For the past year, I've been on a what I've been calling a "Dickens kick" -- in other words, I've been reading nothing but the novels of Charles Dickens. Well, pretty much nothing else. A few weeks ago, a fellow Janeite friend loaned me a sequel to P&P (Pride & Prejudice) -- one of the many that we are addicted to -- that I managed to devour in about 4 days' time -- A Match for Mary Bennet. This is a good, fast read -- not deep, but entertaining, and if you ever wondered about what happens in P&P after Elizabeth marries Mr. Darcy, then this is one book that you would probably find fun to read. There are so many P&P sequels out there, some better than others. I'll have to compile a list sometime of my favorites.
But I am "meandering" (as David Copperfield says) -- back to Dickens.
On Sunday I finished my third Dickens novel, Great Expectations. I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. I have a hard time finishing a novel that I am not interested in, so I thought that being from a male point of view, and without a central love story (of course I'm a romantic), I might not be able to "get into" the plot -- but I really did. I loved seeing Pip's character develop throughout the story. I will not talk much about it, so as not to spoil it for those who haven't read it -- truly, I knew nothing of the plot before I read it. I hadn't even see one of the movie adaptations. So I really enjoyed reading it and discovering everything fresh and new by myself. I read the Penguin edition, and must say that after reading it, I didn't agree much with the author of the Introduction...but that is just me.
A year ago I started reading Little Dorrit. This was my first Dickens novel. I became interested in it because I saw the new BBC Masterpiece movie on PBS, starring Claire Foy and Matthew Macfadyen. And initially I was interested in the movie only because of Matthew Macfadyen -- of course I recognized him from the 2005 P&P movie as the proud Mr. Darcy. I thought, "hey, it's that guy!" (because I am terrible at remembering names). So I watched the whole series of Little Dorrit, and learned that it was actually a novel by Dickens, so then of course I had to read it. (How did I earn a minor in English Literature and never know this?) I loved this book!! It took me until about Christmas to finish it (because it's loooooong and also because I don't have tons of time to sit and read) -- and even after 5 months, I was sad it was over.
In the meantime, I discovered the 2009 version of Bleak House on Netflix. (starring Anna Maxwell Martin and Gillian Anderson) of course realized this was yet ANOTHER Dickens novel! So I ordered it on Amazon and had to start that right after finishing Little Dorrit. (This is the edition I read.) I thoroughly enjoyed it, even more than the movie (which I think is excellent). I liked it so much that I ended up buying a book that is just essays on the different themes of the novel. I could think about that book forever. I just love Esther, and the tragic Lady Dedlock (I found myself thinking of ways to have improved her life for her), and really hated the horrid Tulkinghorn. (and how genius of Dickens to come up with a horrid name for a horrid man!) I finished up BH in May...and now we are up to speed on my Dickens craze.
Here are my finished novels:
Here are the ones I hope to read (you can see my bookmark at the beginning of Copperfield):
I just started David Copperfield and am only about three chapters in. It is about 3 inches thick, like LD and BH, so it will take me a good 4-6 months to get through it. The fun thing about this book is that unlike LD and BH, I have not seen any movie adaptation -- so like GE, it is all new and fresh! I just hope that I can keep all the characters straight, because I know I would have had a much harder time with the other ones if I hadn't seen the movies first.
And so ends my saga of my Dickens journey for the past year. Yes I am a nerd. And I'm quite proud of it.
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