Beginning on Friday 10th January 2025, Chaplaincy are planning to attempt a public reading of what is widely regarded as the longest novel in the English language: Clarissa by Samuel Richardson.
First appearing in 1747, the novel itself is approximately one million words long and written in the format of a series of letters.
The collection of letters are individually dated over the period of one year. Chaplaincy plan to adopt this length of time as a guide of when to read each of the letters – starting in January, with a view to complete the reading in December 2025.
Staff, students, alumni, members of the BGU community and the public are invited to meet in the Chapel, located in the Joyce Skinner Building on campus, on the dates specified throughout the novel, to read aloud each letter in consecutive order.
Peter Green, Chaplain at BGU, said: “We are very excited to be attempting this enormous feat at the start of a new calendar year.
“Although we realise it may not be possible for everyone to attend every reading, it is a wonderful opportunity for a wide variety of individuals within our community to join together in a shared experience.
“We would like to suggest that if you are unable to meet us in the Chapel on a specific occasion, you take time to read the relevant letter(s) yourself, in preparation for the following readings.”
At the time of publication in the 18th century, the novel was a great success and had a significant impact. Subsequently translated into French and German, it is still renowned as one of the greatest European novels.
The subject matter in particular can be regarded as quite challenging: Richardson, considered as one of Jane Austen and George Eliot’s favourite authors, wrote the book in order to lay bare to young women the way that male sexual predators think about them. Tragically, it continues to have contemporary relevance in today’s society.
Peter Green continues: “We anticipate that for many people this will be a compelling experience.
“We will invite those who attend to take their turn reading a letter aloud - but nobody will be forced to do so. It will be perfectly permissible to simply sit and listen.
“If you are interested in participating in this project, please send an email to chaplaincy@bishopg.ac.uk to make sure that you obtain the edition of the novel we will be using. Richardson made many amendments to the novel in the course of his life so there are wide variations in the editions available.”