R. D. Blackmore (1825–1900)
Author of Lorna Doone
About the Author
Image credit: Frontispiece Portrait from Lorna Doone, 1900 edition.
Series
Works by R. D. Blackmore
George Bowring - A Tale Of Cader Idris From "Slain By The Doones" By R. D. Blackmore (2015) 3 copies
Lorna Doone TV Tie (BBC) 2 copies
The Maid of Sker 1 copy
The Remarkable History of Sir Thomas Upmore, Bart., M.P., Formerly Known as "Tommy Upmore" Volume 1 (2015) 1 copy
Lorna Doone 1 copy
Politics and Poetics 1 copy
Associated Works
Romance Classics: Jane Eyre / Mansfield Park / Lorna Doone / Far from the Madding Crowd / Middlemarch / Agnes Grey (1928) — Contributor — 4 copies
90 Masterpieces You Must Read (Vol.1): Novels, Poetry, Plays, Short Stories, Essays, Psychology & Philosophy (2020) — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Blackmore, Richard Doddridge
- Birthdate
- 1825-06-07
- Date of death
- 1900-01-20
- Burial location
- Teddington Cemetery, London, England, UK
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Longworth, Berkshire, England, UK
- Place of death
- London, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Longworth, Oxfordshire (then Berkshire), England, UK (then Berkshire)
Glamorganshire, Wales
Teddington, London, England, UK - Education
- Exeter College, Oxford
Hugh Squier's School, South Molton, Devonshire, UK
Kings School, Bruton, Somerset, UK
Blundell's School - Occupations
- novelist
teacher
private tutor
barrister
schoolmaster
market gardener - Short biography
- Richard Doddridge Blackmore (7 June 1825 – 20 January 1900), known as R. D. Blackmore, was one of the most famous English novelists of the second half of the nineteenth century. He won acclaim for vivid descriptions and personification of the countryside, sharing with Thomas Hardy a Western England background and a strong sense of regional setting in his works.
Blackmore, often referred to as the "Last Victorian", was a pioneer of the movement in fiction that continued with Robert Louis Stevenson and others. He has been described as "proud, shy, reticent, strong-willed, sweet-tempered, and self-centred." Apart from his novel Lorna Doone, which has enjoyed continuing popularity, his work has gone out of print.
Members
Reviews
The Maid Of Sker (Doughty Library No. 13) by R. D. Blackmore
From the Victoriaweb.org: The Maid of Sker (1872) — This summary of the novel is from Ernest Baker and James Packman, A Guide to the Best Fiction (London: George Routledge, 1932) — The romance of a foundling, the missing daughter of a Devon family, told by an old fisherman, Davy Llewellyn, who overflows with mother-wit. Opens with sketches of life in Glamorganshire; passes then to Devon, where, in a wild and lawless state of society, the diabolical Parson Chowne is represented as the brutal despot of his parish (1782-98). Exciting episodes, such as a hurricane and a wreck, poetical descriptions, and many racy characters.… (more)
Whilst I enjoyed this historical fiction romance, I felt at times that I was reading two separate books that had been merged into one - the romance and the depiction of a farmer's life in the late 1600s. I think that both halves would make a good book one their own (and of a shorter length!), but the romance in particular would be an exciting tale on its own. However, abridging this novel would be like cutting the Mona Lisa out of her background - sure, the famous portrait of the woman is still there but it has lost some of its power by being taken out of its proper context. John Ridd, despite his love story and adventures, is fundamentally a yeoman farmer and delights in the land and the beauties of nature. If you cut all of that away, he would become unconvincing as the hero (especially as a hero who takes such a long time to "get the girl"!).
By using Ridd as the narrator, Blackmore manages to immerse the reader in the late seventeenth century. John, with his wealthy shop owner uncle and his freehold farm, is in the middle of society - not a nobleman nor a peasant or labourer, but able to mix with both. This allows Blackmore to show us a wider range of life than many historical fiction novels manage to do, and the introduction of Jeremy Stickles brings the political picture into the story as well. I was a little disappointed that the Monmouth Rebellion played such a small part in the plot, but upon reflection, it was consistent with John's character.
I had some difficulties with reading some of the characters' dialect - this is a problem I have encountered before in other books (both British and American). I am coming to believe that the way of speech being depicted may not be worth preserving in this manner... A decent audiobook edition might be the way to go - unfortunately, the Librivox recording is one of the collaborative recordings. As with all of the collaborative efforts I have listened to from Librivox, the quality of the narrators and the recordings is uneven. I found some of them excellent, but for some chapters I preferred to read rather than listen to the narration.… (more)
By using Ridd as the narrator, Blackmore manages to immerse the reader in the late seventeenth century. John, with his wealthy shop owner uncle and his freehold farm, is in the middle of society - not a nobleman nor a peasant or labourer, but able to mix with both. This allows Blackmore to show us a wider range of life than many historical fiction novels manage to do, and the introduction of Jeremy Stickles brings the political picture into the story as well. I was a little disappointed that the Monmouth Rebellion played such a small part in the plot, but upon reflection, it was consistent with John's character.
I had some difficulties with reading some of the characters' dialect - this is a problem I have encountered before in other books (both British and American). I am coming to believe that the way of speech being depicted may not be worth preserving in this manner... A decent audiobook edition might be the way to go - unfortunately, the Librivox recording is one of the collaborative recordings. As with all of the collaborative efforts I have listened to from Librivox, the quality of the narrators and the recordings is uneven. I found some of them excellent, but for some chapters I preferred to read rather than listen to the narration.… (more)
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Statistics
- Works
- 59
- Also by
- 9
- Members
- 3,827
- Popularity
- #6,628
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 61
- ISBNs
- 300
- Languages
- 8
- Favorited
- 2
