Charles Dickens discussion

We are currently reading The Old Curiosity Shop.

OK!

hooray!

You're ALIVE!!!!!!!

HEY!!! YOU HAVEN'T BEEN ON IN FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been super busy and didn't get a chance to read Bleak House. That book was just too mentally demanding for what little spare time I have right now.

Sorry! Its a great book!

Brenda wrote: "I've been super busy and didn't get a chance to read Bleak House. That book was just too mentally demanding for what little spare time I have right now."

Lol. Same here. I've been pretty busy too and haven't read much. I think I've got more time on my hands now, but I don't enjoy Bleak House so far. ;(

I'm sure it is! And I'll read it eventually. I really liked the 2005 mini-series of it. You should check it out sometime. See how closely it it follows the book.

Connor, it's pretty complex...

I'm 57% through! :D

E, through Bleak House?

Are you going to read two books at one?

once

yep! Yep! and well, how am I supposed to answer the third one?

'once' was just to replace my mistype of 'one'. No answer needed. :) And good luck reading both of Dicken's book at once! One set of characters to keep track of is hard enough for me! I can read multiple books at one time but they have to be about very different things and written in a very different voice.

I'm reading two 1000+ page books by classic authors from 1800s in England. :) They're VERY different!

What's the other one?

The Complete Sherlock Holmes.

E, I LOVE Sherlock Holmes! And you're right, those are two VERY different types of reading.

What genre is Bleak House?

Classic, Historical Fiction, Literature, and stuff like that.

oh

Technically: literary fiction. Now a classic.

:^D

I'd also call it social satire. Boy, did Dickens hate lawyers. And do-gooders. And the aristocracy.

The book is at least twice the length of modern novels. Did he get paid by the word?

:) I wouldn't be surprised seeing how long it is!

Well, i don't blame him for hating lawyers. He lived in poverty half his life.

and now i have to ditch bleak house and read the curiosity shop? lol...i feel dumb.

lol. I'll just finish Bleak House and read this one later.

Good idea...

Then I'll be behind in the June book. :/

I'm just reading 3 books at a time.

Kathy wrote: "I'd also call it social satire. Boy, did Dickens hate lawyers. And do-gooders. And the aristocracy.

The book is at least twice the length of modern novels. Did he get paid by the word?"

Dickens' books were all published bit by bit in newspapers and magazines. So.... not exactly by word... ^^

He reaaally hates beadles. =P There's a pretty long passage in Bleak House about how useless beadles are and how everything they do is in fact someone else's job so they're just getting in the way. ;-) Plus the charming beadle in Oliver Twist...

I haven't read Oliver Twist yet. :(

Eh. Well mom tells me that it's funnier to read as an adult. When I read it several years ago, I thought it was just kinda depressing. Guess I really missed something. ;-)

:) Guess so. I should get it on my kindle...

OK, so I'm a little confused. The group is reading The Old Curiosity Shop during May? What's planned for June? I read the nominations, but never saw any polls posted.

I don't know. Is there a nomination thread?

Yes, there are discussion threads for nominations. And I just found the polls (I'm still learning all the available tools on Goodreads).

I'll probably skip the May book, but will join in for the June book.

Okay! I might too.

So what ARE we reading for June?

Oliver Twist and Continuing The Pickwick Papers.

OK.

Wow! late response!

Hi everybody!!!
Regarding Pickwick Papers, which I consider one of his best novels, have anyone read about this paralelism some experts find with the novel "Don Quixote" from Cervantes?
I read a good article about it, and having read both novels three times, I really find some points of similarity..
What do you guys think?

I remember attending a lecture, oh so many years ago, concerning this. Of course I don't remember much of it, except the speaker pronounced "Quixote" as "Quix-oat," instead of the Spanish pronunciation of "Key-o-tay." Unfortunately that is about all I can remember about the lecture. Found out later he pronounced it the British way.

I need to re-read both to refresh my memory.

Javier wrote: "Hi everybody!!!
Regarding Pickwick Papers, which I consider one of his best novels, have anyone read about this paralelism some experts find with the novel "Don Quixote" from Cervantes?
I read a..."

I haven't read either novels. I plan on reading Don Quixote soon though.

Connor wrote: "Javier wrote: "Hi everybody!!!
Regarding Pickwick Papers, which I consider one of his best novels, have anyone read about this paralelism some experts find with the novel "Don Quixote" from Cervant..."

Well, here in Spain we consider it the best novel ever, and I totally agree.
Anyway, which is your Dickens favourite novel? Would it be Great Expectations?

Tx

Javier wrote: "Hi everybody!!!
Regarding Pickwick Papers, which I consider one of his best novels, have anyone read about this paralelism some experts find with the novel "Don Quixote" from Cervantes?
I read a..."

I can certainly see that and agree there are multiple parallels between the two - the episodic adventures on a trip, the idealized ways of life, the encounters with situations that aren't as big as they seem, the lowly side kick (although I believe Sam Weller is a much better character than Sancho). Another thing is that Dickens loved the adventure novels as a young boy, and Don Quixote was among those in the family (his father's) library.

Brenda wrote: "E, I LOVE Sherlock Holmes! And you're right, those are two VERY different types of reading."

I’ve been reading those books too I’m currently on the last 9th book