The Old Curiosity Club discussion
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Thanks."
It'll be our annual Christmas read, John. This time, we'll be reading The Haunted Man. With the exception of the Carol, I have so far never got a lot of amusement out of the Christmas books, and I am not too optimistic this time.
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Thanks."
It'll be our annual Christmas read, John. This time, we'll be reading The Haunted Man. With the exception of t..."
Grump.
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I'm with you there big time. When I was growing up we hosted an annual carol sing for the local community, including many of the old English carols, and my parents were very strong on singing all the verses. A lot of the best stuff comes in those later verses.
singing just the first one or two verses is like reading the first ten chapters of a Dickens novel and claiming you've read it.
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On Christmas Eve we went to church at 11pm and were there until midnight had passed and Jesus was born. That's what I thought anyway. We would always sing The First Noel and the first verse would be sung loud, the angels singing it to the shepherds. Verse two was sung a little softer because most people had to look at the music once or twice to remember all the words, the verse was about the shepherds so the shepherds were singing the noel. For the next few verses the verses get softer and softer, now that everyone had their head buried in the hymnal to see the words, but by the chorus of the fifth verse the music swelled again, either because the people knew there was only one more verse and were excited about it, or now that the shepherds had been joined by the wise men in singing, it just got louder. And then there was the last verse and the building just rang with the music because, to me, the verse starting "now let us ALL with one accord" meant all of us, the angels, shepherds, wise men, the people in the church, and everybody everywhere were now singing, good news, good news, good news, good news, born is the king of Israel. I still feel the same way every time I hear the song.
What a lovely story, Kim! Thank you so much for sharing it with us all :)
Kim wrote: "For the next few verses the verses get softer and softer..."That's how our congregation sings Silent Night, Kim. But for us, someone dims our lights a bit with each verse, which causes the congregation to sing a bit softer each time, until a hush comes over the church, and only candlelight remains. It's really quite moving. Then the lights come back up as we end the service with a triumphant rendition of Joy to the World. It's very affecting.
Mary Lou wrote: "Kim wrote: "For the next few verses the verses get softer and softer..."That's how our congregation sings Silent Night, Kim. But for us, someone dims our lights a bit with each verse, which cause..."
What a neat way to sing it! I like it!
Hello everyone! I'm reappearing as mysteriously as I disappeared in the middle of Great Expectations. I wish I had some great yarn to explain my absence, but the truth is GE was becoming a downer, so I ... I ... I ... just quit reading it and left without saying goodbye. Apologies.In my absence I've been doing many things and completing none of them. That's the catch with being retired: you have plenty of time, so why do today what you can do tomorrow? But that's okay because not a single one of them would have saved the world or even a sliver of it, and I did enjoy the journey, which is where most of the fun is had.
Anyway, I was wondering if you all still intend to start Dickens over again come January?
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Xan
Welcome home! Mystery solved. One of the joys of retirement is the freedom it gives you. You’ve earned it.
Yes. We will begin The Pickwick Papers in January. Our new beginning for the new year.
We are finishing off this year with a reading of Dickens’s fifth Christmas book titled The Haunted Man. If you have some time please join us. If not, hope to see you next month.
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Well, I read The Haunted Man and am very unimpressed. I will not make further comment until everyone is in chapter 3.
Xan! Welcome back! I've missed you and your comments :)And if a fellow Dickens-lover is not allowed a bit of mystery, then what is the world coming to? ;)
Thank you everyone. Let me virtually open my Delphi Complete Works of Charles Dickens and see if it is there. Yes, it says complete works, but as with natural flavoring, which isn't natural, complete works may not be complete. Strange world we live in.
Welcome back, Xan! I, too, went MIA for a short time here. I just couldn't get into Our Mutual Friend at the time, so I resumed group activity with The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
And I was pondering OMF for so long that I've delayed reading Drood until the new year! But I have started The Haunted Man And The Ghost's Bargain:, and will stick to our group schedule :)
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I just wanted to say that you should feel free to cast your vote as to your personal favourite Dickens novel. The poll is still on till New Year's Eve.
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Thank you everyone. I've started The Haunted Man.
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My question is, can I change Tristrsm's vote? I see one on the list that is perfect for him.
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How about you let HIM change YOUR vote.
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How about you let HIM change YOUR vote."
Oh, that reminds me, I have to change your vote too.
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How about you let HIM change YOUR vote."
Oh, that reminds me, I have to change your vote too."
Dream on. Little Nell will only get one vote, and that only because there's one softie in every crowd.
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"My vote you for has nothing to do with poor Little Nell, it's just a little story about a wise, kind old man who is visited by imaginary ghosts who encourage him in his pursuit of wealth but whose true story was hijacked by an author who invented a false, saccharine sweet ending that had nothing to do with the actual facts of this kind, wise old man who was too intelligent to fall for all that nonsense about some special day when certain people lose their senses ."
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"My vote you for has nothing to do with poor Little Nell, it's just a little story about a wise, kind old man who is visited by imaginary ghosts who encourage him in ..."
"Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.
He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!
So there.
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Fake news. All lies.
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Oh, dear.... this group isn't going to start delving into politics I hope. It's one of my few escapes from partisan nastiness.
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I'm with you, Mary Lou. Although Everyman and Tristram's comments did make me giggle. :)
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All the moderators agree. Sorry I implied a political tone by telling Kim that Dickens's version of Scrooge's history was all fake news. In fact, Scrooge is quite happily bah-humbigging his way through life and, when Tiny Time came by on his crutch, Scrooge gave him nothing but grief. Dickens white-washed the whole story of Scrooge and painted him as, well you've read the Dickens version. But it's all lies, and anybody who believes the Dickens version is being deceived.
:)
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All the moderators agree. Sorry I implied a politic..."
Grump. Again. And whatever you and Tristram are agreeing to, I don't.
Thanks.