Dickensblog

In case of swooning, break glass

I got a kick out of this story: For Gerald Dickens's upcoming performance of "Sikes and Nancy," an herbal shop has re-invented smelling salts.

Lucky Brits

ITV Studios Home Entertainment is releasing a new box set consisting of the 1946 Great Expectations, the 1948 Oliver Twist, and best of all, my favorite version of A Tale of Two Cities (1958)! And "notable extras" as well. But I'm very worried that it will only be a Region 2 release, and we Americans will be out of luck. I've written the company to ask about it, and a nice lady has promised to do some research and let me know. But the fact that it shows up on Amazon.co.uk but not on Amazon.com gives me a very bad feeling.

Man, oh, man, the Brits get all the good stuff. If there's no Region 1 version of this, I'm going to feel exactly like a kid locked out of a candy store. Currently, the only DVD release you can get of that ATOTC film in America has Chinese subtitles that won't turn off. As you can imagine, it puts a bit of a damper on things.

Get your bicentennial gear here!

Some enterprising souls at Zazzle and CafePress have created some very nice bicentennial fashions! Check out their shops here, here, and here.

Celebration in Bath

Tickets are available for a Dickens birthday celebration at the Pump Room in Bath. Which, I imagine, would allow one to feel like a Dickensian and an Austenite at the same time.

Dickens shoutout on 'White Collar'

So, did you see Matt Bomer teaching A Tale of Two Cities tonight? It was worth seeing! The episode should be up on the USA site eventually, though I'm not sure when.

Let your voice be heard!

Barbara, one of our readers, e-mails: "We are trying to get a petition going to reverse the Charles Dickens Museum closure decision. If you would be so inclined as to have your name on our petition would you mind sending an email of support (and any other comments) to stephenjarvis at hotmail dot com. Please feel free to pass Stephen's email address on as we are trying to get as many signatures as possible."

7 Quick Takes, birthday edition

No, it's not the big day yet -- not for another two-and-a-half weeks -- but we're drowning in birthday news tonight!

• How and where to celebrate: Here's a list of Dickensian things to do and see in Philadelphia, Seattle, New York City, Baton Rouge, Dallas, the University of Leicester, and the University of Delaware. And of course there are all kinds of birthday bashes going on in Portsmouth. But this one's my favorite: The Groundlings Theatre in Portsmouth is turning into a "living museum," complete with a reenactment of the ball -- held at that very theater -- where Dickens's mother went into labor with him. Now that's what I call an authentic celebration.
• In my neck of the woods, there are a couple of historical walks, one in February and one in April.
• TIME magazine pays tribute with an article about Dickens (online it's subscriber-only; I haven't been able to find the print version yet) and a promise to blog about "his ten best books," starting Jan. 26. It also has a brief rundown of celebrations going on in London, Portsmouth, and New York.
• Britain's National Schools Partnership has created a new student resource pack, "What the Dickens?" The Times Educational Supplement promotes it here.
• The Wall Street Journal gets into the act with this article. It too is subscriber-only, but since I'm a subscriber, I'll treat you to a sample: ". . . Dickens is not safe, he is not 'heritage.' He is fierce, ferocious and formidable. No one has depicted the homeless with more sorrow and pity and terror than Dickens. He depicted them from both sides: from middle-class safety, looking outward, and from their own point of view, looking at a world that seems to offer such richness and happiness to everyone else. And then, as an act of mediation, he moves us between the two worlds so that we understand both." 
• Star Jeremy Irvine talks up the forthcoming Great Expectations feature film in this short interview.
• One more thing: We need readers for the charity fundraiser, folks! We've had several people express interest, but no one (except yours truly) has actually signed on yet. If you need help, just ask -- I'm more than happy to do whatever I can.

Lucinda Dickens Hawksley on the Dickens Museum closure

Thanks to Barbara for this link to the interview. It's about 10 minutes from the end of the program.

The timelessness of 'Great Expectations'

Blogger (and Dickensblog reader) Rachel McMillan explores the reasons that Great Expectations never loses its appeal.

Charles Dickens, bestseller?

Sales of Dickens's novels have gone way up in Britain since the BBC aired Great Expectations and The Mystery of Edwin Drood, according to the Telegraph, the Daily Mail, and the Sun.

Speaking of book sales, we've once again earned enough from the Dickensblog Amazon Associates account to get some books to donate to Books for America. In honor of the recent miniseries and radio broadcasts, I chose Great Expectations, Edwin Drood, and A Tale of Two Cities.