Just a brief post to tell you that I got to see Broadway's The Mystery of Edwin Drood on Saturday night, and it was bliss! Full report and photos coming soon -- hopefully tomorrow.
(By the way, on the bus to New York, there were people behind me talking about Oliver Twist and Great Expectations. No joke. I'm telling you, he follows me.)
A few years ago, the world learned, to its great dismay,
that Terry Pratchett has Alzheimer’s. Well, it doesn’t show in one of his
latest books, Dodger.Dodger is a rollicking romp through
Dickensian London, with the occasional interference of some famous historical
personage and occasional discursions into philosophical matters.
Sony Pictures is developing Dodge & Twist, a new movie that pits Oliver Twist and the Artful Dodger against each other, 20 years after the events of Dickens's novel. In this story, Oliver is now a policeman attempting to keep the Dodger from stealing the crown jewels. More information is here, here, and here.
The much-anticipated new London stage production of Great Expectations opened last night. The Londonist has a review of this "Tim Burton-esque take." And Glamour has a brief report that focuses on the costume design. They have a nice photo of Grace Rowe as Estella.
Speaking of Great Expectations, Dickensblog reader Charity sends a link to a whole bunch of new still photos from the long-delayed-in-America feature film, and adds that it's driving her nuts that there's still no U.S. release date. I know the feeling.
The Washington Post offers a tongue-in-cheek look at what Dickens's characters would be up to today. My favorites were the predictions for Oliver Twist and Miss Havisham!
A replica of a sign that young Charles Dickens used to see on his way home from the blacking factory -- the Dog and Pot sign -- has been unveiled by Mark Dickens, his great-great-grandson. You can read all about it, and listen to Mark's speech, here.
The Week has a list of 11 words and phrases coined (or at least popularized) by Dickens.
This appears to be a few years old, but it's too good not to share: "NFL Players Whose Names Sound Vaguely Dickensian, and the Characters They Would Be in an Actual Dickens Novel (2007-2008 Regular Season Edition)." I agree that Ethan Albright, Darnell Dinkins, Luke Petitgout, Channing Crowder, Rex Hadnot, James Dearth, Chris Snee, Otis Grigsby, Alge Crumpler, Jeremy Trueblood, Jamaal Fudge, Derrick Dockery, and Darnell Dockett sound vaguely Dickensian. Not so sure about Marcus Maxwell, Will Witherspoon, Langston Walker, and Ellis Hobbs.
I've got a MESS of books to cover, so there'll be more book review posts in the coming days. The review copies never stop coming -- not that I'm complaining, mind you!
In 1837, Edward Caswall, using the same publisher and illustrator as the highly successful young Charles Dickens, had a hit with the satirical essay collection Sketches of Young Ladies, describing varying types of ladies: The Romantic Young Lady, The Mysterious Young Lady, The Matter-of-Fact Young Lady, and so forth. Six months later -- as if he weren't busy enough simultaneously writing The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist -- Dickens published an anonymous sequel to this volume, titled Sketches of Young Gentlemen. Two years later he followed it up with Sketches of Young Couples. All three volumes are offered here, with "Phiz's" original illustrations. Caswall's contribution is quite funny, but Dickens, as you might expect, digs more deeply into his characters (giving them names, expanding their amount of dialogue, and so forth) and so extracts even more amusement from them. As Paul Schlicke observes in his introduction, "The contrasts between Caswall's work and Dickens's highlight the ability of Boz to evoke the distinctiveness of a character in a few swift strokes."
San Fransisco's 34th annual Great Dickens Fair opens on Friday and runs to December 23. The fair, according to SFWeekly, offers "fully costumed actors, period sets, shows, music, crafts, food, and spirits inspired by classics like A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist. And unlike Oliver Twist, when you ask for some more food, you are very likely to get it." More information is here.
The Financial Times lists five books that have had a civilizing effect on society. Oliver Twist tops the list: "Alongside its social value, Oliver Twist is especially powerful because of its literary merit."
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