Dickensblog

Here, now!

Kaleem Aftab in the Independent has more on the Dickens-related plotline in Clint Eastwood's Hereafter:

The Achilles' heel of the San Francisco segment is that Eastwood needs the action to end in London and so makes George, improbably, a fan of Charles Dickens. The screenwriter, Peter Morgan (The Queen), surely could have come up with something better than this trite device to get George to London for the denouement. The namechecking of Dickens is used by the film-makers as an excuse for the improbable amount of chance and coincidence that takes over the film.

A little respect, please! Dickens is NOBODY'S Achilles' heel. And what's so trite about him?

The Dickensblog Unofficial Best-of List

This list was inspired by a post at Elizabethan. Lilie, the blogger over there, based her list on a bunch of Austen, Gaskell, and Brontë adaptations, while I, for obvious reasons, am doing an all-Dickens list.

Did I miss any categories? If so, add them (with your nominees) in the comments section! And note that these are only from the adaptations I'm familiar with, so feel free to suggest other nominees from whichever adaptations you want for my categories as well.

Click below to find the list, with screencaps and occasional remarks.

The 'Barnaby Rudge' Read: Week 32

In the last installment, the raiders carried off Emma and Dolly (Dolly managed not to faint, but Emma did enough fainting for the both of them), and made a plan to rescue Barnaby. This week, read chapters 61 and 62.

7 Quick Takes Friday

• Reviews for the new musical Twist are here and here.
• Ever notice that "best of" lists seem to be getting a little . . . odd? Case in point: This one is about the ten best literary umbrellas. It mentions Mrs. Gamp from Martin Chuzzlewit, though, so I won't quibble.
• You just might catch a glimpse of Mr. Dickens if you go to the Telling Tales festival in Ontario this weekend.
• The Lyric Stage Company of Boston will be performing Nicholas Nickleby (the really long version) this fall. Click here and here for more information.
• This (rather wordy) article talks about Joseph Hambling, the dance teacher on whom Mr. Turveydrop was based, and shows a picture of the building where he taught.
• We've heard about Dickens descendants being writers and artists and actors; here's one who opened a pub. The Dickens Inn has its own website here.
• Would Dickens have been interested in promoting Iowa? Hard to say, but that's what the editors of the Modern Dickens Project are doing.

'Christmas' is coming

You can now pre-order Disney's A Christmas Carol on Blu-ray -- or to be precise, "Four-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy and Blu-ray 3D." More info here.

Goes nicely with a smoking jacket

While shopping at Barnes & Noble, I've often seen volumes from their "Leatherbound Classics" series out on display -- you know, those huge books with the nice bindings and the affordable prices -- and I've wondered why they didn't have any Dickens in that collection.

The answer to that question turns out to be "You weren't looking hard enough, dummy." I finally spotted a volume of Dickens the other day, and it turns out it's been out since May. The five books included are Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations. Learn more here.

Saving the chalet

The effort to save Dickens's chalet continues. This article lists some upcoming fundraisers in Rochester. (This may be the first time that Elvis and Dickens have been mentioned in the same sentence, by the way.)

'Hereafter' review

This review of the upcoming film highlights the Dickens connection (although there doesn't seem to be a lot of emphasis on it):

Though if you were placing bets as to what modicum of deus ex machina would bring these three characters together - a live reading of Little Dorrit by Derek Jacobi probably made nobody's list.

Well, it might have made our lists, because we talked about it before. :-) At least, we talked about an audio recording. A live reading sounds even better, though.

Derek Jacobi, by the way, played Arthur Clennam in the 1988 miniseries version of Little Dorrit (which I happen to be currently watching and hope to review before long). So apparently Clint Eastwood knows his Dickens adaptations. Who knew?

Dickens with a Twist

Twist, the musical update of Oliver Twist directed and choreographed by Debbie Allen, began previews in Atlanta on September 1. It will have its official opening night this Wednesday.

The 'Barnaby Rudge' Read: Week 31

"'I don't know much about causes. My cause is the cause of one man against two hundred; and I hope it always will be.'"

In the last installment, John Grueby left Lord George's service, and a great misfortune befell Barnaby. This week, read chapters 59 and 60.