What do you think?
Rate this book
FLO MACARTHY IRISH 4VL
Reprint of the 1818 ed. printed for H. Colburn, London.
4 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1818
About the author
Sydney Owenson Morgan
198 books17 followersSydney, Lady Morgan, née Owenson, was an Irish novelist.
She was one of the most vivid and hotly discussed literary figures of her generation. She began her career with a precocious volume of poems. She collected Irish tunes, for which she composed the words, thus setting a fashion adopted with signal success by Thomas Moore. Her St. Clair (1804), a novel of ill-judged marriage, ill-starred love, and impassioned nature-worship, in which the influence of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Jean-Jacques Rousseau was apparent, at once attracted attention.
She was one of the most vivid and hotly discussed literary figures of her generation. She began her career with a precocious volume of poems. She collected Irish tunes, for which she composed the words, thus setting a fashion adopted with signal success by Thomas Moore. Her St. Clair (1804), a novel of ill-judged marriage, ill-starred love, and impassioned nature-worship, in which the influence of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Jean-Jacques Rousseau was apparent, at once attracted attention.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 6, 2018
It seemed to take me forever to finish this novel but is that because of the novel or because of me?
The novel starts, if I can remember correctly that far back, with two relatively mysterious men arriving in Ireland. What follows is intrigue, unbelievable adventures and some laugh-out-loud moments; however, all of these are mixed into a narration which sinks into dullness. In particular, (and this may have been particularly troublesome because I was only reading a chapter at a time), there were long expositions in which we learnt (and promptly forgot) multiple names, many of which were repeated (think generations with three or four children in each. We, the readers, were also artificially kept from knowing everything so that the ending "twist-but-really-wasn't-a-twist-because-it-was-obvious-from-the-start" would have more effect.
I was a little disappointed in this novel because I know how influential Owenson was. The potential was there, but it lacked polish. There was one scene which seemed to be directly lifted from Scott's 1815 'Guy Mannering,' so I wonder if her earlier novels are better.
The novel starts, if I can remember correctly that far back, with two relatively mysterious men arriving in Ireland. What follows is intrigue, unbelievable adventures and some laugh-out-loud moments; however, all of these are mixed into a narration which sinks into dullness. In particular, (and this may have been particularly troublesome because I was only reading a chapter at a time), there were long expositions in which we learnt (and promptly forgot) multiple names, many of which were repeated (think generations with three or four children in each. We, the readers, were also artificially kept from knowing everything so that the ending "twist-but-really-wasn't-a-twist-because-it-was-obvious-from-the-start" would have more effect.
I was a little disappointed in this novel because I know how influential Owenson was. The potential was there, but it lacked polish. There was one scene which seemed to be directly lifted from Scott's 1815 'Guy Mannering,' so I wonder if her earlier novels are better.
Displaying 1 of 1 review