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Jean

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Jean is Currently Reading

Jean is currently reading

Our Mutual Friend

by Charles Dickens

bookshelves: favorite-authors, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in May 2013

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Jean said: " DECEIT is the name of the game in Our Mutual Friend. Kindly old people do it, young heirs do it, beautiful girls do it, murderous school teachers do it, even taxidermists and men with wooden legs and people named "Sloppy" do it. Sometimes, deceit pay DECEIT is the name of the game in Our Mutual Friend. Kindly old people do it, young heirs do it, beautiful girls do it, murderous school teachers do it, even taxidermists and men with wooden legs and people named "Sloppy" do it. Sometimes, deceit pays--and handsomely! Other times, well, as you can imagine, intrigue can backfire.

Of all the tricksey, sneaking, wonderful little liars in this book, here are a few favorites:

Mr Boffin: After coming into an inheritance which turns him from Dustman into Societyman, Mr Boffin takes up reading. He starts with light fare--The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire--and proceeds to richer gobbets with various biographical works on the Lives of Misers. After all, how else does a newly rich man learn to keep his money? But is kindly Mr Boffin really so sadly spoiled by wealth . . . ?

Bella Wilfer: After coming into Society via the Boffins, her dreams of finally having money and everything you can buy with it are within reach. Pretty Bella has the world at her fingertips, and she plans to reel it in via a good marriage. Love be d---d! talk to her of money! But is worldly Bella's heart really so cold . . . ?

John Rokesmith: After securing a place as Mr Boffin's secretary, Mr Rokesmith is in the perfect position to keep an eye on the lovely (but spoiled?) Bella. Unable to keep his love in check, this man of poor means declares himself to her and is summarily rejected. Yet he plugs away in his position despite the coolness of Bella and the increasing antagonism of the more and more miserly Boffin. But why? Is patient John Rokesmith really just a simple secretary . . . ?

Mr Venus: After being disappointed in love (the lady "does not care to be considered in a bony light"), this taxidermist and articulator of bones rashly throws in his lot with the rascally Silas Wegg ("a literary man with a wooden leg"). When Wegg, an employee of Mr Boffin, makes a discovery which could prove the end of Boffin's good fortune, only Mr Venus is in the know. But will this romantic vendor of curiosities be able to harden his heart long enough to help bring Wegg's scheme to a head . . . ?

Mr Sloppy: Ah, Mr Sloppy. You'll have your chance to pull the wool over someone's eyes, too. But, really, I just love your name.

As always in Dickens, too many good characters to list them all. Wonderfully weird folk. Also, Dickensian pokes at society and Society. Storytelling that doesn't let up for an instant. The serious mixed with the hilarious and the sad with sweetness. Oh, and the bad guys get what's comin' to 'em. ...more "

May 23, 2013 07:01PM · see review

Jean is currently reading

The Amazing Generation: Your Guide to Fun and Freedom in a Screen-Filled World

by Jonathan Haidt

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Sep 06, 2026 05:12PM

Jean is currently reading

Concerning the Spiritual in Art

by Wassily Kandinsky

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Sep 04, 2026 07:28PM

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Jean’s Quotes

“Being brokenhearted is like having broken ribs. On the outside it looks like nothing's wrong, but every breath hurts.”
― Greg Behrendt, It's Called a Breakup Because It's Broken: The Smart Girl's Break-Up Buddy

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