Martin Chuzzlewit

Martin Chuzzlewit 

by Charles Dickens
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Having read Samantha Silva's novel Mr. Dickens and his Carol earlier this year--which is set at the period of Dickens' life when Chuzzlewit was being published--I was interested to read this particular novel. It was not my favorite Dickens. I found the whole section in America to be superfluous and I could definitely have done with a lot less of Mrs. Gamp. Her carrying on about Mrs. Harris was funny at first, but it got old fast. The heart of this novel, for me, was the storyline about Tom Pinch and his sister. 

This book is on my Classics Club list and it counts toward both the TBR pile challenge and #20booksofsummer2023.

Mr. Dickens and His Carol

Mr. Dickens and His Carol 

by Samantha Silva
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“We are all lost, all broken. Trying desperately to be whole again.”

I listened to this on audio, read by Euan Morton. 

This is the story of Charles Dickens just after the publication (and flop) of Martin Chuzzlewit. He is being forced by his publishers to write a Christmas book and he is definitely not feeling any Christmas spirit nor any inclination to write. Of course we know he will write A Chrismas Carol, but the path to the famous story's completion is beautifully told in this book. There are a lot of details of life in London in 1843 which was interesting. I am a fan of Dickens' work and I was impressed by how well Silva captured the feel of his writing in her own. There were colorful characters a plenty and the tone was just right--some funny, some sad, some exciting--to feel like Dickens.

This book counts toward the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.

Nicholas Nickleby

Nicholas Nickleby 

by Charles Dickens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is early novel in Dickens' career and you can see that in the structure of the plot (or rather the lack of structure). It is full of  colorful and entertaining characters and like the other Dickens novels I have read (this is my 5th one) it was a compelling tale that I wanted to keep reading to discover how Nicholas would get out of the various scrapes he got into. 

It is also full of observations about the world:

“Most men unconsciously judge the world from themselves, and it will be very generally found that those who sneer habitually at human nature, and affect to despise it, are among its worst and least pleasant samples.”

This book is on my Classics Club list, it is on my TBR pile challenge list, and I am counting it as my "Wild Card" title for the Back to the Classics Challenge. 

Great Expectations

Great Expectations 

by Charles Dickens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Originally published in 1861 this is a coming-of-age story about a young orphan, Pip. It is full of wonderfully-drawn characters each acting according to their own view of right and wrong. These different ways of looking at the world are skillfully woven together to create the man that Pip eventually becomes. 

In discussing the ending (which was not the originally intended conclusion to the story) with his biographer Dickens said he had "put in as pretty a little piece of writing as I could." It is only one of many pretty pieces of writing included in the novel. For example: 

"It was a dark night, though the full moon rose as I left the enclosed lands, and passed out upon the marshes. Beyond their dark line there was a ribbon of clear sky, hardly broad enough to hold the large red moon. In a few minutes she had ascended out of that clear field, in among the piled mountains of cloud." (p. 432)

This book is from my Classics Club list and it counts toward the Back to the Classics challenge as a 19th century classic. 

Pickwick Papers

The Pickwick Papers: The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club by Charles Dickens
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was Charles Dickens first novel and it was published by Chapman and Hall in installments between March 1936 and November 1837. The last sections of this novel, according to CharlesDickensInfo.com, overlapped with the writing/publication of Oliver Twist which began in January 1837. This novel tells the adventures, many of them quite ridiculous, of Mr. Pickwick and his friends Mr. Snodgrass, Mr. Winkle, and Mr. Tupman. Pickwick's loyal servant Sam Weller assists and adds commentary to many of the events. Interspersed in the novel are several short stories (tales told to the friends in pubs mostly). There is a line of serious commentary on the failings of the legal system throughout the book. Dickens is no fan of lawyers. The premise of the whole thing is that Pickwick and his companions are the "Corresponding Society of the Pickwick Club" and will travel around observing the country and send back their reports to the club (which votes to pay the postage and cover the cost of packages).
I first heard about this book when I was quite young and read Little Women for the first time. The sisters play at being the Pickwick Club and have meetings as such in Alcott's novel. I wasn't as taken with Pickwick Papers as the March girls were, but it was definitely an enjoyable novel. 
This book is on my Classics Club List and it counts toward the Back to the Classics Challenge as a classic travel or journey narrative.

Ten Most Influential Books

Random Ramblings challenged readers to create a list of ten books that have been most influential in their lives and to provide no explanation of why (thus giving you the reader an opportunity to be influenced or not in your own way). Roof Beam Reader and Brona's Books compiled lists. 
Here is mine (in no particular order):

1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
3. The Illustrated Treasury of Poetry for Children edited by David Ross
4. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
5. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
6. Getting Things Done by David Allen
7. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
8. Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
9. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
10. Moby Dick by Herman Melville

For the record, just because I think a book influenced me it doesn't mean I liked it or even that I finished it.

The Woman in White

Wilkie Collins was a contemporary (and friend) of Charles Dickens, author of Bleak House (and many other books) and serves as the narrator of the novel Drood.  After reading about his rather sordid personal life in Drood, I was interested to see what Collins' writing would be like. It did not disappoint.

The Woman in White was originally published in serial form beginning in November 1859. It is a suspense novel filled with dastardly deeds and mysterious events. Spying and intercepted letters and forged documents and secret loves all play a part in the complex plot and keep the pages turning. What gives the novel weight is the characters. Each is a detailed and unique individual, especially the villains.

The point of view of the narrative switches around so you see events and people from various perspectives which adds depth to each character. Count Fosco, for example, is felt by some narrators to be evil and sneaky and definitely responsible for harming them all. Other narrators contend that he is the personification of a gentleman and acting only out of kindness and concern for the well being of them all. By the end you get a report of the actions from his own viewpoint and can draw your own conclusions.

The novel is composed of many pairs of people and this parallel structure --two heroines, two villains, two houses-- helps keep the action of the story moving without having to give anything away too soon.

I really enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading Collins' The Moonstone which was discussed at length in Drood.

Challenge Update: Tea and Books 2012

I have completed The Book Garden's Tea and Books Challenge 2012 (with 4 days to spare!) Reading 6 books (the Earl Grey Aficionado level for which I signed up) with more than 700 pages each in a single year was a lot harder than I expected it to be. In celebration I am having a cup of Manhattan Earl Grey as I write this.


Of the books that I was originally considering for this challenge, I ended up reading all but one of them. Here is my final list:

• Haruki Murakami's 1Q84, which I read but didn't review (925 pages)
• Jonathan Strange and Mr.Norrell by Susanna Clark (846 pages)
• Bleak House by Charles Dickens (965 pages)
• The Salterton Trilogy by Robertson Davies (775 pages)
• Drood by Dan Simmons (775 pages)
• Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light by Patrick McGilligan (864 pages, but really 789 because the last section is bibliographic references and the index)

Review: Drood

Drood by Dan Simmons

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was really liking this book until I got to the ending which I thought fell flat. The novel is narrated by Wilkie Collins (the author) who is the epitome of the unreliable narrator: he takes a ton of drugs, drinks a good deal, and is completely self-absorbed and quite cruel. The story spans several decades and not a lot actually happens beyond basic life stuff (work, moving households, babies), unless we believe Collins in which case a battle to the death between Charles Dickens (the inimitable author) and a mysterious Egyptian monster named Drood is taking place over these years. There is a lot of detail about the work of both writers and various aspects of London that I found interesting. I especially liked the parts where Collins condemns Dickens' work as being sub-standard to his own. The Bleak House critique is excellent, for example. What I didn't like about the ending was that the whole novel (700+ pages) was heading for a grand battle between various players and then the battle scene isn't there. There are several smaller incidents that seem to foreshadow the showdown, but ultimately we never get to see it. I felt cheated.

There is a review of this book by Louis Bayard in the Washington Post.  I mostly agree with the reviewer, though the "padding and sock-puppetry" didn't bother me that much. I love his conclusion:

"A more apropos title, then, might have been "A Tale of Two Egos," which, all in all, is a worthy subject, but not worth the epic length afforded to it. Inside this artery-clogging almost-800-page book is a sleek and sinewy 300-page thriller waiting to be teased out. If only Simmons hadn't left the job to us"

I read this book for the Tea & Books Challenge (#5 of 6).

Review: Bleak House

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"Nothing ever ends" is an important thematic stand of the novel, according to the introduction. This may just be how one feels when reading it. This novel was originally published in 19 monthly parts, from March 1852 through September 1853 (the last was a double issue), and Dickens was writing them as they came out (he finished the story in August 1853). I think I would have like the story more in that form which would have been more like watching a soap than like never-ending assigned reading.
Once I plowed through the first 300 pages or so the interconnectedness of the various characters and storylines started to become apparent and the book became more interesting after that. I liked the sections narrated by Esther better than the sections with the unknown 3rd person narrator, I can see the need for those sections though to illuminate what Esther tells us.
This novel takes a broad look at the society of the time (and is largely a condemnation of it). Characters represent types, and variations on those types are each shown with a character--numerous lawyers, for example, and orphans. I'm glad I finished it, because until you get to the very end the grand sweep of the work isn't really clear and Esther's story, as well as the legal case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, aren't resolved until the very end.

I read this book for 2 challenges: Tea and Books and What's in a Name 5.

The Canadian Reading Challenge 6

I came across a post about this challenge on Bitter Tea and Mystery and thought it sounded interesting. I love the graphic! The challenge is organized on The Book Mine Set and runs Canada Day to Canada Day. The goal is to read and review 13 books by Canadian authors or about Canadians during the year. (There are 13 Canadian provinces, hence 13 books).

I'm not sure if I want to take on another reading challenge at the moment, but there are a few things drawing me toward this one:
1- There is a history of Canada on my shelf that I have been intending to read for years.
2- A post on Mysteries in Paradise reminded me that Louise Penny books would count and also Alan Bradley (didn't know he was Canadian). I have been working my way through their books lately anyway.
3- If I ever get through Bleak House (for the Tea & Books Challenge) I am planning to reward myself with a Robertson Davies novel for my next chunkster.

Whether I decide to sign up or not, I definitely plan to follow the posts on this challenge because it seems like a great opportunity to learn about Canadian books and authors I have missed out on.

What's in a Name Challenge Update

To date I have read 2 of the 6 books for the  Beth Fish Reads: What's in a Name 5 Challenge. I really liked my creepy-crawly book, The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito. I did not care for the calendar book I read, The Friday Night Knitting Club.

I think my house book is going to be Bleak House, which will also qualify for the Tea & Books Challenge I am working on as it is a long book. I am also embarking on a re-read of the Dorthy Sayers novels and Clouds of Witness will meet the something-in-the-sky category.

Review: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book has everything--which it should because it is 846 pages long! Anyhow, in a wonderful tale of the rebirth of English Magic there are historical people and events mixed into the story, footnotes that explain obscure points of made-up history, lots of tight corners that are gotten out of in surprising ways, romance, battles, dancing, architectural details, several threads that all tie in together as you reach the end of the book, lots of books that help (or hinder) the characters in their efforts, and wonderful writing. The style is Charles Dickens, meets Jane Austen, with hints of Bram Stoker here and there (no vampires though, just a similar mood).

"There were sheets of thick paper on every surface and inky rags. There were pewter dishes containing ancient cheese rinds and pots containing pens and pieces of charcoal. There was an elderly bunch of celery that had lived too long and too promiscuously in close companionship with the charcoal for its own good." (p. 584)

The way the stories of the two magicians, and some other folks whose importance becomes clear as the story progresses, is interwoven was very well done. There were some sections that seemed a bit drawn out. I thought the war in Spain, for example, went on a lot longer than the story really required.

If you have reviewed this book please post a link to your review in the comments.

Tea & Books Reading Challenge

I decided to join the Tea & Books Reading Challenge because (1) I love the name and (2) it fits perfectly with a 2012 reading challenge from my husband.

I typically read a lot of books, my husband reads fewer. His books can often double as doorstops however, as they are huge. When I was considering what I might want to do as a 12 in 12 challenge he suggested that I should read 12 long books in 2012. He defined long as more than 600 pages.

The Tea & Books Challenge requires that the "chunksters" you read for it be at least 700 pages long. I have compiled a list of long books that had been in my "to read" list and which I might take on this year. Many of them have more than 700 pages so I decided to join T&B at the Earl Grey Aficionado (6 books) level. (Earl Grey is, in fact, my favorite tea, so this seemed the best option.)

So far this year I have read one book toward this challenge: Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 which is 925 pages and about which there was an interesting article in The Guardian.

I haven't totally decided on the other 5 titles, but am considering a novel by Charles Dickens; the first book in Geroge R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones series; Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke; and Drood by Dan Simmons. I plan to check out the postings from other Tea & Books participants for other book ideas.

Please add a comment and let me know what book of 700+ pages you enjoyed.