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Caleb Williams or Things As They Are
William Godwin
Book Overview:
The novel describes the downfall of Ferdinando Falkland, a British squire, and his attempts to ruin and destroy the life of Caleb Williams, a poor but ambitious young man that Falkland hires as his personal secretary. Caleb accidentally discovers a terrible secret in his master’s past. Though Caleb promises to be bound to silence, Falkland, irrationally attached (in Godwin’s view) to ideas of social status and inborn virtue, cannot bear that his servant should possibly have power over him, and sets out to use various means–unfair trials, imprisonment, pursuit, to make sure that the information of which Caleb is the bearer will never be revealed.
Godwin described the book as “a series of adventures of flight and pursuit; the fugitive in perpetual apprehension of being overwhelmed with the worst calamities”, so that Caleb Williams can be classified as an early thriller or mystery novel.
The novel describes the downfall of Ferdinando Falkland, a British squire, and his attempts to ruin and destroy the life of Caleb Williams, a poor but ambitious young man that Falkland hires as his personal secretary. Caleb accidentally discovers a terrible secret in his master’s past. Though Caleb promises to be bound to silence, Falkland, irrationally attached (in Godwin’s view) to ideas of social status and inborn virtue, cannot bear that his servant should possibly have power over him, and sets out to use various means–unfair trials, imprisonment, pursuit, to make sure that the information of which Caleb is the bearer will never be revealed.
Godwin described the book as “a series of adventures of flight and pursuit; the fugitive in perpetual apprehension of being overwhelmed with the worst calamities”, so that Caleb Williams can be classified as an early thriller or mystery novel.
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"No, sir," replied she, "indeed I will not be driven any way that you happen to like. I have been used to obey you, and, in all that is reasonable, I will obey you still. But you urge me too far. What do you tell me of Mr. Falkland? Have I ever done any thing to deserve your unkind suspicions? I am innocent, and will continue innocent. Mr. Grimes is well enough, and will no doubt find women that like him; but he is not fit for me, and torture shall not force me to be his wife."
Mr. Tyrrel was not a little astonished at the spirit which Emily displayed upon this occasion. He had calculated too securely upon the general mildness and suavity of her disposition. He now endeavoured to qualify the harshness of his former sentiments.
"God damn my soul! And so you can scold, can you? You expect every body to turn out of his way, and fetch and carry, just as you . . . Read More
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Community Reviews
William Godwin was a guy who scores a perfect 10 on the the Coolometer - anyone's Coolometer, doesn't matter what model, even ones where the batteries are low, he is going to score a 10.
Well, he was an anarchist and wrote giant attacks on the political establishment; but also, he married Mary Wolls
I'd expected a novel by William Godwin to be politically charged; what I didn't expect was that it would be such a gripping and sophisticated narrative.
Caleb Williams is a young, naive and bookish man from a humble family. He is hired as a private secretary and librarian by a local country squire, F
Caleb Williams is part philosophical novel, part thriller and part vocabulary lesson.
Usually the book is cited as being anarchic, but it isn't directly so. It doesn't suggest an alternative to the existing government, it's not pro-capitalism or pro-syndicalism but it does hold to the most basic pri
This book was interesting. It was about Caleb Williams, a man who was employed as a secretary for Mr Falkland. His employer was very anxious and of an agitated mind. This caused some concern to Caleb, who wanted to understand why. After lots of investigating, he soon was taken into confidence- but t
According to Ian Ousby, author of Bloodhounds of Heaven: The Detective in English Fiction from Godwin to Doyle, this book is the first in English fiction to "display a sustained interest in the theme of detection," and that the book's hero, the titular Caleb Williams, is "the first important detecti
This was intense, passionate and completely gripping. The power of the narrative is entirely enthralling. Caleb has a story to tell and he beckons you to heed his words. I’ve heeded them myself three times because this was just that good. This novel is entirely underrated on this website, and drasti
This is an excellent early English novel, and deserves a wider readership. It is at once a detective novel, a suspenseful tale of pursuit and escape, a psychological study of obsession, a political exploration of class, a savage indictment of English law and English prisons, and an inspiring story o
Caleb Williams was from a humble family in rural England (set and written in the 1700's ) , his father a hard working shrewd farmer, with a small piece of land still young Caleb is an intelligent boy and promptly noticed by amiable Mr. Collins, the steward of a squire much loved by the locals, wealt
I don’t often read eighteenth-century novels but I generally enjoy them when I do; they’re such curious hybrids, foreshadowing the modern novel in some ways, but with one foot still firmly in earlier narrative traditions, like romance and allegorical fiction. Caleb Williams has sometimes been hailed