Why I Read the Classics: Arthur Clennam in Little Dorrit

[cathschaffstump]

As promised, I am finally getting around to writing about classic books. Little Dorrit is an 800 page book, so it takes time to get through it, and I did. I couldn’t help but noticing that the melodrama increases mightily in Dickens as we near the end, as does the sentimentality. I didn’t mind.

I think a reasonable question is what can a modern genre writer use from a classic book to improve their writing. In Little Dorrit, Dickens develops a true portrait of a good man undergoing midlife crisis–the character of Arthur Clennam. Arthur’s journey is a subplot modern writers can relate to.

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Originally published at Writer Tamago. You can comment here or there.