Dickensblog

Eat your heart out, Jacob Marley

It seems a couple of ghost hunters are hoping to track down Dickens's spirit in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

We're number four!

Dickens got a spot on Entertainment Weekly's new list of the 10 greatest novels of all time, with Great Expectations coming in fourth. EW calls it "the greatest morality tale ever written — and the greatest soap opera, too."

Just as long as it doesn't spark another revolution

Dickens has been declared one of the 10 most influential men in the world of knitting.

I guess that makes sense.

Dickens vs. Bulwer-Lytton: A response to Mikhail Simkin

I'm finally taking a moment to respond to Mikhail Simkin's critique of my response to his study. (For those just joining us, a brief recap: Simkin claimed to have proved that there was no substantial difference between the works of Charles Dickens and those of Edward Bulwer-Lytton; a few critics responded in various forums; Simkin attempted to debunk our responses.)

I'll briefly address what I see as his major points, under the cut:

Ideas for teaching Dickens

Sounds like the English department at South Nottinghamshire Academy is doing it right -- and successfully avoiding the creation of yet more cases of "Poor-me-I-had-Great-Expectations-shoved-down-my-throat!" Syndrome. Well deserving of the Dickensblog Order of Merit!

More casting news

. . . for the Bollywood Great Expectations.

Picspam: Sydney Carton in black and white

I promised to do this a while ago . . . sorry it took so long!

Will 'Oliver!' return to Broadway?

Michael Riedel of the New York Post reports that Cameron Mackintosh is planning a Broadway revival of the musical. More information is here.

Will Joss Whedon tackle Dickens?

The acclaimed writer/director tells Empire Online that he'd love to make a film version of Dombey and Son. Though I'm intrigued by the idea, I was brought up short by his advice to Florence Dombey: "Get a pickaxe! Stop forgiving everybody!" Because let's face it: If anyone would give Florence a pickaxe, it would be Whedon.

Charles Dickens, ad man

Representatives of the ad agency BBDO suggest that the team of Hemingway, Dickens, & Michelangelo just might have made the greatest advertising firm of all time.