The Pickwick Club discussion
Little Dorrit
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Reading Schedule, and General Remarks
I've read it once and enjoyed it too, Tristram, and I will be rereading it here. Sorry for leaving the Hard Times discussion but life intervened. I am bound and determined to participate from beginning to end this time.
Thank you for the schedule, Tristram! I ordered my book last week and it should arriving today, so I am excited. :)Here is the American version of the schedule:
Book I
4/07/2016 - 4/13/2016: Chapters 01 - 04
4/14/2016 - 4/20/2016: Chapters 05 - 08
4/21/2016 - 4/27/2016: Chapters 09 - 11
4/28/2016 - 5/4/2016: Chapters 12 - 14
5/5/2016 - 5/11/2016: Chapters 15 - 18
5/12/2016 - 5/18/2016: Chapters 19 - 22
5/19/2016 - 5/25/2016: Chapters 23 - 25
5/26/2016 - 6/1/2016: Chapters 26 - 29
6/2/2016 - 6/8/2016: Chapters 30 - 32
6/9/2016 - 6/15/2016: Chapters 33 - 36
Book II
6/16/2016 - 6/22/2016: Chapters 01 - 04
6/23/2016 - 6/29/2016: Chapters 05 - 07
6/30/2016 - 7/6/2016: Chapters 08 - 11
7/7/2016 - 7/13/2016: Chapters 12 - 14
7/14/2016 - 7/20/2016: Chapters 15 - 18
7/21/2016 - 7/27/2016: Chapters 19 - 22
7/28/2016 - 8/3/2016: Chapters 23 - 26
8/4/2016 - 8/10/2016: Chapters 27 - 29
8/11/2016 - 8/17/2016: Chapters 30 - 34
Well. Either way we write the dates it looks like a great way to spend a few months. Looking forward to the read.
Tristram wrote: "Dear Pickwickians,After the rather short novel Hard Times we again have the opportunity of regaling ourselves with a larger Dickens novel, and a very good one - if I may say that without seeming ..."
When are you going to give in and admit that our American way of dating is much better than yours. It has to be, I can't make heads or tails out of yours.
Kim wrote: "It has to be, I can't make heads or tails out of yours. ."Of course you can't. It's math.
Herodotus nearly 3,000 years ago pointed out, through Darius, that people always think their customs are better. You think ours is better, I quite sure that Tristram thinks his is better.
Read what Herodotus says about it here (at the start of the article) and if you wish enjoy the discussion of it:
http://web.stanford.edu/dept/SHC/even...
Tristram wrote: " if I may say that without seeming biased."Why on earth would you even think about apologizing for being biased about Dickens?
Xan Shadowflutter wrote: "I've read it once and enjoyed it too, Tristram, and I will be rereading it here. Sorry for leaving the Hard Times discussion but life intervened. I am bound and determined to participate from begin..."Life does have an annoying tendency of intervening, but I hope that you will have the time to join us reading Little Dorrit. We do not have such a tight reading schedule as to prevent you from catching up in case you fall back - rushing through Dickens is wasting Dickens :-) So don't worry and join us whenever you can.
Linda wrote: "I ordered my book last week and it should arriving today, so I am excited. :)"It's a nice feeling going through the pages of a newly-bought book. So enjoy it - and thanks for the timetable translation!
Tristram wrote: "rushing through Dickens is wasting Dickens"That should be the Pickwickian group motto. Love it! :)
And, I did receive my new book in the post yesterday. I'm already loving it more than Hard Times, just judging by the chunkiness of it.
Kim wrote: "When are you going to give in and admit that our American way of dating is much better than yours."- Never!!!!
- What, never?
- No, never!
- What, never?
- Well, hardly ever.
Everyman wrote: "Tristram wrote: " if I may say that without seeming biased."Why on earth would you even think about apologizing for being biased about Dickens?"
Because I don't want to show off my excellent literary taste too blatantly ;-)
Linda wrote: "Tristram wrote: "rushing through Dickens is wasting Dickens"That should be the Pickwickian group motto. Love it! :)
And, I did receive my new book in the post yesterday. I'm already loving it mo..."
This would indeed be a fine motto - all the more so as it is the general opinion of most members here, if I remember correctly.
And "chunkiness" is, to me, one major charm of a book. There was a time when I would not look at a book simply because it did not exceed a certain number of pages. Nowadays, I am less opinionated in that respect, but I still associate those thick books with relaxing reading evenings when you sit outside with your book and enjoy the lingering summer sun.
Tristram wrote: "but I still associate those thick books with relaxing reading evenings when you sit outside with your book and enjoy the lingering summer sun." Me too. Except for the outside and the summer sun part.
Everyman wrote: "Kim wrote: "It has to be, I can't make heads or tails out of yours. ."Of course you can't. It's math.
Herodotus nearly 3,000 years ago pointed out, through Darius, that people always think thei..."
Yes, but in this case I am right. I'm still reading that thing you got me to click on, I'm only half way through, I needed a break it reminds me too much of being in school.
Tristram wrote: "Kim wrote: "When are you going to give in and admit that our American way of dating is much better than yours."- Never!!!!
- What, never?
- No, never!
- What, never?
- Well, hardly ever."
Since Kim won't know what this is about, here you are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekm6V...
I was thinking more in lines of this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKXtv...
Here the whole opera is put into a nutshell, which should be done with every opera actually.
You two are getting more alike every day. Grumpier and grumpier.
Tristram wrote: "I was thinking more in lines of this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKXtv...
Here the whole opera is put into a nutshell, which should be done with every opera actually."
I have two issues with that. One, it's not an opera, it's an operetta. Second, they have the lyrics wrong. He sings "and it's clearly to his credit." The actual lyrics are "and it's greatly to his credit."
He should be flogged round the fleet for that. Or since he's only a cartoon character, perhaps you should be flogged in his place for posting that travesty.
Coincidentally, I, too, have two issues with your issues: First of all, by calling it an opera, I was actually and most erroneously giving it credit. But whenever characters in a play or movie start singing and do it often enough to turn it into an opera, an operetta, or a musical, it is all the same to me: I involuntarily grasp for the book that must be hidden somewhere in my coat pockets. Second, I definitely prefer the flogging of Sideshow Bob to the flogging of honest Me. Third - and this is the last of my two issues - this is one of the most memorable Simpsons adventures, closely modelled on Cape Fear. They even adopt the name of Thompson here. It's from the good old days when "The Simpsons" was still a good show.
Kim wrote: "You two are getting more alike every day. Grumpier and grumpier."It's spring, Kim. What do you expect?
Tristram wrote: "Third - and this is the last of my two issues - ..."I see you're joining Kim in the "mathematically challenged" corner of the Pickwick Club, over there in that dark corner of the reading room by the shelf of old copies of the Military Chronicle and Naval Spectator.
I'm going to have to give this read a miss, unfortunately. Work is about to get even busier. Hopefully I'll be able to join in on the next one!Happy reading to you all.
What a pity, Kate! But just in case you find some time, you'll know where to find us, don't you? We'll stay around for a while.
Kate wrote: "I'm going to have to give this read a miss, unfortunately. Work is about to get even busier. Hopefully I'll be able to join in on the next one!Happy reading to you all."
Kate, I agree with both Everyman and Tristram. Unfortunately.
Who would believe that Kim would agree with Everyman and Tristram?The power of Australian readers of Dickens!
I know, it's awful isn't it? That's probably why I've had such a bad headache all day. I even skipped church because I couldn't bear the thought of the loud, loud, loud contemporary music pounding into my head.
Kim wrote: "I know, it's awful isn't it? That's probably why I've had such a bad headache all day. I even skipped church because I couldn't bear the thought of the loud, loud, loud contemporary music pounding ..."Oh, dear. I will have to do major penance for contributing to your headache and keeping you from church.
Of course I have a sneaking suspicion that you used the extra time at home to work on next year's Christmas decorating plans. They should be well underway by now.
I used it to finish up the thread for today's LD installment. But I like your idea better. I did take a walk through the back yard earlier and got thinking of how nice the one little tree will look with the right lights on it this year, and that got me wondering if we still had this old can in the garage that had a winter scene painted on it because a tree the size of the little one would look really nice in the can and we would finally have a use for it and then I got thinking............
LOL. You guys make me laugh. Of course I'll be back, I just know I'll get frustrated with not being able to keep up with you all. I miss not being in the middle of the discussions, as they happen. Work won't allow that for the moment. Boo work!
Kate wrote: "LOL. You guys make me laugh. Of course I'll be back, I just know I'll get frustrated with not being able to keep up with you all. I miss not being in the middle of the discussions, as they happen. ..."No worries mate. I do keep up and I still get frustrated.
:- ))
Frustration? Then your antidote should be an even higher dose of Dickens!
Tristram wrote: "Frustration? Then your antidote should be an even higher dose of Dickens!"Nothing like a healthy overdose of Dickens. :-))
Tristram wrote: "No side effects known, either."Nonsense. There are plenty of known side effects.
Insomnia for one. Needing to stay awake late into the night to read just one more chapter.
Then there's the weight gain and increased blood pressure from sitting for hours immersed in reading Dickens and not even noticing that the gym has closed for the night and you totally missed your exercise period.
And there are the injuries you sustain from focusing on your book or Kindle or phone lost in Dickens's world as you try and fail to navigate the streets of your town or city. Being struck by a speeding bicycle or tripping over a bump in the sidewalk are only two of the more minor injuries routinely sustained from Dickens eye-glued-readers.
And those are only for starters.
Reading Dickens can definitely be hazardous to your health.
Everyman wrote: "Reading Dickens can definitely be hazardous to your health."Yes, but if it weren't for Dickens you wouldn't have met me.
Why were you teaching math anyway? While this does explain a lot to me about why you are so grumpy, wouldn't it have made more sense if you were teaching law or some such thing? Which came first anyway the lawyer or the teacher. I'd ask which was more fun but since I can't imagine either one being fun I'd have to ask which was the least most terrible. The wilderness guide in Maine thing sounded alright, except for the wilderness part that is. (see I do listen to you, sort of.)
Kim wrote: "Why were you teaching math anyway? While this does explain a lot to me about why you are so grumpy, wouldn't it have made more sense if you were teaching law or some such thing? Which came first anyway the lawyer or the teacher."I taught math because that's what the small private school I got my first teaching job at needed. Over the 8 years I taught high school, I also taught English and religion and music and philosophy and directed plays and supervised a PE group. I loved the variety of teaching multiple subjects-- you don't normally get to do this at the high school level. It's standard in elementary school, but after that specialization, aka (in my mind at least) boredom, sets in.
Teaching came first. Then came business management, corporate finance, medical management, political and economic consulting, and only then law.
If you call those kinds of everyday things just happening side effects, then there are other side effects, of course, like- getting so much spoilt with regard to literature that you eventually find yourself unwilling to read any contemporary literature (because they just can't write like the Victorians any more),
- having a growing variety of 19th century expressions, collocations and structures seep into your vocabulary and making it even more difficult for the average 21st century person to understand you, or at least not to glance askance at you,
- indignantly pointing out instances of when and where a TV adapatation of a Dickens novel digresses from the literary source, and being able to list at least a dozen reasons why they should not have done this, thus incurring the wrath of the other viewers (who ought to be grateful, by the way),
- using commas, wherever you want to, and not, in the least, using them sparingly.
Kim, don't run Maths down so harshly, please! I am rediscovering it more and more with my son, who, in Maths and Music, is ahead of his class.
Tristram wrote: "If you call those kinds of everyday things just happening side effects, then there are other side effects, of course, like- getting so much spoilt with regard to literature that you eventually fi..."
Here's to commas, anywhere, anytime, just because.
"And what does a comma do, a comma does nothing but make easy a thing that if you like it enough is easy enough without the comma. A long complicated sentence should force itself upon you, make you know yourself knowing it and the comma, well at the most a comma is a poor period that lets you stop and take a breath but if you want to take a breath you ought to know yourself that you want to take a breath. It is not like stopping altogether has something to do with going on, but taking a breath well you are always taking a breath and why emphasize one breath rather than another breath. Anyway that is the way I felt about it and I felt that about it very very strongly. And so I almost never used a comma. The longer, the more complicated the sentence the greater the number of the same kinds of words I had following one after another, the more the very more I had of them the more I felt the passionate need of their taking care of themselves by themselves and not helping them, and thereby enfeebling them by putting in a comma.So that is the way I felt about punctuation in prose, in poetry it is a little different but more so …
— Gertrude Stein
from Lectures in America
I have spent most of the day putting in a comma and the rest of the day taking it out.
— Oscar Wilde
I like commas. I detest semi-colons - I don't think they belong in a story. And I gave up quotation marks long ago. I found I didn't need them, they were fly-specks on the page. E. L. Doctorow
Try this experiment:
Give your instructor five dollars for each comma you use in an essay. Your instructor will return five dollars for each comma used correctly. You should come out even. This technique for cutting down on unwanted commas has been heartily endorsed by every English instructor who has tried it."
Kim wrote: ""And what does a comma do, a comma does nothing but make easy a thing that if you like it enough is easy enough without the comma. A long complicated sentence should force itself upon you, make you..."Long live excessive commas!
Tristram wrote: "getting so much spoilt with regard to literature that you eventually find yourself unwilling to read any contemporary literature (because they just can't write like the Victorians any more),"
I've been there for forty plus years. The only modern literature I read is mysteries. And as for modern poetry, forget it.
I don't care for modern poetry, either. I'm fine with Chaucer, and especially with Blake but I also love Robert Frost.
Kim,your extract almost rendered me commatose ;-)
Tristram wrote: "Kim,your extract almost rendered me commatose ;-)"
Kim:
Perfect. ;-))
All the comma talk is quite hilarious. I love the Oscar Wilde quote, Kim!I used to read mostly horror books, then branched out to more modern literary novels. It was only in the past few years that I decided that I had better get a move on reading the classics (besides what I had already read in school) so I could see why they were considered classics, and so that I would actually know what they were all about when certain classics were referenced, and since I am not getting any younger so I better get started now. :) So now I read pretty wide variety of books, dipping my toes in here and there. The only thing I really don't care for is poetry, though.
Oh, and yes I'm still here, fellow Pickwicks! I have not fallen off the Little Dorrit train that soon, I'm just trying to juggle too many things at the moment - both books and life in general.
How did I miss this comedic comma conversation?! Commas and I are adversaries from way back. If you haven't, read Lynne Truss's (or should it be Truss'?) book on grammar and punctuation, Eats, Shoots & Leaves. Very fun. :-)
After the rather short novel Hard Times we again have the opportunity of regaling ourselves with a larger Dickens novel, and a very good one - if I may say that without seeming biased.
I have worked out the following reading schedule, taking into consideration the original instalments, and I am sure that someone will provide an American translation of the dates ;-)
Book I
07/04/2016 - 13/04/2016: Chapters 01 - 04
14/04/2016 - 20/04/2016: Chapters 05 - 08
21/04/2016 - 27/04/2016: Chapters 09 - 11
28/04/2016 - 04/05/2016: Chapters 12 - 14
05/05/2016 - 11/05/2016: Chapters 15 - 18
12/05/2016 - 18/05/2016: Chapters 19 - 22
18/05/2016 - 25/05/2016: Chapters 23 - 25
16/05/2016 - 01/06/2016: Chapters 26 - 29
02/06/2016 - 08/06/2016: Chapters 30 - 32
09/06/2016 - 15/06/2016: Chapters 33 - 36
Book II
16/06/2016 - 22/06/2016: Chapters 01 - 04
23/06/2016 - 29/06/2016: Chapters 05 - 07
30/06/2016 - 06/07/2016: Chapters 08 - 11
07/07/2016 - 13/07/2016: Chapters 12 - 14
14/07/2016 - 20/07/2016: Chapters 15 - 18
21/07/2016 - 27/07/2016: Chapters 19 - 22
28/07/2016 - 03/08/2016: Chapters 23 - 26
04/08/2016 - 10/08/2016: Chapters 27 - 29
11/08/2016 - 17/08/2016: Chapters 30 - 34
I am very much looking forward to reading this book because I have only read it twice up to now and remember that I thoroughly enjoyed it.