Dickensblog

R.I.P., Timothy West

The beloved British actor played John Dickens in the 2002 miniseries Dickens, Sir Leicester Dedlock in the 2005 Bleak House, and Josiah Bounderby in the 1977 Hard Times. He passed away on Tuesday, November 12, at the age of 90. 

The foggiest notion

The Dickens Museum has a new exhibition devoted to one of the most pervasive elements of Victorian London: fog. Items on display as part of "A Great and Dirty City: Dickens and the London Fog" include a first edition of Bleak House (with its famous opening description of "fog everywhere") and Dickens's own fire poker, in memory of the coal fires that did so much to produce the fog. The Spectator has an article about the exhibition here.

New 'Bleak House' illustrations

Artist Gerry Mooney, an active member of the Dickensblog Facebook group, is offering a free download of the first seven chapters of Bleak House with his illustrations. He hopes to do a full version of the book someday, but this PDF version is his proof-of-concept. Gerry does beautiful work and his Dickens illustrations are a treat for the eye. Visit his website to get your free download! 

You can learn more about Gerry's ideas and process from this post he wrote for the Dickens Society blog.

New year, new reading

Happy New Year! Jeremy Parrott of Dickens & Co., who's a Dickensblog reader and a member of our Facebook group, is starting 2022 right by beginning a new project, "Reading David Copperfield in Parts." Jeremy will be leading the readings on his YouTube channel, as he explains in this introduction to the project. He'll also be giving away a first edition of Bleak House, so you'll want to pay attention to find out how you can win!

The first video is below, and here's the link where you can subscribe to make sure you don't miss any upcoming ones.

 

Dame Diana Rigg, R.I.P.

The beloved British actress's Dickens connection was playing Lady Dedlock in the 1985 Bleak House miniseries. She passed away Thursday at the age of 82.

News roundup

Just wanted to share a few news items before beginning the book reviewing:

• The Dickens Museum is, unsurprisingly, closed indefinitely, but remains active on social media. Actor Dominic Gerrard, who has performed a one-man Christmas Carol there, has done a reading of the first chapter of A Tale of Two Cities to raise money for the Museum.
• The joint Dickens Fellowship/Dickens Society Symposium in London in July is still scheduled to go ahead, but organizers are monitoring things and will make a final decision in May.
• In the New Yorker, Amy Davidson Sorkin argues, "Esther Summerson is one of the great heroines of literature, in part because she understands the vital importance of social distancing and isolation, even when it is hard."
• Phyllis Rose is re-releasing her 1983 book Parallel Lives, which focuses on five Victorian couples, including Charles and Catherine Dickens. In an interview with the Guardian, Rose argues that "is disappointing, and incredibly small-minded" to "cancel" great writers like Dickens over their bad behavior. The new edition of her book can be ordered here.   
• The TV series "Great British Menu" has a children's literature theme this year, in honor of the 150th anniversary of Dickens's death. (Seemed like a bit of a stretch to me too, but apparently it has something to do with Oliver Twist being the first child protagonist. Anyway, I'd never carp about a show honoring Dickens for any reason!)
• Dr. Pete Orford is beginning a Hard Times readalong on April 1.

'Bleak House' at Blackwell's

Honestly, what could be better than a Dickens musical in a bookshop?

Congratulations to Miriam Margolyes!

Her audiobook version of Bleak House won the 2019 Audie Award in the Literary Fiction and Classics category. 

Recent Dickens mentions

A number of good new "books about books" have recently come out, quite a few of which offer Dickens recommendations. (I've read all the way through the first two -- with the others, I've just read the Dickens sections so far!)

• My friend Karen Swallow Prior, author of Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me, has a new book out called On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books, in which she uses various novels and short stories to highlight different virtues. A Tale of Two Cities illustrates the concept of justice. (I got to read an early version of the chapter and offer feedback, which was an honor and a treat!) Karen's excellent book recently was named one of the Best Books of 2018 by Publisher's Weekly.
• In I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life, Anne Bogel (who blogs at Modern Mrs. Darcy) names David Copperfield as one of the books that helped her to come of age as a reader.
• Book Girl: A Journey through the Treasures & Transforming Power of a Reading Life  by Sarah Clarkson states, "There is no one quite like Dickens" and names him one of the author's "most beloved" writers. Clarkson pays tribute to David Copperfield for its striking imagery and understanding of human nature, Bleak House for its quietly faithful heroine, and Oliver Twist for its suspense. And she quotes a friend who recommends Dombey and Son and Martin Chuzzlewit. 
• James Mustich's 1,000 Books to Read before You Die: A Life-Changing List has a great chapter on Dickens. "It's as if the author has not set out to write a novel," he observes, "but has been dropped into a pulsing reality he has to write his way through, much in the way we must construct a life." Mustich specifically recommends David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, A Christmas Carol, Dombey and Son, A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations.

 

A Dickensian situation

As many of you regular readers know, I generally don't allow politics at this blog. And I'm not going to start making a habit of allowing it now. But just this once I'm going to make an exception to the rule, and post a link to this piece from The Conversation. I'm doing it because the article makes a strong case -- I think a convincing case -- that there's a parallel between the current political situation and the political situation that moved Dickens to take a stand, and it makes that case articulately and well. 

Feel free to comment on the article here if you wish, but make sure to keep the conversation civil and to discuss ideas, not bash people. Rudeness will get your comment automatically deleted. I have always said, and I mean it, that all are welcome here, no matter their viewpoint, as long as they behave themselves. I'm trusting you all to do just that.