Dickensblog

Dickens doings

Here's a list of some upcoming Dickensian events of interest:

• Dr. Pete Orford will speak September 27 at the Dickens Museum about his new book, The Life of the Author: Charles Dickens. Go here to learn more. (Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
• Dickens Fellowship members are invited to a Zoom symposium on October 6 "to celebrate the contributions of Emeritus Professor Michael Slater to the Fellowship and to Dickens Studies." Go here to learn more.
• Dickens Day 2023, taking place October 7 at the University of London's Institute of English Studies, will concentrate on the theme of "Dickens and Time." Go here to learn more.

'Charles Dickens and Georgina Hogarth': A review

Charles Dickens and Georgina Hogarth: A curious and enduring relationship by Christine Skelton (Manchester University Press, 2023)

Of all the unanswered questions and ongoing disputes about Charles Dickens's life, one of the most intriguing is this: When Charles and his wife, Catherine, separated, why did Catherine's sister Georgina, who had been living with them for years, stay with Charles? Christine Skelton of the University of Birmingham attempts to answer that question with her new book exploring the connection between the novelist and his mysterious sister-in-law. In some ways she's able to throw light on it, but in other ways, it feels as if the mystery's only deepened.

'Dickens and Prince': A review

Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius by Nick Hornby (Riverhead Books, 2022).

What do a 19th-century Victorian novelist and a 20th-century rock star have in common? More than you might expect, according to award-winning author Nick Hornby, who's devoted an entire book to the unlikely pair. 

The impetus for the book came from the 2020 release of a commemorative boxed set of Prince's 1987 album Sign o' the Times. This release -- which included a whopping 63 songs that hadn't originally made the cut -- got Hornby thinking: "Who else ever produced this much? Who else ever worked that way? It was supposed to be a rhetorical question, but then I realized there was an answer: Dickens. Dickens did. Dickens worked that way."

From the book pile

Today we have reviews of two excellent new Dickens-related books!

Charles Dickens: But for you, dear stranger (from the My Reading series) by Annette Federico (Oxford University Press, 2022)

The My Reading series from Oxford University Press, according to the Series Introduction, "is built on a simple presupposition: that it helps to have a book recommended and discussed by someone who cares for it." Annette Federico's entry in the series more than fills the bill. Federico cares deeply for Dickens, and her analysis of four of his greatest works -- Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Little Dorrit, and A Tale of Two Cities -- is both thoughtful and affectionate. She truly demonstrates the value of a personal connection to the author being analyzed.

Federico comes to Dickens not as a detached or objective critic, or as someone trying to fit him into a modern landscape, but as someone eager to take what he has to give. She takes characters and elements in his work, including those who have been dismissed or even derided, on their own terms, and explores with fresh eyes what they meant to Dickens and what they might mean to us, his readers. She does this with elements that even I'VE derided (e.g., Little Dorrit insisting that Arthur always call her "Little Dorrit"), making me rethink my derision! 

Federico's book is short, but I can't exactly call it a quick read, because it's so dense with ideas and emotions that it merits reading slowly, and then reading again. Reading her take on Dickens's stories and characters is like spending time with old friends and yet seeing them in new lights. I absolutely loved it, and I can't recommend it highly enough. I'd go so far as to call it a must-read for all who love Dickens.

Dickens the intrepid traveler

Lucinda Hawksley gave a nice long interview to The Sunday Post to promote her newest book about her great-great-great-grandfather, Dickens and Travel: The Start of Modern Travel Writing. Here's an excerpt:

“The first trip on a steamship ... sounds absolutely terrifying. Dickens writes home and says that never again would he trust himself and his wife to a steamship, because it’s so frightening.

“It’s either far too heavily laden with coal at the beginning, or frighteningly unladen at the end. He also talks about the fact the chimneys belching out fire are so unstable that if you got caught in a storm, and they were knocked over, the whole ship would go up in flames.

“All these Victorian travellers were so brave. Today, no matter how much we think we’re intrepid, it’s nothing compared to putting yourself in these terrifying vessels and heading out to places unknown.”

Go here to read the full interview, and go here to order Lucinda's book!

From the book pile

• The Dickens Boy by Thomas Keneally (Atria Books, 2022)
  
  A novel about Edward "Plorn" Dickens, sent to Australia in his teens to try to make something of himself after doing poorly in school, is a great idea. And acclaimed novelist Thomas Keneally (Booker-Prize-winning author of Schindler's List) would seem just the person to write such a novel. His descriptive writing is beautiful, effectively conveying the wonder and enchantment of a young Englishman encountering the sweeping Australian wilderness for the first time. And he handles Plorn's and his siblings' complicated relationship with their father with both realism and sensitivity. So it took me a while to figure out why I wasn't enjoying the book very much. 
  
  I eventually pinpointed two reasons. The first is mainly a matter of personal taste: The book has a loosely episodic structure, without much of a story arc or narrative drive. It's not pushing toward any goal, aside from Plorn's rather vague goal to learn to apply himself and please his father. There's nothing inherently wrong with that sort of structure, but it just doesn't appeal to me much. (There's a reason I prefer late Dickens to early Dickens.)
  
  The second reason is more on the micro level: the often stiff and stilted nature of Plorn's narration. His sentence structure at times feels positively upside down and backwards -- for instance: "The question of whether Father had left the girl anything proved to be part of Alfred's musings, and many people would have said, why not?"  Even in 1869, a more formal period, it beggars belief that an undereducated adolescent would talk like that. And the stiltedness has the added effect of distancing us from the young man instead of feeling that we're really getting to know him. Keneally gets so much else right in this book, I don't know why he had trouble getting the voice right, but I couldn't help wishing he had made more of an effort in that direction. It would have improved the book so much.

Upcoming online talks

Tomorrow, April 27, Dr. Emily Dunbar of the Dickens Museum will give a talk on the museum's new Pickwick Papers exhibition at 10 a.m. Eastern. Go here to learn more and get a free ticket!

Also tomorrow, at 1 p.m. Eastern, the Dickens Fellowship will sponsor Lucinda Dickens Hawksley talking about her new book, Dickens and Travel. Go here for information.

From the book pile

• Dear Mr. Dickens by Nancy Churnin, illustrated by Bethany Stancliffe (Albert Whitman & Company, 2021).
  
  The heroine of this children's picture book is Eliza Davis, the Jewish woman who famously confronted Charles Dickens over his portrayal of Fagin in Oliver Twist. Author Nancy Churnin tells Davis's story simply but with sensitivity and insight. She explains how the anti-Semitic descriptions of the character hurt Davis all the more because they were coming from a great author that she loved, and how this spurred her to take action. And she helps young readers understand how this story might apply to their lives: "Think of someone famous you admire. What would you do if that person said or wrote something unfair? Would you speak up? Would you risk getting that person angry?" 
  
  Churnin's portrayal of Dickens is unflinchingly honest, showing that his reaction to Davis initially was sharp and defensive. But the book also shows how, as Davis kept up the pressure on him, he came to understand and appreciate her point of view and changed his work accordingly. It makes the point that the two of them had a genuine concern for the needy in common, and that it was Davis's challenging him to live up to his own high standards that made the difference.
  
  I learned a lot from this book I didn't know (I hadn't realized that there had been more than one exchange of letters between Davis and Dickens), not just from the story itself, but also from the comprehensive Author's Note at the back. This children's book is the fullest and best account of the incident I've ever seen, enhanced by Bethany Stancliffe's lively and touching illustrations, and I recommend it highly. 

Dickens in the 'New York Times'

Robert Fairhurst-Douglas's new book on Dickens, recently reviewed in The New Yorker, today was reviewed in the New York Times. 

Dickens in 1851

Robert Douglas-Fairhurst's new book The Turning Point: 1851 -- A Year That Changed Charles Dickens and the World has just had its U.S. release. Literary Hub has an excerpt, and The New Yorker has a lengthy and thoughtful review (with one or two incorrect details) by Louis Menand.