Lorna Doone (Wordsworth Classics)

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Her uncle continues in the vein of doing her a great favour (one which I can’t specify!) and demands thanks: 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. I can go on and on about this beautiful and mesmerizing piece of literature for I think I'm quite bewitched. I have read a young adult version of this long ago and remember enjoying it. But the complete novel is nothing short of perfection. I was quite taken in with the lives, love, and adventure of the Exmoor and was loathed to leave it and the Plovers Barrow, the cozy little home of John Ridd. It was one of the most melancholic literary partings that I have ever undergone. Hope, of course, is nothing more than desire with a telescope, magnifying distant matters, overlooking near ones; opening one eye on the objects, closing the other to all objections. And if hope be the future tense of desire, the future of fear is religion—at least with too many of us.

so how is this ‘masculinistlit: this is the Victorian idealized man, that is, big and strong, loyal to his betters, no intellect, natural honesty, generous, forgiving, loyal in love, big and strong... (he knows his place) The plethora of interesting aspects to this book makes it difficult to decide about which ones to write. John Ridd is a young boy living in the wilds of western England in the 17th century, when his father is murdered by a band of outlaws who torment, bully and rob the farmers and good people of Exmoor. The Doones occupy their own outlaw village and not only survive by robbing those around them but also prey on the their neighbors for sport. When John Ridd’s father stands up to these bullies, he is murdered and leaves behind his widow, Sarah Ridd, his prosperous farm, and his three children. Hem! that makes a difference. A decided disqualification for domestic life among the Doones. But, surely, he might get over those prejudices, madam?' We waited a very long time, with the moon marching up heaven steadfastly, and the white fog trembling in chords and columns, like a silver harp of the meadows. And then the moon drew up the fogs, and scarfed herself in white with them; and so being proud, gleamed upon the water, like a bride at her looking-glass; and yet there was no sound of either John Fry, or his blunderbuss.”

CHAPTER XXXIII

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. Lornado is the 1908 official 32-room residence of the United States Ambassador to Canada in Ottawa, Canada, that was built by Warren Y. Soper, an Ottawa industrialist, who named it in homage to one of his favorite novels, Lorna Doone. [19] Dass, Kiran (28 January 2012). "A Journey Through the First Dimension with Kraus by Kraus review". New Zealand Listener (3742) . Retrieved 29 June 2013. The movies hardly ever do books justice. This is no exception. However, it's a fairly large book, so it's no wonder.

This would be a fabulous book to put in the category "Blood and Morality Tales for Young Boys" because it's got plenty of action, blood, and adventure--with only a tinge of romance (the guy has to get the girl)and the hero is really heroic not only in action but in character. I wonder about getting a youngster through the "asides" but I think a good reader would be caught up enough in the story to go through with it. I'm so familiar with history from 1800 on that the world of the 1680s feels incredibly strange to me. It is so hard to wrap my mind around the isolation they experienced and the difficulty in communicating and traveling. Twice in the novel, John goes to London and it's a huge undertaking. He spends time just walking the streets because it's so different from the farm he has grown up on at home in Exmoor. I did love the details of farming at this time, including the harvest festival they celebrate. It reminded me a ton of Thomas Hardy's novels, especially Far From the Madding Crowd. There are passages of beautiful nature writing as well. I think my favorite section was an epic Long Winter (i.e. Laura Ingalls Wilder intensity) when John makes his own snowshoes (thanks to his sister Lizzie) and goes on an epic adventure, which I won't spoil. This is one long, long ramble of the love of a man for a woman. It is the sweetest of love stories. It will sweep you up and carry you away. You can thank me later. Lornadoon" (or "Lalornadoon") is the name for the forest of Lothlórien in the Lord of the Rings parody Bored of the Rings. Oh, how good of you, sir, how kind! Well, I always did say, that the learnedest people were, almost always, the best and kindest, and the most simple-hearted.'Madam, that is a great sentiment. What a goodly couple they will be! and if we can add him to our strength—' Lorna Doone is a character portrayed by Christine McIntyre in The Three Stooges shorts The Hot Scots and Scotched in Scotland. [14] The book seemed a bit naive and “sugar” to me, perhaps because I read an adapted version in English for level B1+. The love attraction goes overboard too. Soppy is how I would describe it. Love affects a person physically. There is no hint of that here. One might expect this given that the book was written in another time and age, but I’m of the 21st century and I’m rating it. Given that the author is good at drawing the ambiance of places, I’m surprised at his total inability to realistically capture the physical sensations tied to love. The love in the story falls flat. The book has loose ends. Repeatedly a negative attitude toward doctors is expressed. Why this is so is never made clear. Religious views are left hazy.

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. Another thing I loved were the descriptions of farming life and of nature. Somehow it didn’t feel like anthropomorphism when the horses they depend on, and all the creatures of Jan Ridd’s farm, were known intimately and their characteristics gently humanised – quite different from being randomly endowed with a superficial coating of borrowed human emotions. Jan has been two months away from the farm, and finally approaches home: 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. 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).

Budden, Julian (2005). Puccini: His Life and Works. Oxford University Press. p.335. ISBN 9780195346251 . Retrieved 29 May 2018. Zailor, ees fai! ay and zarve un raight. Her can't kape out o' the watter here, whur a' must, goo vor to vaind un, zame as a gurt to-ad squalloping, and mux up till I be wore out, I be, wi' the very saight of 's braiches. How wil un ever baide aboard zhip, wi' the watter zinging out under un, and comin' up splash when the wind blow. Latt un goo, missus, latt un goo, zay I for wan, and old Davy wash his clouts for un.” Lorna Doone was said to be the favourite book of Australian bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly, who may have thought of the idea of his armour by reading of the outlaw Doones "with iron plates on breast and head." [12] 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… I was assigned a (vastly abridged) version of this when I was in grade school, which kept 90% of the plot but cut out a lot of the description and the on and on. This was in 4th or 5th grade, but it has stayed with me ever since. I read the abridged version so many times it literally fell to pieces, and this was my first time reading the unabridged version.