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The French Lieutenant's Woman
Right now I am listening to this novel -- which I have read many times -- in unabridged audiobook format. Really excellent narrator, I have to say.
FLW is one of my all time favorite novels, for a couple reasons:
1. Fowles raises author intrusion to an art in this novel. There are long passages in which he simply contemplates the story he is telling, the art of interacting with characters, and the sociopolitical realities of Victorian England. I laugh out loud on a regular basis, not necessarily because he's witty (which he is), but because he is insightful and unapologetic about his need to explore the process. For example:
2. He is such a source of interesting trivia about the Victorian era, and he provides it without hitting you over the head. For example, Charles is always dragging along his ash-plant on his fossil-hunts. I kept imagining him with a potted plant in one hand, which made me giggle. So I went to the OED, and it turns out that an ash-plant is a kind of walking stick:
A sapling of the ash tree, used as a walking-stick, whip, goad, etc.
1850 ‘H. HIEOVER’ Pract. Horsemanship 180 Sit tight, and lay your ash plant well into his ears. 1852 MUNDY Our Antipodes III. i. 26 He..trudges away..supported by his son on one hand and an ash-plant in the other. 1918 P. MACGILL Glenmornan vi. 140 He hit a bullock near him with his ash-plant. 1935 S. SPENDER Destructive Element 82 Stephen..is only recognizable at all by being made inseparable from his ashplant.
3. I have a weakness for strong female characters, and Fowles has created one in Sarah. Every time I read (or listen to) this novel, I want to climb into the novel and sit down with her, tell her a few things about the future -- not necessarily her own, but what things are like for women in the year 2000. I think she would find some comfort in that information.
4. Whenever I really think about the Victorian age, I am reminded again about how religion can be used as a cudgel to beat a whole generation of people into unhappiness and denial. It's important to be reminded of this, and also very scary. The best way to counter the fear is to watch John Stewart, which gives me hope.
September 22, 2005 02:31 PM
Comments
Dear Sara,
yes, I love this book too, though I am often frustrated though delighted by the double ending! What do you think of the movie? I thought they captured aspects of it quite well, particularly the ending. But then again I am partial to Jeremy Irons in any context - I recently enjoyed him very much in Being Julia. One of the best movies of the year, did you see it?
Posted by: Sheena Walsh at September 22, 2005 04:20 PM