Category Archives: Victorian

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

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Read: 19 January, 2013

The use of describing a fictional land to make a political or philosophical point is nothing knew – after all, that’s how Atlantis got its début. Later, during the Age of Exploration, the explorer’s tale was combined with this fictional land device, giving us books like More’s Utopia and Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, in which a seafaring explorer happens upon magical lands – each of which teaches us a lesson about ourselves and our society (and what these could be or become).

In The Time Machine, Wells modernises the premise, giving his protagonist a time machine instead of a ship, and sending him far into the future instead of into uncharted lands.

There’s no question that Wells was consciously creating a story of the Utopia or Gulliver’s Travels type, but he does it with a wink and a nudge. Over and over again, the Time Traveller makes assumptions about the futurescape he explores and what led to it, only to be shown wrong later and have to revise his theories. As usual, he learns that things tend to be a bit more complicated than they may appear at first (or second!) glance. Even at the end, when the Time Traveller is gone and we are left only with his theories and the narrator, the narrator calls the final theories into question yet again, informing us that the Time Traveller had always be prone to arriving at those types of conclusions, reminding us that the Time Traveller – the lens through which we see the future – is flawed and untrustworthy.

I found it to be an interesting read. Certainly, the injection of evolution into the poli-sci-ism of More and Swift gave the genre a neat new dimension. But I found it to be a bit short. I think I would have enjoyed the novel more if the 802,701 C.E. storyline had been a little more condensed, and the Time Traveller had gone to a few more points in history. Then again, I know what Wells was trying to do, and the book is certainly interesting and entertaining enough as is.

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Hauntings and Other Fantastic Tales by Vernon Lee

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Read: 4 July, 2012

Hauntings is a collection of short fiction by a somewhat little known late 19th/early 20th century writer. Most of the stories don’t deal with actual hauntings, per se, but rather with weird, possibly supernatural events.

Some of the stories, like “Amour Dure,” pulled off the suspense quite well. Others, like “Dionea,” were weaker. Regardless, they all had interesting ideas behind them.

“Oke of Okehurst” and “A Wicked Voice” worked well as a pair (and kudos to the editor for putting them together) – one centring the story around art and the other around music.

All of the stories showed an impressive depth of knowledge and a brilliant mind, but they lacked “tightness” and narrative skill. It was truly a shame because I found the stories so interesting, but had to struggle through their dryness.

If you’re interested in the time period and want to read something from a more off-the-beaten-track author, I do recommend giving Hauntings a try.

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The Terror by Dan Simmons

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Read: 23 October, 2012

It’s 1847 and the Franklin Expedition’s two ships, the H.M.S. Erebus and the H.M.S. Terror, are trapped in the ice just off the coast of King William Island. The summer thaw never came and, as the men face yet another winter in the ice, scurvy and starvation begin to set in. As if their situation were not already dire, a monstrous beast is lurking out on the ice and picking off the Expedition’s men in horrific and gruesome ways.

The book is huge, over 700 pages in my edition, and the majority of it is fluff. What we know of the Expedition’s fate is horrific enough to have have stood without the inclusion of the supernatural, and been better for being shorter.

The writing style was okay, but did leave a lot to be desired. Simmons apparently struggles with dialogue, so that, for example, Doctor Goodsir describes Captain Fitzjames as speaking “not condescendingly” about twenty times in the space of a two page dialogue.

Crozier is described as having “second sight.” Unfortunately, this is introduced while he’s in a delirium brought by withdrawal from alcohol, well into the story. This was used to cover irrelevant things (like the Fox sisters), as well as some of the future rescue attempts. I realize that Crozier had to have “second sight” for the ending, but the way it was introduced felt far too contrived – shoe-horned onto the character rather than an integrated part of him.

However, despite its flaws, Terror did offer me the opportunity to find out more about the Franklin Expedition, and reading about the real details in a story format helps me remember them. Overall, I’d say that this is a book I’m glad to have read, but that I didn’t very much enjoy the process of reading.

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The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale

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Read: 16 March, 2012

The Road Hill House murder shocked Victorian England. The crime itself was brutal, of course, but what really shook the foundation of Victorian assumptions about social class and safety was that the murder took place in an otherwise ordinary middle class household and that the murder was evidently one of its inmates.

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher follows the investigation of the murder and its aftermath, focusing on the lives of the Kent family and on Mr. Whicher, the detective, himself.

Summerscale does an amazing job of contextualising the murder and its aftermath. While she does go a little overboard in painting the Road Hill murder as the catalyst for change in Victorian society, she does at least make her argument rather convincing. Her writing style is approachable even for those unfamiliar with the era, and her frequent mentions of books and historical figures added extra fun to the reading for me because it brought back so many of my lessons from when I studied Victorian literature in university.

I highly recommend Mr. Whicher if you have an interest in the Victorian era, issues surrounding the interaction of law enforcement and privacy, or simply enjoy mysteries and want a little more background on real life detectives.

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The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

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Read: 2006

Rachel Verinder has inherited a priceless diamond from her uncle, a corrupt and misliked British officer who had been stationed in India when he died. But shortly after she wears it for the first time, the diamond goes missing from her bedroom. A search for the missing diamond, and for its thief, ensues.

The Moonstone is the progenitor of the modern detective novel. It is, as T.S. Eliot described, “the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels.” This isn’t, of course, your average poolside detective fic. The Moonstone is filled with social commentary (some of it truly hilarious, such as Drusilla Clack reverse thievery of religious tracts). Collins’s treatment of Hindus is years ahead of its time.

The novel is memorable. Franklin Blake’s mad rant about the objective versus the subjective is still oft quoted in this household. Highly recommended for fans of Victorian literature who also enjoy a good whodunnit.

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Flatland by Edwin Abbott

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Read: 30 November, 2011

A. Square, an inhabitant of the two-dimensional Flatland, is taken on a journey of Lineland, Spaceland, and Pointland, during which he learns to transcend many of his assumptions about the universe and the natural order.

There are two parts to the Flatland narrative. The first reads like your standard (albeit clever – clever enough to fool several contemporary reviewers) social commentary, while the second tries to illustrate the failings of perspective and how trapped we are in comprehending only our own and lower dimensions. But as with any excellent writer, the division is never quite so clear and the second part provides a very interesting lens for the first.

I knew going in that I would enjoy Flatland; I’d heard enough about it for that. I’m glad to say that I was not disappointed. This is an excellent and readable novel that is one part social commentary, one part math, and one part Crusoe adventure!

I highly recommend the Broadview edition of the text. As always, the notes, introduction, and additional materials are both interesting and informative.

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Gothic Tales by Elizabeth Gaskell

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Read: 26 February, 2010

I’ve always loved horror stories, and I fell in love with Elizabeth Gaskell in University. So when I saw that Penguin had a collection of Gaskell’s Gothic short stories, I knew I had to buy it immediately.

And it did not disappoint!

Gothic Tales is a collection of stories ranging from “wonder stories” to horror. While not of the same calibre as her novels, these are none-the-less the products of a master storyteller.

I’d say that this collection is definitely a ‘must have’ for fans of Gaskell, Victorian literature, or the Gothic genre.

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Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

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Read: 11 January, 2011

Much of what we think we know about pirates today actually comes from Stevenson’s fictional narrative, Treasure Island. The plot is well-known: A pirate stays in an inn and, when the town is attacked by pirates, the proprietor’s son, Jim Hawkins, is left in possession of a treasure map. I grew up watching the story told and retold in cartoons, plays, and even as a puppet show! So it was very interesting for me to read the original book.

I went in expecting it to be heavy on the Victorianities, a good story but rather wordy. What I found was a very pleasant surprise. Treasure Island is fast-paced and exciting, with adventure and suspense and humour. I couldn’t read through fast enough and felt genuinely sad when the story ended.

I’m greatly looking forward to reading it again when my son graduates from his board books!

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The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Read: 26 January, 2011

The Scarlet Letter is the classic story of a woman who dared to rebuke the mores of her Puritan society.What pop culture didn’t tell me was that the novel actually starts with a rather lengthy chapter from the perspective of the narrator, living in “modern times” (mid-19th century), and complaining about life as a customs house clerk.

The first part was absolutely wonderful. It read like one of the Sketches by Boz narratives, as an exposé of a particular job in a particular place. The characters were vividly drawn amid the narrator’s meandering thoughts and rants. It was everything I fell in love with about Victorian literature!

The more well-known portion of the story had a more standard Social Problem feel. A fallen woman wins over the reader and, perhaps, the novel’s community by being a perfect angel of the hearth, a self-sacrificing and nearly Christ-like in her perfection. We’ve seen this before in novels like Ruth and Oliver Twist. But Hawthorne pulls a fast one and martyr’s the male tango-dancer instead, allowing Hester to live and, presumably, to grow old.

I expected to have some trouble with this book. It’s been a while since I’ve read anything from the Victorian period (at least that was aimed at an adult audience). But I found The Scarlet Letter to be extremely engrossing. I read the whole thing in just a few days and enjoyed it immensely.

As a little side note, I read this book while very obviously pregnant. It was rather titillating to be in public reading a book that is famously known for being about promiscuity resulting in pregnancy while actually pregnant!

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Dracula by Bram Stoker

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Read: 7 February, 2010

I took a course during my university career on Science Fiction and Fantasy, taught by a heavily accented Ukrainian woman with very little qualification in the subject other than personal interest. The class structure was very informal. We had a reading list, but the syllabus included notes for each book where watching the movie would be a suitable alternative. Dracula was one such book, although the syllabus stipulated that only one version would be acceptable.

This was the same year that I was taking Victorian Literature and Colonial Literature, both courses assigning full length novels on a bi-weekly basis. I read so much that I got eye-fatigue and had to wear glasses for the rest of the year. I read so much that one of the professors (the Victorian Lit one) apologized to my mother at graduation. If I could lessen me reading load by one book, all the better.

I’m glad that I took advantage of the movie option because  I was so harried by schoolwork at the time that I was reading far too superficially – skimming to intake just enough for the tests but not enough for enjoyment. So I was able to approach the book a few years later with a clean impression and all the time chance and nature give us.

I didn’t realize from the movie or pop culture that the book is written entirely in letter, news articles, and diary entries. In the story, this style is explained when one of the main characters collects all the story’s fragments from the other characters and compiles them chronologically (so that they can examine and compare what they know so far about the story’s baddy). It’s done wonderfully, adding a sense of realism to the story.

The epistolary style is rarely done well. With the more usual narrative style, characterization is easier to fudge. But when characters are given their own voices, it suddenly becomes much more obvious if the author fails to give them unique personalities – or, just as bad, tries to differentiate them with the use of cheap gimmicks. But Bram Stoker pulls it off perfectly, making Dracula the single best example of the multiple narrator style that I’ve ever seen.

I really can’t emphasize how much I enjoyed this book. It’s brilliantly written, the plot is interesting, the characters have depth, the suspense is maintained, and there’s an actual ending (something of a rarity among those easily-distracted Victorians). Other than a few points of plot, it’s really nothing like any of the pop culture we’re all familiar with.

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