Paul Clifford [Hardcover]

Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2003

This novel so far differs from the other fictions by the same author that it seeks to draw its interest rather from practical than ideal sources. Out of some twelve Novels or Romances, embracing, however inadequately, a great variety of scene and character, -- from PELHAM to the PILGRIMS OF THE RHINE, from RIENZI to the LAST DAYS OF POMPEII, -- PAUL CLIFFORD is the _only one_ in which a robber has been made the hero, or the peculiar phases of life which he illustrates have been brought into any prominent description. Without pausing to inquire what realm of manners or what order of crime and sorrow is open to art, and capable of administering to the proper ends of fiction, I may be permitted to observe that the present subject was selected, and the Novel written, with a twofold object: First, to draw attention to two errors in our penal institutions; namely, a vicious prison-discipline, and a sanguinary criminal code, -- the habit of corrupting the boy by the very punishment that ought to redeem him, and then hanging the man at the first occasion, as the easiest way of getting rid of our own blunders. Between the example of crime which the tyro learns from the felons in the prison-yard, and the horrible levity with which the mob gather round the drop at Newgate, there is a connection which a writer may be pardoned for quitting loftier regions of imagination to trace and to detect. So far this book is less a picture of the king's highway than the law's royal road to the gallows, -- a satire on the short cut established between the House of Correction and the Condemned Cell. A second and a lighter object in the novel of PAUL CLIFFORD (and hence the introduction of a semi-burlesque or travesty in the earlier chapters) was to show that there is nothing essentially different between vulgar vice and fashionable vice, and that the slang of the one circle is but an easy paraphrase of the cant of the other.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Kessinger Publishing reprints over 1,500 similar titles all available through Amazon.com. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Edward Bulwer-Lytton (25 May, 1803-18 January, 1873), was an English novelist, poet, playwright, and politician. Lord Lytton was a florid, popular writer of his day, who coined such phrases as "the great unwashed", "the pen is mightier than the sword", and the infamous incipit "It was a dark and stormy night." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 436 pages
• Publisher: Wildside Press (August 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592245854
• ISBN-13: 978-1592245857
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,668,371 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Much more than dark and stormy night, July 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Paul Clifford (Paperback)

Lytton got a bad rep because of the opening sentence of this novel. However, this novel is an unexpected delight: it is rather ironic, witty and the plot, with the highwayman as the hero, is very complicated and involving. I especially like the satirizing of polite society through the twisted reflection of its meaningless conventions in the criminal circles.

Not as good as Last Days of Pompeii or Pelham, but certainly worth a read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shame on you for mocking this book!, July 24, 2009

By 

Dr. H - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paul Clifford (Paperback)

Must we pooh-pooh Bulwer? Sure he writes with diffuse floridity, but he was a clever man.

Although the plot of this book is somewhat oblique, it remains compelling and entertaining. The characters are interesting, and the moral of the work(and it has a very important one) is still relevant today. If you like to read things that challenge you and you enjoy stimulating your vocabulary, you will enjoy Bulwer.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Service, February 5, 2010

By 

K. Holloway (Smyrna, TN) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Paul Clifford (Paperback)

My wife wanted the orignal book, not the updated version, and so I ordered this for her. As I've come to expect from Amazon, the book arrived on time in new condition. The book is much larger in format that we expected, 8-1/2 x 11. I guess we never looked at that part of the description. The inside pages appear to be a photocopy of the original book, but is of good quality, and very readable.