Monday, August 31, 2009

Don't like Dickens?


If you don't like Charles Dickens' writing, might I ask which of his books you've read?

I have a theory that most people's encounter with Dickens consists entirely of A Tale of Two Cities and/or Great Expectations. I expect these two are read mainly because they're assigned in school, and because they're short(er). But having become a recent Dickens fan, I think it's a shame that these are read most often, especially Great Expectations.

I love happy endings, and these don't end quite as splendidly as I wish. Nor do they have entirely sympathetic main characters, in my opinion. Interesting, yes, but not heroes you root for and want to emulate. Pip is rather unlikable for quite a while, though he gets a little better. Lucy and Darnay are likeable and noble, but a bit flat, and Carton is the scoundrel turned noble, but then he's gone suddenly just when he's turning around.

Oliver Twist I haven't read yet, having gathered from the film and play that it's depressing.

But there was a whole list of novels Dickens wrote, which I had never even heard of. Alas! Glorious books, how have I missed you all my four-and-twenty years?

I hadn't even heard of Bleak House or Little Dorrit two years ago, but now they're firm favorites. I think they're much more interesting and satisfying stories than the better known tales, though they are a bit longer. Ah, but so much more room for Dickensian characters and huge plot developments! :-) Now I'm itching to find and read all the other Dickens novels I've never heard of, since I like them the best so far. I would encourage you to do so also, and then let me know what you think of my theory. :-)

I've been told that Dombey and Son is an excellent picture of how a woman can build up or tear down. And apparently Andrew Davies is planning to write that one next as a miniseries, hurrah! So I might tackle that one next, and see what I think of his version after reading the book this time.

But it might be a while. After finishing Little Dorrit, I re-read On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, by Andrew Peterson, and am about to dive into the just-out sequel, North! Or Be Eaten, from which pages not even Dickens will be able to distract me. Watch for reviews and thoughts!

3 comments:

  1. Hmm, interesting. My exposure to Dickens consists only of watching various versions of A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist on videos and reading A Tale of Two Cities in high school. Incidentally, I loved Two Cities mostly because of its ending (otherwise, it was a good book, but rather wordy and slow in bits). I'm not sure I've ever read a final chapter in another book where my spine tingled more than 75% of the time, but I'm a sucker for themes of redemption (Casablanca is one of my favorite movies for that reason).

    Perhaps strangely, I haven't really had much of an urge to read any more Dickens. Your post gets me interested again. He will, however, have to get in the back of a very long line of authors I want to read…

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  2. I so want to read "Little Dorrit"!
    After seeing the movie!!
    Dickens has such an amazing writing
    style... I love Mrs.Gaskell too!!

    Lots of Love~ Miss Jen

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  3. Staples, I expected the "wordy" accusation would come up. :-D Hmm, that might be the other reason more of Dickens' books aren't read. I can think of some shorter books far more wordy than Dickens, though, so I don't really mind. And his wordiness always seems to have an amusing or enlightening point to it. But perhaps that's purely my opinion. I like Tolkien, and people say he's wordy as well. :-)

    How could I forget poor Christmas Carol? See, it's even shorter than the others, so of course it's read more often! ;-) And I really do like A Tale of Two Cities, though I had to listen to the BBC dramatized version about four times before I did (I've recently listened to the book on tape, so technically I haven't read it yet, but I know the story). Yep, it is a grand story of redemption, and the ending is stunning. But as far as getting into a book where I can live for a few weeks, it's just not one of those. I suppose that's what I meant, if that makes sense. If books were poems, I tend to go for rambling ballads over snappy sonnets.

    I've never had an urge to read Dickens(other than the "I ought to someday, I suppose" sort of urge) before watching the Bleak House miniseries. Pretty sad when a film has to urge me to read! ;-)

    Miss Jen, I think you'll like it. Good old Panks actually has hair, and it does all sorts of crazy things! ;-) I still need to read more of Elizabeth Gaskell. On my reading list somewhere, at some point... ;-)

    Thanks for the comments!

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