm always suspicious when people set up dialogues to make their point - like Socrates.)

And I'm left wondering why Diderot chose Rameau to be the uncle of the hero?

33. Julie; or, the New Elouise

Wikipedia tells me that Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a major philosopher, writer and composer who was born in Switzerland in 1712 and died in France in 1778.  Julie was published in 1760.  Writing this two books later, I confess I can't remember much about Julie, so I'm cheating here and referring to the synopsis a lot.

This book was immensely popular when it was first published.  The story is told through letters, and it's about Julie who is loved by and loves her tutor, Saint-Preux.  He's banished from her father's house. Later she marries Wolmar.  Saint-Preux becomes part of their household, but virtue triumphs over desire and they all make honorable choices.  Julie dies young.

Did I read this at all?  I can't find it on my Kindle, but I've just found an online edition and it doesn't look very familiar.  Ah, the Kindle version costs $19 - maybe I decided it was too expensive?  Bother, I shall have to go back and read it.

32. Rasselas by Samual Johnson

Samuel Johnson is famous for his Dictionary of the English Language, but also wrote this one novel, published in 1759.  He uses the experiences of Rasselas to reflect on a variety of topics.  Rasselas is raised in a protected environment from which he escapes to explore the world, and discovers that everyone he meets - kings, philosophers and shepherds -  is dissatisfied with their lot.

32. Candide by Voltaire

This French satirical novel was published in 1759.  Candide is educated by Pangloss to believe that this is the best of all possible worlds, and then faces a series of hardships which test his belief.

31. The Female Quixote by Charlotte Lennox

I enjoyed this novel, published in 1752.  Like Don Quixote, Arabella has read too many romances and sees a mysterious stranger in every passerby.  Her faithful lover despairs of ever persuading her otherwise, but with the help of friends she eventually accepts that romantic conventions (such as duelling for the honor of a lady) no longer apply.

30. Amelia by Henry Fielding

If the heroine, Amelia, seems too good to be true, her husband Captain Booth is all too flawed.  He is unfaithful to her while he is in prison, and he gambles away what little they have left and ends up in debtor's prison.  Fielding makes life difficult for both of them with a succession of wicked noblemen lusting after Amelia and vengeful ladies lusting after Booth and plotting their downfall.

However, love conquers all:  wrongs are righted, villains are punished, Amelia receives her lawful inheritance and they live happily ever after.

29. Peregrine Pickle by Tobias George Smollett.

This novel was published in 1751.  It's yet another story along the lines of Roderick Random, about the adventures at home and abroad of a flawed hero.  Roderick ends up in debtor's prison, reforms, marries Emilia, and lives happily ever after.

28. Fanny Hill by John Cleland

Another 1749 novel, this is as a series of letters from Fanny to another woman.  The story records her exploits from innocent 15 year old, to losing her virginity, working in a brothel, being a 'kept woman', and finally inheriting a fortune and meeting up with her long-lost first lover, with whom she (presumably) lives happily ever after.  It depicts several popular erotic scenarios:  lesbian sex, losing virginity, group sex, pretending to lose virginity, flagellation, and seducing an innocent boy.  Cleland is creative and eloquent in his descriptions of sexual acts, and this book still works as pornography. It's also an interesting record of the times.

Cleland was born in 1709, and is thought to have written Fanny Hill while in Fleet Prison for debt, after returning home from a career in the British East India Company.  None of his other writing was as successful as Fanny Hill, and he died in 1789 unmarried and alone.  There's a suggestion that he might have been gay.

27. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding

Tom Jones was also published in 1749 (a good year for British novels!).  Tom is born illegitimate and taken in by  a kindly gentleman, Mr Allworthy.  Tom is good-looking and good-natured, which inspires hatred in his foster-brother, Mr Bilfil, and various rivals; and love in a good many women including the beautiful and virtuous Sophia, his neighbour's daughter.  Sophia's father, the Squire, loves her but becomes incoherent with rage when she refuses to marry Mr Bilfil.  There are many characters in this story, from very poor to the nobility, all with their own motives and feelings towards Tom.

Fielding interpolates his own commentary on the action, and keeps the reader in suspense right to the end.  Will Tom escape the gallows, be reconciled to Mr Allworthy and win Sophia?

26. Roderick Random by Tobias George Smollett

This was Smollett's first novel, published in 1749.  It tells the adventures of Roderick Random, poor and Scottish but well-educated, and much of it is about Roderick's career in the British navy.  In the end he discovers his long-lost (and rich) father and marries Narcissa, who has stayed true to him despite his long absence.

Smollett was a naval surgeon so Roderick's naval experiences are probably realistic (and horrifying).  I also found the prejudice against Scots, and against Roman Catholics, interesting.

25. Clarissa, by Samuel Richardson

This took a long time to read, but I was engrossed all the way through.  It's in nine volumes, and written entirely as letters between the tragic and virtuous heroine, Clarissa Harlowe, and her best friend, Miss Anne Howe, on the one hand; and the libertine seducer, Richard Lovelace, and his best friend, Mr Belford, on the other - plus a few letters from minor characters where necessary.

A story told in letters was apparently an innovation for the time.  I thought initially that it would have a happy ending, with Richard reforming and marrying Clarissa; but she refuses to marry him after he drugs and rapes her, and dies piously.  Richardson has an afterword justifying this, saying that in real life the good often suffer, and their reward is in heaven.

Through the letters I had a strong sense of the main protagonists as real, fleshed out people each with weaknesses and strengths.  The moral seemed to me to be that one small error (in Clarissa's case, believing that through corresponding with Lovelace she could prevent harm coming to her family) can have disastrous consequences.  Mind you, Clarissa was really up against the odds, between Lovelace's devious plots and the persistent hostility of her brother and sister which poisoned her whole family against her.

24. Pamela, by Samuel Richardson

Pamela, and Clarissa (by the same author, see #25) came bundled together on my Kindle, and I read Clarissa first.

Pamela was published in 1742 and Clarissa in 1749.

23. Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus by various authors

I wasn't able to find this, but I did find Volume 2 of Miscellanies which is a collection of essays and stories by the same authors:  Jonathan Swift, John Arbuthnot, Alexander Pope and John Gay.  It includes A Modest Proposal (see #21).  The text has been poorly edited after scanning but is legible.

I enjoyed some of the essays more than I expected to, particularly "A letter to a young clergyman lately entered into holy orders" which has some excellent advice on public speaking; and "A letter to a young lady, on her marriage" about behaving modestly, cultivating her mind and choosing her company carefully.

22. Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding

I've read the next few books in the wrong order - blame "1001 Books"!  Joseph Andrews, published in 1742,  is a sequel to Shamela (published in 1741) which was a parody of Pamela by Samuel Richardson (see #24), published in 1740.  Kindle gave me Joseph Andrews and Shamela bundled together.

In Joseph Andrews, a virtuous young man resists the lusty advances of an older woman and has various trials and adventures as a result, accompanied by his friend Parson Abraham Adams.

Shamela, which is not on the '1001 books' list, presents Pamela as a hussy scheming to trap her employer into marriage, instead of the virtuous innocent portrayed in Pamela.