I agree that the loss of the letter is going to reduce future generations' knowledge of the detail of people's lives. Only yesterday I heard on the radio a reference to letters between Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn about composition which casts an interesting light on his working method and her gifts as a composer, although she wasn't allowed to pursue that as a career. Maybe that's part of the value of letters - the hidden lives they can reveal. Possibly the journal can replace some of that - see this week's newsletter.
As for Family Lines, it was never published but I may serialise it here next year. The epistolary format lends itself to serialisation . . .
So pleased you have raised this topic... it is one that I often think about, above all the letter - and absence thereof - as a record of history. I fear that so much of people's lives today will be lost to future generations and noone has yet reassured me on this. I would love to read Family Lines - as I'm sure other followers would also - where could I get a copy? Thank you in anticipation!
Thanks Vincent, glad you liked it! I hadn't heard of Yellowface but having looked it up I'm intrigued. Definitely on my TBR list!
Good point about Les Liaisons Dangereuses. That completely slipped my mind, perhaps because I haven't read it although there was a copy knocking around our house for a long time. However, I did see the play by Christopher Hampton and liked it - if that's the right word for such thoroughgoing cynicism. I see Netflix has made a modern version of the book . . . Insta instead of letters.
Thank you for filling that gap in my list. Another one TBR!
I've read a few of the more recent email/text novels and never found them quite right, to tell the truth. That said, a recent book where there is some good use of the form is Yellowface - have you read that?
I was surprised that you didn't choose to reference Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Laclos. Surely one of the Biggies - and an early example at that? Still nicely outrageous and cynical!
such good timing to see a piece about epistolary novels and the dying art of the letter, in the very same week that I have been working to add an epistolary element to a new detective story. Thanks for the extra context here.
I agree that the loss of the letter is going to reduce future generations' knowledge of the detail of people's lives. Only yesterday I heard on the radio a reference to letters between Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn about composition which casts an interesting light on his working method and her gifts as a composer, although she wasn't allowed to pursue that as a career. Maybe that's part of the value of letters - the hidden lives they can reveal. Possibly the journal can replace some of that - see this week's newsletter.
As for Family Lines, it was never published but I may serialise it here next year. The epistolary format lends itself to serialisation . . .
So pleased you have raised this topic... it is one that I often think about, above all the letter - and absence thereof - as a record of history. I fear that so much of people's lives today will be lost to future generations and noone has yet reassured me on this. I would love to read Family Lines - as I'm sure other followers would also - where could I get a copy? Thank you in anticipation!
Thanks Vincent, glad you liked it! I hadn't heard of Yellowface but having looked it up I'm intrigued. Definitely on my TBR list!
Good point about Les Liaisons Dangereuses. That completely slipped my mind, perhaps because I haven't read it although there was a copy knocking around our house for a long time. However, I did see the play by Christopher Hampton and liked it - if that's the right word for such thoroughgoing cynicism. I see Netflix has made a modern version of the book . . . Insta instead of letters.
Thank you for filling that gap in my list. Another one TBR!
Very good piece!
I've read a few of the more recent email/text novels and never found them quite right, to tell the truth. That said, a recent book where there is some good use of the form is Yellowface - have you read that?
I was surprised that you didn't choose to reference Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Laclos. Surely one of the Biggies - and an early example at that? Still nicely outrageous and cynical!
such good timing to see a piece about epistolary novels and the dying art of the letter, in the very same week that I have been working to add an epistolary element to a new detective story. Thanks for the extra context here.
Very interesting. We have lost a very personal means of communication . Emails do seem impersonal and rushed (at least mine do).