Old Friends: Essays in Epistolary Parody

by Andrew Lang

"Old Friends: Essays in Epistolary Parody" by Andrew Lang is a collection of humorous essays written in the late 19th century. This work features a series of fictional letters exchanged between characters drawn from various classic novels and literary works, reflecting on their interactions and relationships through a parodic lens. The essays cleverly explore the absurdities and quirks of these beloved characters, illuminating both their fictional lives and the social mores of Lang's time. The opening of the collection introduces the central theme where Lang reflects on the unseen intersections between characters from distinct fictional worlds. He muses on the possibility that characters like Clive Newcome from Thackeray's "The Newcomes" and Arthur Pendennis from the same author might have encountered each other, despite existing in separate novels. This whimsical premise sets the stage for a series of comedic letters that playfully dissect the nature of friendship, nostalgia, and the literary connections binding various fictional realms, establishing a delightful tone for the essays to follow.