Lorna Doone (Wordsworth Classics)

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Also, some parts of love story (the talks between lovers) were a tiny bit too... sweet and fairy-tale as to me (I mean, I like it in other books, but in here it didn't feel perfect).

Lorna Doone is framed around the Monmouth rebellion but the book isn't a historical fiction. The Doone clan's ties to Monmouth serves as a way to explain their antagonism to John Ridd and his family. It's also a narrative excuse to throw in adventure, danger and derring-do. Her uncle continues in the vein of doing her a great favour (one which I can’t specify!) and demands thanks: But in the years to come he meets Lorna Doone, beloved granddaughter of the head of the Doones, with her lovely smile and big dark eyes. And soon he is deeply, hopelessly, in love… John Ridd is the son of a respectable farmer in 17th century Exmoor, a region in North Devon and Somerset, England. The notorious Doone clan, once nobles and now outlaws, murdered John’s father. Battling his desire for revenge, John (in West Country dialect, pronounced "Jan") too grows into a respectable farmer who cares well for his mother and sisters. He meets Lorna by accident and falls hopelessly in love. She turns out (apparently) to be the granddaughter of Sir Ensor, lord of the Doones. Sir Ensor’s impetuous and now jealous heir Carver will let nothing thwart his plan to marry Lorna once he comes into his inheritance. It is must read for every fan of historical fiction (especially of seventeenth-century England). I think, not all fans will love the style of writing but still, they should try to read it at least.

CHAPTER XXXIV

Well, it’s at least my third reading of this classic set in 17th century England (another childhood favourite) and I’d give it more stars each time. It’s one of those books that grows with you, and you get more out of it with every reading. For one thing, it’s the most romantic book I’ve ever read, and I just fall to my knees (metaphorically!) when I look at this picture -many, many thanks to Ilse for teaching me how to insert an image! Now this may seem very strange to us who live in a better and purer age—or say at least that we do so—and yet who are we to condemn our fathers for teaching us better manners, and at their own expense? In the movie I saw (A&E version) they portrayed John Ridd (narrator, hero) as a vengeful young man eager to wreak havoc on the dirty Doone's for their dastardly actions against Ridd's father and his love, Lorna. He's not like that at all in the book. In fact, his peaceful, self-effacing and honest nature is the great highlight of the book. Then, however, I watched this version of the book. The plot looked interesting so the next time I was browsing the library's shelves I took the 2-bit plunge and bought the book.

The book seemed a bit naive and “sugar” to me, perhaps because I read an adapted version in English for level B1+. Delderfield, Eric (1965?) The Exmoor Country: [a] brief guide & gazetteer; 6th ed. Exmouth: The Raleigh Press I hate it when this book ends! Really it couldn't keep going, but I so want it too. I just want to live on that farm in that beautiful country. Letters of George Gissing to Members of his family, collected and arranged by Algernon and Ellen Gissing. London: Constable, 1927, letter of 21 January 1884. John Ridd, the main character, is a lot like Beth March. Good but simple (and he’d say simple-minded), plain, boring, monotone. Just not much to get into or care about with this guy.

CHAPTER XXXII

The book tells us that at the end of the 17th century a famous gang of robbers and murderers was operating in Exmoor. The clan consisted of the Doones, who had lost their ancestral lands. Oh no, sir, oh no!' cried mother: 'you really must not think of it. He has always been brought up so honest—' The novel is a romance in the old sense, in that the love story is set in a context of high adventure, as the hero, John Ridd (or ‘Jan’ in the dialect of Exmoor) has to win his love against the odds (to begin with, the Doones, a band of robbers and murderers, followed by more complicated obstacles to be surmounted later). Lorna is no cardboard heroine, either – there’s a lovely development, nothing 'méchant', between the Lorna of John’s vision and the real one, who, as the story progresses, is shown as making her own decisions. Smith, A. (2013). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. OUP USA. p.520. ISBN 978-0-19-973496-2 . Retrieved 29 May 2018.