The 'Barnaby Rudge' Read: Week 42

"'Here's forgivenesses of injuries, here's amicablenesses!'"

The previous installment gave us some bright pictures, a dark picture, and the return of Miggs. (And quite possibly the longest sentence Dickens ever wrote. Twenty-one lines. I counted.)

And we're in the home stretch! Read the final two chapters this week.

Comments

[David]

Amazing, Gina. We have a new record for longest Dickensian sentence!. By my count, the sentence describing Miggs's return to the Vardens is 249 words long. It beats the sentence in the first chapter of American Notes that describes Dickens's state-room, which is "only" 234 words.

[David]

In defense of Dickens, I should add that both run-on sentences have a good literary justification. The one in Barnaby Rudge evokes a vivid image of Miggs's determined effort to rejoin the Varden household, as the Vardens look on in speechless astonishment. The one in American Notes is a comical exaggeration of the extremely small size of Dickens's state-roon on the steamship Britannia.

In my view the long sentence in Barnaby Rudge works better than the one in American Notes. The one in American Notes is, at best, only mildly amusing. But that's understandable. Britannia's mid-winter crossing of the Atlantic was, by all accounts, an unrelieved nightmare. The ship could have sunk at any moment. Dickens is to be commended for his ability to find humor in the experience.

[Gina]

You know what, David, I think we're talking about two different sentences in "Barnaby Rudge"! I was referring to the one beginning "There he sat, with his beaming eye on Mrs. V. . . ." From what you say, I think you're referring to the one beginning "To none of these interrogatories . . ."? Somehow I failed to realize that that monster sentence was even longer than the monster sentence I noticed. Amazing that he got away with two of them in one chapter!

[David]

It's lucky that both sentences are close together - and that you didn't quote from your discovery in your blog. Not knowing what to look for, I never noticed your sentence. For the record, it's 216 words long.

In view of the fact that we now have three sentences of over 200 words, I consider the question of the longest Dickensian sentence to be undecided. If Dickens weren't such a skilled writer, it would be painfully obvious when he fails to come up for air. But he usually had the ability to make it seem natural.

[Bill]

There's a pretty good one in chapter 37 too - maybe not record-breaking, but pretty extraordinary - beginning "But when vague rumous got abroad..." Completely different effect. Great diction.