Category: Charles Dickens
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Over Christmas the BBC repeated a marvellous dramatisation of David Copperfield which I remember watching and loving years ago. It was shown in a tribute to the late Dame Maggie Smith who played the role of Aunt Betsy Trotwood and it was a total joy to see this portrayal again. Appearing at David's birth and…
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It is that time of year again. The time when I trot over to my bookshelves, check the letter D and take down a copy of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Please note I say A Copy not My copy. This is because I have multiple copies of this book and today have just…
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It is that time of year again. The time when I trot over to my bookshelves, check the letter D and take down a copy of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Please note I say A Copy not My copy. This is because I have multiple copies of this book and today have just…
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I was sorting out my TBR pile the other day and had a sort out of those I was sent and did not particularly want (charity shop beckons) and those I pass on to friends as I think they may like them and I am not going to read them, and then those which I…
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I have been reading in a very desultory fashion the last couple of months. I have found it impossible to settle down and concentrate. Isn’t it odd when you think you are going to have all this time and so we can do some really serious reading and then find you really can’t be bothered?…
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There are times when the To Be Read pile is toppling over, books are dropping through the letterbox and you have so much to read and you think I don't want to read any of them. This happens to me periodically and the only way to get out of this slump is to turn to…
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Last Friday was my birthday and it seems I have only now recovered from it all. I have reached the age of 67 which is a pretty scary thought and though I am 37 in my mind, five days of gallivanting and having fun put me in bed yesterday while I recovered from my aching…
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This is the Year of Dickens and you might think by now that you are Dickensed out and that there is nothing left to say. Well, there might be for a while but pretty sure that sooner or later some scholar somewhere will unearth some intriguing bit of paper or document that will start us…
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Simply gorgeous parcel arrived this morning from Yale UP and I am gloating over its contents and have to share my delight. These are three books high up on my reading list, but as you know, I am awaiting the birth of second grandchild and know full well these will take a while to get…
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I occasionally post on Random about books recently received and awaiting my attention. I always have a think before I do this because I certainly don't want to crow about all the lovely stuff I get, but I do want to share it with you. Also, there are so many of them and it is…
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I am a member of the Amazon Vine Programme and each month receive a newsletter from which I can choose a book or two, or whatever they are offering. This is meant to be tailored to one's preferences as shown by my Amazon browsings, but I find the offerings sometimes are wildly out of my…
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About eighteen months ago I read Lynn Shepherd's first book, Murder at Mansfield Park, which I reviewed here. I will admit that I was not sure if I really wanted to read it or not, as I am not overly keen on books that use Jane Austen as the excuse for a re-write, but Lynn…
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Off blog for a day or two so just a bijou reminderette that I am giving away a copy of the selected letters of Charles Dickens, edited by Jenny Hartley. All you have to do is tell me which is your favourite Dickens character and why and I will make a totally and completely arbitrary…
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Today we celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens one of my all time favourite writers. I am simply delighted to have as guest blogger, Helen Rappaport, historian and writer and author of my Book of 2011, Magnificent Obsession, who spent her childhood in Kent with all its associations with The Inimitable and…
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In case you hadn't noticed it 2012 is the bicentenary of Dickens's birth and we have already had Edwin Drood and Great Expectations on the BBC and various documentaries with more to come. I have loved Dickens all my life and am simply wallowing in all this and various publishers are putting out biographies and…
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The recent adaptation of Great Expectations screened by the BBC made me decide to revisit this book by Dickens, which I have not read for many a year. I remember studying it at school for my English Literature O Level, a process which is the kiss of death to enjoyment, and then read it again…
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I write this on 3 January 2012 and have already read a comment or two in the papers that we may have had too much Dickens and that we will be Dickensed out by the end of the year. We have already had the BBC adaptation of Great Expectations which I loved though it seems…
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Last time I saw Great Expectations on TV it was on the commercial side and starred Ion Grufydd as Pip. Rather toothsome I am sure you will agree but he paled into significance when set against the beauty of the actor playing Pip in the BBC version aired over Christmas. Lots of Tweets along the…
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After reading Michael Slater's marvellous biography a couple of years ago I did wonder if there was anything more to say about Charles Dickens, but Claire Tomalin is such a wonderful biographer I just knew that I had to read her take on Charles and will say right now that I read it over a…
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Claire Tomalin has a new biography out on Charles Dickens. After reading Michael Slater's magnificent biography last year, reviewed here, I did wonder if anything more could be said about him, but Dickens is a source of endless fascination to biographers and, as the Slater biography concentrated more on his literary rather than his private…