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The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices
The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices, has been considered an important book throughout the human history. So that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. The whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. This book is not made of scanned copies and hence the text is clear and readable.
90 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1857
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About the author
Charles Dickens
12.5k books30.8k followersCharles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.
Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.
Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.
On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner," he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.
(from Wikipedia)
Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.
Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.
On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner," he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.
(from Wikipedia)
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May 28, 2025
“I’ve never heard of that one!” I could just hear my friends say as I started this short piece, followed quite soon by my own added thought, “Maybe there’s a reason for that.” However, a little perseverance through some of the most extreme of Dickensian diversions, revealed a little gem. And who has ever gone on a tour and professed to enjoy every single watering hole?
The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices was written as a collaboration between Charles Dickens and his great friend Wilkie Collins, to describe a walking tour the two had made together. During the September of 1857 they meandered through parts of the Lake District (named “Cumberland” at the time, and now “Cumbria”). What resulted is extremely whimsical, occasionally absurd, and it has to be said, very much of its time, with topical or earlier references some of us now struggle to recollect from history. But parts of it will either chill you to the bone or make you laugh out loud.
In October 1856, the 32 year old Collins, a rising star of literature, had joined Dickens’s regular writing staff of his own periodical, “Household Words”. This novella was published in several parts there in October 1857, and then as a book in 1890. In 1858 the two authors were to collaborate again with other writers, on the story “A House to Let”.
As I started this piece, I mused that had it not been authored by these two masters, I might well not have persevered past the first few pages. On the other hand, in describing the two “misguided young men”, the fingerprint of Dickens was quite obvious from the start.
Mr. Thomas Idle was a consummate idler. Yet it is sobering to contemplate the inspiration behind this satirical portrayal of Wilkie Collins. A year earlier, in 1856, Wilkie Collins had begun to use laudanum regularly to treat his gout. It is likely that he suffered from the soporific effect even yet. Sadly, he became addicted and was to struggle with the problem later in life. Mr. Francis Goodchild, conversely, put inordinate effort into everything. If it was not “worthy”, then however much effort was expended, the occupation was deemed “lazy”. This clearly indicates the frenetic activity of Charles Dickens.
Originally the lazy pair set off to walk to Cumberland with their knapsacks, but the appeal of this soon wore off, as Mr. Idle bethought himself of a train journey:
“… what was the use of walking, when you could ride at such a pace as that. Was it to see the country? If that was the object, look at it out of the carriage windows. There was a great deal more of it to be seen there than here. Besides, who wanted to see the country? Nobody. And again, whoever did walk? Nobody. Fellows set off to walk, but they never did it. They came back and said they did, but they didn’t. Then why should he walk? He wouldn’t walk. He swore it by this milestone!”
The tongue in cheek express train journey to Cumberland is amusing, and authentic. Engagingly it is told at express speed, until they finally alight at Carlisle, which “looked congenially and delightfully idle.” An entertaining piece on the delights of the bustling city on market day follows, but Carlisle does not suit their lazy purpose.
“Goodchild (who had already begun to doubt whether he was idle: as his way always is when he has nothing to do) had read of a certain black old Cumberland hill or mountain, called Carrock, or Carrock Fell;”
Mr. Idle, naturally retained strong doubts about the enterprise, but off they both set:
“Up hill and down hill, and twisting to the right, and twisting to the left, and with old Skiddaw (who has vaunted himself a great deal more than his merits deserve; but that is rather the way of the Lake country), dodging the apprentices in a picturesque and pleasant manner.”
This part made me laugh, with its verisimilitude. Before we had a car, we seemed to spend a great deal of time trekking to the base of the fell we had selected to climb, before we could even start climbing. The peak we aspired to, did indeed keep disappearing behind others, as we made our way to the start! And “Skiddaw”, just north of the town of Keswick, and the sixth highest peak in England, is the one peak which we were told we must ascend, if we wanted to be taken seriously. Why this first, and no others, I never did fathom, but joined the ranks of the wise, myself.
So the story really came to life for me, when the two climbed Carrock “Fell” (the Lake District term for a mountain.) These two idle fellows were bound to have difficulty navigating such unfriendly terrain, even aided as they were by a guide: the landlord of the local inn, who in fact proved to be barely more competent than they were themselves.
“the Two Idle Apprentices drifted out resignedly into a fine, soft, close, drowsy, penetrating rain; got into the landlord’s light dog−cart, and rattled off through the village for the foot of Carrock.”
The two noodle-heads were more fortunate than us, having the luxury of a dog-cart rather than Shanks’s pony, to transport them to the foot of the fell. I settled down happily to a familiar tale, written with Dickens’s jocular, ridiculous spin.
Many novice climbers, unused to the Lakeland topography even today, start out on the deceptive stony “paths” wearing slingback shoes, and with no waterproofs or basic necessaries, and with our great experience, (or so we thought), we used to sagely wonder just how soon we would see them bedraggled and limping back the other way.
“Mr. Goodchild looked eagerly at the top of the mountain, and, feeling apparently that he was now going to be very lazy indeed, shone all over wonderfully to the eye, under the influence of the contentment within and the moisture without. Only in the bosom of Mr. Thomas Idle did Despondency now hold her gloomy state. He kept it a secret; but he would have given a very handsome sum, when the ascent began, to have been back again at the inn. The sides of Carrock looked fearfully steep, and the top of Carrock was hidden in mist.”
Of course it was inevitable that Mr. Idle and Mr. Goodchild would become stranded, and moreover that
“The honest landlord went first, the beaming Goodchild followed, the mournful Idle brought up the rear.” Mr. Idle was plagued by “treacherous, disheartening rocks of all sorts of small shapes and small sizes, bruisers of tender toes and trippers−up of wavering feet.”
Instantly my memory flashed back to when we, clad sensibly enough in walking boots and armed with the correct gauge of Ordnance Survey map, got stranded on Red Pike, many years ago. We set out confidently, just as these two nincompoops did, sure that we would get back before the evening.
“Up and up and up again, till a ridge is reached and the outer edge of the mist on the summit of Carrock is darkly and drizzingly near. Is this the top? No, nothing like the top. It is an aggravating peculiarity of all mountains, that, although they have only one top when they are seen (as they ought always to be seen) from below, they turn out to have a perfect eruption of false tops whenever the traveller is sufficiently ill−advised to go out of his way for the purpose of ascending them. Carrock is but a trumpery little mountain of fifteen hundred feet, and it presumes to have false tops, and even precipices, as if it were Mont Blanc.”
Eventually the summit is reached:
“a dreary little cairn of stones appears … Idle, drenched and panting, stands up with his back to the wind, ascertains distinctly that this is the top at last, looks round with all the little curiosity that is left in him, and gets, in return, a magnificent view of − Nothing!”
The descent poses yet new problems. An inordinate length of time seems to be spent going round the mountain, in order to avoid falling into a “frightful chasm somewhere near the foot of Carrock, called The Black Arches”. Navigating narrow tracks at the side of the fell necessitates walking sideways, extremely carefully. This sounded most familiar.
Somehow, descending a fell, the tracks become more and more sparse and difficult to identify, and the temptation to scramble down the scree (lots of tiny stones on a steep slope) increases. So often the only way to proceed is to walk horizontally for miles, or so it seemed to us on this occasion. In fact the distance was comparatively small, but deceptive, as the pace was of necessity so slow. The mists came down, and all clues as to where we were, gradually vanished. The pace, for safety’s sake, became even slower. Our border collie - a sensible type of dog, you would think - was no help at all, trustingly looking up to we humans, as knowing the right route to take.
“More sideway walking, thicker and thicker mist, all sorts of points reached except the ‘certain point;’”
Worse of all, for us, was that nobody knew which fell we were climbing. Our landlady, though having provisioned us with ample sustaining food for our packed lunch, knew we never went on the “high fell” but just the lower slopes. But today … Yes, we were idiots. And we had several hours to muse on this, as we could see our bright red car as a tiny dot on the other side of Buttermere (the lake at the base of Red Pike). Sadly this had now disappeared in the mists, or perhaps round the other side of the fell. Who could say?
So I could identify absolutely with their delight, when they spied a stream. When there is a stream, however small a tributary, it is a good idea to follow it. Streams flow downwards! Ditto when they saw a track … and what utter joy when a tree loomed out of the mist! No trees grow on the high fell, but only on the lower slopes. And the sight of stone buildings dotted around is a sure sign that civilisation is near.
The incident ends more or less happily for the trio, as it did for us, although it was a salutary experience for all. We once again found our red car, at around 3 a.m., and drove back to our guest house by the moonlight, to descend the next morning crestfallen and rather embarrassed.
But I will remember with fondness the image I have in my mind of Dickens, with his “shining face” striding along confidently, with a limping, bedraggled Collins more than a few steps behind. So often we like to feel that we are walking in the footsteps of our favourite authors, or are privileged to visit their homes. This was a surprisingly refreshing instance of just that.
I began to wonder when the hand of Wilkie Collins would show. The answer came in chapter two. We have had a nice plot “twist” (please forgive the pun!) to set up a way in which the two lazy travellers could indulge their contrasting natures.
Francis Goodchild has ventured out from their room in Carlisle, in search of a doctor for his friend. The doctor’s assistant “Lorn” is a strange, unearthly individual, and the doctor proceeds to explain his history. This ghost story (in all but name) is clearly penned by Wilkie Collins. It has all his trademark concerns: mistaken identity, illegitimacy, inheritance, feckless young men, a poor but industrious student, female sacrifice in marriage, … and the ghostly elements are not spooks and sprites, as Dickens would have conjured up, but something more sinister and of this world, akin to an understated Edgar Allan Poe.
Motifs, such as the cloistered four poster bed, are recognisable from other stories of his. This has an echo of his classic “The Terribly Strange Bed”. Arthur, the story’s carefree protagonist, is trying to find a room in Doncaster for the night, at the busiest time of the year: during race week. He approaches an inn called “The Two Robins”. . The background of the tale, and its concerns with illegitimacy, heralds one of his major novels Wilkie Collins was to write later “No Name”, in 1862. It is a gripping tale, enough to make me feel that I could not stop until I had finished reading it!
“When he looked at the bed, now, he saw, hanging over the side of it, a long white hand. It lay perfectly motionless, midway on the side of the bed, where the curtain at the head and the curtain at the foot met. Nothing more was visible. The clinging curtains hid everything but the long white hand.”
Wilkie Collins himself must have been pleased with the tale, as he later published it as a stand-alone story: “The Dead Hand”, or “Brother Morgans Story of The Dead Hand”. This was published in “The Queen of Hearts”, an 1859 novel by him. Although the novel comprises a collection of ten short stories, they are presented in the popular Victorian tradition: inside a framing story, told in this case to entertain a young woman.
Chapter 3 begins with Francis Goodchild’s musing over the doctor’s mention of the Doncaster Races, which he found very tempting to such a lazy fellow as himself. This detail is rather telling, should you know anything of Dickens’s life.
At the time, Dickens was very unhappy in his marriage to Catherine Hogarth, probably due mostly to his recent infatuation with a young actress, Ellen Ternan. He had spotted her performing at London’s Haymarket Theatre, earlier in 1857, and cast her, along with her mother and sister Maria, in a performance of “The Frozen Deep” in Manchester in August 1857. This play had originally been staged as an amateur theatrical, the previous year. It was another collaboration between the two: written by Wilkie Collins but with alterations by its director, Charles Dickens.
In the same month as their lazy tour, Charles Dickens went with Wilkie Collins to see Ellen in “The Pet of the Petticoats”, at the Theatre Royal, Doncaster. He wrote to his mentor, John Forster, that his relationship with his wife was rapidly deteriorating:
“Poor Catherine and I are not made for each other and there is no help for it. It is not only that she makes me uneasy and unhappy, but that I make her so too—and much more so. What is now befalling I have seen steadily coming.”
Charles and Catherine took separate bedrooms. The next year, 1858, Charles Dickens separated from his wife and moved to “Gads Hill”, taking to live with him all their children, (with the exception of Charley), and Catherine’s sister, Georgina.
In chapter 4, Thomas Idle is deposited to recuperate in the village of Allonby, which he considers a depressing, dingy hole of a place. The quarrelsome two proceed to have an argument, which is most entertaining for the reader to observe. It includes an hilarious incident describing Thomas Idle’s reluctant participation in a school cricket match. In fact, most of his narrative begins to sound familiar ...
In a similar way to Dickens’s maniacal energy, and tendency to infatuation with younger women, we have a description of parts of Collins’s life and character. Many of the diversions are taken from life, and exaggerated, as so much of this story is. Wilkie Collins’s father had hoped he would become a clergyman, but since he showed no interest in this, encouraged him to study law as a second best. It was still a reputable job, with a good steady income. Wilkie Collins was indeed “lazy”, in that he preferred to write novels and spend time with his friends. He had no interest in studying law, but did manage to finish the course and be called to the Bar in 1851, although he never practised. This transcribes aptly enough, as:
“The third occasion on which Thomas found reason to reproach himself bitterly for the mistake of having attempted to be industrious, was connected with his choice of a calling in life. Having no interest in the Church, he appropriately selected the next best profession for a lazy man in England − the Bar.”
There is more discursive self-indulgent blathering, including an amusing description of the busy, noisy, train journey, before the lazy duo settle in an inn in Lancaster. And this provides the perfect setting for another ghost story, this time clearly penned by Charles Dickens.
Just as with Wilkie Collins’s story, this one was to be published afterwards separately, under the title “The Ghost in the Bride’s Chamber”. It tells the history of a man who is so determined to get his hands on some money, that he is willing to wait several generations, and do dastardly deeds, to achieve his aim.
But this is Dickens, and the perpetrator of the evil act does eventually have to pay for his actions.
In other aspects, the story is atypical for Dickens, in that it is violent and brutal, without much prospect of redemption. The depiction of Ellen also jars, as Dickens usually lets the actions of his characters speak for themselves. Perhaps the choice of “Ellen” as a name is significant. Dickens’s frustration, and his infatuation with Ellen Ternan, may have caused him to cast his “Nelly” as a victim.
The final, fifth chapter finds our two heroes travelling via Leeds to Doncaster itself. This chapter with its rambunctious descriptions, could not be more Dickensian if it tried. We are treated to a description of the St. Leger race, and a lengthy diatribe on how it completely takes over the town of Doncaster, with its “Gong−donkeys” or drunken young “gents”, whom we would more likely describe today as “louts”, and their various disturbances and brawls with other yobs.
After the race has ended, and Doncaster is once more restored to its former sanity, the story ends, theatrically:
“Mr. Idle fitly makes his bow, and Mr. Goodchild his, and thus ends the Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices.”
We are never told how the lazy two retrace their steps back home, but are left with the memory of Thomas Goodchild and his words:
“There is the sea, and here are the shrimps; − let us eat ’em’!”
(which is repeated so often that it becomes a catch-phrase), plus a plethora of other memorable images and snippets from this tale.
Do I recommend reading this short piece? It is thoroughly entertaining for those who already like the writings of Dickens and Collins, and know the main aspects of their lives. It gives new insights into the lives of both authors. The writing is delightful, especially for those who are familiar with the locations, and can find amusement at the unrestrained descriptions of towns such as Wigton, (the home incidentally to the writer Lord Melvyn Bragg). And it is clear that the two delight in self-mockery, as they demonstrate such glee in caricaturing both themselves and each other.
But for a general reader? Perhaps not. Unless you are a die-hard fan of either Charles Dickens or Wilkie Collins, or a completist in your reading, this could happily stay further down on your to-read list. It may be better to read one of their more famous works first.
The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices was written as a collaboration between Charles Dickens and his great friend Wilkie Collins, to describe a walking tour the two had made together. During the September of 1857 they meandered through parts of the Lake District (named “Cumberland” at the time, and now “Cumbria”). What resulted is extremely whimsical, occasionally absurd, and it has to be said, very much of its time, with topical or earlier references some of us now struggle to recollect from history. But parts of it will either chill you to the bone or make you laugh out loud.
In October 1856, the 32 year old Collins, a rising star of literature, had joined Dickens’s regular writing staff of his own periodical, “Household Words”. This novella was published in several parts there in October 1857, and then as a book in 1890. In 1858 the two authors were to collaborate again with other writers, on the story “A House to Let”.
As I started this piece, I mused that had it not been authored by these two masters, I might well not have persevered past the first few pages. On the other hand, in describing the two “misguided young men”, the fingerprint of Dickens was quite obvious from the start.
Mr. Thomas Idle was a consummate idler. Yet it is sobering to contemplate the inspiration behind this satirical portrayal of Wilkie Collins. A year earlier, in 1856, Wilkie Collins had begun to use laudanum regularly to treat his gout. It is likely that he suffered from the soporific effect even yet. Sadly, he became addicted and was to struggle with the problem later in life. Mr. Francis Goodchild, conversely, put inordinate effort into everything. If it was not “worthy”, then however much effort was expended, the occupation was deemed “lazy”. This clearly indicates the frenetic activity of Charles Dickens.
Originally the lazy pair set off to walk to Cumberland with their knapsacks, but the appeal of this soon wore off, as Mr. Idle bethought himself of a train journey:
“… what was the use of walking, when you could ride at such a pace as that. Was it to see the country? If that was the object, look at it out of the carriage windows. There was a great deal more of it to be seen there than here. Besides, who wanted to see the country? Nobody. And again, whoever did walk? Nobody. Fellows set off to walk, but they never did it. They came back and said they did, but they didn’t. Then why should he walk? He wouldn’t walk. He swore it by this milestone!”
The tongue in cheek express train journey to Cumberland is amusing, and authentic. Engagingly it is told at express speed, until they finally alight at Carlisle, which “looked congenially and delightfully idle.” An entertaining piece on the delights of the bustling city on market day follows, but Carlisle does not suit their lazy purpose.
“Goodchild (who had already begun to doubt whether he was idle: as his way always is when he has nothing to do) had read of a certain black old Cumberland hill or mountain, called Carrock, or Carrock Fell;”
Mr. Idle, naturally retained strong doubts about the enterprise, but off they both set:
“Up hill and down hill, and twisting to the right, and twisting to the left, and with old Skiddaw (who has vaunted himself a great deal more than his merits deserve; but that is rather the way of the Lake country), dodging the apprentices in a picturesque and pleasant manner.”
This part made me laugh, with its verisimilitude. Before we had a car, we seemed to spend a great deal of time trekking to the base of the fell we had selected to climb, before we could even start climbing. The peak we aspired to, did indeed keep disappearing behind others, as we made our way to the start! And “Skiddaw”, just north of the town of Keswick, and the sixth highest peak in England, is the one peak which we were told we must ascend, if we wanted to be taken seriously. Why this first, and no others, I never did fathom, but joined the ranks of the wise, myself.
So the story really came to life for me, when the two climbed Carrock “Fell” (the Lake District term for a mountain.) These two idle fellows were bound to have difficulty navigating such unfriendly terrain, even aided as they were by a guide: the landlord of the local inn, who in fact proved to be barely more competent than they were themselves.
“the Two Idle Apprentices drifted out resignedly into a fine, soft, close, drowsy, penetrating rain; got into the landlord’s light dog−cart, and rattled off through the village for the foot of Carrock.”
The two noodle-heads were more fortunate than us, having the luxury of a dog-cart rather than Shanks’s pony, to transport them to the foot of the fell. I settled down happily to a familiar tale, written with Dickens’s jocular, ridiculous spin.
Many novice climbers, unused to the Lakeland topography even today, start out on the deceptive stony “paths” wearing slingback shoes, and with no waterproofs or basic necessaries, and with our great experience, (or so we thought), we used to sagely wonder just how soon we would see them bedraggled and limping back the other way.
“Mr. Goodchild looked eagerly at the top of the mountain, and, feeling apparently that he was now going to be very lazy indeed, shone all over wonderfully to the eye, under the influence of the contentment within and the moisture without. Only in the bosom of Mr. Thomas Idle did Despondency now hold her gloomy state. He kept it a secret; but he would have given a very handsome sum, when the ascent began, to have been back again at the inn. The sides of Carrock looked fearfully steep, and the top of Carrock was hidden in mist.”
Of course it was inevitable that Mr. Idle and Mr. Goodchild would become stranded, and moreover that
“The honest landlord went first, the beaming Goodchild followed, the mournful Idle brought up the rear.” Mr. Idle was plagued by “treacherous, disheartening rocks of all sorts of small shapes and small sizes, bruisers of tender toes and trippers−up of wavering feet.”
Instantly my memory flashed back to when we, clad sensibly enough in walking boots and armed with the correct gauge of Ordnance Survey map, got stranded on Red Pike, many years ago. We set out confidently, just as these two nincompoops did, sure that we would get back before the evening.
“Up and up and up again, till a ridge is reached and the outer edge of the mist on the summit of Carrock is darkly and drizzingly near. Is this the top? No, nothing like the top. It is an aggravating peculiarity of all mountains, that, although they have only one top when they are seen (as they ought always to be seen) from below, they turn out to have a perfect eruption of false tops whenever the traveller is sufficiently ill−advised to go out of his way for the purpose of ascending them. Carrock is but a trumpery little mountain of fifteen hundred feet, and it presumes to have false tops, and even precipices, as if it were Mont Blanc.”
Eventually the summit is reached:
“a dreary little cairn of stones appears … Idle, drenched and panting, stands up with his back to the wind, ascertains distinctly that this is the top at last, looks round with all the little curiosity that is left in him, and gets, in return, a magnificent view of − Nothing!”
The descent poses yet new problems. An inordinate length of time seems to be spent going round the mountain, in order to avoid falling into a “frightful chasm somewhere near the foot of Carrock, called The Black Arches”. Navigating narrow tracks at the side of the fell necessitates walking sideways, extremely carefully. This sounded most familiar.
Somehow, descending a fell, the tracks become more and more sparse and difficult to identify, and the temptation to scramble down the scree (lots of tiny stones on a steep slope) increases. So often the only way to proceed is to walk horizontally for miles, or so it seemed to us on this occasion. In fact the distance was comparatively small, but deceptive, as the pace was of necessity so slow. The mists came down, and all clues as to where we were, gradually vanished. The pace, for safety’s sake, became even slower. Our border collie - a sensible type of dog, you would think - was no help at all, trustingly looking up to we humans, as knowing the right route to take.
“More sideway walking, thicker and thicker mist, all sorts of points reached except the ‘certain point;’”
Worse of all, for us, was that nobody knew which fell we were climbing. Our landlady, though having provisioned us with ample sustaining food for our packed lunch, knew we never went on the “high fell” but just the lower slopes. But today … Yes, we were idiots. And we had several hours to muse on this, as we could see our bright red car as a tiny dot on the other side of Buttermere (the lake at the base of Red Pike). Sadly this had now disappeared in the mists, or perhaps round the other side of the fell. Who could say?
So I could identify absolutely with their delight, when they spied a stream. When there is a stream, however small a tributary, it is a good idea to follow it. Streams flow downwards! Ditto when they saw a track … and what utter joy when a tree loomed out of the mist! No trees grow on the high fell, but only on the lower slopes. And the sight of stone buildings dotted around is a sure sign that civilisation is near.
The incident ends more or less happily for the trio, as it did for us, although it was a salutary experience for all. We once again found our red car, at around 3 a.m., and drove back to our guest house by the moonlight, to descend the next morning crestfallen and rather embarrassed.
But I will remember with fondness the image I have in my mind of Dickens, with his “shining face” striding along confidently, with a limping, bedraggled Collins more than a few steps behind. So often we like to feel that we are walking in the footsteps of our favourite authors, or are privileged to visit their homes. This was a surprisingly refreshing instance of just that.
I began to wonder when the hand of Wilkie Collins would show. The answer came in chapter two. We have had a nice plot “twist” (please forgive the pun!) to set up a way in which the two lazy travellers could indulge their contrasting natures.
Francis Goodchild has ventured out from their room in Carlisle, in search of a doctor for his friend. The doctor’s assistant “Lorn” is a strange, unearthly individual, and the doctor proceeds to explain his history. This ghost story (in all but name) is clearly penned by Wilkie Collins. It has all his trademark concerns: mistaken identity, illegitimacy, inheritance, feckless young men, a poor but industrious student, female sacrifice in marriage, … and the ghostly elements are not spooks and sprites, as Dickens would have conjured up, but something more sinister and of this world, akin to an understated Edgar Allan Poe.
Motifs, such as the cloistered four poster bed, are recognisable from other stories of his. This has an echo of his classic “The Terribly Strange Bed”. Arthur, the story’s carefree protagonist, is trying to find a room in Doncaster for the night, at the busiest time of the year: during race week. He approaches an inn called “The Two Robins”. . The background of the tale, and its concerns with illegitimacy, heralds one of his major novels Wilkie Collins was to write later “No Name”, in 1862. It is a gripping tale, enough to make me feel that I could not stop until I had finished reading it!
“When he looked at the bed, now, he saw, hanging over the side of it, a long white hand. It lay perfectly motionless, midway on the side of the bed, where the curtain at the head and the curtain at the foot met. Nothing more was visible. The clinging curtains hid everything but the long white hand.”
Wilkie Collins himself must have been pleased with the tale, as he later published it as a stand-alone story: “The Dead Hand”, or “Brother Morgans Story of The Dead Hand”. This was published in “The Queen of Hearts”, an 1859 novel by him. Although the novel comprises a collection of ten short stories, they are presented in the popular Victorian tradition: inside a framing story, told in this case to entertain a young woman.
Chapter 3 begins with Francis Goodchild’s musing over the doctor’s mention of the Doncaster Races, which he found very tempting to such a lazy fellow as himself. This detail is rather telling, should you know anything of Dickens’s life.
At the time, Dickens was very unhappy in his marriage to Catherine Hogarth, probably due mostly to his recent infatuation with a young actress, Ellen Ternan. He had spotted her performing at London’s Haymarket Theatre, earlier in 1857, and cast her, along with her mother and sister Maria, in a performance of “The Frozen Deep” in Manchester in August 1857. This play had originally been staged as an amateur theatrical, the previous year. It was another collaboration between the two: written by Wilkie Collins but with alterations by its director, Charles Dickens.
In the same month as their lazy tour, Charles Dickens went with Wilkie Collins to see Ellen in “The Pet of the Petticoats”, at the Theatre Royal, Doncaster. He wrote to his mentor, John Forster, that his relationship with his wife was rapidly deteriorating:
“Poor Catherine and I are not made for each other and there is no help for it. It is not only that she makes me uneasy and unhappy, but that I make her so too—and much more so. What is now befalling I have seen steadily coming.”
Charles and Catherine took separate bedrooms. The next year, 1858, Charles Dickens separated from his wife and moved to “Gads Hill”, taking to live with him all their children, (with the exception of Charley), and Catherine’s sister, Georgina.
In chapter 4, Thomas Idle is deposited to recuperate in the village of Allonby, which he considers a depressing, dingy hole of a place. The quarrelsome two proceed to have an argument, which is most entertaining for the reader to observe. It includes an hilarious incident describing Thomas Idle’s reluctant participation in a school cricket match. In fact, most of his narrative begins to sound familiar ...
In a similar way to Dickens’s maniacal energy, and tendency to infatuation with younger women, we have a description of parts of Collins’s life and character. Many of the diversions are taken from life, and exaggerated, as so much of this story is. Wilkie Collins’s father had hoped he would become a clergyman, but since he showed no interest in this, encouraged him to study law as a second best. It was still a reputable job, with a good steady income. Wilkie Collins was indeed “lazy”, in that he preferred to write novels and spend time with his friends. He had no interest in studying law, but did manage to finish the course and be called to the Bar in 1851, although he never practised. This transcribes aptly enough, as:
“The third occasion on which Thomas found reason to reproach himself bitterly for the mistake of having attempted to be industrious, was connected with his choice of a calling in life. Having no interest in the Church, he appropriately selected the next best profession for a lazy man in England − the Bar.”
There is more discursive self-indulgent blathering, including an amusing description of the busy, noisy, train journey, before the lazy duo settle in an inn in Lancaster. And this provides the perfect setting for another ghost story, this time clearly penned by Charles Dickens.
Just as with Wilkie Collins’s story, this one was to be published afterwards separately, under the title “The Ghost in the Bride’s Chamber”. It tells the history of a man who is so determined to get his hands on some money, that he is willing to wait several generations, and do dastardly deeds, to achieve his aim.
But this is Dickens, and the perpetrator of the evil act does eventually have to pay for his actions.
In other aspects, the story is atypical for Dickens, in that it is violent and brutal, without much prospect of redemption. The depiction of Ellen also jars, as Dickens usually lets the actions of his characters speak for themselves. Perhaps the choice of “Ellen” as a name is significant. Dickens’s frustration, and his infatuation with Ellen Ternan, may have caused him to cast his “Nelly” as a victim.
The final, fifth chapter finds our two heroes travelling via Leeds to Doncaster itself. This chapter with its rambunctious descriptions, could not be more Dickensian if it tried. We are treated to a description of the St. Leger race, and a lengthy diatribe on how it completely takes over the town of Doncaster, with its “Gong−donkeys” or drunken young “gents”, whom we would more likely describe today as “louts”, and their various disturbances and brawls with other yobs.
After the race has ended, and Doncaster is once more restored to its former sanity, the story ends, theatrically:
“Mr. Idle fitly makes his bow, and Mr. Goodchild his, and thus ends the Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices.”
We are never told how the lazy two retrace their steps back home, but are left with the memory of Thomas Goodchild and his words:
“There is the sea, and here are the shrimps; − let us eat ’em’!”
(which is repeated so often that it becomes a catch-phrase), plus a plethora of other memorable images and snippets from this tale.
Do I recommend reading this short piece? It is thoroughly entertaining for those who already like the writings of Dickens and Collins, and know the main aspects of their lives. It gives new insights into the lives of both authors. The writing is delightful, especially for those who are familiar with the locations, and can find amusement at the unrestrained descriptions of towns such as Wigton, (the home incidentally to the writer Lord Melvyn Bragg). And it is clear that the two delight in self-mockery, as they demonstrate such glee in caricaturing both themselves and each other.
But for a general reader? Perhaps not. Unless you are a die-hard fan of either Charles Dickens or Wilkie Collins, or a completist in your reading, this could happily stay further down on your to-read list. It may be better to read one of their more famous works first.
August 27, 2020
Autumn 1857. Two writers and good friends abandoned their work and embarked on a ‘perfectly idle trip.’ Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins took on holiday names – Francis Goodchild and Thomas Idle, respectively. ‘They had no intention of going anywhere in particular; they wanted to see nothing, they wanted to know nothing, they wanted to learn nothing, they wanted to do nothing. They wanted only to be idle.’ What bliss!
I followed their adventure and resolve to be idle and was treated to some insight into the idiosyncrasies of the two writers and how they could not be more unlike each other. Whereas Thomas was a ‘born-and bred idler, a consistent idler’, Francis was ’laboriously idle’ and could not keep still. The former was content to lay down on a sofa and stare into space, determined to be happily idle. The latter was always up and about, looking out the window, checking out the shops, and dragging his idle friend with him (including up a 1500 feet mountain at Carrock Fell in the rain and mist!). Part of the fun was eaves dropping on their humorous banter. At Allonby by the Scottish coast, there really was not much to do or see. And I laughed every time I hear Francis say unconvincingly, much to Thomas’ exasperation, “There is the sea, and here are the shrimps; - let’s eat ‘em’!”
This being a joint writing effort between Dickens and Collins, it was interesting for me to decipher which chapters bore the trademarks of their writing style. As one would expect of Collin’s writing, there was a chilling mystery story told by a country doctor to Francis of an impoverished student doctor (Andrew Holliday) who was discovered dead at an inn. That he had no name and was abandoned by his father reminded me of the two orphan sisters in Collins’ novel, No Name. There was another unsettling ghost story of an asylum that reminded me of the ghost stories Dickens wrote.
Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices was a light and engaging read; however, there were chapters where the narration plodded and I began to feel weary like Thomas conquering the mountain. That said, it was lovely to see two writers having fun writing this story together and sharing a joke at their own expense.
I would not have read this book if not for the Dickensians group. "Wot larks!"
I followed their adventure and resolve to be idle and was treated to some insight into the idiosyncrasies of the two writers and how they could not be more unlike each other. Whereas Thomas was a ‘born-and bred idler, a consistent idler’, Francis was ’laboriously idle’ and could not keep still. The former was content to lay down on a sofa and stare into space, determined to be happily idle. The latter was always up and about, looking out the window, checking out the shops, and dragging his idle friend with him (including up a 1500 feet mountain at Carrock Fell in the rain and mist!). Part of the fun was eaves dropping on their humorous banter. At Allonby by the Scottish coast, there really was not much to do or see. And I laughed every time I hear Francis say unconvincingly, much to Thomas’ exasperation, “There is the sea, and here are the shrimps; - let’s eat ‘em’!”
This being a joint writing effort between Dickens and Collins, it was interesting for me to decipher which chapters bore the trademarks of their writing style. As one would expect of Collin’s writing, there was a chilling mystery story told by a country doctor to Francis of an impoverished student doctor (Andrew Holliday) who was discovered dead at an inn. That he had no name and was abandoned by his father reminded me of the two orphan sisters in Collins’ novel, No Name. There was another unsettling ghost story of an asylum that reminded me of the ghost stories Dickens wrote.
Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices was a light and engaging read; however, there were chapters where the narration plodded and I began to feel weary like Thomas conquering the mountain. That said, it was lovely to see two writers having fun writing this story together and sharing a joke at their own expense.
I would not have read this book if not for the Dickensians group. "Wot larks!"
August 24, 2020
If you were to go up in a balloon, you would make for heaven; and if you were to dive into the depths of the earth, nothing short of the other place would content you.
These are the words of Thomas Idle to Francis Goodchild, but they are really the words of Wilkie Collins to describe his friend, Charles Dickens. This is a joint effort novella produced by Dickens and Collins, in which they poke fun at themselves and at one another. It contains a frame story in which two men set off for an idle adventure through the countryside of the English Lake District and the Fells, and contains two beautifully crafted short stories within the frame. One is a story of a young man who is housed in an inn with a recently deceased corpse; the other a more traditional ghost story...one obviously penned by Collins and the other by Dickens.
I enjoyed both the frame and the insets. The internal stories are so well done that you lose yourself in them and forget that they have dragged you away from the adventure at hand. There is a lot of sly humor, the feeling that you have been let in on an inside joke, and a glimpse into these two distinct personalities, the man of activity and the true idler, and how they managed to mesh.
If you are a fan of Collins and Dickens, you will be sure to enjoy this. If you are not, perhaps after reading this you will be.
These are the words of Thomas Idle to Francis Goodchild, but they are really the words of Wilkie Collins to describe his friend, Charles Dickens. This is a joint effort novella produced by Dickens and Collins, in which they poke fun at themselves and at one another. It contains a frame story in which two men set off for an idle adventure through the countryside of the English Lake District and the Fells, and contains two beautifully crafted short stories within the frame. One is a story of a young man who is housed in an inn with a recently deceased corpse; the other a more traditional ghost story...one obviously penned by Collins and the other by Dickens.
I enjoyed both the frame and the insets. The internal stories are so well done that you lose yourself in them and forget that they have dragged you away from the adventure at hand. There is a lot of sly humor, the feeling that you have been let in on an inside joke, and a glimpse into these two distinct personalities, the man of activity and the true idler, and how they managed to mesh.
If you are a fan of Collins and Dickens, you will be sure to enjoy this. If you are not, perhaps after reading this you will be.
September 26, 2020
3.5
I haven’t read Bill Bryson’s walking-memoir (or seen the movie), but I've seen it described as a hilarious account of his hiking with an inept sidekick, so I’m tempted to say it’s been done before with this possibly exaggerated but true story of the walking tour Charles Dickens took with his friend and fellow-writer Wilkie Collins.
The two self-styled idle apprentices—one of whom is not constitutionally made for idleness—are taking a break from their employer, Literature. (Though, later, in a delightful, rather metafictional scene, we see them writing.) In the beginning of their excursion, they almost get lost on a foggy mountain after a compass is broken. The true idler, lagging behind, twists his ankle and has to be carried back to their lodgings. They decide to go to Doncaster for the races (horses), though not to watch the races: They are too idle for that. I loved the descriptions of what the non-idler sees from afar as he walks away from the throng. In between these adventures, we are treated to two creepy ghost stories (later published separately as “The Dead Hand” and “The Bride’s Chamber”), as well as the true idler's personal history pertaining to his rationalization of idleness.
No lines of demarcation point out who wrote which section and I found it fun (and distracting) to try to figure that out. While I feel sure of the authorship of some sections, it isn’t always clear: I’m guessing their respective styles rubbed off on each other to a certain extent during the collaboration.
I haven’t read Bill Bryson’s walking-memoir (or seen the movie), but I've seen it described as a hilarious account of his hiking with an inept sidekick, so I’m tempted to say it’s been done before with this possibly exaggerated but true story of the walking tour Charles Dickens took with his friend and fellow-writer Wilkie Collins.
The two self-styled idle apprentices—one of whom is not constitutionally made for idleness—are taking a break from their employer, Literature. (Though, later, in a delightful, rather metafictional scene, we see them writing.) In the beginning of their excursion, they almost get lost on a foggy mountain after a compass is broken. The true idler, lagging behind, twists his ankle and has to be carried back to their lodgings. They decide to go to Doncaster for the races (horses), though not to watch the races: They are too idle for that. I loved the descriptions of what the non-idler sees from afar as he walks away from the throng. In between these adventures, we are treated to two creepy ghost stories (later published separately as “The Dead Hand” and “The Bride’s Chamber”), as well as the true idler's personal history pertaining to his rationalization of idleness.
No lines of demarcation point out who wrote which section and I found it fun (and distracting) to try to figure that out. While I feel sure of the authorship of some sections, it isn’t always clear: I’m guessing their respective styles rubbed off on each other to a certain extent during the collaboration.
August 21, 2020
Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins collaborated on writing "The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices." It was first published in serial form in "Household Words" after the good friends went on a walking tour together. The book features two characters--the energetic Francis Goodchild (Dickens), and the extremely idle Thomas Idle (Collins) who is sidelined after spraining his ankle climbing a mountain in Cumberland.
Three chapters of the book are amusing and exaggerated tales as the two men poke fun at themselves. Readers familiar with the two authors' lives will especially enjoy the humor. The walking tour also acts as a frame for a mystery story and a ghost story which both have wonderful supernatural Gothic elements. Some of the five chapters were more successful than others, but it was an enjoyable book overall. 3.5 stars.
Three chapters of the book are amusing and exaggerated tales as the two men poke fun at themselves. Readers familiar with the two authors' lives will especially enjoy the humor. The walking tour also acts as a frame for a mystery story and a ghost story which both have wonderful supernatural Gothic elements. Some of the five chapters were more successful than others, but it was an enjoyable book overall. 3.5 stars.
April 17, 2019
“It is the practice of the English portion of the human race to receive all great disasters in dead silence.”
Whether this statement made by Collins with regard to his Carrock Fell experience be true or not, is neither here nor there because even if it were, every Englishman might still talk about The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices, a short little travelogue on their 1857 trip to Cumbria, which Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens collaborated on. This little work, although no masterpiece, is definitely quite fun to read.
Collins and Dickens, in the little book known as Mr. Thomas Idle and Mr. Francis Goodchild, go on what they consider an idle tour through the north of England, but their main problem is that both of them hold rather diverging opinions on what idleness is all about. While Mr. Idle thinks that idleness consists in virtually doing nothing – in one scene, he aptly summarizes this admirable concept by saying that lying ”[p]rone on the sofa, Thomas made no attempt to get through the hours, but passively allowed the hours to get through him” –, his energetic friend Mr. Goodchild is of the opinion that being idle means doing something that does not serve a real purpose, like climbing a mountain, going on long walks, or composing an opera. I am definitely siding with Mr. Idle here, and maybe that’s why reading this book – where nothing really happens – gave me so much fun because I could wholeheartedly, or wholefootedly, put myself into Mr. Idle’s shoes when he reluctantly followed his friend and their guide up that Carrock Fell, not knowing why anyone should take the trouble to climb a mountain just to look down from its peak afterwards. I would have sprained my ankle, too, I’m sure, and peevishly followed my friends’ exertions to find the right way down, once the fog had settled so thick that nothing but a compass would have been of service. And I would also have spent most of the day lying on a sofa, curing my sprained ankle, because when you have an injury and have to go through all that pain and inconvenience, you should try to make this lemon into lemonade, i.e. sit down comfortably and get on everybody’s nerves by ordering them about. Mr. Idle is too idle to do the last thing but only wants his peace and quiet. When he then muses on the harms that bouts of unnecessary diligence and zeal have caused in his life, I could not help thinking, What a wise man! A little later, his unflatteringly critical judgment on the horse as such made me laugh out loud, and I also highly enjoyed his reaction to the apparently unspectacularly small and forsaken town of Allonby on arriving there:
Of course, not everything that happens or that is described in this travelogue is entertaining; some bits are actually quite laboured. But then whenever you go on a tour you cannot expect all places to hold the same interest to you. While you read about this “lazy tour”, one of the additional charms is that you are kept guessing as to who might have written what part of the story. Some bits are very easy to lay at the doorstep of either Dickens or Collins, but others are trickier to pigeonhole. The two friends also throw in two stories, which could be seen as ghost stories although strictly speaking they are not, and which add some drama to the rather idle tour. The first one is by Collins (although there is so much relying on coincidence in it that I’d have put it down to Dickens) and it was later published as The Dead Hand, the second is by Dickens and it also goes by the name A Ghost in the Bride’s Chamber.
All in all, with its mixture of funny travelogue and gothic stories, The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices is clearly a good companion for a lazy weekend read.
Whether this statement made by Collins with regard to his Carrock Fell experience be true or not, is neither here nor there because even if it were, every Englishman might still talk about The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices, a short little travelogue on their 1857 trip to Cumbria, which Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens collaborated on. This little work, although no masterpiece, is definitely quite fun to read.
Collins and Dickens, in the little book known as Mr. Thomas Idle and Mr. Francis Goodchild, go on what they consider an idle tour through the north of England, but their main problem is that both of them hold rather diverging opinions on what idleness is all about. While Mr. Idle thinks that idleness consists in virtually doing nothing – in one scene, he aptly summarizes this admirable concept by saying that lying ”[p]rone on the sofa, Thomas made no attempt to get through the hours, but passively allowed the hours to get through him” –, his energetic friend Mr. Goodchild is of the opinion that being idle means doing something that does not serve a real purpose, like climbing a mountain, going on long walks, or composing an opera. I am definitely siding with Mr. Idle here, and maybe that’s why reading this book – where nothing really happens – gave me so much fun because I could wholeheartedly, or wholefootedly, put myself into Mr. Idle’s shoes when he reluctantly followed his friend and their guide up that Carrock Fell, not knowing why anyone should take the trouble to climb a mountain just to look down from its peak afterwards. I would have sprained my ankle, too, I’m sure, and peevishly followed my friends’ exertions to find the right way down, once the fog had settled so thick that nothing but a compass would have been of service. And I would also have spent most of the day lying on a sofa, curing my sprained ankle, because when you have an injury and have to go through all that pain and inconvenience, you should try to make this lemon into lemonade, i.e. sit down comfortably and get on everybody’s nerves by ordering them about. Mr. Idle is too idle to do the last thing but only wants his peace and quiet. When he then muses on the harms that bouts of unnecessary diligence and zeal have caused in his life, I could not help thinking, What a wise man! A little later, his unflatteringly critical judgment on the horse as such made me laugh out loud, and I also highly enjoyed his reaction to the apparently unspectacularly small and forsaken town of Allonby on arriving there:
”’A watering-place,’ retorted Thomas Idle, with the pardonable sharpness of an invalid, ‘can’t be five gentlemen in straw hats, on a form on one side of a door, and four ladies in hats and falls, on a form on another side of a door, and three geese in a dirty little brook before them, and a boy’s legs hanging over a bridge (with a boy’s body I suppose on the other side of the parapet), and a donkey running away. What are you talking about?’”
Of course, not everything that happens or that is described in this travelogue is entertaining; some bits are actually quite laboured. But then whenever you go on a tour you cannot expect all places to hold the same interest to you. While you read about this “lazy tour”, one of the additional charms is that you are kept guessing as to who might have written what part of the story. Some bits are very easy to lay at the doorstep of either Dickens or Collins, but others are trickier to pigeonhole. The two friends also throw in two stories, which could be seen as ghost stories although strictly speaking they are not, and which add some drama to the rather idle tour. The first one is by Collins (although there is so much relying on coincidence in it that I’d have put it down to Dickens) and it was later published as The Dead Hand, the second is by Dickens and it also goes by the name A Ghost in the Bride’s Chamber.
All in all, with its mixture of funny travelogue and gothic stories, The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices is clearly a good companion for a lazy weekend read.
October 14, 2018
Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins decide to leave their employer, Lady Literature, and go for a tour of the north of England. They assume the identities of Francis Goodchild (Dickens) and Thomas Idle (Collins). Idle prefers to do absolutely nothing, but Goodchild is "laboriously idle" and only feels idle if he is actively doing something that is a waste of time. As the two idlers idle their way through the North in their disparate idiosyncratic ways mild hilarity and tall tales ensue. Collins wrote the first three parts of their fictionalised travelogue, and Dickens the final two parts (I think).
December 23, 2020
3.5 Stars
A collaboration between Dickens and Collins two of the
19th centuries best.
A collaboration between Dickens and Collins two of the
19th centuries best.
March 3, 2019
Es el primer libro escrito a cuatro manos que leo ,sus autores,dos GRANDES .
📚No es “lo mejor” de los autores pero no deja de merecer mucho la pena .Creo que los dos amigos se divirtieron al escribir y nosotros lo hacemos al leer.
☕️ Los capítulos están muy bien diferenciados con el nexo de unión de las aventuras y desventuras de sus dos protagonistas en sus viajes por pueblos ingleses.
En unos destaca el humor y el sarcasmo y en otros...mis preferidos un ambiente siniestro,llenos de suspense,apariciones y crímenes ...no pude parar de leer hasta “resolver” los misterios “. 🐎 Como no ,se retrata la sociedad victoriana.Destaca en este aspecto,el capítulo que sucede en la semana de carreras ,un acontecimiento deportivo anual seguido con gran interés.
May 17, 2019
I wish I could get some traction in this book, but found myself being bogged down with ordinary writing. Let’s face it, our idle apprentices are Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. Dickens is the elder, more experienced, and successful writer to date, and Collins is about three years from publishing The Woman in White. If they wanted to be idle, or gear down their writing and escape from the rigours of lady literature, then so be it. What irritates me is I felt they were only going through the motions. Since TLT was pieced out and printed in Household Words I would have hoped for more of an effort from them. Did Dickens intend to accomplish much more than filling space in the journal?
For those of us who love to hunt for tidbits of Dickens’s secret life there is much here to think about. Ellen Ternan has just entered Dickens’s life, and thus the second and much more private world of Dickens is being launched within the pages of this novel.
In terms of the text itself, the gothic tales of sleeping with the dead and listening to a ghost recount his sin-filled past are only moderately interesting. The bits on train travel and the activities that occur in hotels and the Doncaster races offer some interest, a moderate dose of laughter, and brief glimpses of inspired writing.
All in all, a Dickens and Collins book that must be read if one is a fan of Dickens and Collins but not a book to get excited over.
For those of us who love to hunt for tidbits of Dickens’s secret life there is much here to think about. Ellen Ternan has just entered Dickens’s life, and thus the second and much more private world of Dickens is being launched within the pages of this novel.
In terms of the text itself, the gothic tales of sleeping with the dead and listening to a ghost recount his sin-filled past are only moderately interesting. The bits on train travel and the activities that occur in hotels and the Doncaster races offer some interest, a moderate dose of laughter, and brief glimpses of inspired writing.
All in all, a Dickens and Collins book that must be read if one is a fan of Dickens and Collins but not a book to get excited over.
November 12, 2012
The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices was co-written by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins and features two characters (Mr. Goodchild and Mr. Idle) that are stand-ins for these two. It is told over the course of what was originally five issues of Dickens' journal Household Words and depicts an "idle" (but actually quite frantic) vacation, with long walks/hikes and explorations of inns and other places. In the course, it also includes two long standalone stories--both gothic ghost stories, one that appears to be primarily by Collins and one that appears to be primarily by Dickens.
The book as a whole is certainly a minor work. It has lots of moments of humor and is rarely dull, but at its best still falls short of just about the worst of any Dickens novel. The two largely standalone stories that are told in the course of it are fun, perhaps the most enjoyable part of the book. In general, mostly worth reading for the completist but a lot more that is worth getting to before this.
The book as a whole is certainly a minor work. It has lots of moments of humor and is rarely dull, but at its best still falls short of just about the worst of any Dickens novel. The two largely standalone stories that are told in the course of it are fun, perhaps the most enjoyable part of the book. In general, mostly worth reading for the completist but a lot more that is worth getting to before this.
June 20, 2019
Read in A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Classics
Warning: mostly non-review ahead.
Three stars. This book coauthored by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins is about two people who take a trip together. One (Thomas Idle based on Collins) is content to loll about and do nothing whether he's dealing with his vocation or his vacation, while the other (Francis Goodchild based on Dickens) is totally type-A in both scenarios. Putting two such people together always has potential to be amusing, and this doesn't disappoint on that score.
Some parts are a little tedious, but others are a scream. In fact, I had tears of laughter in my eyes as Thomas gave us his opinion on horses in chapter five, and that doesn't happen too often. Chapters one, three, and five concern the trip and two and four give us a couple of ghost stories. Well, four is definitely a ghost story, but two should just be considered a slightly spooky story since there's no ghost in it. I enjoyed these a lot. I also enjoyed the mountain hike in chapter one, and the second part of chapter five which I mentioned above. I had a really hard time following the first part of chapter five, though, because I couldn't tell what the hell he was talking about. Chapter three didn't do much for me. In fact, I just scanned through it again before starting this review to remind me of what it was about and I've already forgotten it again. I guess I could be getting dementia, but I think it's actually just a forgettable chapter. However, the good thing about Dickens is that even when he has a boring story to tell, he can tell it in such a way that one still enjoys the ride. I remember thinking about that as I read, liking the flow of the words, but really wishing something would happen in the slow parts.
Make of that what you will, but the best part of this story for me was the personal memories it evoked. This book could be about me and my best friend in college had we lived in Victorian England. I used to take two vacations every year after I graduated. One was the real deal with the family where we went to the beach and pretty much stayed put at the pool or the ocean all day every day. We went out a couple of nights during the week, and maybe took an afternoon trip out for putt-putt or the arcade once or twice, but that was all the extra traveling we needed.
The other trip was one I took with my college buddy, and we'd visit and tour various cities and the surrounding areas. This lunatic's idea of a vacation was getting up by 7:00 AM (even though he was normally up earlier than that), and going to museums, attractions, buildings, battlefields, shops, and seeing whatever the city and its environs had to offer even if it meant driving an extra two or three hours to get there. I felt sleeping until noon still left ample time for sight-seeing, but he didn't agree and was normally able to rouse me before 8:00 which I considered an ungodly hour at that point in my life. I didn't even get up that early to go to work! Hurray for 10-7 shifts.
I'm glad I was able to put my indolence aside for a few days to take all those trips, but keeping up with him could be exhausting by the third day which is why most of them were done over a long weekend and not an entire week. One time I put in most of a day at work, then drove eight hours to his house in Indiana, crashed there and the next morning we drove another five or six hours to spend about three days in St. Louis, MO. Looking back I think I must've been nuts, but I guess you can get away with that kind of stuff when you're in your early 20's. I sure as hell don't plan on trying it at 40. And that trip with a cousin... Straight from Fredericksburg, VA to Houston, TX to pick up a truck (it was a great deal and had all the specifications they needed for their business), and straight back with stops only for gas and food... I think we left around 3:00 Tuesday afternoon and got back about that time on Thursday... Insanity! But that's a different tale and has even less to do with this book than the other side story I started with.
I enjoyed all of our trips which included D.C. and Northern Virginia a couple of times, Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, Richmond, Williamsburg & Jamestown, Hampton Roads, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and a couple others. St. Louis may have been my favorite since we hit a casino, saw the arch, the Cahokia Mounds, and... THE CITY MUSEUM which has MonstroCity, the best jungle gym in the world!
We reversed roles there, and he was content to let me climb all through it, and over it, and under it, and around it, and everything while he stayed on the ground and chilled. You must remember I was only 25 at the time while he was a more sensible and mature 26 and a half.
I sometimes wonder what would've happen if he had ever accompanied me on one of my family trips to the beach. I think he'd have lasted until 10 AM the first day before he went stir-crazy and simply had to go see something, anything! That's pretty much what Goodchild did in this book when Thomas was resting up from a sprained ankle for a few days.
I reckon we all relax differently.
Fun Victorian/Dickensian word found in "The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices" and defined in What the Dickens?:
Rattle-pated
Warning: mostly non-review ahead.
Three stars. This book coauthored by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins is about two people who take a trip together. One (Thomas Idle based on Collins) is content to loll about and do nothing whether he's dealing with his vocation or his vacation, while the other (Francis Goodchild based on Dickens) is totally type-A in both scenarios. Putting two such people together always has potential to be amusing, and this doesn't disappoint on that score.
Some parts are a little tedious, but others are a scream. In fact, I had tears of laughter in my eyes as Thomas gave us his opinion on horses in chapter five, and that doesn't happen too often. Chapters one, three, and five concern the trip and two and four give us a couple of ghost stories. Well, four is definitely a ghost story, but two should just be considered a slightly spooky story since there's no ghost in it. I enjoyed these a lot. I also enjoyed the mountain hike in chapter one, and the second part of chapter five which I mentioned above. I had a really hard time following the first part of chapter five, though, because I couldn't tell what the hell he was talking about. Chapter three didn't do much for me. In fact, I just scanned through it again before starting this review to remind me of what it was about and I've already forgotten it again. I guess I could be getting dementia, but I think it's actually just a forgettable chapter. However, the good thing about Dickens is that even when he has a boring story to tell, he can tell it in such a way that one still enjoys the ride. I remember thinking about that as I read, liking the flow of the words, but really wishing something would happen in the slow parts.
Make of that what you will, but the best part of this story for me was the personal memories it evoked. This book could be about me and my best friend in college had we lived in Victorian England. I used to take two vacations every year after I graduated. One was the real deal with the family where we went to the beach and pretty much stayed put at the pool or the ocean all day every day. We went out a couple of nights during the week, and maybe took an afternoon trip out for putt-putt or the arcade once or twice, but that was all the extra traveling we needed.
The other trip was one I took with my college buddy, and we'd visit and tour various cities and the surrounding areas. This lunatic's idea of a vacation was getting up by 7:00 AM (even though he was normally up earlier than that), and going to museums, attractions, buildings, battlefields, shops, and seeing whatever the city and its environs had to offer even if it meant driving an extra two or three hours to get there. I felt sleeping until noon still left ample time for sight-seeing, but he didn't agree and was normally able to rouse me before 8:00 which I considered an ungodly hour at that point in my life. I didn't even get up that early to go to work! Hurray for 10-7 shifts.
I'm glad I was able to put my indolence aside for a few days to take all those trips, but keeping up with him could be exhausting by the third day which is why most of them were done over a long weekend and not an entire week. One time I put in most of a day at work, then drove eight hours to his house in Indiana, crashed there and the next morning we drove another five or six hours to spend about three days in St. Louis, MO. Looking back I think I must've been nuts, but I guess you can get away with that kind of stuff when you're in your early 20's. I sure as hell don't plan on trying it at 40. And that trip with a cousin... Straight from Fredericksburg, VA to Houston, TX to pick up a truck (it was a great deal and had all the specifications they needed for their business), and straight back with stops only for gas and food... I think we left around 3:00 Tuesday afternoon and got back about that time on Thursday... Insanity! But that's a different tale and has even less to do with this book than the other side story I started with.
I enjoyed all of our trips which included D.C. and Northern Virginia a couple of times, Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, Richmond, Williamsburg & Jamestown, Hampton Roads, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and a couple others. St. Louis may have been my favorite since we hit a casino, saw the arch, the Cahokia Mounds, and... THE CITY MUSEUM which has MonstroCity, the best jungle gym in the world!
We reversed roles there, and he was content to let me climb all through it, and over it, and under it, and around it, and everything while he stayed on the ground and chilled. You must remember I was only 25 at the time while he was a more sensible and mature 26 and a half.
I sometimes wonder what would've happen if he had ever accompanied me on one of my family trips to the beach. I think he'd have lasted until 10 AM the first day before he went stir-crazy and simply had to go see something, anything! That's pretty much what Goodchild did in this book when Thomas was resting up from a sprained ankle for a few days.
I reckon we all relax differently.
Fun Victorian/Dickensian word found in "The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices" and defined in What the Dickens?:
Rattle-pated
January 9, 2012
“In the autumn month of September, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, wherein these presents bear date, two idle apprentices, exhausted by the long, hot summer and the long, hot work it had brought with it, ran away from their employer..”
Now doesn’t that sound wonderful?
And doesn’t it become even more wonderful when you know that the employer was literature, and that the two escaping apprentices were a certain Mr Collins and a certain Mr Dickens?
Friends and collaborators who set out on a walking tour, and together wrote a picaresque account of their travels that was published, in five installments, in Dickens’s weekly periodical, Household Words.
And, some time later, those five installments were put together in this lovely little book.
There is much to enjoy.
The two apprentices both wanted to be idle, but there ideas of just what that meant were rather different.
Mr Francis Goodchild saw idleness as doing nothing useful, wheras Mr Thomas Idle saw idleness as doing nothing whatsover.
And so the natures of the two idle apprentices were wonderful reflections of their creators.
I loved following the ups and down of their relationship as they travelled through northern England. I never doubted that both authors were having a wonderful time, gently caricaturing themselves and their relationship.
And for all that the apprentices may have been idle, they were wonderfully observant, reporting all of the pertinent facts about the journey, the places they visited, the conditions that they saw and the people that they met.
There was beauty, there was drama, and there was concern at the poverty in which many lived in the industrial towns.
And there were ghost stories. The kind of stories that I am quite sure had been told aloud time after time, that I am sure sent a shiver down the spine of anyone who listened.
The two authors brought everything together beautifully.
All too soon the trip was over.
But it was a lovely interlude between bigger books.
Now doesn’t that sound wonderful?
And doesn’t it become even more wonderful when you know that the employer was literature, and that the two escaping apprentices were a certain Mr Collins and a certain Mr Dickens?
Friends and collaborators who set out on a walking tour, and together wrote a picaresque account of their travels that was published, in five installments, in Dickens’s weekly periodical, Household Words.
And, some time later, those five installments were put together in this lovely little book.
There is much to enjoy.
The two apprentices both wanted to be idle, but there ideas of just what that meant were rather different.
Mr Francis Goodchild saw idleness as doing nothing useful, wheras Mr Thomas Idle saw idleness as doing nothing whatsover.
And so the natures of the two idle apprentices were wonderful reflections of their creators.
I loved following the ups and down of their relationship as they travelled through northern England. I never doubted that both authors were having a wonderful time, gently caricaturing themselves and their relationship.
And for all that the apprentices may have been idle, they were wonderfully observant, reporting all of the pertinent facts about the journey, the places they visited, the conditions that they saw and the people that they met.
There was beauty, there was drama, and there was concern at the poverty in which many lived in the industrial towns.
And there were ghost stories. The kind of stories that I am quite sure had been told aloud time after time, that I am sure sent a shiver down the spine of anyone who listened.
The two authors brought everything together beautifully.
All too soon the trip was over.
But it was a lovely interlude between bigger books.
May 12, 2021
“Hey! You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!”
“You got your peanut butter on my chocolate!”
The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices is another collaborative effort from Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. It’s a short piece; an embellished travelogue of sorts, made up of sketches and tales from the countryside where the pair actually traveled together. It was mostly amusing; some parts were a bit weird. But Dickens and Collins always work well together. You could spend your time trying to figure out who wrote which passages, but like eating a Reese’s peanut butter cup, it’s best to just chew it up and let the flavors mingle in your mouth.
This short book is pleasant enough. Like a peanut butter cup. If that’s what you’re in the mood to snack on.
May 16, 2019
It would have been a great help to me if I'd realized, prior to starting this Lazy Tour, that the story was based on a trip taken by the authors, Dickens and Collins, and that the protagonists were their alter egos. But the fact is, I learned those little tidbits halfway through and that knowledge didn't result in any keener insight or increased enjoyment of the second half. Not one for reading introductions, I prefer it when a story can stand on its own without the reader needing a primer.
Two of my favorite Dickens reviewers have given this work four stars, so I feel as if I must have missed something along the way. As is often the case, I may grow to appreciate the story more after our book club discussion.
But here are a few of the problems I had with The Lazy Tour ...
The prose is choppy. Most of the last chapter is comprised of descriptive phrases strung together. A little of this goes a long way. A lot of this makes the narrative virtually unreadable.
There are a tremendous number of pop culture references which is difficult for a 21st century reader. I spent a lot of time looking up names, like Mr. Thurtell and Mr. Palmer (two notorious murderers of the time). The constant interruption to search such things made the reading, again, very choppy.
One of my two least favorite things about Dickens novels is his insertion of unrelated stories. In this 100 page travelogue, he and Collins managed to fill two of the five chapters with such stories. The second one didn't even make sense to me (hoping the Old Curiosities will be able to walk me through that, as well).
About the best I can say about this experience, unfortunately, is that I can check it off the list. Coming on the heels of another unsatisfying experience with The Old Curiosity Shop, I'm a bit hesitant to start Barnaby Rudge.
Two of my favorite Dickens reviewers have given this work four stars, so I feel as if I must have missed something along the way. As is often the case, I may grow to appreciate the story more after our book club discussion.
But here are a few of the problems I had with The Lazy Tour ...
The prose is choppy. Most of the last chapter is comprised of descriptive phrases strung together. A little of this goes a long way. A lot of this makes the narrative virtually unreadable.
There are a tremendous number of pop culture references which is difficult for a 21st century reader. I spent a lot of time looking up names, like Mr. Thurtell and Mr. Palmer (two notorious murderers of the time). The constant interruption to search such things made the reading, again, very choppy.
One of my two least favorite things about Dickens novels is his insertion of unrelated stories. In this 100 page travelogue, he and Collins managed to fill two of the five chapters with such stories. The second one didn't even make sense to me (hoping the Old Curiosities will be able to walk me through that, as well).
About the best I can say about this experience, unfortunately, is that I can check it off the list. Coming on the heels of another unsatisfying experience with The Old Curiosity Shop, I'm a bit hesitant to start Barnaby Rudge.
February 26, 2022
Charles Dickens is such and amazing writer. When I picked up this book I was not expecting anything profound. I thought it might even be a little dull and boring. It was not! It had a little satire, a little horror and some mystery. This is a favorite passage:
I turned my head before we had gone many paces. He had already come out again, and was again poring over the matting, and tracking out its fibres with his thumb and forefinger. I stopped to look at him, and it came into my mind, that probably the course of those fibres as they plaited in and out, over and under, was the only course of things in the whole wide world that it was left to him to understand—that his darkening intellect had narrowed down to the small cleft of light which showed him, “This piece was twisted this way, went in here, passed under, came out there, was carried on away here to the right where I now put my finger on it, and in this progress of events, the thing was made and came to be here.” Then, I wondered whether he looked into the matting, next, to see if it could show him anything of the process through which he came to be there, so strangely poring over it. Then, I thought how all of us, GOD help us! in our different ways are poring over our bits of matting, blindly enough, and what confusions and mysteries we make in the pattern. I had a sadder fellow-feeling with the little dark-chinned, meagre man, by that time, and I came away.’
December 13, 2021
I think the best thing I can say about this book is that... I've read it, so now I never have to wonder if I ought to read it.
Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins went on a trip around the northwest part of England together, and they wrote up a fictionalized version of their trip to include in Dickens's magazine Household Words. And it's both nonsensical and dull, which is kind of hard to make work, but they do. The most interesting part, for me, was the beginning where they go hiking up a mountain and one of them sprains his ankle. That was humorous and lively, and reminded me a lot of going hiking with my kids. Someone is always lagging behind, someone is always whining, and so on.
There are two ghost stories included in their adventures, one kind of weird and one downright creepy. I'm not a big fan of ghost stories, but I know the Victorians were, so I guess those were supposed to add some thrills?
Anyway. If you are a fan of Dickens or Collins (or both), you might find this interesting just because they did collaborate on it, but I will be selling my copy to the used bookstore forthwith.
Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins went on a trip around the northwest part of England together, and they wrote up a fictionalized version of their trip to include in Dickens's magazine Household Words. And it's both nonsensical and dull, which is kind of hard to make work, but they do. The most interesting part, for me, was the beginning where they go hiking up a mountain and one of them sprains his ankle. That was humorous and lively, and reminded me a lot of going hiking with my kids. Someone is always lagging behind, someone is always whining, and so on.
There are two ghost stories included in their adventures, one kind of weird and one downright creepy. I'm not a big fan of ghost stories, but I know the Victorians were, so I guess those were supposed to add some thrills?
Anyway. If you are a fan of Dickens or Collins (or both), you might find this interesting just because they did collaborate on it, but I will be selling my copy to the used bookstore forthwith.
January 15, 2022
THE LAZY TOUR OF TWO IDLE APPRENTICES-
CHARLES DICKENS,WILKYE COLLINS
✒"Where will these present idle leaves be blown by the idle winds, and where will the last of them be one day lost and forgotten? An idle question, and an idle thought; and with it Mr. Idle fitly makes his bow, and Mr. Goodchild his, and thus ends the Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices."
🛅 Jednog jesenjeg dana Čarls Dikens i Vilki Kolins,dva drugara,oba pisci,krenuli su na proputovanje Engleskom. Ovo je njihov dnevnik,objavljivan u Dikensovom časopisu Household Words
🛅U ovoj zbirci Vilki Kolins je Thomas Idle,koji bi bukvalno da ne radi ništa a Dikens je Francis Goodchild koji dokolicu zamišlja kao niz aktivnosti.
🛅Kroz njihove dogodovštine i dijaloge upoznajemo gradiće,krčme i prenoćišta,ljude i događaje
🛅Zbirka sadrži i dve priče o duhovima. Jedna je priča o tajanstvenom gostu u hotelu a druga o nečistoj savesti koja nas i posle smrti prati.
🛅Poslednja je priča o konjima i trkama i svoj gunguli i galami koja se oko toga pravi. Kad trkači i kladioničari napuste grad dva drugara odlučuju da je i njihovim avanturama kraj.
🛅Jedno lagano,zabavno a poučno štivo.
#7sensesofabook #bookstagram #knjige #classicliterature #literature #readingaddict #charlesdickens
CHARLES DICKENS,WILKYE COLLINS
✒"Where will these present idle leaves be blown by the idle winds, and where will the last of them be one day lost and forgotten? An idle question, and an idle thought; and with it Mr. Idle fitly makes his bow, and Mr. Goodchild his, and thus ends the Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices."
🛅 Jednog jesenjeg dana Čarls Dikens i Vilki Kolins,dva drugara,oba pisci,krenuli su na proputovanje Engleskom. Ovo je njihov dnevnik,objavljivan u Dikensovom časopisu Household Words
🛅U ovoj zbirci Vilki Kolins je Thomas Idle,koji bi bukvalno da ne radi ništa a Dikens je Francis Goodchild koji dokolicu zamišlja kao niz aktivnosti.
🛅Kroz njihove dogodovštine i dijaloge upoznajemo gradiće,krčme i prenoćišta,ljude i događaje
🛅Zbirka sadrži i dve priče o duhovima. Jedna je priča o tajanstvenom gostu u hotelu a druga o nečistoj savesti koja nas i posle smrti prati.
🛅Poslednja je priča o konjima i trkama i svoj gunguli i galami koja se oko toga pravi. Kad trkači i kladioničari napuste grad dva drugara odlučuju da je i njihovim avanturama kraj.
🛅Jedno lagano,zabavno a poučno štivo.
#7sensesofabook #bookstagram #knjige #classicliterature #literature #readingaddict #charlesdickens
November 15, 2022
3.5⭐
Introduction by Melissa Valiska Gregory and Melisa Klimaszewski ✔
Note on the Text ✔
Chapter the First- Starting off on the trip and the climbing of Carrock in the rain and mist, a big ouch for Thomas Idle.
Chapter the Second was also republished by Willie Collins as Brother Morgan's Story of the Dead Hand and also as the The Dead Hand.
Chapter the Fourth after Dicken's death appeared in collections of his writings under the title The Bride's Chamber and also The Hanged Man's Bride.
Notes: Invaluable resource in understanding names and places mentioned, as well as words used then, and very helpful translations of colloquial dialect used by the local people of Cumbria ✔.
Introduction by Melissa Valiska Gregory and Melisa Klimaszewski ✔
Note on the Text ✔
Chapter the First- Starting off on the trip and the climbing of Carrock in the rain and mist, a big ouch for Thomas Idle.
Chapter the Second was also republished by Willie Collins as Brother Morgan's Story of the Dead Hand and also as the The Dead Hand.
Chapter the Fourth after Dicken's death appeared in collections of his writings under the title The Bride's Chamber and also The Hanged Man's Bride.
Notes: Invaluable resource in understanding names and places mentioned, as well as words used then, and very helpful translations of colloquial dialect used by the local people of Cumbria ✔.
March 25, 2025
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this one. I enjoyed it overall -- some quite funny and witty lines, as is to be expected, though it was a bit slow. Not something I'd go out of my way to recommend, but not a bad way to pass an afternoon.
March 29, 2021
Yk this was cute. I loved how much of an old marries couple dickens and collins came across, and although I struggled with the prose a fair bit I liked it. The ghost story that was in the 4th chapter was also very fun.
August 18, 2019
Charles Dickens was ten years Wilkie Collin’s senior, and he acted as the younger man’s mentor, publisher, and friend. In the autumn of 1957, Dickens proposed that he and Collins take a rail and walking tour of Cumberland. He knew that a joint article by the two of them would help flagging sales of Dickens’ magazine Household Words. The trip would also happen to coincide with a theatrical tour of the provinces by Ellen Tiernan, an actress Dickens had recently begun an affair with. They would meet up in Doncaster. (This information is provided by Dickens' biographers and does not figure into the narrative of The Lazy Tour.)
The five chapter work they assembled, using the personas of Francis Goodchild (Dickens) and Thomas Idle (Collins), is pleasant and amusing. It is not a serious travelogue, but early on there is an entertaining trip up a noted small mountain undertaken without checking the weather. Idle twists his ankle and spends the rest of the journey a semi-invalid. They move on to Wigton, a seaside town with nothing to recommend it. Twice the narrative, such as it is, stops for a local character to tell a ghost story. The authors were clearly bulking up the text for publication and giving the public something they knew would be enjoyed.
I liked The Lazy Tour and recommend it for anyone interested in some bite-sized Dickens. My edition was part of the Alma 101 Page Classics series. Putting in a supply of these titles will provide fodder to fill any number of idle afternoons.
The five chapter work they assembled, using the personas of Francis Goodchild (Dickens) and Thomas Idle (Collins), is pleasant and amusing. It is not a serious travelogue, but early on there is an entertaining trip up a noted small mountain undertaken without checking the weather. Idle twists his ankle and spends the rest of the journey a semi-invalid. They move on to Wigton, a seaside town with nothing to recommend it. Twice the narrative, such as it is, stops for a local character to tell a ghost story. The authors were clearly bulking up the text for publication and giving the public something they knew would be enjoyed.
I liked The Lazy Tour and recommend it for anyone interested in some bite-sized Dickens. My edition was part of the Alma 101 Page Classics series. Putting in a supply of these titles will provide fodder to fill any number of idle afternoons.
August 16, 2016
Difficult to sum up really. A couple of interesting 'ghosty' tales but more of a diary of a trip around some of Britain. I think I found the fact that it was Dickens and Collins who were the travellers was the most interesting thing about the book. Easy enough to read.
December 16, 2021
I really enjoyed this short travelogue - a combined effort by good friends, Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins, which gives the reader a delightful, if brief and fragmented, glimpse into 19th century England.
I loved the insights into the contrasting characters of Collins and Dickens, and the delight they took in self-mockery - you can almost hear them laughing as they read their chapters to each other. There were lots of moments when I too laughed out loud - especially Thomas Idle ‘playing’ a cricket match (that’s exactly how I would play cricket!) and falling off a Shetland pony.
The description of climbing Carrick Fell brought back so many memories of walking in that part of the UK. The images of the ever-receding summit, the fast encroaching fog, and of ‘energetically idle’ Francis Goodchild striding ahead, with miserable, bedraggled Idle trailing behind were perfect.
The ghost stories were terrific - I think I marginally preferred Collins’ story because of one really frightening, disturbing moment (the white hand!)
I even enjoyed the race scenes (I went to the English Derby once and it was just as intense, overwhelming and horrid as this - though not as ghastly as the Melbourne Cup 🤢) Dickens’ description of race week at Doncaster reminded me so much of William Powell Frith’s famous painting of Derby Day, and sent me off down a rabbit hole researching the murderers, John Thurtell and William Palmer, whose likeness Goodchild sees constantly amongst the gamblers. Both murdered their victims because of gambling debts.
All in all, an excellent and funny glimpse of idle times in Victorian England!
I loved the insights into the contrasting characters of Collins and Dickens, and the delight they took in self-mockery - you can almost hear them laughing as they read their chapters to each other. There were lots of moments when I too laughed out loud - especially Thomas Idle ‘playing’ a cricket match (that’s exactly how I would play cricket!) and falling off a Shetland pony.
The description of climbing Carrick Fell brought back so many memories of walking in that part of the UK. The images of the ever-receding summit, the fast encroaching fog, and of ‘energetically idle’ Francis Goodchild striding ahead, with miserable, bedraggled Idle trailing behind were perfect.
The ghost stories were terrific - I think I marginally preferred Collins’ story because of one really frightening, disturbing moment (the white hand!)
I even enjoyed the race scenes (I went to the English Derby once and it was just as intense, overwhelming and horrid as this - though not as ghastly as the Melbourne Cup 🤢) Dickens’ description of race week at Doncaster reminded me so much of William Powell Frith’s famous painting of Derby Day, and sent me off down a rabbit hole researching the murderers, John Thurtell and William Palmer, whose likeness Goodchild sees constantly amongst the gamblers. Both murdered their victims because of gambling debts.
All in all, an excellent and funny glimpse of idle times in Victorian England!
November 20, 2020
No es una obra maestra ni falta que hace. Escrito a 4 manos, se supone que los dos personajes se corresponden con los dos autores que realizan en este relato una parodia de sí mismos. Aunque hay que decir que, si es así, tenía mucho más capacidad de reírse de sí mismo Wilkie Collins que Dickens. Conociendo la escritura de los dos se puede jugar a distinguir qué parte escribió cada cual. Yo apuesto por Collins para pj la "subhistoria" truculenta de hombre que buscaba alojamiento para dormir (no quiero destripar demasiado) y por Dickens para la magnífica descripción del ambiente de las carreras de caballos.
En ambos casos se disfruta muchísimo del saber hacer de los dos, del enorme sentido del humor, la fina ironía, y de lo que tan tan bien se les da a ambos: los diálogos y las descripciones. Divertidísimo.
En ambos casos se disfruta muchísimo del saber hacer de los dos, del enorme sentido del humor, la fina ironía, y de lo que tan tan bien se les da a ambos: los diálogos y las descripciones. Divertidísimo.
January 1, 2022
A Christmas Carol is possibly Dickens’ finest work. The Lazy Your of Two Idle Apprentices is…just that—a lazy, idle narrative. It had some very entertaining bits, but very little plot. It’s a travelogue written by Wilkie Collins and Dickens about their rambling journey through Cumberland. I’m glad I read it, but let’s just say it won't be a favorite for many people.
I think it was the adversity and desire to provide for his family that inspired A Christmas Carol. In contrast, this novella was inspired by Dickens’ desire to follow a woman NOT his wife and crank out some literature for his personal magazine. Not quite the stuff of beauty and inspiration. We’re at our best when we’re BEING our best, Dickens, ol’ buddy!
That said, there were some parts that made me smile, and it was fun to see Collins and Dickens collaborating.
I think it was the adversity and desire to provide for his family that inspired A Christmas Carol. In contrast, this novella was inspired by Dickens’ desire to follow a woman NOT his wife and crank out some literature for his personal magazine. Not quite the stuff of beauty and inspiration. We’re at our best when we’re BEING our best, Dickens, ol’ buddy!
That said, there were some parts that made me smile, and it was fun to see Collins and Dickens collaborating.
July 23, 2022
Mi reseña completa en mi IG librosydestinos https://www.instagram.com/p/CgRmrMsuC...
💤Un buen día dos amigos escritores deciden emprender un viaje ocioso sin dirigirse a ningún sitio en particular, ver nada en especial, conocer nada, aprender nada... en resumen no querían hacer nada.
🎩Es así que a través de sus alteregos Francis Goodchild (un ocioso activo a pesar de sus mejores intenciones) y Thomas Idle (un ocioso pasivo que se deja llevar por las locas ideas de su amigo) vamos recorriendo la Inglaterra victoriana y encontrando un grupo variopinto de personajes.
📚Es un libro corto, con bastantes descripciones (como Dickens nos tiene acostumbrados) y algunos toques de humor.
😬Me quedé con las ganas de saber cómo terminaban algunas de las historias que les cuentan a los protagonistas en su recorrido, pero al igual que ellos, nos quedamos sin el final porque toca seguir camino.
💤Un buen día dos amigos escritores deciden emprender un viaje ocioso sin dirigirse a ningún sitio en particular, ver nada en especial, conocer nada, aprender nada... en resumen no querían hacer nada.
🎩Es así que a través de sus alteregos Francis Goodchild (un ocioso activo a pesar de sus mejores intenciones) y Thomas Idle (un ocioso pasivo que se deja llevar por las locas ideas de su amigo) vamos recorriendo la Inglaterra victoriana y encontrando un grupo variopinto de personajes.
📚Es un libro corto, con bastantes descripciones (como Dickens nos tiene acostumbrados) y algunos toques de humor.
😬Me quedé con las ganas de saber cómo terminaban algunas de las historias que les cuentan a los protagonistas en su recorrido, pero al igual que ellos, nos quedamos sin el final porque toca seguir camino.
March 16, 2021
The lazy tour of two idle apprentices - or, put another way, Charles Dickens & Wilkie Collins mucking about in the North of England. This is great fun- you have the humour & social commentary of Dickens, & a couple of ghost stories, which I would guess are Mr Collins' contribution. Nice and short at 101 pages too!
December 30, 2021
No tenía idea de la existencia de este relato de Dickens, pero me entretuvo bastante.
La trama es simple: Dos viajeros llegan a una casa donde hubo un asesinato hace muchísimos años atrás y se embarcan en una aventura fantasmal.
Así que, si quieres algo ligero y divertido, este cuento es el indicado.
La trama es simple: Dos viajeros llegan a una casa donde hubo un asesinato hace muchísimos años atrás y se embarcan en una aventura fantasmal.
Así que, si quieres algo ligero y divertido, este cuento es el indicado.
February 11, 2023
Estuvo interesante. Sin duda estuvo divertido todas las historias que cuentan, pero en momentos me perdía.
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