Dickensblog

Dickens, Harry Potter, and YA

Happy 20th anniversary to Harry Potter! We always knew the boy wizard had some Dickens connections. Here's another possible one: Young Adult fiction expert Krysti Meyer suggests that "if books like a lot of Charles Dickens’ works, or Jane Austen’s, or 'The Catcher in the Rye' or 'To Kill a Mockingbird' had been written today, they’d be labeled as YA, and I think a lot of people would skip over that experience of reading them just because they’d have that YA label on them."

Do you agree? Why or why not?

Another walk with Dickens

Here's another piece from Londonist, this one focusing on "the area around 48 Doughty Street in Bloomsbury," where Dickens and his young family moved in 1837. 

'Olivia Twist' novel out next year

Thanks to Rachel McMillan to letting me know about Lorie Langdon's Olivia Twist, "an innovative reimagining of Charles Dickens' classic tale Oliver Twist" that will be released next March. Sounds intriguing!

Dickens in 'The Big Issue'

British magazine The Big Issue has published Dickens's essay "A Walk in a Workhouse," as part of a series of Dickens's articles that they're running in conjunction with the Dickens Museum's "Restless Shadow" exhibit. 

Happy Father's Day, Bob Cratchit!

British dads voted the Christmas Carol character the most inspirational fictional father figure, in a poll conducted by Amazon.

Dickens's 'Legal London'

Londonist reports, "Dickens would readily recognise the street-plan of London, but he would be dumbfounded by the reconstruction of so many of the houses, the shops and the commercial properties that characterised the areas he knew best. The one area of central London that remains substantially intact, and which Dickens commonly describes in his novels, is what we sometimes call 'Legal London'." Go here to read the full article, which ties in with the "Restless Shadow" exhibit currently at the Dickens Museum. 

When Dickens died

In honor of the 147th of the anniversary of Dickens's death today, the Guardian has an article about how the death and funeral were reported at the time. As the Observer wrote in an op-ed shortly after his death, “To all of us, to young and old, to rich and poor, the tidings which saddened England on Friday, came home like the news of a friend’s death.”

A tale of two festivals

This year's Dickens Festival in Rochester, England, will coincide with the commemoration of the 350th anniversary of the Battle of Medway. Kent Online has details about both celebrations.