Not recommended for guys, unless you like romances, fortunately I do, although I have pace my doses. ( )

Lorna Doone is the story of a young man named John Ridd who lives in England during Monmouth's rebellion (1685). He and his family are humble but respected yeomen who have farmed their land for the past six hundred years. When John is still a boy, his father is murdered by the local gang of rogues, the Doones. The Doones are unique among outlaws because they come of noble blood, and it is partly this heritage that awes the countryside and allows the Doones to grow strong without any interference. By the time the Doones become a serious problem for the surrounding area — killing, plundering, and stealing maidens — they have grown too entrenched, and anyone who stands up to them is killed. John's father stood up to them on a lonely road one night, and was murdered by the most evil bandit of the group, Carver Doone.

John is our narrator and tells how, as a boy, he stumbled quite by chance on a secret entrance to the Doones' hidden valley. There he meets a beautiful maiden, Lorna Doone, with whom he falls in love. But Lorna's lineage is not as straightforward as the Doones would have her believe. Old Sir Ensor Doone and his son the Counsellor (father of Carver Doone) know the truth of her birth, and would use her to further their own devious purposes. John must balance his duty to his family and his love for Lorna with the larger political events that are causing great tumult in London.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. There are a few quibbles I'll mention before praising the good parts. Some of the accents are ridiculously overdone, to the point of being unreadable. I never could understand what Betty Muxworthy was saying whenever she'd open her mouth. Far from drawing me into that culture, it jolted me out every time I had to try to decipher it. Another issue is the length of the book. It really isn't that complicated of a story to need 624 pages of small text. The narrator goes off on a lot of tangents. Some of those tangents are interesting, but others are ponderous and made the book feel heavy to read.

For the good aspects of the book, I will say that John Ridd is an excellent character and his narration was peppered with humor and self-deprecating comments that were really quite amusing. It was mainly this that made me look forward to whenever I got a chance to read this book. For example, he talks about how honest the people in his part of the country are, except on market day when the customers expect to be cheated. He is very good at laughing at himself, and it made his style very accessible and welcoming. He is also very good at discerning (and seeing the funny side of) the motives of others, especially those of his mother. His simple, forthright morality and the reasoning behind it were refreshing.

Lorna as a character was slightly annoying, probably because we see her through the eyes of her lover and of course she is perfect in every way, beautiful beyond measure, winsome and wonderful, etc. It's hard to believe she turned out so perfectly after being brought up by the cruel and murderous Doones, but there you have it.

Carver Doone was a bit stereotypical. I liked Tom Faggus and Annie, and even Eliza because she was so different. John's mother was also very well-written. I thought Sir Ensor was portrayed too sympathetically. The Counsellor was pretty good. And John Fry was very funny.

Just a note on this particular edition (Wordsworth Classics): it was horrible. I could not believe the number of typos in this book. Spell check could have saved most of them, but the thing with spell check is that you actually have to use it. Tough, I know.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this story to anyone who enjoys humor and good historical fiction with a personal touch. I believe it has been in print continuously since its publication in 1869, and with good reason. An enjoyable story. ( )

I can see why this book is a classic of 19th century romance, but having read the full text, I can also see why abridged editions are popular. (Some readers probably don't realize they are reading an abridged edition.) Though there were many memorable episodes, I did find it rather a slog. The author happily spends most of a page discoursing on the effects of frost on fruit trees, or soliloquizing about the benefits of country ways. John Ridd's self-deprecation occasionally threatens to become annoying (like that of Esther in Bleak House), but he remains a very sympathetic character, though the fact that the novel is entirely cast with him as narrator forces him to be much more observant and articulate than is credible of a West Country farmer, even one with a few years' education at a respectable grammar school. Some of the descriptions are evocative of the 17th century setting. The accounts of bands of militia roaming the land, hanging whoever they pleased, was a telling contrast to the slightly (though not overly) romanticized outlawry of the Doones, and reminded me of how insecure life in olde England could be, especially outside the large towns. Curiously, I did not really get more than a vague impression of the Exmoor scenery. MB 30-v-2008 ( )

Loved this book as a child and keep meaning to re-read. It has all the ingredients of the perfect fairy tale adventure and romance - the dreadful Doones in their isolated valley, the strong and simple hero with his monosyllabic name, the beautiful, wronged heroine. ( )

An all time favorite; everything a novel should be; suggested to me by my father when we were in a used bookstore together when I was in my early 20's. ( )