Dickensblog

From the book pile, part 1

Becoming Dickens by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2011).
Rather than write a conventional biography, Douglas-Fairhurst focuses on Dickens's early years, up through 1838 and the beginning of Nicholas Nickleby, in order to explore the making of him as a man and an artist. Through Dickens's works, he traces the various forces -- his culture, his family, his education, and so forth -- that shaped his life and his voice. It's an interesting approach and works pretty well on the whole, though sometimes it leads the author to give far too much weight to trifling details. Thus, from a passing reference to a mouse that drowned in ink in Dickens's essay "Our School," we get this: ". . . The detail about drowning in black ink carried far more troubling associations. The mouse that might have achieved greater things was like a small dark shadow of the boy who might have achieved far less if his life had taken a different turn."

. . . Really? I'm all in favor of an approach that helps us remember not to take Dickens for granted, but too much of this sort of thing starts to look like pure melodrama.

But when he's not straining too hard for effects like this, Douglas-Fairhurst provides a lively and readable account of Dickens's development. In particular, his emphasis on the work (as opposed to spending the bulk of the time on the life) is the kind of thing I happen to enjoy in a biography, so I can recommend this one.

(Review copy obtained from the publisher.)

Tomorrow: A Child's Journey with Dickens by Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin.

Night walks with Dickens

USA Today reviews the new short film The Houseless Shadow, based on Dickens's essay "Night Walks," and the new "Dickens' Dark London" app.

Below is a preview of The Houseless Shadow.

 

The operatic imagination

Critic Michael Dirda has an excellent article in the Barnes and Noble Review celebrating Dickens's accomplishments as a journalist. I love this:

"One can open the book at random, read a few pieces, enjoy the Cruikshank illustrations, and marvel at a description, a bit of overheard conversation, or even a list. A list?  Dickens's operatic imagination could never resist any opportunity for a catalogue aria . . ."

Happy Dickens year!

It's 2012, and the Dickens bicentennial is officially upon us!

That means that the Dickens Bicentennial Charity Fundraiser has begun. I've set up my personal fundraising page here. My own goal is to read 72 chapters of Dickens this year to raise money for the Somaly Mam Foundation. As I've read all the novels, I'll be doing my reading in Sketches by Boz, Selected Journalism 1850-1870, Selected Short Fiction, and possibly in other books of essays and short stories.

You can sponsor me, or you can choose your own charity from the official list and do your own readathon! (Remember, you don't have to start today; you can start any time during the year.) When you get your page set up, please put the link in the comment section below so we can keep track of everyone's efforts.

And don't forget, for every Dickensblog guest post that you write this year, I'll give $10 to any charity you pick from that list. (I had originally said $5, but I've since changed it to $10.) Ideas for guest posts may also be submitted in the comment section. For those of you with artistic gifts, we'll also do some graphics challenges to raise money. So get those creative juices flowing!

Happy New Year and happy reading!

Oh, and by the way: This is the 1000th post at Dickensblog.

The globalization of Dickens

BBC News and The Australian report on plans for a global celebration of the bicentennial next year.

Meanwhile, on Facebook, it seems the great man is feeling his age a little.

From the book pile, part 1

• Charles Dickens on London, edited by Pete Orford (Hesperus, 2010).
  
  This is the second book in the Charles Dickens on . . . series, which began with Charles Dickens on Travel. Given that, as Orford says in his Introduction here, "London was his muse," I'm rather surprised that the London volume didn't come first. But anyway, it's out now, and it's a delight, containing eight of Dickens's essays about the city. Highlights include "Gone Astray," an account of Dickens's getting lost in the Strand as a child, and "The Giant Chronicles," a tale in which two statues come to life . . . or do they? The collection winds up with the justly famous "Night Walks."
  
  
• The Master's Cat, by Eleanor Poe Barlow (J. N. Townsend Publishing, 1999).
  
  Barlow was a good friend of Cedric Charles Dickens, the author's great-grandson, and wrote this book with his help and encouragement. As one might expect, then, it's very well researched. Barlow takes the story of Dickens's cat who used to put out the candle with his paw, and uses this cat as a narrator to tell us about Dickens's life. She adopts the rather fanciful tactic of having the cat be deaf in general, and yet still able to hear Dickens's voice . . . but then, this is also a cat who can tell us stories, so "fanciful" is pretty much par for the course.
  
  I couldn't help thinking, though, that Barlow could have done something a little more interesting than simply have Dickens tell the cat the story of his life. With some breaks to show current action, much of this book reads like straight biography (or autobiography, rather), and we already have plenty of those. As well, the tone veers a little bit toward the cloying at times. Still, the portrait of Dickens here is appealing on the whole, as is his relationship with his cat, and it all makes for a pleasant enough read.

Part 2 of this edition of "From the book pile" will be along tomorrow!

The forgotten Dickens

The Independent has an interesting piece about Dickens's lesser-known works, by novelist and columnist Christopher Fowler.

Design chosen for Dickens statue

The winning design for the new Dickens statue in Portsmouth, by Martin Jennings, is based on the famous photograph of Dickens reading to his daughters. More details are here, here, and here.

(Image courtesy of Getty Images)

7 Quick Takes Friday

• It's been determined that the fire at one of Dickens's favorite pubs was caused by arson.
• Lucinda Hawksley (great-great-great-granddaughter of Dickens) has been giving talks about her famous ancestor in India, where she was taken by surprise at the amount of interest in him.
• A new exhibition at the Coningsby Gallery in London, "London's Underworld Unearthed: The Secret Life of the Rookery," features excerpts from the writings of Dickens.
• In addition to his cat's-paw letter opener, the New York Public Library also has the marked-up copy of David Copperfield that Dickens used for public readings.
• Macalester College President Brian Rosenberg writes about the importance of Dickens's ideas in education and business.
• Jacobs School of Music student Ari Fisher has been chosen to write a new score for the 1922 silent film adaptation of David Copperfield. The score will premiere at a screening of the film on Dickens's 200th birthday.
• Last but not least . . . actor Edward Hardwicke died today at the age of 78. He was perhaps best known for playing Dr. Watson to Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes, but Dickensians will also know him as Mr. Wickfield (2000) and Mr. Brownlow (2005). R.I.P.

And worth every penny

"Dickens's inkwell sold for £950 at auction"

(Best quote: "Of all the books that come through our auction rooms, Dickens is the most sought -- after the Bible.")