Whilst listening to a lecture by George Grant about the development of the novel, I jotted down a list of titles and authors. Realising that I wouldn't 'have time' to read them and, in any case, suffering from migraine, I managed to download one of them, at least, from libravox. The vicar of Wakefield, up to chapter 28, is a fairly depressing read. Having just dealt with 'the social contract' by Rousseau I kept on seeing it (or hearing it) as 'roussauian' - I think Goldsmith must have been a deist at best - like Benjamin Franklin (whose autobiography we have been listening to over the past couple of days as part of Omnibus 3). there are other titles I should like to become aquainted with but Rasselas (by Samuel Johnson) isn't even in the pipeline. Two others are. Then again, I hope not always to have migraine to keep me from my pressing household duties.

In The Vicar of Wakefield (surely everyone's HEARD of it?) a vicar who is strongly principled and the proud father of 6 children is brought to ruin because of shady dealings on the part of the man who was entrusted with his capital. Having to leave the place where he was much appreciated and had done much good, especially amongst the poor, they moved to a more humble parish and house. A man, supposed to be poor, visits them from time to time and forms an attatchment to the younger of the two daughters. Meanwhile the older of the two daughters forms an attatchment with the rascally landlord who has a reputation for ruining the reputations of young girls. The older daughter, set to marry a fine upstanding farmer, a widower, four days before the nuptials is carried off by the landlord though the father is thrown off the scent by men employed for the purpose. Two weeks later the girl turns up and some talk of a 'marriage' which wasn't really one leaves the family disgraced. The house then catches fire and the babes are rescued at the cost of injury to the vicar's arm which, while it festers, is carried, along with the whole family, to prison. some time before all that the oldest son, sent out into the world three years previous, fetches up again and, at a cost of £100 is sent off to sea to make his fortune - the debt being due to the landlord, it is called in and results in the family being incarcerated. the oldest daughter then 'dies' because the vicar has to give his approval for the landlord to marry a young lady whom the oldest son had been about to marry before the initial ruin was apparant. Suffice it to say that up to chapter 29 it was all pretty dismal - so I jumped to chapter 32 to find out how on earth it was going to turn out. The tone of that chapter being altogether more cheery (the marriages were happening wholesale) I pressed myself to fill in the gaps during the course of the day. I just finished it this evening. i was glad that I didnt' devote time to READING it - at least much of the time I was listening I was knitting a jumper (which is making good progress...). so, it's a classic, and I've 'been there and done that' - i wouldn't recommend it though - unless you happen to have a migraine and nothing better to do than listen to it. The reader was not bad - and englishman.