![]() ![]() ![]() The theme is entirely romantic, there being little realism and no “problem” writing whatever. By some critics it has been esteemed one of the great pieces of English fiction, but this praise is undoubtedly excessive. LORNA DOONE, by Richard Doddridge Blackmore, published in 1869, was one of the earliest and by far the most popular of all Blackmore's dozen or more novels. Here we find the situation reversed, where Blackmore succeeds in capturing worldwide recognition while living, only to drop towards obscurity in death (save for this particular work). ![]() Consider that the American author Herman Melville was not widely read during his lifetime and died in literary obscurity only to gain wide spread recognition after his death. I find this 1920 summary to be overly harsh, but wished to include it as an instructive example of how fickle reputations can be in the literary world. ![]()
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