In a Dickens frame of mind!

I must be in a Charles Dickens mood lately! I picked up the newest adaptations of Little Dorrit and The Old Curiosity Shop recently when they hit the shelves. I’m a fan of Andrew Davies’ version of Little Dorrit. My favorite characters are Flora with her awkward ‘girlishness’ even though she is pass her youth and Mr. Pancks, the debt-collector with his constant puffs and snorts. I love how Andrew Davies brought these two characters to life.

I’m currently reading Little Dorrit; it will take me a while since I’m only reading it in the morning and on my lunch breaks at work.

My favorite passages so far:

“In our course through life we shall meet the people who are coming to meet us, from many strange places and by many strange roads, and what it is set to us to do to them, and what it is set to them to do to us, will all be done.” II – Fellow Travelers

“Flora, always tall, had grown to be very broad too, and short of breath; but that was not much. Flora, whom he had left a lily, had become a peony; but that was not much. Flora, who had seemed enchanted in all she said and thought, was diffuse and silly. That was much. Flora, who had been spoiled and artless long ago, was determined to be spoiled and artless now. That was a fatal blow.” XIII – Patriarchal

And I can’t tell you how much I love the illustrations by Hablot Knight Browne, known as Phiz. I remember reading David Copperfield during grad school and I loved looking at the illustrations.

I was recently at one of the local antique shops in town and they had a set of Charles Dickens novels, which you know I was going to grab, right?! :)


The works of Charles Dickens
Collier’s unabridged ed.
New York : P.F. Collier, 1870?

While I was at the antique shop, a very nice Russian man was helping the cashier to bring the books up to the front counter. He said, "You like Dickens? Most people don't know Dickens." Well, I'm sure he is known, if only for The Christmas Carol ;)

If you haven't seen any of the new adaptations of Charles Dickens' works on BBC you should stop by your local library, video store, etc. :)