tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-926347286766677626.post4451164818191929425..comments2024-03-17T23:08:28.960-07:00Comments on Raybeard: Dickens' year almost over (thank heavens!)Raybeardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12424095016313843883noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-926347286766677626.post-38563368264442299532012-11-22T08:04:42.705-08:002012-11-22T08:04:42.705-08:00Okay. Don't know how or when but I'll bear...Okay. Don't know how or when but I'll bear it in mind. Thanks.Raybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12424095016313843883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-926347286766677626.post-27062036282741554772012-11-21T22:55:40.425-08:002012-11-21T22:55:40.425-08:00Find a copy of the Robertson Davie's short sto...Find a copy of the Robertson Davie's short story "Dickens Digested" it's a hoot. Ur-spohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04237644452200889946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-926347286766677626.post-53995582538424923222012-11-20T23:33:57.841-08:002012-11-20T23:33:57.841-08:00You learned your lesson quicker than I did, Mitch....You learned your lesson quicker than I did, Mitch., though I'm in danger of giving the impression that I DISlike Dickens (witness Dr Spo, above), when the complete reverse is true.Raybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12424095016313843883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-926347286766677626.post-81078202563056957722012-11-20T11:08:58.765-08:002012-11-20T11:08:58.765-08:00Wow! What an effort. I recently reread four of his...Wow! What an effort. I recently reread four of his classics (well, first time, amazingly, for one) and truly enjoyed it. But after the fourth, I needed to move on for a while. Maybe I'll get back to him.Moving with Mitchellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12954028272162285597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-926347286766677626.post-50474152663221703322012-11-20T00:42:12.240-08:002012-11-20T00:42:12.240-08:00I know exactly what you mean, Jase, because I feel...I know exactly what you mean, Jase, because I feel the same way. In my first comment above I mention being over 40 before Dickens made sense to me - and only wish I'd enjoyed him in the prior decades. Now I'm making up for lost time - and sometimes overdoing it!Raybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12424095016313843883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-926347286766677626.post-41359930323333900932012-11-20T00:38:53.382-08:002012-11-20T00:38:53.382-08:00Yes, I was wondering what your reaction to this bl...Yes, I was wondering what your reaction to this blog would be, Dr Spo. But don't be concerned as we are still in concordance. Disbelieve it if you want, but Dickens is still one of my VERY favourite writers of all. My point is simply to make others beware of glutting on him - and thereby meeting the same fate (in literary terms) of 'little' Mr Quilp.Raybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12424095016313843883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-926347286766677626.post-2840931082406060022012-11-19T20:09:39.639-08:002012-11-19T20:09:39.639-08:00Blasphemy!!!
Dickens is my favorite, and all who ...Blasphemy!!! <br />Dickens is my favorite, and all who say ilk of him shall be given to Daniel Quilp for supper !!!Ur-spohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04237644452200889946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-926347286766677626.post-84943791015877624922012-11-19T11:58:48.211-08:002012-11-19T11:58:48.211-08:00I too read Dickens in school mainly because we ha...I too read Dickens in school mainly because we had to and I didn't much fancy a ruler over the knuckles every English lesson for a month! However, now though, it's a real delight to take on one, only one at a time of course. Yet I almost feel like I missed out on not enjoying them when I was younger!Your hosthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07404205078113491560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-926347286766677626.post-41212918125112981912012-11-19T06:40:10.636-08:002012-11-19T06:40:10.636-08:00It was only a 'task' seen in retrospect, P...It was only a 'task' seen in retrospect, Paul. I wouldn't use that word to describe an isolated reading of just one of the novels, which is usually one of unalloyed pleasure.<br /><br />I'm glad you're also a Patricia Highsmith fan. I don't think she ever got more than a fraction of the recognition she deserved. Her clarity of language was, and still is, an object-lesson for all writers. I think I've read every one of her books and short stories though there may just be the odd one or two that have sneaked by. Always got my eyes peeled for them.<br /><br />Don't know the name of Gillian Flynn at all, but because of your bringing her to my attention, I shall now be on the alert. Thanks.Raybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12424095016313843883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-926347286766677626.post-21845080167142427042012-11-19T06:32:54.083-08:002012-11-19T06:32:54.083-08:00Oh, 'Jane Eyre. I've only ever read once a...Oh, 'Jane Eyre. I've only ever read once and badly need to acquire another copy for a further read.<br /><br />'Wuthering Heights' took me some time to like - and even now, after having read it 3 or 4 times, I do wish E.B. had chosen completely different names for her elder and younger characters instead of giving them identical or very similar ones. But I suppose that was in an age where deference to an older generation was imparted by calling children after their parents. Still, it's a jolly good book.Raybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12424095016313843883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-926347286766677626.post-60462295298567448792012-11-19T06:27:18.998-08:002012-11-19T06:27:18.998-08:00I'll let you into a 'secret', A.M. I j...I'll let you into a 'secret', A.M. I just couldn't 'get' Dickens until I was into my 40s. Then it struck me that I was making the same mistake with him as I was with many 'classical' writers (Jane Austen above all) - I'd been reading them far too fast. For full appreciation the words need to be mulled over and 'savoured' - and that is basically why I've gone adrift with C.D. this year. I've been so anxious to get the books over and done with and to get onto reading something else that they just became a blur. <br />I would still defend Dickens as one of the half-dozen greatest authors in the English language - but in future I shan't attempt more than a max of three of his works in any one year from now on.<br />And 'C. Carol' I know more than any other of his novels because, as I say, I read it every Xmas season - and it's a lovely (and short!) work. Raybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12424095016313843883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-926347286766677626.post-54273045987337095392012-11-19T05:24:45.071-08:002012-11-19T05:24:45.071-08:00A word in your opening sentence says it all: '...A word in your opening sentence says it all: 'task.' I got through Dickens during my learning years, but you know, never again.<br /><br />I notice that you saved the best for last - Patricia Highsmith. Always a treat to read again the evilness of Ripley and then watch "The Amazing Mr. Ripley." Since a brand new year will be upon us, I'd like to recommend a new author to those of us who are Patricia Highsmith admirers: Gillian Flynn and the book is "Gone Girl" - could not put it down.paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02085842904367441128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-926347286766677626.post-77189763333031071102012-11-19T03:40:52.732-08:002012-11-19T03:40:52.732-08:00"jane eyre" and "wuthering heights&..."jane eyre" and "wuthering heights".<br /><br />we had to read dickens in high school english classes. BORING! I just could NOT get the hang of his writing; I make an exception for "carol".anne marie in phillyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11765140782182605141noreply@blogger.com