51. The Interesting Narrative by Olaudah Equiano

Interesting indeed!  This is auto-biography, the story of Olaudah Equiano's experiences of being kidnapped as a young boy in Africa and transported to America as a slave, buying his freedom and living in England, and eventually becoming a Christian.  Along the way he works on British navy ships as the slave of a Captain and recounts some of his seagoing experiences.

His book made him a well-known (but not always popular) public figure of his time, and a spokesperson for the abolition of slavery.

50. The Adventures of Caleb Williams by William Godwin

This was an interesting psychological study.  Caleb's insatiable curiousity leads him to find out that his employer, Falkland, has committed a murder.  When he tries to leave, promising not to tell, Falkland pursues him and persecutes him to the point where everyone's hand is against Caleb because they believe Falkland, who is aristocratic, rich, powerful and respected.  Caleb despairs but refuses to give up.  Right at the end, Falkland confesses all.

I read this as a novel, rather than political commentary - it works on both levels.  It reminded me of the sixties television series, The Fugitive.

47. The 120 Days of Sodom by Marquis de Sade

I've been reading books over Christmas but not in chronological order, so I'm just now reading 120 Days of Sodom.  It's heavy going.  De Sade seems to want to catalogue every possible perversion.  He admits that a lot of it won't appeal, but promises his readers they'll find something that turns them on.

Four evil and powerful men take their accomplices and victims to a remote location, where they listen to pornographic stories which stimulate them to try out what they've heard.  The stories progress from relatively innocuous incest, cophrophragy and whipping and progress to torture, mutilation and death.  After a while even De Sade gets bored and simply describes variations, rather than telling stories about them.

I made it to the end, and felt filthy afterwards.

49. Justine, or Good Conduct Well Chastised by Marquis de Sade

Justine is virtuous and never loses her goodness in spite of a series of adventures in which she is abused and degraded.  Her sister Juliet is bad and profits from it.

At the end of the book, when they are reunited and Justine has some hope of living happily, she is struck by a bolt of lightning and dies.  The moral de Sade offers is "true happiness lies only in the bosom of virtue" - "virtue is its own reward" -  and "If God permits virtue to be persecuted on earth, it is not for us to question his intentions."

48. Vathek by William Beckford

This is a story about the Caliph Vathek, set in an imaginary oriental country .  Vathek is a despotic ruler whose excesses have no limits.  In a search for forbidden knowledge, he and his wife and friends end up in Hell.  And the moral is, "such should be the punishment of unrestrained passions and atrocious actions!"

46. Cecilia by Fanny Burney

Another novel by Fanny Burney.  This time the heroine's dilemma is that she is heiress to a large fortune, but to retain it when she marries her husband must take her name.  Naturally she falls in love with Mortimer Delvile, the son of a family very proud of their name, and his family, while fond of Cecilia, won't allow Mortimer to marry her. Meanwhile she is faced with three guardians, all equally unsuitable (one greedy, one miserly, one proud).

Eventually Cecilia and Mortimer marry secretly and Cecilia gives up her wealth to a distant cousin.  Through a series of misunderstandings Mortimer suspects Cecilia of being unfaithful, Cecilia thinks herself abandoned and becomes ill, then Mortimer realises she is innocent and all is resolved happily.

45. Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

After reading Reveries of a Solitary Walker, I thought Rousseau was paranoid.  Now that I've read Confessions, I don't know what to think.  Towards the end of his life, Rousseau believed that a man called Grimm had conspired with various people to destroy him.  His Confessions can be read as an appeal for justice, putting the facts as he knows them in front of the public.  He admit his own faults, and is honest about his own feelings - although I think he tends to blame circumstances for his actions instead of accepting full responsibility.

It must be hard to be a nerdish genius in a society where you need social skills to attract a wealthy and powerful patron. Rousseau had a gift for offending people without realising it.  In Myers Briggs personality types, I'd characterise him as Introvert (not Extravert), Sensing (not Intuitive), Feeling (not Thinking) and Judging (not Perceiving).

44. Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

I'd heard about this novel because of the movie based on it, and later this year we're going to see the play at Sydney Theatre Company.

Valmont is a libertine and Merteuil a young widow, once lovers, who conspire to outdo each other in seducing young innocents.  Again, the story is told through letters.

"Who is there who would not shudder, if he were to reflect upon the misfortunes that may be caused by even one dangerous acquaintance! " writes Madame de Volanges, erstwhile friend of Madame de Merteuil who has corrupted her daughter.

In the end, the wicked are punished:  Merteuil catches smallpox and is horribly scarred and "now her soul was to be seen in her face".  Valmont is killed in a duel with Chevalier Danceny.

42. Evelina by Fanny Burney

Fanny Burney supported her family through her writing, and this is a her debut novel.

Evelina travels to London to learn to find her way in society, having been brought up in a secluded village.  There is a mystery about her birth, as her true father denies she is his daughter and heir.

She is attracted to Lord Orville, but is embarrassed by a pack of vulgar relations. In the end, her father acknowledges her and she is united with Lord Orville.

41. The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This novel, published in Germany in 1774, is very different in style from the English novels I've been reading, although it also tells the story through Werter's letters to a friend.

Werter falls in love with Lotte, who is engaged to Albert and subsequently marries him.  In the end Werter despairs and shoots himself, telling Charlotte they will be reunited in the next life.

(Thanks to Kindle, I can tell you that the last fifth of the book is Werter talking about and then committing suicide!)

41. Humphry Clinker by Tobias George Smollett

Published in 1771, this is another story told in letters.  Each of the main characters has their own version of the truth - Matt Bramble, his sister Tabitha, Jerry their nephew, Lydia their daughter, and Tabitha's maid Wyn.  Humphrey Clinker is their servant, and together they have a series of misadventures which end happily.

40. The Man of Feeling by Henry Mackenzie

"A bundle of little episodes", supposed to have been rescued from a curate who was using the paper as wadding for his gun.  Each episode in the life of young Harley explores a particular emotion - bashfulness, indifference to fortune, love, pity, and so on.

39.A Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne

Yorick and his servant, La Fleur, do the "Grand Tour" through France and Italy.  Yorick describes his travels in an informal, conversational style as a series of anecdotes and observations about his fellow travellers and other characters he meets along the way.

I enjoyed this amusing tale - it made me laugh.

43. Reveries of a Solitary Walker by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Poor Jean Jacques has suffered persecution by religious authorities for his writings and now feels everyone who recognises him is hostile. He yearns for human contact but has given up. He feels his own mental powers waning. He sounds paranoid, now and then

The Reveries are a series of essays where JJ explores his own feelings on topics such as: when is it okay to lie? Why is the study of nature so satisfying? Why does the pleasure of giving become a burden as soon as it becomes expected?

Embedded in this I recognised some ideas that I hadn't known were Rousseau's. If you don't care what people think of you, their opinion can't hurt you.

Because JJ is so honest about his feelings, I feel I know him and pity him.

38. Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne

This is worth reading again, because it wasn't until I was a fair way in that I realised the underlying sexual innuendo.  The story purports to be about Tristam Shandy, but we're a long way in before Tristam even gets born, and the story ends when Tristam is still a child.

What's interesting in this novel is the characters and their relationships:  Tristam's father and mother, his Uncle Toby, Yorick, Corporal Trim and Widow Wadman are all lovable, if flawed, human beings.

37. The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith

I enjoyed this comic novel about the misadventures of the Vicar of Wakefield, Dr Primrose, and his family.  The plot rambles all over the place - like the family - and ends happily.

36. The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole

Horace Walpole was the youngest son of a Prime Minister, 4th Earl of Orford, and owner of Strawberry Hill, a famous house influenced by mediaeval Gothic architecture.  The Castle of Otranto is subtitled "a gothic story" and is regarded as the founding text of gothic romances, combining supernatural horror with romance.

In the Castle of Otranto, Prince Manfred is the villain who has supplanted the rightful heir.  He marries his son Conrad to Princess Isabella.  When Conrad is crushed before the wedding by a mysterious giant plumed helmet, Manfred divorces his wife and is going to force Isabella to marry him, but Isabella is rescued by a young peasant called Theodore.  Theodore fights a knight who turns out to be Isabella's father Frederic.  Frederic wants to marry Manfred's daughter Matilda.  Manfred mistakenly stabs Matilda thinking she is Isabella.  Frederic turns out to be the rightful heir.  Matilda dies, Manfred repents, Theodore becomes king and marries Isabella.

It felt like an ancient soap opera, with exaggerated emotions building on top of each other and more and more unlikely events and coincidences following each other.  Fun, but exhausting.