Reviews

The Adventures of Caleb Williams Things as They Are Easyread Large Edition by William Godwin

heyimaghost's review against another edition

4.0

Caleb Williams is a much overlooked novel these days, though when reading it, it's impossible not to see it's influence on modern crime drama--especially the "innocent accused" motif. Aside from that obvious influence, the novel as well as the author went on to influence a wide range of writers, from classic Victorian novelists to the modern thriller writer (even if some weren't aware of it). But influence alone is not always a good reason to read something.
One word I've heard quite often to describe this story is "fierce." It's a good term for not only the story, but the concept Godwin was trying to express. Justice is a fierce thing, but no where near as fierce as injustice; and that's truly what this story is driven by: injustice. Mr. Falkland evades justice and Caleb cannot seem to find it. Caleb becomes a criminal, hunted for a crime he did not commit.
But Caleb Williams is a few things beyond the basic plot. It is a psychological novel. Throughout the story we are inside the mind of Caleb, and it is a stunning picture he paints of himself and of others. But I for one couldn't help but question the honesty of that picture. Even in the first Volume when he is recounting the early life of Mr. Falkland, we cannot be sure that there isn't something Caleb neglected to tell us or something he purposely changed. For that, the novel is a perfect study for anyone looking for unreliable narrators. Also, the novel is philosophical. Throughout we are feed lines about justice, humanity, and other morals the author wants to convey. This should be little of a problem for most people, considering the things Godwin is propagating are almost universally considered proper today.
I do have one complaint about the book, which is this: Godwin is too wordy in his style. I love novels from this period, so I'm used to their general style, but Godwin's style is more akin to a philosophical essay than a novel. It can be distracting, and often I would go from completely enthralled to completely bored in the middle of a paragraph. This is the most notable in the first volume, but the story picks up heavy pace in the second, with a few lulls. By the time the third volume begins, it becomes very hard to put down until the end.

clockless's review against another edition

3.0

This story starts incredibly slowly. The first few chapters are so poorly written it's almost a joke, like Godwin wrote them with a thesaurus in his other hand. To choose a line at random: "The general affliction, therefore, was doubly pungent upon the present occasion." I have to believe that even in 1794 the English language flowed a little better than that. To his credit, the story picks up about halfway through the first volume, and either the writer toned down his literary extravagance, or I just became inured to it; I couldn't say which.

There's also an odd part right in the first chapter where Godwin introduces a character (Collins) who relates to the narrator (and the reader) some necessary background information. Then, just as he's about to begin, we get this: "To avoid confusion in my narrative, I shall drop the person of Collins, and assume to be myself the historian of my patron." ??? ...what? Why? I just don't...

Anyway, the story settles down into a decent narrative, eventually. The first volume could stand on its own, I'd say, although it would be a little esoteric, maybe. The second volume is almost a thriller, and well ahead of its time. The third volume is more of a typical morality story for the time; not bad, but not as good as most, by any means. The story loses a little something through some unnecessary plot devices

Spoiler

like the seemingly omnipotent antagonist, everyone's pointless imperviousness to Caleb's arguments, and a completely gratuitous 'greedy Jew'

, but I wouldn't say it was bad -- just not a great, necessary, or, in any fashion, illuminating read.