I have read some fine biographies this year and the fall out from this is that I immediately then want to read, re-read or revisit other related books by or about the particular person who has been the subject of such a book. As I have read biographies of Jean Rhys, L M Montgomery, Edith Wharton and now Charles Dickens, this is clearly impossible as their joint output would keep me going for months and I have a To be Read pile which is growing daily.
However, I have decided to concentrate on Dickens. There is something about the nights drawing in and the clocks going back and the drawing of curtains and snuggling up in the winter evenings that always makes me turn to Victorian literature. Charles Dickens always comes out this time of the year, it may be illogical, but it happens. I always read A Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve and I always cry at Tiny Tim and his God bless us everyone. Bleak House is perfect reading for those grey, foggy days and his ghost stories are wonderful snuggle up in warm bed underneath the duvet reading.
I always have the impression that I have read lots of Dickens and yes I suppose I have, but after the magnificent Michael Slater biography I can see there are still gaps that need to be filled. I have read David Copperfield dozens of times, Bleak House ditto, Great Expectations, ditto, Nicholas Nickelby not quite so much, Oliver Twist not quite so much. I have read Our Mutual Friend, once and cannot remember a huge amount about it, The Old Curiosity Shop and am not sure I can ever read this again as I was overwhelmed with a desire to throttle Little Nell before she finally succumbed with a wonderful Victorian death bed scene, Hard Times, once and only vaguely remembered, Martin Chuzzlewit, ditto. I tackled Little Dorrit for the first time this year, mainly because of the superb BBC dramatisation, but found it curiously unappealing and totally confusing at the end. I know the BBC mucked about with the final chapters but even with all the explanations given by well clued up Dickens readers, I still am not clear as just who Little Dorrit was related to and a lot of other confusing questions still in my mind. I 
don't have any immediate plans to read it again. Ditto for A Tale of Two Cities for which I have never felt any affection much though I may admire it.
Pickwick Papers I only read for the first time last year. I am not sure why I had never read it before, I think perhaps memories of Harry Secombe singing If I ruled the World from the musical had something to do with. Not that I disliked Harry Seceombe, au contraire, thought he was lovely and a brilliant comedian, but his image kept obtruding and put me off. Of course, when I finally read the book, I loved it and thought it very funny indeed. Will probably add the chapter Christmas at Dingley Dell to my reading of A Christmas Carol as well to put me in the right mood for Christmas….
So, what am I left with? I checked and found the remaining three titles I still had to tackle were Barnaby Rudge, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Dombey and Son. I have decided on the latter and then, shock horror, found I did not possess a copy so those lovely people at Oxford University Press have sent me a brand new up to date edition of Dombey in their marvellous World's Classics series, and I am now set with my Dickens for Winter.I am looking forward to it.
Oh and if I have missed anything will you please tell me? I have only mentioned the novels and am aware that there are various short stories etc, some of which I have in collections on my shelves but for purposes of this post I have concentrated on the big titles.
I would also love to hear about your favourite Dickens…or the one that you cannot get on with…
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