Mudfog and Other Sketches

by Charles Dickens

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Genres: Classics, Fiction, Short Stories, Literature, Humor, Satire, 19th Century

118 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1837

About the author

Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.

Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.

Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.

On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner," he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another short work by Charles Dickens ‘Mudfog and Other Sketches’ – opens with an entertaining and amusing initial story concerning ‘Mr Tulrumble – once Mayor of Mudfog’ and closes with two quite interesting stories, those of ‘Mr Robert Bolton: The Gentleman Connected with the Press’ and ‘Familiar Epistle from a Parent to a Child Aged Two Years and Two Months’.

However, the intervening stories – a series of supposed reports chronicling the meetings and activities of ‘The Mudfog Society’ certainly leave a lot to be desired. Apparently what Dickens was doing here was lampooning and satirising the scientific / pseudo-scientific community – in particular a certain ‘British Association for the Advancement of Science’. Laudable and understandable though those aims might have been – unfortunately and regrettably, these stories are overwhelmingly tedious and feel far too long and overdone.

Unfortunately, despite the merits of the opening and closing stories, the overwhelming dullness of the intervening stories completely overwhelms their individual merits.

[Connie G · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Mudfog Papers" are a collection of early works by Charles Dickens published in the literary journal "Bentley's Miscellary" in 1937-1838. "Public Life of Mr Tulrumble" is a delightful, humorous work about a man who feels overly important when he becomes the mayor of a small town.

Two sketches about the meetings of the Mudfog Association for the Advancement of Everything poke fun at the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Dickens combines satire with silliness in the notes from the meetings.

Four short works complete the collection. The final work, "Familiar Epistle From a Parent to a Child Aged Two Years and Two Months," is Dickens' "goodbye message" to the readers of "Bentley's Miscellany" as he resigned his position as its editor.

"The Mudfog Papers" give us a look at the work of Dickens as a young writer. Some of his early themes are expanded more in his novels. The collection is a mixed bag with the "Public Life of Mr Tulrumble" as my favorite.

[Janelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some humorous sketches. I particularly enjoyed the clever satire of scientific society meetings.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mudfog is a fictional town created by Charles Dickens for his early work with Bentley’s Miscellany. The sketches are written in a very satirical tone, sometimes very funny and sometimes a little over-the-top, but always inventive and fresh.

The most enjoyable sketch, for me, was The Public Life of Mr. Tulrumble, in which a man becomes mayor and allows the honor to go to his head. There are some genuinely funny incidents and characters, including a drunk stuck in an antique suit of armor, and proof that pomposity looked exactly the same in Dickens’ day as it does in ours.

Dickens also has some fun with a meeting of the Mudfog Association for the Advancement of Everything that contains some silly inventions and is an obvious take off on the blunderings of the very real British Association for the Advancement of Science. One of my inventions were spectacles created by Mr Tickle which allow the wearer to view in bright colors objects a great distance away, while obscuring objects nearby, because so often people are able to see things afar when they are blind to what is right before their faces. This blindness to problems at home is a theme upon which Dickens expanded in his later novels.

Having read a number of Dickens’ novels (won’t it be nice when I can say “having read all”), it is interesting to read his early work and see the development taking place. I was also very grateful for the background information provided by CozyPug, as I read this with theDickensians group, which put a great perspective on who Dickens was and what he was doing in his personal life at the time of these writings.

[Davide · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dal 1837 al 1838 Dickens pubblica sulla «Bentley’s Miscellany» una serie di pezzi ironici dedicati a una cittadina d'invenzione, Mudfog (Nebbiafango?, Nebbiango?), a quanto pare basata sul ricordo di Chatham, nel Kent, dove visse qualche anno da bambino.

Queste "cronache di Nebbiango" saranno raccolte in volume soltanto dopo la morte dell'autore (The Mudfog Papers and Other Sketches, London, Richard Bentley and Son, 1880) ma si ponevano, qualche anno più tardi, sulla stessa linea del primo libro di Dickens, gli Schetches by Boz (anche qui la firma è di nuovo questo suo pseudonimo giovanile) o dei successivi ritratti di giovani gentiluomini o di giovani coppie.

Ad esempio: il primo pezzo è un ritratto del nuovo sindaco, che vuole fare grande impressione, imitando maldestramente i grandiosi simboli e le cerimonie di investitura del Lord Mayor di Londra, ottenendo un ovvio ridicolo fallimento. Divertimento satirico e bonaria morale: non si deve desiderare di superare i propri limiti né voler essere eccessivamente virtuosi ponendo intralci agli innocui passatempi popolari (che in pratica sono già riassumibili in “birra e musica”).

Segue una presa in giro del vittoriano entusiasmo per il progresso scientifico rappresentato dalle società per l’avanzamento delle scienze, sotto forma di dispacci giornalistici continuamente aggiornati, al minuto, dai Meetings of the Mudfog Asssociation for the Advancement of Everything, che si suddividono in sessioni dedicate ai temi più disparati: da Zoology and Botany a Mechanical Science, a Anatomy and Medicine, fino a Umbugology (che suona quasi come “cazzatologia”) and Ditchwaterisics (“noiosistica”). Anche qui descrizioni caricaturali, nomi parlanti (come Snore, Doze and Wheezy come dire il professor Russo con i colleghi Pisolo e Rantolo), e parodia dello stile enfatico dei cronisti che presentano come evento imperdibile qualsiasi sciocchezza (e anche qualche crudeltà).

A quanto pare questi testi si ritrovano oggi anche tra le liste di letture steampunk, senza dubbio per le strampalate e caricaturali invenzioni che vengono presentate tra le comunicazioni di questi meetings.

Non si può però concludere senza citare, tra gli altri sketches che accompagnano le “cronache di Nebbiango”, The Pantomime of Life: agile dimostrazione dell’idea che la vita ripropone continuamente personaggi e situazioni che vengono presi sul serio benché siano esattamente identici ai clown, ai pantaloni, agli arlecchini e alle colombine che fanno ridere sulla scena dei teatri più popolari.
(sì, si fa anche riferimento ai politici).

«We are all actors in The Pantomime of Life», insomma, come conclude avvicinando ed abbassando ironicamente la sentenza di As You Like It: «A gentleman, not altogether unknown as a dramatic poet, wrote thus a year or two ago: “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players”».


p. s.
Tra l'altro, in questo pezzo tornano nomi di attori allora ben conosciuti, a partire da Joseph Grimaldi, il più famoso clown dell’epoca, di cui Dickens proprio allora aveva curato - senza grande successo, a dire il vero - i ricordi: Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi (1838).

[Sportyrod · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first Dickens book. A satire about these dignitaries who thought too well of themselves. They were telling the most mundane stories as though they were the most hilarious and riviting things that ever happened.

The stories were mostly one-note but there was one hilarious part about some bogus disease or condition in a woman who developed symptoms for coveting someone’s pearl jewellry that her husband could not afford. The symptoms were laziness, not doing the chores, being irritable and moody. And needed some concoction to cure her. If not her head was to be shaven but she recovered in time.

I don’t really read classics this old so perhaps the main interest in the stories were that they were different?? I liked it how Dickens made fun of scientists, doctors, politicians and other such professionals.

[~ Cheryl ~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I genuinely enjoyed these early satirical sketches. I’ve been a Dickens fan for years, and this little gem had escaped my notice until now. It’s 2 parts smart-funny : 1 part silly-funny. That’s a sweet spot in Dickens’s humor that just puts me in a good mood.

In two of the longer pieces, Dickens parodies the British Association for the Advancement of Science; (Dickens’s fictional group known as The Mudfog Society for the Advancement of Everything). It covers absurd inventions and scientific theories, but it’s the breathless, minute-by-minute reporting voice that makes these so much fun to read.

The opening sketch, "Public Life of Mr. Tulrumble, Once Mayor of Mudfog", was every bit as delightful as its title suggests. The final 25% of the book is made up of shorter pieces that are more like essays than sketches, and not as engaging as the first three lengthy pieces which take up the majority of the book.

I’ve been digging Dickens’s shorter fiction lately, and that’s what led me to this little book. It was a good one, and will go on my “to read again” list.

[Encarni Prados · Rating 4 out of 5]

En este libro tenemos unos relatos de Dickens donde demuestra su genialidad hilando muy fino con la ironía y la crítica a la sociedad del momento. Me lo he pasado genial leyendo sus hilarantes historias, el retrato de los personajes y el nombre que les pone tampoco tienen desperdicio. Muy recomendable para pasar un rato de risas.

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

This grouping of stories is dripping with satire, and it’s wonderful!

[Sarah Cavar · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. This was pretty bad. Luckily, Dickens improved with time (this is an early work)!

[Lami Daja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dickens wrote The Mudfog Papers as a series of sketches for Bentley's Miscellany in 1837 and 1838, at the same time Oliver Twist was being serialized there. Mudfog was originally named as the town where Oliver was born, but when the novel was published in book form, the town's name was taken out. However, we still have Dickens's satirical essays about the political and scientific endeavors of this fictional place, now republished in a nice little paperback edition with a brilliant cover illustration by Marina Rodrigues. (Look closely at both parts of the illustration, upper and lower, and you'll see why I call it brilliant.)

This is relatively early Dickens (still writing as "Boz") and his gift for satire was still developing, so the essays are not as consistently funny as some of his later satires would be -- but they're still very funny, with a few laugh-out-loud moments. (Here he is as an over-eager reporter sending breathless dispatches during a boat trip: "Half-past nine. Some dark object has just appeared upon the wharf. I think it is a travelling carriage. A quarter to ten. No, it isn't.") The book includes George Bentley's introduction from the 1880 edition, comprehensive endnotes, a biographical sketch complete with descriptions of all the major works, and a bibliography of recommended background material. For some unfathomable reason, the editor of this edition is not named anywhere in the book, but he or she has done an excellent job.
The Final Recollections of Charles Dickens by Thomas Hauser (Counterpoint, 2014).

Hauser's novel purports to be a deathbed confession written by Dickens about a sordid episode from his past. As a young man, he tells us, he was introduced by his publisher to a wealthy man named Geoffrey Wingate, who was interested in having the young Boz do a little PR for him. Needing to know more about Wingate first, Dickens started investigating . . . and discovered murder, prostitution, and all sorts of other unsavory goings-on. At the same time, even though engaged to Catherine Hogarth, Dickens found himself captivated by Wingate's alluring wife, Amanda.

There is no nice way to say this, so I'll just have to come right out and say it: This is a very, very poorly written novel. Hauser's plot is weak and full of holes, and his style weaves uncertainly back and forth between flat and flowery. If he studied Dickens's style at all, it seems to have been only with the intention of emulating and exaggerating his weaknesses. Thus, as one subplot, he gives us a sentimental love story a la Dickens, but heightens the sentimentality to the point where even Dickens himself would blush for him.

And though Hauser works various quotations and paraphrases from Dickens's own novels into the text (as promised in an introductory Author's Note), there's no rhyme or reason to how he does it; he doesn't use them at particularly interesting or exciting moments as a wink to the reader. They're just dropped in here and there as part of the narrative or the dialogue, with an almost audible thud.

I honestly can't find any reason to recommend this novel. Those who aren't fans of Dickens probably won't be interested in the first place, and those who are his fans will find very little in this badly done portrayal to remind them of the real man and his work.

[Mariano Hortal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Publicado en http://lecturaylocura.com/los-papeles...

“Los papeles de Mudfog” de Charles Dickens. Curiosidades dickensianas

Es mi afán completista, con todo lo que tiene que ver con Dickens, lo que me lleva a comprar todo lo que sale relacionado con él. Tal es el caso de “Los papeles de Mudfog” donde Periférica reúne siete relatos de etapas primerizas del autor, cuando escribía bajo el seudónimo de Boz; en el postfacio de la traductora Ángeles de los Santos podemos aclarar el origen de dichos textos:
“Los textos recogidos en este volumen fueron publicados originalmente en la revista literaria Bentley’s Miscellany entre enero de 1837 y febrero de 1839, período en el que el propio Dickens, que todavía firmaba con el seudónimo Boz, fue editor de la revista. Estas historias no se recopilaron y publicaron como libro hasta 1880, diez años después de la muerte del autor, y constituyen una de las obras menos conocidas y menos estudiadas de Charles Dickens, incluso en el Reino Unido. Probablemente quedaron para siempre en segundo plano debido a que coincidieron en el tiempo con “Oliver Twist”, que fue recibida desde el principio con gran interés.”
Realmente solo tres de los textos son referidos a Mudfog (“La vida pública del señor Tulrumble, en otro tiempo alcalde de Mudfog” e “Informe completo de la primera (y segunda) reunión de la Sociedad Mudfog para el Avance de Todo”). En los cuatro restantes sobresalen dos: “La pantomima de la vida” y “Epístola familiar de un padre a su hijo de dos años y dos meses”. Los últimos textos, mucho peores (“Detalles referentes a un león” y “Roberto Bolton, el caballero con contactos en la prensa”) complementan un volumen ciertamente irregular.
El postfacio, bien ubicado en este caso, ya que desvela detalles de trama, en su análisis resalta dos ideas que me parecen muy interesantes para afrontar este volumen de relatos. En primer lugar, la presencia de las características esenciales de la obra del autor británico:
“Por otra parte los textos aquí recogidos anuncian los temas y las claves que seguirán apareciendo y desarrollándose en las posteriores obras de Dickens, y que definen su estilo: de un lado, el compromiso social, la preocupación por los desfavorecidos y la crítica a las instituciones; de otro, el talento para la caracterización de personajes, la capacidad de observación de la realidad, la ironía, el sentido del humor, la tendencia a la exageración y al “surrealismo”, la utilización de elementos autobiográficos, la presencia de la ciudad de Londres como un personaje más, etc.”
Especialmente reseñables son estas características en los tres primeros relatos, los relativos a Mudfog, por ejemplo, al describir la ciudad, hay aquí como alguien más ha comentado, ecos del Dickens “pickwickiano”, el creador efervescente con descripciones muy vivas y cargadas de buen humor tanto a la hora de definir la ciudad como para pintar personajes:
“Mudfog es un lugar saludable –muy saludable-, húmedo quizás, pero no peor por ello. Es un error suponer que la humedad es malsana: las plantas crecen muy bien en lugares húmedos, ¿por qué no habría de ser igual para las personas? Los habitantes de Mudfog son unánimes al afirmar que no hay mejor raza de personas sobre la faz de la tierra. Ahí tenemos una refutación, irrebatible y veraz al mismo tiempo, del error común. Así que, admitiendo que Mudfog es húmeda, afirmamos categóricamente que es saludable.”
“Consideramos el ayuntamiento uno de los mejores ejemplos que existen de arquitectura de establo: es una combinación de los estilos pocilga y granja, y la simplicidad de su diseño es de una belleza incomparable.”
La descripción de Ned Nariz de Botella entraría de lleno en este Dickens efervescente:
“Se emborrachaba por encima de la media una vez al día, y se arrepentía más o menos al mismo nivel una vez al mes. Y cuando se arrepentía estaba invariablemente en la última etapa de una borrachera llorosa. Era un tipo andrajoso, errabundo, protestón, con tendencia al alboroto, agudo y listo, y era capaz de trabajar cuando le apetecía. En absoluto se oponía al trabajo duro por principios, porque podía trabajar sin descanso en un partido de cricket durante un día entero, corriendo y atrapando y bateando y lanzando y disfrutando con un esfuerzo que dejaría exhausto a un galeote. Habría tenido un valor incalculable para un parque de bomberos: nunca hubo un hombre con tal gusto natural por una bomba de agua, por subir escaleras corriendo y por tirar muebles por la ventana de un segundo piso; ni era este el único elemento en el que se sentía a sus anchas.”
La segunda idea del postfacio tiene que ver con algo particularizado a estos relatos:
“Estos informes de la Sociedad Mudfog reflejan especialmente un rasgo fundamental de la época anteriormente citado: los continuos avances tecnológicos, científicos e industriales. […] Dickens, atento observador y cronista de su mundo, refleja igualmente en su parodia la inseguridad y la inquietud por los cambios que dichos avances traían consigo.”
De hecho, Dickens, adelantado a su tiempo, es capaz de crear un proto-steampunk patente en los dos informes de la sociedad Mudfog donde la mezcla de lo victoriano con los inventos resulta ocurrente e inspirada:
“El pasado mes de octubre nos otorgamos el inmortal honor de reflejar, a un coste enorme y con unos esfuerzos sin precedente en la historia del periodismo, los actos de la Sociedad Mudfog para el Avance de Todo, que en este mes celebró su primera gran reunión anual para maravilla y deleite de todo el imperio.”
El único relato al nivel de los tres ambientados en Mudfog es el que lleva por título “La pantomima de la vida” y nos traen de nuevo al mejor Dickens con su identificación de los payasos y la vida:
“Sí, el gran parecido que hay entre los payasos del escenario y los de la vida real es, en verdad, extraordinario. Mucha gente suspira al hablar del declive de la pantomima y murmuran con tono triste y sombrío el nombre de Grimaldi. No pretendemos despreciar a ese honorable y excelente caballero cuando decimos que esto es una verdadera tontería. Los payasos que superan con creces a Grimaldi surgen cada día, y nadie los patrocina. ¡Es una pena!”
A pesar de su irregularidad, esta recopilación de cuentos reúne trazas del talento de Dickens y solo por ellas vale la pena, aunque, ciertamente, estaríamos hablando de una obra que está más dirigida a completistas de su obra. Como conclusión os dejo con el final del cuento que acabo de mencionar donde utiliza al ”bardo” como inspiración parafraseando unos versos de “As you like it”:
“Un caballero, no del todo desconocido como poeta dramático, escribió hace dos o tres años: “El mundo es un escenario/y los hombres y mujeres meros actores”, y nosotros, siguiendo sus huellas a una pequeña distancia que no merece la pena mencionar, de unos cuantos millones de leguas, nos aventuramos a añadir, a modo de nueva lectura, que el poeta se refería a una pantomima y que todos somos actores en la pantomima de la vida.”
En efecto, todos somos actores en esta pantomima que es la vida.
Los textos provienen de la traducción de Ángeles de los Santos de “Los papeles de Mudfog” de Charles Dickens en Periférica

[Barry Avis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mudfrog and Other Sketches is an early publication of Charles Dickens in the vein of “Sketches by Boz”, Dickens first publication. It starts with a short story, or sketch, regarding Mr Tulrumble, a self-important man, who, whilst visiting London during the Lord Mayor of London’s parade, is told that he has been elected mayor of Mudfrog, a small hamlet near London. He decides that he should have an equally spectacular parade and lunch to celebrate his inauguration to the position of Mudfrog Mayor. In normal dickens fashion this does not go well and eventually the self-important man realises he is not quite as important or revered as he thought. The other sketches are reports of the meetings of the Mudfrog Association for the Advancement of Everything and are in typical early Dickens style.
The short book is separated into seven sketches and all are great reads if you like Dickens style of writing where generally well to do and learned men show that they are not quite as learned as they think and, often it seems due to the frequent drinking of watered down spirits, come up with some ridiculous ideas such as bringing back bear dancing to the London streets.
As these were originally published in newspapers, they are too short and often I thought a story, such as the first one could have been developed into a much longer story similar to the Pickwick Papers.
A great, if all too short, read. I am trying to read all Dickens publications, short and long, in order of publication so that I can see the development of one of England’s greatest writers from the humble start of Sketches by Boz, through the celebrated Novels, to the last publications.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

INTRODUCTION by George Bentley ✔
Public Life of Mr. Tulrumble, Once Mayor of Mudfog 4⭐
Full Report of the First Meeting of the Mudfog Association for the Advancement of Everything 1.5⭐
Full Report of the Second Meeting of the Mudfog Association for the Advancement of Everything 2⭐
The Pantomime of Life 3.5⭐
Some Particulars Concerning a Lion 2⭐
Mr. Robert Bolton, The "Gentleman Connected with the Press" 3.5⭐
Familiar Epistle from a Parent to a Child Aged Two Years and Two Months 2⭐

[Gill James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles Dickens does it again. Way ahead of his time. This is so satirical. The title alone makes you think. How murky is our existence. A civilization of fleas has a welfare state created for them that is better than anything that the UK came up with in 1947. City gents, it was suggested, could have their one individual train and they could be handcuffed together to travel many feet below the streets. Professors with ridiculous names ran meetings that Jackie Weaver would be pushed to control. A lot of fun, though in just one or two places it become tedious.

[Luis Polit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me leí el primer tercio y luego me lo fui saltando por partes. Siendo un fan de Dickens, y habiéndome gustado esa primera parte, creo que es un libro un poco aislado. Entiendo la crítica al snobismo y los clubs de la Inglaterra de aquella época, pero quizá quedé perdido por la distancia cultura.

Las historias del final: ninguna maravilla.

[Jason Furman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mudfog Papers were collected and published posthumously, drawn from Bentley's Miscellany which Dickens edited/wrote at the beginning of his career (and to which he contributed Oliver Twist). The first story "Public Life of Mr. Tulrumble--Once Mayor of Mudfog" is excellent, vintage Dickens loving satire of a man who becomes Mayor, gets increasingly inflated notions of himself, turns all of Mudfog against him, and then recants.

The second two items are mocking of intellectual societies, claiming to be the "Full Report from the First [and Second] Meeting of the Mudfog Association for the Advancement of Everything." The Society begins with the consideration of a paper entitled "Some remarks on the industrious fleas with considerations on the importance of establishing infant-schools among that numerous class of society..." and then continues on to address such important issues as a survey of the literature children are reading, a proposal for the public provision of bears for amusement, and the amusing observation that "the total number of legs belonging to the manufacturing population of one great town in Yorkshire was, in round numbers, forty thousand, while the total number of chair and stool legs in their houses was only thirty thousand, which upon the very favorable average of three legs to a seat, yielded only ten thousand seats in all. From this calculation it would appear,-- not taking wooden or cork legs into account, but allowing two legs to every person,-- that ten thousand individuals (one-half of the whole population) were either destitute of any rest for their legs at all, or passed the whole of their leisure time sitting upon boxes." These papers generally sustain the interest, preview numerous Dickens themes from small-town grandiosity, pompous professors, and small-minded schemes that claim to be for the benefit of the poor. But it's hard to get too excited about them.

The remainder of this collection is a few miscellaneous items Dickens wrote for Bentley's Miscellany that are all rather thin, including a tribute to pantomime, a parody of a famous author parading about, and the like. The final piece is entitled "Familiar Epistle from a Parent to a Child Aged Two Years and Two Months"--which is Dicken's farewell to Bentley's after the same period as editor.

[Cognatious Thunk · Rating 3 out of 5]

July-Aug. 2025 - narrated by Bob Neufeld
Lesser works of critically acclaimed authors are often deemed "lesser" for a reason. Frankly, I wouldn't recommend The Mudfog Papers to anyone other than an avid Dickens lover, although I think the appeal of the "Public Life of Mr. Tulrumble - Once Mayor of Mudfrog" is nearly universal. I listened to it at least three times, it was so lovely. Only Dickens could have such eloquent descriptions of mud. Unfortunately, the rest of the collection lampoons specifically Victorian sentiments and occurrences; it may be too "in the weeds" for a casual reader, unfamiliar with traditional Victorian conventions. However, if you already love Dickens, reading these help you see his evolution as a writer, always encouraging if you find your own amateur attempts trite and mundane. Even the Greats needed refinement.

[Ronan Doyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opted to indulge in this—intent on rectifying the terrible truth that A Christmas Carol remained the only Dickens I'd read—via audiobook, given its brisk length allowed me to guzzle it up in the course of a single work day. Attracted attention for just how much I cackled my way through the opening entry. Alas, the others can scarcely touch it, and for all the amusement their gentle satire amply presents, they haven't anything close to the rib-tickling quality of that exquisite opener. Still, Dickens' way with language is never not a delight, and these capable comedies of manners made for a day positively sped through with his words in-ear.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was classic Dickens. do not know why i had not read it before. also do not know how any reader could ever give it anything less than 5 stars. it is every bit as e revelant today as when it was written.

[Cristina]

carr

[Hels · Rating 3 out of 5]

started off really good but i got bored in the middle. im glad i persevered though as the last parts i enjoyed

[Gina Dalfonzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review is available here.

[Jim Puskas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Any reader of the works of Dickens will soon recognize that he had a number of ‘hobby horses’ that he loved to ride, so to speak — social issues of his day that he found irksome, blameworthy or ridiculous. He used his fiction as a vehicle to lambaste the vested interests, social conditions, institutions, laws, social classes, self-appointed organizations, practices, etc. that he chose to target. They included, inter alia:
Chancery courts
Petty officials
Self-appointed “benevolent societies”
The Poor Laws
Workhouses
Debtors’ Prison
….. etc.
In The Mudfog Papers, he targets:
- self-congratulatory associations (patterned after the British Association for the Advancement of Science).
- the pompous vacuity of the press covering supposed “events” and
- the sort of foolish, pointless display often staged by politicians to celebrate themselves, at public expense
There are so many barbs thrown here that it’s impossible to quote a truly representative sample; a couple of examples will have to do:
Lamenting the disappearance of dancing bears and organ-grinder monkeys, a “Mr. X. X. Misty” states: Owing to an altered taste in musical instruments, and in the substitution, in a great measure, of narrow boxes of music for organs, which left the monkeys nothing to sit upon, this source of public amusement was wholly dried up …. Some measures should be immediately taken up for the restoration of these pleasing and truly intellectual amusements.
A “Mr. Crinkles” presents the invention of a most beautiful and delicate machine, of little larger than a snuff-box ….. by the aid of which more pockets could be picked in one hour than by the present slow and tedious process in four-and-twenty.
However, certain distinguished practitioners, in common with a gentleman of the name of Gimlet-eyed Tommy …… entertained an insuperable objection to its being brought into general use, on the grounds that it would have the inevitable effect of almost entirely superseding manual labour, and throwing a great number of highly-deserving persons out of employment.
It’s clear from the outset that P. G. Wodehouse was far from being the first writer to celebrate the “sill-ass” characters of his day.
This little collection of sketches is indeed hilarious but, regrettably, it seems to me that Dickens, at the time of its writing, had not yet developed the finesse, pacing and restraint that made his more mature rants so much more devastating. It’s simply overdone, too much of a muchness, when he had already made his point in the first few paragraphs.

[Jeff W · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of sketches (mostly) about Mudfog, the fictional hometown to Oliver Twist (though that connection was deleted when Oliver Twist was published in book form). Like all of Dickens' shorter fiction works, they're hit and miss for me. The best parts for me were the two chapters concerning 'The Mudfog Association for The Advancement of Everything'.

[Tim Potier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this immediately after finishing Sketches by Boz. The latter are considerably better. I believe these need a critical edition. I am sure there is a lot I missed (satire), owing to the lack of this.

[Vincent Noble · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clever satire, much of which is just as relevant today as it was back then.

[Barbara MrsTeapot B · Rating 5 out of 5]

racconti di un'ironia ancora molto attuale :)

[Debetroot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting perspective on science and journalusm in the 19th century.

[Sem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars overall but full marks for taking potshots at homeopathy.