Castle Rackrent (The World's Classics) [Paperback]

Maria Edgeworth (Author), George Watson (Editor), Kathryn J. Kirkpatrick (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: The World's Classics | Publication Date: December 7, 1995

With her satire on Anglo-Irish landlords in Castle Rackrent (1800), Maria Edgeworth pioneered the regional novel and inspired Sir Walter Scott's Waverley (1814). Politically risky, stylistically innovative, and wonderfully entertaining, the novel changes the focus of conflict in Ireland from religion to class, and boldly predicts the rise of the Irish Catholic bourgeoisie. The second edition now includes new notes informed by the latest scholarship.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Thady Quirk - or "honest Thady" - having lived on the estate of Castle Rackrent for most of his long life, takes it upon himself to "publish the MEMOIRS of the RACKRENT FAMLY." Speaking in Irish vernacular, he describes the masters he and his family have served under: Sir Patrick, who fills his house with guests and drinks himself to death; Sir Murtagh, his heir, a "great lawyer," who refuses - "out of honor" - to pay Sir Patrick's debts; and Sir Kit, who gambles and eventually sells his estate to Thady's son. Through Thady's memories of these landowners (and the tenants who all too often had to pay for the landownders' indulgences) we gain a picture of fedual life in Ireland before the Irish Revolution. Thady is an unreliable narrator who, it appears, cannot - or does not - tell the whole story. Which leaves a question. Is Thady a naive and loyal servant or is he a clever and self-serving man who knows how to get his point across and his plans accomplished without seeming to know what he is saying or doing? Adding to the underlying irony of the narrative is the contrast between Thady and the anonymous, condescending British voice of the mock glossary of terms. Humorous and biting, Castle Rackrent is a largely unrecognized jewel of social satire. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister

From the Back Cover

Set in Ireland prior to its achieving legislative independence from Britain in 1782, Castle Rackrent tells the story of three generations of an estate-owning family as seen through the eyes -- and as told in the voice -- of their longtime servant, Thady Quirk, recorded and commented on by an anonymous Editor. This edition of Maria Edgeworth's first novel is based on the 1832 edition, the last revised by her, and includes Susan Kubica Howard's foot-of-the-page notes on the text of the memoir as well as on the notes and glosses the Editor offers "for the information of the ignorant English reader." Howard's Introduction situates the novel in its political and historical context and suggests a reading of the novel as Edgeworth's contribution to the discussion of the controversial Act of Union between Ireland and Britain that went into effect immediately after the novel's publication in London in 1800. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 178 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2nd edition (December 7, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192823949
• ISBN-13: 978-0192823946
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,609,042 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Boring, boring!, May 8, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Castle Rackrent (Oxford Paperbacks) (Paperback)

This book is simply boring. There are fun things to it, especially if you know your Irish history, but these out-of-date parodies are still not good enough to make it worth reading. Under the narrative of Thady Quirk, which is -- at least to me -- fairly hard to get through, we are taken through the history of a protestant landlord family. If you truly dissect the book, there are interesting sides of it, but just as a plain reading, I found it simply boring. It is short and doesn't go into any detailed description of the many events that are told to the reader/listener, it's value were supposedly the mocking of the protestant ruling class of Ireland. Since that value is lost to most contemporary readers, there isn't all that much left.