Caleb Williams Penguin Classics William Godwin Maurice Hindle 9780141441238 Books
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Caleb Williams Penguin Classics William Godwin Maurice Hindle 9780141441238 Books
It’s too bad this book is not more recognized as a classic in literature. Caleb Williams, as other reviewers have mentioned, is not only an adventure, mystery, suspense and social commentary and critique on human abuses, but is also a lesson in vocabulary (so you might want to have your dictionary close by). It is a difficult work to simply classify, however, because it encompasses many other elements as well.The basis for the book’s major conflict comes when Williams suspects that his employer, Ferdinando Falkland, could be guilty of murdering one of the men in the village. Despite acting loyal to the requests of Falkland, Williams soon becomes the target of many forms of injustice through the hands of his employer.
I’ll be the first to admit that the part 1 of this novel is rather slow and tedious and honestly I felt like much of this exposition was unnecessary to parts two and three. But, I’m glad I stuck with this book, as I felt it was a much rewarding experience later in the book when things sort of take off, and an impressive read once we hit part 2, where our main protagonist begins to do some snooping around into Falkland.
This novel works on many levels, one being that it becomes a cautionary tale about the handling of justice, or lack thereof, in the face of society. There is a deeply rich and symbolic meaning within the framework of the plot, themes and characters, as Godwin wrote this book as means of criticizing the abuses of power by those with higher social status.
I think many modern readers might be put off as it does take some time to get into Caleb Williams, but I found this novel to be quite a rewarding reading experience by the end and I was glad I found this book.
Tags : Caleb Williams (Penguin Classics) [William Godwin, Maurice Hindle] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. When honest young Caleb Williams comes to work as a secretary for Squire Falkland, he soon begins to suspect that his new master is hiding a secret. As he digs deeper into Falkland’s past and finally unearths the horrible truth,William Godwin, Maurice Hindle,Caleb Williams (Penguin Classics),Penguin Classics,0141441232,Classics,England,Executions and executioners,False imprisonment,Fiction,Master and servant,Murderers,Williams, Caleb (Fictitious character),Young men,16th to 18th century fiction,Classic fiction,FICTION Classics,FICTION Literary,FICTION Thrillers Suspense,Fiction - General,Fiction-Classics,GENERAL,GODWIN, WILLIAM, 1756-1836,General Adult,Great BritainBritish Isles,Literary,LiteratureClassics,Literature: Classics,Literature: Texts,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),Reference General,classic literature;literature;american literature;classic books;classic;19th century;historical fiction;historical novels;english literature;pevear and volokhonsky;english;british literature;romance;romance books;20th century;drama;historical;victorian;literary fiction;graphic novels;graphic novel;britain;literary;school;modernism;translation;suicide;satire;french books;adventure books;adventure;revenge;religious books;religion;philosophy;french literature;annotated;russian literature;betrayal,literature; english literature; classic; british literature; english; classic literature; american literature; classic books; 19th century; historical fiction; historical novels; pevear and volokhonsky; romance; romance books; 20th century; drama; historical; victorian; literary fiction; graphic novels; graphic novel; britain; literary; school; modernism; translation; suicide; satire; french books; adventure books; adventure; revenge; religious books; religion; philosophy; french literature; annotated; russian literature; thriller,FICTION Classics,FICTION Literary,FICTION Thrillers Suspense,Literary,Reference General,Fiction - General,Godwin, William, 1756-1836,Literature: Classics,16th to 18th century fiction,Classic fiction,Literature: Texts,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)
Caleb Williams Penguin Classics William Godwin Maurice Hindle 9780141441238 Books Reviews
The real question is who committed the crime and who is being punished. This novel is proof to the old saying that the more things change the more they stay the same. The powerful bring down the less powerful then as now. This strongly written novel should be mandatory reading, particularly those interested in writers such as Poe and Dickens. Godwin had great influence on their later writings and was instrumental in the evolution of modern day mysteries and detective stories.
Caleb Williams is in reference to the French Revolution and tyrannical governments. There are a few other interesting theories out there in regards to denial of homosexual feelings and whatnot. Overall, we come to see just how the government (Falkland) has eyes and ears everywhere, and how we internalize authority and police ourselves. A good read, for sure.
I could not put this book down. This is a classic and it should be read more often. I only read this because I wanted to do a study of Godwin's daughter, Mary Shelley. I was surprised at how involved I got in this. I also read a couple of things by Mary's mother, Mary Woolstonecraft and found those overwritten and overly opinionated with an extreme hatred for men. This is also very opinionated, but prison reform and human liberty are championed here and the book is much more readable.
This Penguin edition has excellent notes and intro.
In late eighteenth century England, a young man in service to a locally-famous property owner discovers that his master is, in fact, a murderer who allowed two innocent men to be hanged for his crime. The dynamic between the two men becomes mutually recriminatory, as each man alternately hounds the other.
This is, I think, a near-classic or a minor Great Work. It has its flaws, particularly in the run-up to the climax, but it does a number of things incredibly well. Arguably the first true "crime novel" (defined here as "a novel who's subject is specifically about crime"), it foretells a number of tropes that would become commonplace, and it showcased a sophisticated psychology and sociology far ahead of its time.
I was immediately struck by how right Godwin gets the psychology. Williams is the protagonist, and is certainly put-upon, but he's not a good man per se -- the situation is clearly initiated by him and it's clear he is, at best, exceptionally foolish. The Squire he's opposed to is not simply a "bad" man, more a sad man and his complicated, push/pull relationship toward Williams strikes me as very believable. This complicated psychology is glossed over in the introduction to the Penguin edition I read, which wants to see WILLIAMS almost purely in political terms, but I think it's the psychology, not Godwin's notions of how society and individuals relate to each other, that will appeal to most modern readers.
WILLIAMS also seems to be the source of many standard crime novel tropes from detection (both amateur and professional), to "man on the run", to paranoia and consipiracies, to the shifting, murky status between "cops" and "crooks", to a rather noirish depiction of society in general as being fatally flawed.
While I think the intro to the edition I read overemphasizes the least interesting aspects of the book, it is true that Godwin’s intention was to dramatize his beliefs about the individual and society – it’s an “idea book”, whatever else it also is. As such it has the typical flaws of “idea books”, which is that whenever push comes to shove the ideas take precedence over the narrative drive. This becomes especially noticeable in the third part, where after a while the situation becomes stable in a way Williams cannot be brought to resolution; he will neither be fully punished by his former master nor allowed to roam free. This is a provocative idea, and Godwin fully explores it – but nothing really happens to develop it, either. Williams doesn’t really grow or change or develop after a certain space – he’s just stuck in this rut. Which I understand is exactly the point – I’m just saying it doesn’t make for very thrilling reading. Ultimately I think volume three could’ve been shortened with no real loss of narrative drive and frankly no real loss of Godwin’s point. (This is why I prefer the published ending to the alternative ending, available here in an Appendice. The published ending actually resolves the narrative in interesting ways, whereas the unpublished ending leaves us in stasis – a dramatic kind of stasis, but stasis nonetheless.)
All that said, there’s so much to admire here it’s easy to enthusiastically recommend this. So much of what we take for granted in the crime fiction genre is to be found in an embryonic state here. And for a didactic novelist Godwin is quite fine at delineating gradations of character, from the bully who’s more dependent on social approval than he realizes, to the man whose very best qualities ultimately damn him, to the casual brutality of state functionaries
It’s too bad this book is not more recognized as a classic in literature. Caleb Williams, as other reviewers have mentioned, is not only an adventure, mystery, suspense and social commentary and critique on human abuses, but is also a lesson in vocabulary (so you might want to have your dictionary close by). It is a difficult work to simply classify, however, because it encompasses many other elements as well.
The basis for the book’s major conflict comes when Williams suspects that his employer, Ferdinando Falkland, could be guilty of murdering one of the men in the village. Despite acting loyal to the requests of Falkland, Williams soon becomes the target of many forms of injustice through the hands of his employer.
I’ll be the first to admit that the part 1 of this novel is rather slow and tedious and honestly I felt like much of this exposition was unnecessary to parts two and three. But, I’m glad I stuck with this book, as I felt it was a much rewarding experience later in the book when things sort of take off, and an impressive read once we hit part 2, where our main protagonist begins to do some snooping around into Falkland.
This novel works on many levels, one being that it becomes a cautionary tale about the handling of justice, or lack thereof, in the face of society. There is a deeply rich and symbolic meaning within the framework of the plot, themes and characters, as Godwin wrote this book as means of criticizing the abuses of power by those with higher social status.
I think many modern readers might be put off as it does take some time to get into Caleb Williams, but I found this novel to be quite a rewarding reading experience by the end and I was glad I found this book.
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