Dombey, Chapters 14 - 16

[Linda]

Everyman wrote: "I got the same feeling. I couldn't help my mind straying to "the better to eat you with, my dear.""

Same here. This scene reminded me of the cat-and-mouse references in Bleak House - where Mr. Vholes takes on the cat role.

But then I also had the feeling, like Everyman, of insincerity. Carker was simply amused by Captain Cuttle and was humoring himself by appearing interested in what Cuttle had to say.

[Kim]

Tristram wrote: "I would tend to regard the river and the sea, the continuing to and fro of the waves, as a symbol of death,:

Years ago when my mom died, which is hard to believe has been 20 years, the pastor asked if there was any special scripture, poem or anything else we would like included in the bulletin. I asked my dad and expected him to say The Lord's Prayer or the Twenty-third Psalm, but he says "Crossing The Bar". I had to ask him what in the world that was and he said it was his favorite poem in college. I was absolutely amazed that my father, the Dombey type, even knew a poem much less had a favorite; so off I went to the library to find it (in the days before the internet). Ever since then I have never been able to be near the ocean or at someone's graveside without that poem going through my mind. I just looked it up again. Here's the meaning for those who may not know it, and the poem.

"Crossing the Bar" is an 1889 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson that is traditionally the last poem in collections of his work. It is thought that Tennyson wrote it in elegy, as the poem has a tone of finality about it. The narrator uses an extended metaphor to compare death to crossing the "sandbar" between the tide or river of life, with its outgoing "flood," and the ocean that lies beyond death, the "boundless deep," to which we return.

Tennyson wrote the poem after a serious illness while at sea, crossing the Solent from Aldworth to Farringford on the Isle of Wight. It has also been suggested he wrote it while on a yacht anchored in Salcombe. The words, he said, "came in a moment" Shortly before he died, Tennyson told his son Hallam to "put 'Crossing the Bar' at the end of all editions of my poems".

The poem contains four stanzas that generally alternate between long and short lines. Tennyson employs a traditional ABAB rhyme scheme. Scholars have noted that the form of the poem follows the content: the wavelike quality of the long-then-short lines parallels the narrative thread of the poem.

The extended metaphor of "crossing of bar" represents traveling serenely and securely from life through death. The Pilot is a metaphor for God, whom the speaker hopes to meet face to face. Tennyson explained, "The Pilot has been on board all the while, but in the dark I have not seen him…[He is] that Divine and Unseen Who is always guiding us."


Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.

[Hilary]

That's a really beautiful poem, Kim. Thank you.

[Peter]

Kim

Tennyson is one of my favourite poets. This is a wonderful, powerful poem.

[Everyman]

Kim wrote: "Tristram wrote: "I would tend to regard the river and the sea, the continuing to and fro of the waves, as a symbol of death,:

Years ago when my mom died, which is hard to believe has been 20 years..."

It's been a favorite of mine for more than 50 years.

[Kim]

One thing I was reminded of in thinking of Tennyson was a link he had to Dickens, of course I had to go look it up:

"That Charles Dickens and Alfred Tennyson should have been friends when Dickens was the foremost Victorian novelist and Tennyson was the foremost Victorian poet is a heartening thing. Robert Browning wrote to Elizabeth Barrett, who shortly after married him wondering if she knows why Alfred Tennyson has been dining with Dickens to meet celebrities.

'What do you suppose caused all the dining and repining? He has been sponsor to Dickens's child in company with Count D'Orsay and accordingly the novus homo glories in the praenomia Alfred d'Orsay Tennyson Dickens ... You observe Alfred is common to both the godfather and the devil-father ... When you remember what the form of sponsorship is, to what it pledges you in the Church of England - and then remember that Mr. Dickens is an enlightened Unitarian - you will get a curious notion of the man, I fancy.'

Tennyson was somewhat lukewarm in his response to the overtures of friendship made by Charles Dickens, even after he had stood as godfather for one of Dickens's sons. It is tempting to think that some of his reserve stemmed from an uneasy recognition of the similarity of their features that occasionally led to their being confused, particularly in photographs or portraits, which can hardly have been welcome to Tennyson's self-esteem. Upon seeing a sketch done by John Millais of Dickens on his deathbed, Tennyson reportedly said, likely with some discomfort, that it was like looking at himself."

[Tristram]

Kim wrote: "This is what I can find about what Paul may be wearing:

From the mid-16th century until the late 19th or early 20th century, young boys in the Western world were unbreeched and wore gowns or dress..."

Thank you, Kim, for that interesting excursion into children's fashion. Just as Peter, I would never have thought that boys would have been made to wear dresses until well into the 19th century. What Florence puts on on Paul at the night of the quadrille I would have considered a cape or some such thing but now I know better.

By the way I am impressed with the picture you posted. The boy looks like the perfect Paul to me.

[Tristram]

Kim wrote: "Peter wrote: "We see Paul's concern with time as bells are heard. I think it was in TOCS, but I know it was Kim who did some wonderful research on what bells meant in terms of their ringing and the..."

Kim,

I don't know why but there is a streak of morbidity in me that keeps me interested in things like knells and death bells. By the way your background info once again shows the richness of the English language, which differentiates between ringing, chiming, and tolling. I am not so sure if there are aquivalents for these in German.

Anyway, it is very rewarding for me to discuss all these novels with you for many reason, one obviously being all that background information on everyday history you dig up.

[Tristram]

Everyman wrote: "Hilary wrote: "Hi Lindsay, when I was reading it I got the image of a shark in my mind. I'm sure that there are many other interpretations. It felt to me as though Dickens was using this descrip..."

The perfect set of white teeth might have struck contemporaries even more because in Victorian times it must have been quite unusual for somebody Carker's age to have all their teeth, and then in mint condition.

I'd say that Dickens wants to associate some association of a predating animal with Carker, someone that is prone to biting the hand that feeds him

[Hilary]

Yep, agreed, Tristram.

[Peter]

Anyone who shows so much teeth must have a tinge of the shark. Is there any nursery story with a character who displays both lots of teeth AND benevolence? Florence beware ....

[Everyman]

Tristram wrote: "I don't know why but there is a streak of morbidity in me that keeps me interested in things like knells and death bells."

If you really want to know about English bells, read Dorothy Sayers's The Nine Tailors. And no, it's not about sewing clothing!

[Kim]

I found this interesting, from The Life of Charles Dickens by John Forster:

"While every other portion of the tale had to submit to such varieties in development as the characters themselves entailed, the design affecting Paul and his father had been planned from the opening, and was carried without alteration to the close. And of the perfect honesty with which Dickens himself repelled such charges as those to which I have adverted, when he wrote the preface to his collected edition, remarkable proof appears in the letter to myself which accompanied the manuscript of his proposed first number. No other line of the tale had at this time been placed on paper.

When the first chapter only was done, and again when all was finished but eight slips, he had sent me letters formerly quoted. What follows came with the manuscript of the first four chapters on the 25th of July.":

"I will now go on to give you an outline of my immediate intentions in reference to Dombey. I design to show Mr. D. with that one idea of the Son taking firmer and firmer possession of him, and swelling and bloating his pride to a prodigious extent. As the boy begins to grow up, I shall show him quite impatient for his getting on, and urging his masters to set him great tasks, and the like. But the natural affection of the boy will turn towards the despised sister; and I purpose showing her learning all sorts of things, of her own application and determination, to assist him in his lessons; and helping him always. When the boy is about ten years old (in the fourth number), he will be taken ill, and will die; and when he is ill, and when he is dying, I mean to make him turn always for refuge to the sister still, and keep the stern affection of the father at a distance. So Mr. Dombey—for all his greatness, and for all his devotion to the child—will find himself at arms' length from him even then; and will see that his love and confidence are all bestowed upon his sister, whom Mr. Dombey has used—and so has the boy himself too, for that matter—as a mere convenience and handle to him. The death of the boy is a death-blow, of course, to all the father's schemes and cherished hopes; and 'Dombey and Son,' as Miss[340] Tox will say at the end of the number, 'is a Daughter after all.' . . . From that time, I purpose changing his feeling of indifference and uneasiness towards his daughter into a positive hatred. For he will always remember how the boy had his arm round her neck when he was dying, and whispered to her, and would take things only from her hand, and never thought of him. . . . At the same time I shall change her feeling towards him for one of a greater desire to love him, and to be loved by him; engendered in her compassion for his loss, and her love for the dead boy whom, in his way, he loved so well too."

[Kim]

Everyman wrote: "Tristram wrote: "I don't know why but there is a streak of morbidity in me that keeps me interested in things like knells and death bells."

If you really want to know about English bells, read Dor..."

I absolutely love that book. :-}

[Kim]

Tristram wrote: "The perfect set of white teeth might have struck contemporaries even more..."



Now you did it, I couldn't resist this one:

Teeth are an important feature of the human face. Scarcely less cognizant of this fact than the dental profession is the writer. Generations of biographers, novelists, poets, playwrights, essayists and journalists have included descriptions of teeth in portraying the facial appearance of their characters.

Beautiful teeth

Anthony Trollope's 'Lucy Robarts was thoroughly a brunette. Sometimes the dark tint of her cheek was exquisitely rich and lovely, and the fringes of her eyes were long and soft, and her small teeth, which one so seldom saw, were white as pearls, and her hair, though short, was beautifully soft – by no means black, but yet of so dark a shade of brown. Blanche, too, was noted for fine teeth. They were white and regular and lofty as a new row of houses in a French city. But then when she laughed she was all teeth; as she was all neck when she sat at the piano. But Lucy's teeth! – it was only now and again, when in some sudden burst of wonder she would sit for a moment with her lips apart, that the fine finished lines and dainty pearl-white colour of that perfect set of ivory could be seen.'

In Gustave Flaubert's Letters occurs a self-portrait of Louise Colet 'My mouth is small, fresh-looking, though not remarkable in shape. My smile is particularly pleasant – kindly, naive, I am told: I have never seen myself smile. My teeth are beautiful, in excellent condition, and I have all of them except one rear molar that I had extracted, being unable to stand the pain'.

Ugly teeth

Unsightly teeth seem to catch the imagination of the writer to a greater extent. They can disfigure an otherwise beautiful face as described by Harold Acton.'The Annamese attendants were lithe and sleek and silky. Their features were as delicate as those of Chinese beauties but they were less expressive. Their mouths were often marred by an array of black lacquered teeth. As in Java and Bali, many of them chewed betel, which stained their teeth and lips a sinister bleeding crimson. Black teeth, I decided, were preferable to red or even to yellow ones, and I could see myself getting used to them in time.

David Garnett's imagination was similarly fired 'Dorothy was short and rather fat, with a buxom low-breasted figure which was not improved by her square-cut low-necked, clumsy home-made dresses and her lack of any form of corset or brassiere. She had a beautiful complexion and a white skin, lovely challenging blue eyes, a noble forehead and very fine fair hair which was screwed up into a small bun at the back. But her beauty was spoilt by prominent, protruding upper teeth which were not only ugly in themselves, but spoilt what might have otherwise been pretty lips.'

Sean O'Faolain's'Aunt Maggie was equally tall and strong-shouldered, with a round, bellowing voice that you could hear two fields away, and teeth that could plough the earth; a dark rough woman whom nobody would want to cross.

J. D. Salinger's neighbour '... was one of those very, very tall, round-shouldered guys – he was about six-four – with lousy teeth. The whole time he roomed next to me, I never even once saw him brush his teeth.

Malocclusion, particularly crowding, gives rise to some wonderful descriptions of unsightly teeth such as Anne Tyler's 'He was grotesquely tall, as gaunt as the armature for some statue never completed. His cropped black hair bristled all over his head, his skull of a face glistened, and he clenched a set of teeth so ragged and white and crowded, so jumbled together and overlapping, that it seemed he had chewed them up and was preparing to spit them out..............his lips could barely close over that chaos of teeth; his mouth had a bunchy look and his chin was elongated from the effort. His long front teeth were so prominent that his lips had to labour to stretch across them. His whole face seemed stretched, and too intricately hinged at the jawbone.'

Expressive Teeth

First was Mr. Carker, I won't copy that one. :-}

Leonard Woolf used teeth to lend a sinister appearance to a character 'Sometimes when one caught in a certain light the vision of his mouth and jaw, it gave one that tiny little clutch of fear in the heart. It made one think of Turgenev's mother flogging the servant to death. I have known only very few people with this kind of mouth; its sinister shape comes, I think, from the form of the jaw and arrangement of the teeth. There is always the shadow of a smile in it, but it is the baleful smile of the shark or a crocodile. Mirsky had this kind of smile. One day when I was travelling by train along the south coast of Ceylon from Marata to Galle, on the platform of one of the stations which we passed there were dozens of dead sharks. I had never seen anything like it in Ceylon and I do not know why they were there. On each dead face there was this sinister grin. Talking to Mirsky in a London sitting-room, as he suddenly turned his head to say something and there was a glint of teeth and a smile, I was back in Ceylon twelve years ago in the railway carriage looking at rows of dead, smiling sharks.'

Thomas Hardy described teeth as an expressive feature in Under the Greenwood Tree. ' "Hee - hee - ay!" replied Leaf, letting his mouth continue to smile for some time after his mind had done smiling, so that his teeth remained in view as the most conspicuous members of his body.'

[Peter]

Kim wrote: "Tristram wrote: "The perfect set of white teeth might have struck contemporaries even more..."



Now you did it, I couldn't resist this one:

Teeth are an important feature of the human face. Scar..."

Yikes. I suddenly have an urge to floss. ;>}

[Everyman]

Kim wrote: "Tristram wrote: "The perfect set of white teeth might have struck contemporaries even more..."

Now you did it, I couldn't resist this one:"

And I have to go the dentist on Wednesday. How can I now help being massively self-conscious?

[Tristram]

Everyman wrote: "Tristram wrote: "I don't know why but there is a streak of morbidity in me that keeps me interested in things like knells and death bells."

If you really want to know about English bells, read Dor..."

Thanks, I am going to check that one out.

[Tristram]

Kim wrote: "I found this interesting, from The Life of Charles Dickens by John Forster:

"While every other portion of the tale had to submit to such varieties in development as the characters themselves entai..."

Thanks for that insight, Kim. Among other things, it explains why the Chapter in which Paul dies finished with the seemingly anti-climactic statement from Miss Tox, which has apparently been discarded in later editions.

[Tristram]

About teeth: I disctinctly remember that one of Trollope's finest anti-heroines, Lizzy Greystock in The Eustace Diamonds was also very concerned about her fine teeth, i.e. she was afraid of having them knocked out in a riding accident.

The most wonderful story about teeth I ever read comes from E.A. Poe and is called Berenice. I am not going to tell you any more details, have a look yourselves if you wish ;-)

[Linda]

Tristram wrote: "The most wonderful story about teeth I ever read comes from E.A. Poe and is called Berenice. I am not going to tell you any more details, have a look yourselves if you wish ;-)"

My interest is piqued! I will have to check my husband's giant Poe book and see if this one is in there. It's got to be, the book is a monster.

[Kim]

Tristram wrote: "About teeth: I disctinctly remember that one of Trollope's finest anti-heroines, Lizzy Greystock in The Eustace Diamonds was also very concerned about her fine teeth, i.e. she was afra..."

I'm going to look for Berenice since I don't remember it, as soon as I finish moving the dining room furniture around to make room for the first village platform. I just needed an iced tea break. :-}

[Kim]

I am dragging us all the way back here to share a brief letter Dickens wrote to a Charles Sheridan where he mentions the death of Paul while he is writing it. I found it interesting:

At the Parisian Phenomenon (Rue de Courcelles)
Thursday Night, Seventh January
1847

My Dear Sheridan. I am heartily sorry for the occasion of your postponement, though glad of the postponement itself. I am slaughtering a young and innocent victim--and it takes a deal of time.

So much, indeed, that I must postpone now, until a week or more is past, and No. 5 is on its way to the shores of Albion--if you ever heard of that uncommon locality. Meantime Charley considers us (I see it plainly) a pair of humbugs, and broods darkly over his wrongs.

I think of demanding my passport, in consequence of the immense extent to which the French nation makes a water-closet of my wall. If the British Lion were bred for THIS he had better have been born a jackall or hyaena, and then he might at least have got an honest livelihood out of it.

Ever yours,

Charles Dickens

Charles Sheridan, Esquire

[Hilary]

Thanks for sharing this letter, Kim. Love his 'water closet' bit; he even manages to lend a certain dignity to such bodily and boorish actions.

[Peter]

Kim wrote: "I am dragging us all the way back here to share a brief letter Dickens wrote to a Charles Sheridan where he mentions the death of Paul while he is writing it. I found it interesting:

At the Parisi..."

Kim

Thanks for the posting of the letter. It is interesting to see how/what he thinks about during his writing process. While Dickens may be rather dramatic even in his letters, he is never boring!

[Linda]

Yes, thanks Kim! Poor Paul. I still miss him.

[Elisa]

"...had sometimes mingled porter with his table-beer to make him strong." What were these kids drinking?

There are the chapters where the Blimber household becomes loveable. They may be obsessed with the dead languages, but they have hearts.

"...a want of vital power..." What would we say that Paul actually died of? I've wondered about heart damage from rheumatic fever, from one of those childhood sicknesses. And I've also wondered about childhood leukemia.

The workman messing around with the clock, and symbols of time continue.

The encounters of Captain Cuttle with any of the representatives of Dombey and Son make me cringe. They are not fun to read! I'm suffering for him.

And so, having sobbed my way through three chapters, I contemplate Florence's lonely future. What friend can she turn to? Susan Nipper, though well-meaning, is too abrasive to be considered a friend. Walter is about to set sail on the Son and Heir, which does not bode well.

[Peter]

Elisa wrote: ""...had sometimes mingled porter with his table-beer to make him strong." What were these kids drinking?

There are the chapters where the Blimber household becomes loveable. They may be obsessed ..."

You are on a roll with your reading. Keep your eyes on the references to time. Dickens develops this motif in many various ways in the novel.
Your comments are spot on and your questions will all be answered in time.

Florence is one of my favourite Dickensian heroines. Enjoy her journey through the novel.

[Bionic Jean]

These three chapter have taken me a while to read. I always say I love Dickens because he makes you laugh and then he makes you cry. Yet until now that has been more of a feeling. Until now.

Reading chapter 14 the other day I found tears falling down my cheeks. It was just too close to home, the closeness between brother and sister. Yet we were reading about the decline of a young boy, not an adult, so perhaps it should not have seemed so personally significant. It did, however, and I had to brace myself for the next two chapters.

What a master Dickens was, to move me so very much.

On a happier note, I can personally confirm the tradition of putting young boys in frocks in the early part of the 20th century. Here is a photo of my father, who was born in 1920. His parents were ... socially conscious, shall we say? If they thought something was "the done thing" then they would do it. Social snobs, Dad called them :D

[Peter]

Jean

The Paul chapters must have been difficult to read. In the hands of Dickens his words will reach beyond specific ages and circumstances. Take care.

I loved the picture you posted of your father. It triggered a memory of mine from the 1960's. Like most teenagers in the 60's I wanted to be a musician and grow my hair so I could look more like The Beatles. Needless to say, my father (a conservative man) thought their music, their looks, and especially their hair was horrid. After a few futile discussions, my grandmother ( his mother) produced a picture of him at about the age 10 with a full head of longish hair with bangs cut straight over his eyebrows, looking much like Ringo. Evidently, this haircut was the style for boys his age at the time. I think the style was called "the Buster Brown cut."

While I never did grow my hair, it was one of the many times I love and remember about spending my time with my grandmother.

[Bionic Jean]

Haha! What a wonderful woman she must have been. They do say that sometimes a bond between those 2 generations is stronger than the parental bond, don't they?

I do remember those times, and the consternation caused when my brother read the lesson from the pulpit in church with his "long" (collar-length) hair, mauve shirt and velvet tie :) Yet a few short years later Chris (my husband) grew his hair until he looked like the wild man of Borneo.

Oh and we both love Leonard Cohen. And John Mayall.

And ... thank you :)

[Mary Lou]

Peter (if you're reading this) - I hope you're a lit. professor. Your comments on the railroad and changes in Staggs's Gardens juxtaposed with Paul's death were brilliant. The excessive characterization of Paul as old-fashioned made so much more sense when considered from that angle.

It occurred to me that Paul's death was a gentle one that I wouldn't mind for myself. He was always frail, but never seemed to be in pain or discomfort. Speaking of the use of shadows, Paul seemed to become a shadow of himself, just getting weaker and weaker until the sun went down and he disappeared for good.

Re: Carker's toothy grin, it reminded me of the Cheshire Cat. I checked publication dates, and Alice was published 17 years later. I can't help but think that Carroll borrowed the cat's grin from Carker.

Finally, the sea seems to be another character in D&S, in much the same way that the Thames seemed to be a character in Our Mutual Friend. As I read on, I'm sure the sea will continue to play a part in the story. I once heard that in reading literature, if there is water, it often symbolized a baptism or rebirth -- will there be some kind of rebirth in Dombey as I go on?

[Mary Lou]

PS Paul seems to me to foreshadow the leading characters of children's lit to come in the later part of the 19th century and early 20th century -- the sweet, well-behaved child who's usually lost one or both parents, and whose innocence and optimism soften the hearts of the cold and cynical adults around them, e.g. Pollyanna, Rebecca, Anne Shirley, Little Lord Fauntleroy. I see this especially with Miss Pipchin, who is still gruff, but, I think, obviously very fond of Paul.

[Linda]

Mary Lou wrote: "It occurred to me that Paul's death was a gentle one that I wouldn't mind for myself. He was always frail, but never seemed to be in pain or discomfort. Speaking of the use of shadows, Paul seemed to become a shadow of himself, just getting weaker and weaker until the sun went down and he disappeared for good. "

Oh, I how I love little Paul and his death was devastating, but like you said Mary Lou, at least his death was a gentle one. Just like Paul.

[Hilary]

Mary Lou, thanks for triggering memories of Dombey and Son. I hope that you continue to enjoy it. I love your suggestion that Lewis Carroll may have borrowed from Carker for his crazy Cheshire Cat. That is very feasible. It's a pity that Carker never quite achieved the same level of fame. He would certainly have deserved it!

[Hilary]

So sorry, Jean, for the sorrow that you experienced when reading about Paul and Florence. You were obviously very close to your brother. My older brother died in 2009 aged
59. Selfishly, I miss his compassion now that my health is poor. He was always concerned when I, or others, had so much as a sniffle! It's not easy to find many like that. May your memories of your brother bring comfort only. :)

[Bionic Jean]

Hilary - I feel exactly the same! Some people always give, whatever bleak situation they may be in themselves. It sounds as though we have each been fortunate in having those very special people for brothers, and also a wonderful bond. I am so sorry to hear that you too have lost your brother far too soon. But the memories are irreplaceable :)

[Bionic Jean]

Mary Lou and Linda - I'm enjoying revisiting this thread too, and remembering what an excellent novel this is. Thank you. Excellent observation about the Cheshire cat, Mary Lou :)

And I echo your thoughts about Peter's contributions which are invaluable and often make me look at a piece of writing in a different way. You always teach me a great deal, Peter, with each reading. Many thanks to you :)

[Hilary]

Thank you, Jean!

[Peter]

Mary Lou wrote: "Peter (if you're reading this) - I hope you're a lit. professor. Your comments on the railroad and changes in Staggs's Gardens juxtaposed with Paul's death were brilliant. The excessive characteriz..."

Hi Mary Lou

I always enjoy reading all posts, both past and present. Thanks for the kind words. No, I'm not a professor. I ran out of steam after receiving my M.A. in Victorian Studies. I did have the good fortune to teach in the International Baccalaureate programme and went out of my way to make sure there was always a Dickens (or two) on the course. Nowadays I enjoy reading and discussing Dickens with all Pickwickians.

For many reasons Bleak House is perhaps Dickens "best" novel but Dombey and Son has always been my sentimental favourite. It's interesting how books become friends, isn' t it? It's even better to have good and knowledgeable friends to share in the discussions.

[Peter]

Jean wrote: "Mary Lou and Linda - I'm enjoying revisiting this thread too, and remembering what an excellent novel this is. Thank you. Excellent observation about the Cheshire cat, Mary Lou :)

And I echo your ..."

Thank you, Jean. It is a fantasy of mine that I will win a huge lottery and then invite all the active Pickwickians to come here to Victoria for a grand meeting and adventure.

Until I win, however, the best I can offer is the suggestion that the Pickwickians follow the travels of the Duke and Dutchess this week as they visit British Columbia, and especially Victoria, where I live. My picture on the Goodreads site is me at the statue of Queen Victoria which is on the front lawn of the legislature here in Victoria. The opening ceremonies for the visit of the Royals occurred on the front lawn.

Perhaps if I win the lottery the Royals will return to Victoria and join us.

[Bionic Jean]

I love your fantasy, Peter, and think that really would be an awfully big adventure :)

[Linda]

Jean - I somehow missed your posts to this thread last year, I just notice when Hilary posted. I'm sorry for the loss of your brothers, Jean and Hilary. I also have a brother, my only sibling, and we just celebrated a milestone birthday for him yesterday. I do not wish to imagine the day that he might not be here to turn to.

[Bionic Jean]

No, I never did either. We are more prepared (as much as we ever can be) for losing the previous generation. But build up your precious memories now Linda, and should you ever need them they will be there for you.

Dickens can unearth the most amazing feelings, and I have a great affection for this novel now, since reading it again and sharing it with you all.

[Hilary]

Thank you so much, Linda. Family is precious. I'm glad that you also have a close relationship with your brother. As Jean says great memories are so important!