Dickensblog

A Dickensian top ten

The Independent offers a "top ten" ranking of Dickens's novels. See what you think of their choices. There are some expected ones, but also some surprises!

A 'Great Expectations' Christmas

In the midst of all the Christmas Carol commemorations, a writer and an artist have given Great Expectations a turn in the spotlight. In a thoughtful piece at The Boston Globe, Joan Wickersham observes that, though Pip's Christmas in the early part of the book is  darker than Scrooge's, it may have something important of its own to communicate to us. And at The New York Times, Edward Carey has done a marvelously eerie drawing capturing some of the main characters, relationships, and settings of the book.

Celebrating 'A Christmas Carol'

In honor of the book's upcoming 175th anniversary, The New York Times has a lovely illustrated timeline about its history of covering the book over the years. And The Weekly Standard has a reflection -- inspired by the Muppet version, interestingly! -- on some of the deeper and darker themes in the story.

Lost and found: Missing portrait of Dickens discovered

A man who paid a little over $30 for a bunch of junk at a sale in South Africa discovered a treasure in it: a long-lost portrait of 31-year-old Charles Dickens, painted by artist and suffragette Margaret Gillies. Art dealer and TV personality Philip Mould, who helped identify the portrait, says, “He was moments away from basically throwing away this fungus-covered picture and then he started looking at it and realised that the face was very compelling.” Mould says that the portrait "ranks among the most exciting things we have ever discovered."

The painting has been restored and had its official unveiling today at Mould's gallery, according to Dickens scholar Dr. Pete Orford, who was there. The Dickens Museum is raising money to buy it so it can be put on permanent display there.

Always check your garage sale boxes of junk carefully, folks -- you never know what might turn up!

Exploring 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood'

The Daily Beast has an installment on Dickens's final, unfinished book in its "Lost Masterpieces" series. I was a little surprised that the article didn't mention Pete Orford's new book on the subject, The Mystery of Edwin Drood: Charles Dickens' Unfinished Novel and Our Endless Attempts to End It (which I'm currently reading). But that omission aside, it's a good and educational read, both for those who already know the novel and those who are new to it. 

For love of Estella

For "The Great American Read," Malcolm Jones writes movingly about how, just like Pip, he fell for Estella before realizing emulating Pip was not exactly what he was supposed to do:

I fell in love with Great Expectations for all the wrong reasons, but I was lucky,because I fell in love with a masterpiece written by a genius. When I returned to it later in life, I understood that because I had grown up a little in the meantime, I was now reading a different novel, a better novel, sadder than I’d realized the first time around, but richer and more rewarding.

Go here to read Jones's whole article, and go here to vote for Great Expectations in the "Great American Read" poll!

A blogger's journey through Dickens

Elliott at Cultivations & Curiosities wanted to pick a writer and read his or her complete novels, from first to last, and to blog his way through them. For this project, he said, "I wanted a novelist whose company I enjoyed and whose works filled me with pleasure and amazement. When it came down to it, Charles Dickens was the obvious choice." Elliott has already started his journey; here's his introductory post, and his first two posts about The Pickwick Papers are here and here. I look forward to following his journey and thought some of you might like to as well! (And thanks to him for giving this blog a shoutout!)

Dickens and the fake books

The Independent has a fun article about the fake book titles that Dickens came up with for the ornamental books in his library!

Essaying Dickens

Authors Francine Prose and Richard Russo both have new essay collections out, each of which contains an essay about Dickens. Click here and here for more information about their books; purchase links are here and here. (I haven't yet read the essays myself, but here's hoping they're good ones!)

NPR on Dickens

NPR's Joanne Silberner explains why Dickens's scientific legacy, explored in the Dickens Museum's current exhibition, so impressed her that she decided to give his literary works another chance!