Worth Every Cent and Second

Beautiful and terrible, the past laus itself bare in Clarissa for all the modern praise and damnation that can be given it. At once progressive in deigning to provide the titular fallen woman a redemption and an apparent soul, is at the same time regressive in maintaining, staunchly and explicitly, that this redemption is ONLY merited by her approved *virtue* whereas she would join the ranks of her sex that, implicitly, deserve their fate at the hands of evil men. This novel was alarming, exhausting, and infinitely fascinating throughout its entire run. Excellent production and performance by cast and crew heighten the stakes and realize the trembling vibrancy, excitement and fear experienced by Clarissa, as well as the coldness of her relatives and the ardent grotesqueness of Lovelace. I highly reccommend to those who are already predisposed to the historical and academic enjoyments of a novel of this age and kind and would also attest it to be worthwhile of the time spent (especially if listened to at 2 or 2.5 speed, as I did) as well as the triple credit, if for no other reason to have successfully completed the novel that still holds (even after 250 years!) the title to the longest printed in the English language.

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It was great until Letter 333.

Clarissa is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read, and I loved the first two volumes of this audiobook. Things were going along fine in volume three until Belford, in a letter to Lovelace, began recounting what Clarissa had said when he visited her. He sounded as though he were mocking her. This is such a tender, sensitive text, and the narrator destroyed it; I had to skip his letters and revert back to my paperback as they were too insulting to listen to. All other narrators were excellent, however, and the book is definitely worth reading.