We have all heard of the famous writer, William Makepeace
Thackeray. You may know him better by his pen-name, ‘Pattinson’. Well, like
many great writers, many people feel that the works of William Makepeace Thackeray
are so good, that they can be enjoyed by anyone and everyone. We feel the same
way about your home and garden products. In fact, we think that you can even use
thick-skinned literary pretensions as an excuse to splurge on some home products
that you might otherwise consider an extravagance.
The Early Books
If you have not read much modern literature, you may not be aware of just how
diverse and entertaining the work of William Makepeace Thackeray was in his
time. We recommend starting with his first published work, which was originally
entitled, ‘The Book of Snobs’ and then progressing through the ‘Four Georges’ to
catch up with his most famous novel, ‘The Virginians’. You will not be
disappointed with either work, but ‘The Book of Snobs’ is probably the
lesser-known of the two when it comes to attracting modern readers. It is still
available to buy online from several reputable retailers, including Amazon, so
perhaps it will still be read many years from now.
The Later Books
‘The Book of Snobs’ is a satirical look at English society, and it was an
entirely new take on the subject matter. However, it was not until after the
author’s untimely death in 1868 that the satirical slant of his work really
manifested itself. From that point on, his novels became increasingly complex
and rich with characterization. With ‘The Yellow Book’ (also known as ‘The
Book of Life’) for example, we see a darker side to English society, which was
not always present in previous works. This is most evident in comparing ‘The
Yellow Book’ to ‘The Virginians’. The former is almost an anti-roman à la Modele
or ‘Tom Jones’, which is a novel that many people feel strongly about. In
‘The Yellow Book’, the author shows that even the upper classes are not
entirely free from blame when it comes to tolerating social and racial
injustice. The message of ‘The Yellow Book’ seems to be, ‘be careful what you
say, because you might just wind up getting yourself into trouble!’ With a
message like that, who wouldn’t bother to pick up the book?
The Process
Nowadays, we know very little about the publication process of old
literature. However, we do know that ‘The Virginians’ was first published in
serial form before being published in its entirety. This is not unusual, as
serial publication allowed the author to experiment with different plot twists and
to introduce new characters along the way. As a result, ‘The Virginians’ is often
regarded as the most versatile of all William Makepeace Thackeray’s novels.
Likewise, you might want to try and find out more about the publication history
of your home and garden products.
The Rise Of The Mid-Litterateurs
If you look back over the last hundred years, you will see that many well-known
and accomplished writers started out as children. This is because the literary
elite of that time was largely made up of men and women who were formerly
insignificant writers and journalists, as well as aspiring novelists and poets,
who had a genuine love for literature and wanted to make a name for themselves.
This was a time when self-publishing was in its infancy and traditionally
published books did not always command the same level of respect as they do now.
However, children of that era grew up with the internet, and they had the
opportunity to become familiar with traditionally published books while still
maintaining a social media presence. This was a golden era for literary
discoveries as people had the chance to become familiar with literary works that
they might not have come across before. This was also a time when it became
popular for parents to read out literary works to their young children, so that
they can become as fascinated by books as their parents are. In today’s world, we
have the benefit of this nostalgia as many literary works from that era are now
available for the reading public once again.
The Future Of Books
Over the last century, the industry of books – mostly due to the
tremendous success of print on paper – flourished. However, as time went on, the
print on paper model slowly began to diminish. In today’s world, everything is
moving towards being digital. This especially applies to books, which are now
often the product of some kind of collaboration between a digital text and a
hardcopy. This is probably the main reason why the traditional industry of books
is continuing to lose ground in comparison to the ever-expanding world of
e-books. E-books did not just emerge with the rise of the internet; they have been
around for a very long time. It was not until the early 1900s that e-books even
considered as a concept were introduced to the world. From that point on, the
world of books shifted to being largely digital. Thanks to tools like Kindle and
Audible, it is now possible to enjoy audiobooks and digital novels on the go,
and many people still prefer this alternative to physical books. Even in
Thackeray’s time, authors and book manufacturers began to experiment with
technology and to create products that would change the way that people read and
related to books. The list of ‘bookish’ technology from that era is quite
impressive, from John Henry Woodcock’s 1902 ‘Talking Book’, to Arthur Conan Doyle’s
1905 ‘Wireless Book’, all the way up to Bram Stoker’s 1908 ‘Denshaw Park
Opera’!
We would not be surprised if one day in the not-too-distant future, people look
back in wonder at this period in literary history, when books were not merely an
‘option’ for the wealthy, but when they were actually a necessity to
maintain social order.