Dickensblog

Inspired by Nickleby

According to USA Today, Nicholas Nickleby plays an important role in the new novel The Rise & Fall of Great Powers by Tom Rachman.

'Nickleby' news

Classicalite has a short but interesting article about the new Nicholas Nickleby musical that's opening Off-Off-Broadway next week.

Nicholas sings!

A new musical version of Nicholas Nickleby will have an Off-Broadway run, beginning April 17. Information is available here, and tickets are available here.

'Nicholas Nickleby' onstage in Orlando

The Orlando Shakespeare Theater in Orlando, Fla., has taken on the mammoth task of staging the 6 1/2-hour version of Nicholas Nickleby (cut down slightly from the 8 1/2-hour version that ran in London and New York). Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal reviews it here.

Another new 'Tale of Two Cities' play

This one will have its world premiere in Northampton, England, next month. It will star Oliver Dimsdale (whom you may have seen in various period TV dramas, including Downton Abbey) and Abigail McKern (who was in a TV adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby).

7 Quick Takes Friday

• Gerald Dickens's 2013 U.S. Christmas Carol tour schedule is now available. 
• At the moment, Gerald is preparing to do his Nicholas Nickleby show in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England.
• Congratulations to Dickensblog reader Christopher Lord on the publication of his book The Edwin Drood Murders! This is the second entry in his Dickens Junction series.
• BreakPoint columnist Kevin Belmonte sings the praises of A Tale of Two Cities in his new article, "Courage under a Dark Shadow."
• Barnes & Noble's Leatherbound Classic edition of A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Stories is now available. They're also publishing a pocket edition, which is due out next Friday. I believe this smaller version contains only A Christmas Carol and not the other stories.
• The BBC News has a brief report from the West End premiere of A Tale of Two Cities, looking back on how the adaptation came to be written.
• Finally, I have a new piece up at Book Riot about the books featured and mentioned on Person of Interest, which, as you know, include several by Dickens!

Powerful simplicity

"Now, there are (if I can speak in hushed tones for a moment) those who do not like Dickens at all. There are some who look askance at the buffoonery and high spirits and wish for something more refined. 'If those people are ever refined it will be by fire' is Chesterton’s response, but he does acknowledge that Dickens poses some special problems for modern critics. There is something in his writing that is out of temper with our times, a sense that a critical apparatus which can seize upon Thackeray or Eliot with a firm grip will somehow slip and grasp emptiness when applied to Dickens. Chesterton noted this already a century ago, and ascribed it to the powerful simplicity of Dickens’ genius:

Dickens has greatly suffered with the critics precisely through this stunning simplicity in his best work. The critic is called upon to describe his sensations while enjoying Mantalini and Micawber, and he can no more describe them than he can describe a blow in the face. Thus Dickens, in this self-conscious, analytical and descriptive age, loses both ways. He is doubly unfitted for the best modern criticism. His bad work is below that criticism. His good work is above it."

 

Craig Burrell, "On Dickens," All Manner of Thing

(Go read the whole thing! It's a very long post, but well worthwhile!)

Dickens on Screen: A Retrospective

by Rachel McMillan, guest blogger

One of the highlights of my year was the Dickens on Screen festival at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto. This particular event, organized to coincide with the bicentenary, had several stops and was curated by Adrian Wootton, the chief executive of Film London  and an avid Dickensian and film historian in his own right.

'Nick Nickleby': A review

By Tryntsje Cuperus, guest blogger

Nick Nickleby aired on the BBC in mid-November, basically unannounced and tucked away somewhere in the early afternoon. That's a real pity, because this modern adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Nicholas Nickleby is a little gem which should be viewed by many more people!

'Nick Nickleby' airs in Britain

I'm a little late with this news: The miniseries Nick Nickleby aired on BBC One earlier this month. (Thanks to Pete Orford for the tip.) The modernized version of Dickens's third novel, which ran in the afternoons, earned between 700,000 and 800,000 viewers per installment. I don't know yet whether it will be made available over here, but the show's website mentions an international distributor, so it might be! In the meantime, a few clips are available at the BBC site.