Quote:
Originally Posted by orlok
Loved both the Magus (can't pretend I really understood the end, though) and The Collector, but despite trying three times (!) I could never finish The French Lieutenant's Woman. Perhaps I was too much of a callow youth, more in search of horrible happenings or the eternal search for the meaning of life, rather than what I saw as a rather turgid romance story. As I say, callow youth...
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I had the advantage of devouring Victorian novels through my teens, as well as an infatuation with Victorian poets, especially Tennyson and Arnold, probably necessary to really enjoy this book. So while I likely began The French Lieutenant's Woman expecting a conventional romance, I was soon charmed by what I took to be the author's intention to portray and examine Victorian angst, manners, and culture. I loved the ending(s) and was influenced by what it all may have meant about
the meaning of life as only the young can be.
I just bought it to read again. I'm curious to know what I will think of it 40+ years later.