The pleasures of Peacock: Comprising in whole or in part the seven novels of Thomas Love Peacock

by Thomas Love Peacock, Ben R. Redman (Editor)

The pleasures of Peacock : comprising in whole or in part the seven novels of Thomas Love Peacock edited with an introduction by Ben Ray Redman.Headlong Hall --Melincourt --Nightmare Abbey --Maid Marian --The misfortunes of Elphin --Crotchet Castle --Gryll Grange.OCLC 993158

458 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1979

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

[Leslie]

Here is my summary of which novels in this omnibus I have read & when:

Nightmare Abbey, read January 2014; 4*

Headlong Hall, read Decemember 2014; 3*

Crotchet Castle, read September 2019; 3*
I quite enjoyed this Georgian satire though I didn't think it was as funny as Peacock's more famous novel "Nightmare Abbey". However, Peacock's style will not be for everyone & I can easily imagine that some readers would find this deadly dull. Personally I find it would be worth reading his books just for the fun of the characters' names - Mr. Mac Quedy (get it - Q.E.D. - ha ha), Mr. Touchandgo (the absconding banker), the Earl of Foolincourt, Mr. Wilful Wontsee, etc. etc.

Maid Marian, read in June 2020; 3*
Peacock's version of Robin Hood contains some amusingly snarky comments along with the familiar story.