Dickens 200th birthday
Happy 200th Birthday Charles Dickens!
Like most people, my first exposure to the work of Charles Dickens was through adaptations. I'm sure I saw at least a few versions of A Christmas Carol, notably the Mr. Magoo version. And at some point I know I saw the movie and probably live theater at some level of Oliver! And I know I saw the short-lived musical Copperfield during the month it was open in 1981.
I'm not sure when I read my first actual Dickens novel. I'm pretty sure I read Oliver Twist during my reading of the classic period while in middle school. I know I read Tale of Two Cities when I was in high school because my mother, who was a high school English teacher, was surprised it wasn't on my school's reading list so assigned it to me (like it is/was hard to get me to read a book!) I'm pretty sure I read Great Expectations too (I have a memory of doing a book report on it, maybe eighth grade?). And in college, I think we read Little Dorrit in my Literature and Human Suffering course (or maybe it was The Old Curiosity Shop although I didn't remember any of it when I read it last year).
Since I turned 40 years old a few years ago, I have had on my annual resolutions list to read all the novels of Charles Dickens (in order of course). I actually started last year and got stalled near the end of The Old Curiosity Shop. So this year, in honor of the Dickens bicentennial, I promise myself I'll finish all the novels.
Like most people, my first exposure to the work of Charles Dickens was through adaptations. I'm sure I saw at least a few versions of A Christmas Carol, notably the Mr. Magoo version. And at some point I know I saw the movie and probably live theater at some level of Oliver! And I know I saw the short-lived musical Copperfield during the month it was open in 1981.
I'm not sure when I read my first actual Dickens novel. I'm pretty sure I read Oliver Twist during my reading of the classic period while in middle school. I know I read Tale of Two Cities when I was in high school because my mother, who was a high school English teacher, was surprised it wasn't on my school's reading list so assigned it to me (like it is/was hard to get me to read a book!) I'm pretty sure I read Great Expectations too (I have a memory of doing a book report on it, maybe eighth grade?). And in college, I think we read Little Dorrit in my Literature and Human Suffering course (or maybe it was The Old Curiosity Shop although I didn't remember any of it when I read it last year).
Since I turned 40 years old a few years ago, I have had on my annual resolutions list to read all the novels of Charles Dickens (in order of course). I actually started last year and got stalled near the end of The Old Curiosity Shop. So this year, in honor of the Dickens bicentennial, I promise myself I'll finish all the novels.