Carl’s Reviews > The French Lieutenant's Woman > Status Update

Such catholicity in its intelligence!

149: Charles’ critique of Victorian conventions
151: yearning for “a world without the tyranny of specialization”
152: “You do not bring the happiness of the many by making them run before they can walk.” (A lesson modern schooling is learning painfully, thanks to inundations of technology.)

So much to appreciate about this novel, which I’m rereading after 35ish years (it’s like new). The narratorial style is extremely engaging; I love the knowing, wry tone, as it dips from 1867 into mentions of the start of World War 2, McLuhan, Proust, British “mods,” Brecht, and so on.