There's something about Dickens

[fujiko1601]

I have been doing "research"(read "killed time with costume dramas"). And it made me realise that I haven't really discussed Dickens with anyone and I would like to know where my opinions stand in the general view.

If you had him as compulsory reading it is all probably boring old news to you, so hence the cut.

Comments

[helike]

I read "Christmas Carol" and watched it in a few versions. I also watched "David Copperfield" and "Oliver Twist", I think, but I'm not sure. Not that I have a lot to say about the last two ^^;

[fujiko1601]

I don't believe I know anything of the plot of Christmas Carol. If I remember correctly the book had a part in popularising Christmas?

[helike]

:O Never read the story about Scrooge? You could say it popularise Christmas in a way, but it's more about how people can change due to some events. I'm sure you at least heard about the story in which one terrible guy is visited by three spirits of Christmas and changes after that. That's what "A Christmas Carol" is about.

[fujiko1601]

The name sounds vaguely familiar, but I can't say that I know the story. From the wiki entry on Christmas "By the 1820s, sectarian tension had eased in Britain and writers, including William Winstanly, began to worry that Christmas was dying out. These writers imagined Tudor Christmas as a time of heartfelt celebration, and efforts were made to revive the holiday. In 1843, Charles Dickens wrote the novel A Christmas Carol, that helped revive the 'spirit' of Christmas and seasonal merriment.[81][82] Its instant popularity played a major role in portraying Christmas as a holiday emphasizing family, goodwill, and compassion.[83] Dickens sought to construct Christmas as a family-centered festival of generosity, in contrast to the community-based and church-centered observations, the observance of which had dwindled during the late 18th century and early 19th century.[84] Superimposing his secular vision of the holiday, Dickens influenced many aspects of Christmas that are celebrated today in Western culture, such as family gatherings,

[hungrytiger11]

No, you aren't the only one who's yet to cotton onto dickens. I read Christmas Carol in 6th grade and disliked it. Tried tale of two cities around the same time with the same result. In high school we did Christmas Carol and I ended up loving it- both the book and many, many MANY of the movies (the design team watched them as inspiration for what we wanted our Christmas Carol to feel like). Weirdly I've never read anything else.... Carol is way creepy though. I'd rec the one with Patrick Stewart. Because..Patrick Stewart.

[fujiko1601]

It's interesting how CC is the one everyone is familiar with. That's a reason to look into it if nothing else.

I just realised, is that a P&P quote?

[hungrytiger11]

yes, it is. Well, a Jane Austen quote anyway!

[dayadhvam_triad]

I never had Dickens as compulsory reading. I read 'A Christmas Carol' and enjoyed it, but was rather meh about Tale of Two Cities. I think that's all the Dickens I've read; I remember hearing positive reviews about the adaptation of Our Mutual Friend, though.

lol WAIT WHAT Little Dorrit dropped dead? O__O

Well, Dickens did write to please; his works were serialized in magazines after all. ;P

I am much more knowledgeable about Austen than Dickens, I confess.

What's the integrated twitter thing?

[fujiko1601]

I see, I thought that in English speaking environment he might be. Chrismas Carol seems to be the popular one among f-list. :)

Not Little Dorrit, but at least three other characters did. The only explanation for their deaths was shock, I guess, one of them got a little weird before dying, the others just dropped dead.

It makes him sound awfully like those BFF fics that have something that engages a lot of fans, but can't really be called quality writing. The word count also mattered for Dickens, right? Interesting how those works made world classics. Not saying that all his works are alike, but still.

That's interesting. I think Dickens is more widely known at least around here

The retweet thing you disabled in your journal.

[dayadhvam_triad]

Tale of Two Cities would have been compulsory reading for me, except I moved high schools. :P

Okay, that's kinda pushing it to have three characters die of shock. It's not that commonplace, I should think.

Yeah, word count also mattered for Dickens's pay. Actually, I like this characterization. Dickens was a Big Name Writer whose work was technically fine and all but not mind-blowingly amazing to me.

[fujiko1601]

I think my cousin who attended the same school as I had to read Oliver Twist or something, but she was six years behind me

[ditch_gospel]

I tried to read Tale of Two Cities but quite because it didn't hold my interest. Otrher than that, I'm really only familiar with Christmas Carol through different movie adaptations. Also my 6th grade class performed Christmas Carol on stage. I volunteered to play the Ghost of Christmas Future because the part had no spoken lines and I got to hide inside a big black cloak and hood.

[fujiko1601]

I saw a link to one adaptation recently. Maybe I'll watch it sometime in near future. Haven't tried the Tale of Two Cities yet.