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Mrs Molesworth, The Cuckoo Clock, 1877
Jun. 13th, 2015 07:41 pmI knew Mrs Molesworthy only through Virginia Woolf and Nancy Mitford describing her as the sort of author no one nowadays reads. But she is actually pretty good!
*The Cuckoo Clock* is a children’s story where a girl is sent to live with her elderly aunts in a large house. The girl is fascinated by their cuckoo clock, which then starts visiting her at night-time and taking her on adventures. She gets to fly and to visit a land where porcelain ornaments live. Actually, the ornaments are a models of Chinese mandarins so there are many puns about the Chinese china.
What I like most about the cuckoo is that it is sarcastic and impatient. It reminds me a bit of the creatures that Alice encounters in Wonderland, most of which are preoccupied and self-assured. There is, however, a moral element which Lewis does not have, with the narartor commenting on the girl’s behaviour whenever it is not up to scratch.
I downloaded a free edition on my IPad, complete with the original Victorian illustrations and sentimental chapter headings. I am very keen on reading my nineteenth-century texts this way as:
1. They are usually free.
2. The IPad weighs less than a bulky Victorian novel so it is easier for me to carry about. Plus the IPad fits almost limitless numbers of Victorian novels. My next choices are *Sartor Resartus* and *David Copperfield* but I may need something lighter to intersperse them with.
3. They are usually much easier to read than the Gutenberg versions.
4. Sometimes I get to see the original illustrations or even page annotations.
*The Cuckoo Clock* is a children’s story where a girl is sent to live with her elderly aunts in a large house. The girl is fascinated by their cuckoo clock, which then starts visiting her at night-time and taking her on adventures. She gets to fly and to visit a land where porcelain ornaments live. Actually, the ornaments are a models of Chinese mandarins so there are many puns about the Chinese china.
What I like most about the cuckoo is that it is sarcastic and impatient. It reminds me a bit of the creatures that Alice encounters in Wonderland, most of which are preoccupied and self-assured. There is, however, a moral element which Lewis does not have, with the narartor commenting on the girl’s behaviour whenever it is not up to scratch.
I downloaded a free edition on my IPad, complete with the original Victorian illustrations and sentimental chapter headings. I am very keen on reading my nineteenth-century texts this way as:
1. They are usually free.
2. The IPad weighs less than a bulky Victorian novel so it is easier for me to carry about. Plus the IPad fits almost limitless numbers of Victorian novels. My next choices are *Sartor Resartus* and *David Copperfield* but I may need something lighter to intersperse them with.
3. They are usually much easier to read than the Gutenberg versions.
4. Sometimes I get to see the original illustrations or even page annotations.
