Dickensblog

A quiz with a special prize

Oakham Library in Oakham, England, is hosting a Web quiz about books. If you get all the answers right, you'll be entered to win one of ten free copies of A Tale of Two Cities. (They don't say which edition.) Get all the information and download the quiz here. Note: The quiz isn't just about Dickens, it's about books from many different authors and genres.

7 Quick Takes Friday

• Naxos is releasing all 16 of Dickens's major novels as audiobooks, in both abridged and unabridged versions, for the bicentennial. Visit their page for more information and to download their Dickens podcasts. And The Dabbler blog is exclusively serializing their abridged version of The Pickwick Papers.
• Actor Stephen Fry gave away free copies of A Tale of Two Cities on the set of his new film for World Book Night, earlier this week.
• Speaking of free books, the library system in Sheffield, England, is giving away 1500 free copies of Oliver Twist in honor of the bicentennial. Very nice, but since it's Sheffield, shouldn't it be David Copperfield instead? (You know, "Confusion to Brooks of Sheffield!")
• And speaking of Oliver Twist, Robin Stone of the Globe and Mail tells a terrific story about how she got both herself and her nine-year-old son hooked on the children's edition of that book. Kudos to both of them!
• Here's an interesting tale about why Dickens gave away his personal copy of David Copperfield.
• Rabbit Run Theater in Madison, Ohio, is going to be doing three different Dickens plays this summer and fall, and the nearby Lodge at Geneva-on-the-Lake is offering special packages that include overnight stays and tickets to see the performances. Read all about it here.
• Filming has started on The Invisible Woman. Can't say I'm too thrilled about seeing Dickens get the National Enquirer treatment, which is what I'm afraid this is going to be. In other movie news, the new independent film Nancy, Please tells the story of a graduate student who gets into a violent conflict with his old roommate over, of all things, a copy of Little Dorrit. Here's an interview with the director.

Because one can never have too much 'A Tale of Two Cities'

. . . there's a new readthrough about to start! This one has its own blog and is sponsored by the Victorian Studies Centre and Dickens Journals Online.

At the Dickens film festival

A friend and I were at the AFI Silver Theater this morning to catch a screening of A Tale of Two Cities (1958) -- the first and, alas, the last film I'll have the chance to see in their Dickens film festival. The print could have been in better shape (I was a bit disappointed in the print quality of the Gene Kelly films I've seen there, as well.) But let me just say this . . . the only thing better than Dirk Bogarde as Sydney Carton, is larger-than-life Dirk Bogarde as Sydney Carton.

A few thoughts on BBC Radio 4's 'A Tale of Two Cities'

I meant to write about this a LONG time ago, but the iPod doohickey in my car quit working, which delayed my listening for a while, and then I had a lot of other things to write about, and then . . . well, anyway, I'm writing about it now! And I've just found out that it's available to buy, so you can hear it for yourself. Here, in brief, is my take.

• Most of the actors were excellent. They really did a good job putting together this cast.
• . . . But they could have done a better job with the adapting. If you're going to have Dickens narrate large stretches of the piece, you really ought to use his words. I could understand paring down the more flowery passages, but total rewrites add nothing.
• Also, some of the parts were overwritten, in particular Miss Pross and Charles Darnay. Which is a pity, as Alison Steadman and Andrew Scott are such good actors (the only two I was familiar with already). Miss Pross was turned into a swaggering, salty Cockney who never stopped talking, and they made this whole big running gag out of her having lots of brothers (not just the one brother) who had taught her all kinds of useful skills, that got stale after a while. Again, I don't see why any of this needed to be added.
• . . . As for Darnay -- well, we know he's not exactly super-bright, but I don't understand why they had to make him into a blithering idiot. His proposal to Lucie was absolutely painful. He stuttered and stammered so much, he made Colin Firth in The King's Speech sound eloquent.
• (Speaking of Colin Firth, I could have sworn I heard him playing the young Marquis St. Evremonde in a flashback. Sounded EXACTLY like him. Freaky.)
• Madame Defarge seemed unusually ready to play second fiddle to her husband, at least for a while.
• Paul Ready was a fine Carton. But his feelings toward Darnay never really changed, and one didn't get that sense of him becoming a part of the family. (As you know if you read my recent article on the subject, I think that's a crucial part of the story.) This Carton did what he did for Lucie, and that was it; he couldn't have cared less what happened to Darnay. And most of that beautiful character arc Dickens wrote for Carton in the last part of the book was simply not there.
• And there was no little Lucie. They already had one child actor to play the young Cruncher boy; I don't know why they couldn't have another.

I feel like I'm carping more than I had intended, and I'm sorry for that -- this was a big undertaking by a lot of talented, hardworking people, and in many ways it was enjoyable to listen to. I'd say it's worth hearing at least once. But in adaptations of this sort, I don't think it's a good idea to make changes simply because you can make changes. There always have to be changes of some sort, but they should be there to strengthen the story. But here, too often, that just wasn't the case.

Yet another 'Tale of Two Cities' musical

There must be something about ATOTC that makes it ideal for musicalizing. A new version with music by David Pomeranz and lyrics by Steven David Horowich will run for six weeks in London this spring. According to BroadwayWorld, popular singer/actor Jonathan Ansell "will play the lead role of Charles Darnay" (excuse me??); the rest of the cast has yet to be announced.

More information and tickets are available here.

Dickens at the American Film Institute

I was at the AFI Silver Theatre this afternoon to catch a movie in their Gene Kelly centennial film fest. While there, I snapped a couple of photos of the display for their Charles Dickens bicentennial film fest! (A very good year for birthdays, 2012.)

I've already got my ticket for A Tale of Two Cities (1958)!

(Please note: Tonight is the last night to take the pop quiz and be entered for a chance to win Dickens of London. Remember I'm asking for character names, not book titles. Send your entries to gdalfonzo AT verizon DOT net.)

 

The big day in pictures

Members of the Dickens family (image copyright Alpha Press/The Telegraph).

Dickensian top ten

Readers of the Mirror have voted on the top ten Dickens characters. And the winners are:

1. Ebenezer Scrooge - A Christmas Carol
2. Miss Havisham - Great Expectations
3. Sydney Carton - A Tale Of Two Cities
4. The Artful Dodger - Oliver Twist
5. Fagin - Oliver Twist
6. Joe Gargery - Great Expectations
7. Pip - Great Expectations
8. Nancy - Oliver Twist
9. Abel Magwitch - Great Expectations
10. Betsey Trotwood - David Copperfield

Not how I'd have had it, but there are some good picks there, and with Sydney in the top three, I'm reasonably content. How about you?

Dickens issue of 'Femnista'

The all-Dickens issue of Femnista (formerly Charity's Tude) is now online, and Charity did a beautiful job on it! My article about Sydney Carton is on page 12. One of our regular readers, Rachel, has an excellent article about Great Expectations on page 26. And Trynstje, a reader who usually goes by the name "birdienl" around here, has a fascinating piece on page 10 about Jasper Fforde's version of Miss Havisham. Enjoy!