Headlong Hall

by Thomas Love Peacock

Excerpt: ...mould, and covering the whole with an elegant stratum of turf. Squire Headlong caught with avidity at this suggestion; and, as he had always a store of gunpowder in the house, for the accommodation of himself and his shooting visitors, and for the supply of a small battery of cannon, which he kept for his private amusement, he insisted on commencing operations immediately. Accordingly, he bounded back to the house, and very speedily returned, accompanied by the little butler, and half a dozen servants and labourers, with pickaxes and gunpowder, a hanging stove and a poker, together with a basket of cold meat and two or three bottles of Madeira: for the Squire thought, with many others, that a copious supply of provision is a very necessary ingredient in all rural amusements. Mr Milestone superintended the proceedings. The rock was excavated, the powder introduced, the apertures strongly blockaded with fragments of stone: a long train was laid to a spot which Mr Milestone fixed on as sufficiently remote from the possibility of harm: the Squire seized the poker, and, after flourishing it in the air with a degree of dexterity which induced the rest of the party to leave him in solitary possession of an extensive circumference, applied the end of it to the train; and the rapidly communicated ignition ran hissing along the surface of the soil. At this critical moment, Mr Cranium and Mr Panscope appeared at the top of the tower, which, unseeing and unseen, they had ascended on the opposite side to that where the Squire and Mr Milestone were conducting their operations. Their sudden appearance a little dismayed the Squire, who, however, comforted himself with the reflection, that the tower was perfectly safe, or at least was intended to be so, and that his friends were in no probable danger but of a knock on the head from a flying fragment of stone. The succession of these thoughts in the mind of the Squire was commensurate in rapidity to the progress of...

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Humor, 19th Century, Satire, British Literature, Novella

86 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1816

About the author

Thomas Love Peacock (1785-1866) was an English novelist and poet. For most of his life, Peacock worked for the East India Co. He was a close friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley, who greatly inspired his writing. His best verse is interspersed in his novels, which are dominated by the conversations of their characters and satirize the intellectual currents of the day. His best-known work, Nightmare Abbey (1818), satirizes romantic melancholy and includes characters based on Shelley, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Lord Byron.

Reviews

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

RE-VISIT 2016 via R4x HUZZAH!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06y048x

Description: Winter, 1815: Harry Headlong, like all Welsh squires, is fond of shooting, hunting and drinking. But he becomes seized with a passion to form the acquaintance of philosophers and dilettanti.

Narrated by Sir Michael Hordern. Starring Daniel Massey as Escot, Ronald Lacey as Foster, John Grillo as Jenkison, John Horsley as Cranium and William Simons as Headlong.



http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12803

Opening: The ambiguous light of a December morning, peeping through the windows of the Holyhead mail, dispelled the soft visions of the four insides, who had slept, or seemed to sleep, through the first seventy miles of the road, with as much comfort as may be supposed consistent with the jolting of the vehicle, and an occasional admonition to remember the coachman, thundered through the open door, accompanied by the gentle breath of Boreas, into the ears of the drowsy traveller.

What a long opening sentence that is, and look out for long words too:

osteosarchaematosplanchnochondroneuromuelous
osseocarnisanguineoviscericartilaginonervomedullary

hahahah

Okay - I'm halfway through and can tell you that the foundation and corner stones of premise and plot are strong and funny. I love the name of Headlong ap Headlong and the waterforce reasons behind adopting it. Like Nightmare Abbey there is a meeting of unlike minds, opposing agendas and quaffables available in abundance. There are some outrageously funny moments and this should be a straight through pleasure but there is an underlying starkness and an awkwardness of prose that is jarring so if you have not yet encountered the satirical Peacock and are fancying a dive in then start with the skit on the Romantics that is Nightmare Abbey

CR Headlong Hall
4* Crotchet Castle
4* Nightmare Abbey
2* Maid Marian
TR Gryll Grange

[Duane Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of literary nonsense from the early 19th century by English writer Thomas Love Peacock. Now you wouldn't expect someone with a name like that to write something serious would you?

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
Winter, 1815: Harry Headlong, like all Welsh squires, is fond of shooting, hunting and drinking. But he becomes seized with a passion to form the acquaintance of philosophers and dilettanti.

Narrated by Sir Michael Hordern. Starring Daniel Massey as Escot, Ronald Lacey as Foster, John Grillo as Jenkison, John Horsley as Cranium and William Simons as Headlong.

Thomas Love Peacock's novella dramatised by James Saunders.

Producer: Matthew Walters

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1988.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06y048x

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

[Andrew H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whereas Nightmare Abbey is Augustan - worthy of Pope - attack the follies of mankind by singling out real examples, this first novel is generic. It is filled with comical character types. Headlong Hall is Shakesperean pastoral and the novel, like As You Like It, rounds off with four marriages, a harmonious marriage of the elements. This novel is the prototype for the later novels in which society and social injustices are more of a concern. Good, but an early trial of Peacock's satirical method.

[Yngvild · Rating 4 out of 5]

Headlong Hall was the first of Thomas Love Peacock's novels and the simplest. I suppose it was intended as satire, but there is no longer any way of identifying who the characters represent among Peacock's contemporaries, except where he specifies in the notes. Happily, it works as comedy, even if it is not not roll-around-the-floor hilarious.

The set up is straightforward: a variety of guests are invited to spend time at a Welsh country house, there to discuss whatever takes their fancy. The three main characters identify each topic as representing a perfect example of progress, depravity or neither of the above (post-modern?), according to their philosophical bent. In this fashion, they examine and generally make fun of the Welsh, Scots, landscaping, literary reviews and phrenology.

A contemporary of Peacock's called Payne Knight also comes in for a drubbing, but I know nothing of him except that he wrote the wonderfully titled The Worship of Priapus and other treaties on landscaping. The host keeps the peace, and keeps the port circling. In this happy way, they pass a pleasant holiday in the Welsh countryside with a mass wedding at the end to validate the piece's status as comedy.

Mr Escot (deteriorationist). I conceive that periodical criticism disseminates superficial knowledge, and its perpetual adjunct, vanity: that it checks in the youthful mind the habit of thinking for itself; that it delivers partial opinions, and thereby misleads the judgment; that it is never conducted with a view to the general interests of literature, but to serve the interested ends of individuals, and the miserable purposes of party.

Mr Mac Laurel (poet and critic). Ye ken, sir, a mon mun leeve.

--Headlong Hall, Thomas Love Peacock (1815)

That's me told.

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Headlong Hall by Thomas Love Peacock available at https://librivox.org/ where you can volunteer to read one of the classics

8 out of 10





This short book was published in 1816 and it is included on the list of 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read http://poemeglume.blogspot.com/2023/0... at the Comedy Section



There are some very good points there, and we have to appreciate, admire may be a better word the fact that more than two hundred years ago, somebody was writing about issues which have not been solved today.

I was going to say in ‘our era’, but I have seen last night a remarkable French documentary about how some dates make, change history – it looks like this is the place to introduce the spoiler alert, disclaimer



You would be better off avoiding the rest of this note, let it be recorded that Headlong Hall has not been exactly my cup of tea, just as some of the passages are amusing, and pertinent, we also have some music

What is to be cheered without any caveat or doubt is the effort of the twenty or so volunteers involved in the project here, and at Librivox there are multiple magnum opera that are being shared with the public



After seventy years, books run out of copyright – unless the family, trusts or whoever has a claim and there is intellectual property to be protected, obviously – and you can find The Odyssey http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/05/t... Gilgamesh, Don Quixote and other masterpieces read by these generous men and women that give your time and talent

So continuing with the French documentary, and eventually, Insha’Allah, coming for a few seconds to Headlong Hall, the episode aired last night was centered on the Crucifixion and Christianity that has imposed rules on the world



The crucifixion took place sometime between 29 and 33 our era, if I remember it well, and then we have the calendar starting with Christ and we talk of ‘our era’, which in fact refers to the Christians, not the rest

If we take Jewish, Muslim credos we would have a very different calendar, indeed, even with the Christian dogmas, there were periods when it looked like there would be a different timetable, think also of the Orthodox



Russia and some others have different days to celebrate Christmas and the other religious holydays, which come sometime later, it goes back to another moment when they decided to get to modern times and change the old schedule

So talking about ‘this era’ is rather limited – it is also interesting to look at the way the West has colonized time, whereas they could not do that to space, in Jerusalem, the three religions dispute territory



In addition, this documentary was fabulous in highlighting other things, such as the idea that Christianity is actually a Jewish sect, in that it separated from it, then it has these disputed, controversial views over what happened

It keeps them in the spotlight and the fervor and the disputation has helped the religion become so successful, I wonder how many billions are there, within the fold, is it just one and something, or two, maybe more?



Headlong Hall brings in conversation, through the interlocutors, the idea that animals are ‘there purely for humans to use them, presumably consumption, working them to death and so on’, but this is disputed

In jocular tones, one of the people in the debate asks ‘what about the tiger’, and then the obvious path could be, ‘why not think of humans as there to please the tiger’, and this is still a horrible aspect of society



‘in our era’, or we should say our times, billions of cattle, chicken, pigs and what not are not just slaughtered, but they are tortured in horrid conditions, they have been engineered to give meat and suffer

One of the greatest luminaries of this century (which come to think of it, still refers to the Western calendar, just as we avoid our era) is Yuval Harari, and the tone in his wondrous books is mostly optimistic



However, he writes about this terrible massacre that takes place http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/07/2... and future generations will look at us in Contempt

Contempt http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/02/c... is the title of a chef d’oeuvre by Alberto Moravia, one of my favorite novels, which looks at The Odyssey from a different angle



Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se



As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...

Some favorite quotes from To The Heritage and other works

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

‚parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this because it was mentioned in The Moving Toyshop, which I loved, so I was curious. This was written in 1815 and I was floored by how the opinions variously expressed seemed to be very modern and the humor was still funny almost 200 years later. The language is difficult but I think that was supposed to be part of the humor. Having the Kindle helped hugely. And it is short, novella in length, so it didn't take long and you can skim over the wordy parts and the songs.

The point of the satire was quoted at the beginning:
"All philosophers, who find
Some favorite system to their mind,
In every point to make it fit,
Will force all nature to submit."

We say in the 2000's: "if all you have is a hammer, every problem is a nail."

One line I enjoyed:
"...Miss Cr, who flew to the arms of her dear friend Ca, with all that warmth of friendship which young ladies usually assume towards each other in the presence of young gentlemen." (credit given to Rousseau's Emile in the footnotes.)

I'm looking forward to reading Nightmare Alley.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had never heard of this author, until his name popped up on the Guardian's list of 1000 novels everyone must read. I enjoyed it more than not--there were a couple of places I laughed out loud, but it was a little too jokey for me. Short though.

A satirical, and sometimes even slapstick, look at the Welsh gentry of 1815, I thought several times of Jane Austen's worlds, as they were contemporaneous. Both authors were poking fun at the same or similar human foibles, though in vastly different ways. But, while Austen satire is rather elegant and civilized, Peacock (in Headlong Hall at least), lambasts us with his larger than life characters and their overblown idiosyncrasies. It's all good fun, though perhaps a bit too clever. Its brevity enhances the experience.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

So that was quite enjoyable - if partly because of its brevity. A witty satire on the latest society intellectuals and the pretensions of a Welsh country squire / landowner wanting to fill his house with wit, brains and discussion and only succeeds in bringing together fragile egos, quackery, pseuds, fops and sycophants.

Plus ca change ....

The writing was funny, if limited and the observations interesting if blunt. I'm sure that the characters would have been instantly recognisable at the time of publication, but you can tell how intellectual life has changed when aphorisms written in ancient Greek don't even warrant a footnote of translation, never mind French.

[Graychin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the first of Peacock’s books (published in 1815), an intellectually curious Welsh aristocrat hosts a holiday gathering with a guest list including a progressivist, a deteriorationist, a phrenologist, a landscape designer, a lady novelist, and others. If not quite as successful as Peacock’s more famous Nightmare Abbey, Headlong Hall is still great fun. The skull of Cadwallader makes a comical guest appearance.

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 4 out of 5]

Squire Headlong invites a myriad of guests to his home for a party and many an interesting philosophical discourse occurs...

[Darren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great fun. Hilariously convoluted prose/dialogue and some very funny slapstick scenes. Will certainly go on to read Nightmare Abbey...

[The Usual · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, but I’d have enjoyed it more had there been fewer characters and more pages. As it is, it’s almost as if Thomas Love Peacock wrote a much longer book with flashes of brilliance, then deleted everything but the flashes. Hilarious, yes, if you can handle the prose (which is early nineteenth century clever-dick), but there’s not enough of anything to really gel.

But then, Headlong Hall is an early one, and what is there is mostly good stuff. True, it takes five chapters before Peacock feels the need for a plot, and true that even then there isn’t much of one; but there’s satire, and wit, and cartoon-slapstick comedy, and mouthpieces for philosophical and aesthetic positions scoring points off one another.

I wouldn’t make this your introduction to the chap, but it’s not half bad.

[Savonarola · Rating 5 out of 5]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Timothy Ferguson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it cheating if you helped record the book? Headlong Hall was performed as a dramatic reading by Librivox, and I narrated. Like many people who listen to their own recordings, I think my bits the worst of the lot. It sounded fine on my own equipment, but through the $5 bud headphones I’m using on my phone (since the ridiculously expensive ones that came with it gave up the ghost) my part’s terrible. You can tell I have a mic that’s too powerful for the room, because there’s a lot of “air”. around my voice. I just get away with it because I’m the narrator, but if I was having conversations with people it wouldn’t work.

Recording technique aside, I like Headlong Hall. The author is charmed by large, bouncy lists of words, and they are great fun to perform. He’s also rather anti-intellectual, and although I often find that an annoying form of treason again the fundamental nature of humanity, on this occassion he’s going after gently pretentious hypocrites, so I’ll forgive him.

This review originally appeared on
book coasters

[Ellee · Rating 2 out of 5]

The satire is very heavy-handed, so it was somewhat dull, but fortunately brief. :) The satire is predominantly about three schools of philosophy: those who think that human progress in science/technology is positive, those who think it's a negative thing & that we were better off when humans were hardly more than apes, and the third that the positives & negatives pretty much cancel each other out. It was all right and would - should - be used in courses that examine satire as socio-political commentary, but isn't as entertaining to read simply because it is so heavy-handed.

[Bryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

What standards do I use to judge a novella from 1815? I found it interesting largely as a reflection of the times; he was satirising a number of ideas that were in the air by creating characters whose entire worldview revolved around one particular idea and then letting all these monomaniacal people bounce off of each other. The names were of the sort later used by Dickens, there were various songs in the text... it was not much like anything else I have read, and I did enjoy it, but I was glad it was very short as it did not hang together as a story in any modern sense.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't help but be a little let down by this novel. 'Nightmare Abbey' is so brilliant that I had high expectations for this one, which were bound to be disappointed. There are far less philosophical ideas that are made fun of. 'Nightmare Abbey' is a lot richer in ideas and diversity, which makes it a lot more fun to read.

[christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant satire played out in tightly choreographed sentences, laugh-aloud funny. Wit so dry I read it with a pucker. I can see why Tom Stoppard named him as a primary influence,but I was also reminded of Twain.

[Sheyda · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a strange little book! There really were several laugh-out-loud moments of satirical commentary on academics and their silly ways. The ending seems quite a perfect counterpoint to all the Austen novels.

[Naticia · Rating 2 out of 5]

A philosophical discussion among personifications of different ideas or characteristics, set against a holiday gathering at a Welsh hall, complete with wine, dancing, and marriages. Interesting, but so many of the ideas were so outdated that parts were hard to read.

[Ken]

to_read_nation

[Dch3jac1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

More or less plotless but amusing. Mostly satirical philosophical discussions.
Not sure if I'd have enjoyed it if it was much longer.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

[mylogicisfuzzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and enjoyable, think it's very successful at what it sets out to do

[Terry · Rating 2 out of 5]

not sure why this is a favorite TLP.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really sure what to make of this book. On the one hand, some of the comments on philosophical and artistic fashions of the period are brilliantly scathing. I particularly enjoyed the remark that Mr Chromatic is considered a fine musician because "rapidity of execution, not delicacy of expression, constitutes the scientific perfection of modern music". There was actually a trend at the time for composers to write deliberately ludicrous metronome markings on pieces, so that anyone looking at the music would be impressed at the apparent speed (think Liszt!). Slower, more expressive playing was considered to be feminine, therefore inferior (naturally).

The use of absurdly long words to say something very simple always amuses me. For those reviewers saying that they dislike this book because the language is archaic and pompous, I think that's entirely the point. These puffed-up dilettantes and philosophers are so determined to baffle everyone with their superior knowledge that it leaks out into everything they do and say, and even affects the narrator. However, this is my first Peacock, so I have no frame of reference; it could be that he just loves overlong words.

On the other hand, there isn't a plot, characters move from room to room holding lengthy discussions which go nowhere, so the novelty quickly wears thin. Still, it's short.

[Ken Ryu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short whimsical satire. Peacock brings together a cerebral group together for a party at his house. Their names indicate their background. For example, Mr. Cranium is interested in studies of the brain, Mr. Chromatic is a musician. So on and so forth goes the naming convention for a handful of primary visitors. Discussions of philosophy, industrialization (mostly negative), science and other academic topics are debated. Peacock mostly takes a mocking tone for many of the recent innovations and progressions of society, industry and urbanization. There is one poignant observation that industry is making the rich richer and that income inequality is out of hand. He goes so far to call this ill the 99.9% problem. A short and meandering piece that has validity but lacks any compelling plot. The characters and the dialog are setup to create a lively dialog on a number of varied subjects, but that is pretty much it. Essentially we are flies on the wall listening to folks from different expertise debating at a social event.

[Mbuye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of the charm of this zany 1816 novella is its almost unintelligible use of arcane language, quite apart from the irony and satire about philosophers and scientists. Philosophers and scientists too use a species of language meant to confuse more than clarify. There are also some moments, which given the deliberate intent behind the act, add up to farce. Peacock’s remarks on young ladies might be offensive, if the same spotlight hadn't been turned on the young men whose philosophy is profound, if unsound. It will keep you laughing throughout the houseparty at which you are an invisible guest.

[Hester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delightful satire of intellectual life and the landed aristocracy in late 18 th century Wales . Probably had more impact for contemporary readers who would know the objects of the satire . A sort of early novel Sitcom . Language is divine and names of characters outrageous .