Dickensblog

7 Quick Takes Friday

• Author Cassandra Clare explains in this interview how her new novel, Clockwork Angel, was inspired by A Tale of Two Cities.
• Actor, director, writer, and producer Pip Utton is currently portraying Dickens in a one-man show in Edinburgh.
• To celebrate its 70th anniversary, Puffin Books will be bringing out a set of six limited edition classics with covers designed by prominent artists and architects. Oliver Twist is one of the books. But don't get too excited, unless you happen to have £100 to spare!
• In September, SelfMadeHero will publish a graphic novel of A Tale of Two Cities. BE WARNED BEFORE YOU CLICK: It looks very gory. Information is here and here.
• Dickens's will is now available online, along with those of many other prominent British figures. Info here and here.
• Clint Eastwood's film Hereafter (which, as you might remember, has a Dickens-related plotline) will debut at this year's Toronto Film Festival.
• Esther Summerson vs. Bradley Headstone? Interesting!

All hands on deck!

Once again, I'm putting out a call for guest posts. I'll be traveling for several days at the beginning of September, and won't have time for regular updates. So if you have any ideas for guest posts that I can use during that time, please submit them in the comments section. IDEAS ONLY at this point, please, no finished posts. They can be any sort of posts -- a discussion question, a review, a character study, another entry in our "actor vs. actor" series, a drawing, a fanfic challenge, whatever -- as long as they're Dickensian.

Submit as many ideas as you want, and this weekend I'll contact everyone whose idea or ideas I decide to use. After that, you can get writing (or drawing, as the case may be). I'll need your final posts NO LATER THAN 11 p.m. on Friday, August 27, so I'll have time to get them all set up before I go.

And if you're wondering how I'll be able to handle being away from most of my Dickens books for several days, I can only say, I have no idea. I think I can feel the withdrawal pangs beginning already . . .

Dickens onstage

• Casting has been announced for Twist, the musical re-imagining of Oliver Twist, along with a synopsis of the plot.
• "Sure, you could stage a production of A Tale of Two Cities, but why limit yourself to that? Why not, instead, take that Charles Dickens classic and make a mashup of it with Les Miserables and songs from My Fair Lady, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Phantom of the Opera and A Chorus Line?" Why not, indeed?

'Our Mutual Friend,' part 4

(The first three parts of this review are here, here, and here.)

I like how they start the episode by showing morning coming for all the different characters. Some people's mornings being a little more somber than others', of course . . .

Plan your own DickensCon!

Something Nina said the other day gave me an idea for a discussion question: Suppose it was your job to plan the first ever DickensCon -- like a Comic-Con or one of those other big conventions, but devoted totally to Dickens. You have an unlimited budget (while we're dreaming, we might as well dream big!). Where will it be? What activities will you plan? Will you dress as a character, and if so, which one? Let's hear all about your dream DickensCon!

'Our Mutual Friend,' part 3

(Parts 1 and 2 of this review are here and here.)

They do a terrific job on the scene where Riderhood nearly drowns. That passage in the book is so brilliantly and perceptively written, especially in regard to the shifting mood of the spectators, and the scene here captures the spirit of it exactly.

Oh, so that's how you pronounce Sophronia.

The 'Barnaby Rudge' Read: Week 27

"If ever man believed with his whole heart and soul that he was engaged in a just cause, and that he was bound to stand by his leader to the last, poor Barnaby believed it of himself and Lord George Gordon."

Chapter 49

In the previous installment, the Gordon riots got underway, with Barnaby, Hugh, and Dennis in the midst of the action. (In regard to Barnaby, there seems to be a subtle point being made here about how the desire for money, even for the most innocent and generous reasons, can lead one in all the wrong directions.) Oh, and Dickens tells us that "the Riot Act was read" by the military to the crowd. I always thought that was just an expression!

This week, read chapters 51 and 52.

Seeing double

Just a thought I had the other day, inspired by my viewing of Our Mutual Friend. . . .

We know Dickens, like many novelists, liked to use "doubles" for his characters, Carton and Darnay being probably the most famous example. But have you ever noticed how, in many of his books, there are pairs of similar events as well as pairs of similar characters?

Examples (containing spoilers):

I may swoon

"Tolkien and Dickens descendants collaborate on children's fantasy"

I don't care if they're downplaying the ancestors, that is one AWESOME collaboration.

'Our Mutual Friend,' part 2

(Part 1 of this review is here.)

Ah, Bradley Headstone, we meet at last. He's coming across as extremely cold and haughty at the moment. Having already watched the scene that I capped for the Creepy Pairs poll, though, I'm well aware that that's going to change before too long.

I'm loving Mrs. Boffin's headdress in the party scene. Between the hat and the ribbons, I know I saw every color of the rainbow in there. You go girl!

Okay, I see why people complain about John having a stalker vibe. There's definitely something of an "Every breath you take, every move you make, I'll be watching you" feeling. I think they were exceedingly wise to start telling his story immediately after that, and win everyone back to his side before he could lose too much audience sympathy. Steven Mackintosh is really, really good here. He effectively shows how shaken and sick John still feels over what happened to him, and over being in "limbo," and this is a good thing. I'm fed up with shows and movies where the hero falls off a roof into a lake full of piranhas, gets dragged out and beaten up by a dozen goons, and then jumps up and walks off fresh as a daisy.