Has Anyone Actually READ Bulwer-Lytton's "Paul Clifford?"

Cafe Society
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You know, that 1830 novel that infamously begins, “It was a dark and stormy night,” and inspired so much silliness? The results of this year’s Bulwer-Lytton Contest have me wondering if it’s worth actually buying an old copy of Paul Clifford on a used-book site. Is it enjoyably bad? Boringly bad? Or maybe not really bad at all?

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I know I haven’t. But Bulwer-Lytton is definitely well represented on my short list of “weighty books I’d like to have the time to tackle some day”. From the brief excerpts I’ve read, I don’t think he’s any more turgid than Poe at his most excessive (and I am fond of Poe, but I don’t even try to read him if I’m the least bit sleepy).

The infamous Paul Clifford actually interests me less than his proto-science-fiction and occult fantasy works, such as Zanoni and The Coming Race, which may have influenced Madame Blavatsky, and by extention, much of late-19th and 20th century spiritualism and “new age” movements.

Here’s one fellow’s effort at a rehabilitation:
http://www.mith.demon.co.uk/Bulwer.htm

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Here’s a link to this year’s winners:

http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/english/2002.htm