The Clarissa Project: The Beginning

(Yes, that's a post-it note, for comparison)

The first chapter of my dissertation concerns Samuel Richardson's doorstop of a novel, Clarissa, which is 1499 pages long and, if Wikipedia is to be trusted, likely the longest novel ever written in English.


I did not have to reread Clarissa for my exams because I know it well enough to speak about it generally (and parts of it quite specifically). However, now that I'm (supposed to be) writing my first chapter, I need to read it again. The last (and first) time I read it was during my Master's degree five years ago. I did flag it when I first read it but alas, I took the flags out, thinking that I would never read Richardson again. Little did I know that the seminar paper that I wrote for my Rise of the Eighteenth-Century Novel class would eventually be the basis for my PhD dissertation. That'll teach me to look for closure in anything academic.

And so, for the second time in five years, I will be reading Clarissa over Christmas break. I will keep all and sundry appraised of my progress, including any plot developments and frustrations. Alas, at 6x9x2.5 inches, it's a little too big to be flung across the room in a fit of anger.

Anyone out there want to join me?