Dickensians! discussion
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Discussions About Our Next Main Group read
My favorite on the list is Robinson Crusoe, I would love to read that. I started Little Dorrit today so I can catch up to the books the group has already read, so I'm also happy with a break from bigger novels. The Arabian Nights Volume 1 is currently on my nightstand and I read it a little bit at a time. Even though its just Volume One, its a really huge book.
Anyway....I would read any of the books on the list, except Don Quixote. I tried years ago and eventually gave up because it was too much of a slog for me.
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Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra II
The Adventures of Roderick Random by Tobias Smollett
The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle by Tobias Smollett
The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by Tobias Smollett
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding
The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith
The Adventures of Gil Blas by Alain-René Le Sage III
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne
Arabian Nights: Tales Of Thousand Nights & A Night Vol 1 II
The Tales of the Genii IIII
Extras:
Waverley by Sir Walter Scott
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott IIII
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IMO, the plan outlined in message 140 is a good one. I won't join in a read this fall myself (each year, my reading schedule is pretty full from July to December with reads in other groups); but I'll definitely be up for a read of Bleak House starting in January, assuming that's what the group agrees to do!
I didn't realize that we are putting together a poll. I would most like to read Robinson Crusoe, Tristam Shandy and Tom Jones.
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Added yours :)
Bionic Jean wrote: "Anne- Is there a Russian novel that you know Charles Dickens enjoyed? I'll happily add it if so. I always think of it the other way round - that he influenced the Russian authors ....."Ah. That's right. He influenced the Russians. I turned it around. I don't know which Russian novels he enjoyed. That's your department. :))
I wasn’t in this group when your Dickens list was created but I have already read all his novels. I most want to re-read Hard Times, or A Tale of Two Cities, but after seeing the hints of it in Dombey, Great Expectations has moved back up again. I enjoyed Bleak House but it definitely takes a thorough read.I know Dickens often references Arabian Nights and the other favourites you list , Jean.
Bionic Jean wrote: "Kathleen - Hopefully you will be in for Bleak House in the new year - if that's still the most popular choice.."I'm in for any of the Dickens novels and many of his other writings.
I want to get back to reading The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London and possibly books I've collected about Dickens' life.
I’m looking forward to Bleak House if that’s the January choice. Seems like a great winter read. As for Dickens’ favorites, I’m not sure. Perhaps Tristram Shandy or Robinson Crusoe.
I haven’t read Hard Times so would likely be interested in that if it were proposed as a short read.
I do have a lot of books I’m planning to read so I just keep changing the plan as I move along.
I am easy to please. I have read Don Q, but Robinson Crusoe and Tom Jones are on my list. As for the Dickens novels, I have read Tale of 2 Cities, Little Dorrit, Ye Old Cur Shop, and now Dombey so would be happy to take on any of the others. And Bleak House YES! I bought it before I even joined this group. Can't wait for January.
Of the Dickens favourite list I have read Tom Jones, Vicar of Wikefield , I have read nothing by Smollett so I will be reading anything that is selected by the group, I like like the pace of reading books by this group.Are we going to read all of Arabian Nights ( if it is selected) or just part 1 ( GR says it’s 1 of 16 volumes)?
It will be very difficult to vote if all titles are included in the final poll.
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Janelle - Are there any of these 18th century novels (i.e. Dickens's favourities) which you would like to read with the group this Autumn? The idea is that we read a novel which influenced his own writing.
"I wasn’t in this group when your Dickens list was created" - Apart from the first novel, which I picked, we always vote on the next one. Lots of us have read all his novels, but enjoy a slower read to get more insight, so you're in good company :) I vetoed Bleak House just temporarily, because I felt some of its themes and mood were too similar to the one we had just finished. That's why I keep mentioning it, as I know it's a strong contender for this type of read.
Nidhi - Don't worry, only half will go to a poll, if that, and only one by any author. This is just to get a idea.
Updated with your choices Sue and Angela.
Kathleen - Excellent idea! Actually that was my first idea, to suggest a "catch-up" Autumn, for the side reads. Or buddy reads of the three novels we have covered for newbies. But if we have a new alternative option too, then all the bases are covered :)
Jean, put me down for Robinson Crusoe and the vicar of Wakefield.If one of the really long books wins, I probably won’t join in. (I find long books like Don Quixote intimidating!)
Did dickens not like Walter Scott?
Reading Bleak house with the group is something I’ll look forward to:)
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Please say anyone, if you'd like that one to be in a poll.
Don’t change the list just for me, Jean! I just thought that Walter Scott was an influence on him, so i was surprised it wasn’t in his favourites list. (I would like to read Waverley though!)
Please include my yes for Waverley by Sir Walter Scott.
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What about Ivanhoe ? It sounds like a fun read. Of course I have no idea if Dickens loved it but it's style is similar to the other books on the list.
Don Quixote is on my list so that gets my vote!
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I'll add these as extra ones, rather than his favourites. Charles Dickens's favourites tended to be the humorous and satirical picaresque 18th century ones, and Walter Scott wrote historical adventures. So Barnaby Rudge and A Tale of Two Cities perhaps have a nod towards Sir Walter Scott's discursive and exciting take on history, but we won't find much of Charles Dickens's humour or style in Sir Walter Scott.
I don't think I've missed out any of his favourites, as he lists them in David Copperfield, as well as talking about them in his letters.
Updated.
I would read Ivanhoe. Not read it since high school, I expect I'd enjoy it much more now :D
My favourite character in Ivanhoe isn't Ivanhoe! I don't want to give any spoilers, but my favourite character is well known to readers.I would read any book by Tobias Smollett.
I am so excited to be reading Bleak House with the group, but personally I would prefer to read it next year in the same format we read Dombey and Son... a chapter a day, and a break day in between chapters. That was just perfect!Of the books you mentioned that influenced Dickens, I've already read and loved Don Quixote and Robinson Crusoe. I have read somewhere else that Dickens was influenced by the works of Tobias Smollett, but were these as a young boy? I can't remember.
Could I ask a question about authors contemporary to Dickens? There are so many references in Dickens' books to things/events that I would love to know more about to enhance my pleasure of reading Dickens (the Industrial Revolution, workhouses, debtors' prisons, societal norms between classes and/or between the sexes, etc.). Are there other novelists who wrote about these things, or are there Victorian authors similar to Nellie Bly who exposed insane asylums in New York in her book, Ten Days in a Mad-House? These would make such wonderful expository books to read this fall.
Just to chime in on Ivanhoe. I read it last year, and I would highly recommend it. It was a fun read (but then, I really love stories of knights-errant).
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Yes, we'll certainly take our time over Bleak House. It's a perfect novel to be savoured :)
We'll usually read factual books about the themes you mention as side reads, and I heartily recommend our current side read The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London by Judith Flanders, as it is a general overview including all those topics; a sort of compendium of facts and anecdotes, with Charles Dickens at its heart.
Victorian novelists such as his friend Elizabeth Gaskell also exposed social inequities, and the appalling condition the poor lived in.
Great idea, Jean. I would vote for Tom Jones as my first choice and Ivanhoe as my second.
Hi, Jean~ I would be glad to read any of the books on the list, with the exception of the three I've already read - Don Quixote, Robinson Crusoe, and Ivanhoe - and The Arabian Nights (at least this year), as I'm already slogging my way through The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairytales. But I certainly don't want to affect the polls regarding the novels I've already read. They're great books and well worth reading. If the majority of the group would like to read any of them, I will be more than happy to catch up and read The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London, which I just bought but have not started reading yet.And by the way, I did find where I read Dickens mention Smollett. It was in David Copperfield. This article mentioned both Smollett and Henry Fielding as having influenced Dickens' writing.
Thank you for reminding me of Elizabeth Gaskell. I bought North and South years ago and need to move it up on my TBR list.
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The other one I would be interested in is the Tristram Shandy. Thanks, Jean!
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To be honest, I probably wouldn't join in on these as I've got a lot of other books I'm planning to read over the next few months, but just wanted to chime in to say I believe Scott was a big influence on Barnaby Rudge - though it is many years since I read that one. I'm enjoying The Victorian City but it is taking me a long time - I find Judith Flanders books slow reads as there is so much to take in, but they are definitely worth it.
I'd like to read Tristram Shandy or either of the Sir Walter Scott novels.
I have barely begun the Victorian City and will probably be reading it for some time. The good part of this is that the book is applicable to all of Dickens and many other Victorian authors and books I hope to read.
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Yes! That was in my original post that I lost LOL! So thank you for adding it. Charles Dickens read Walter Scott's novels carefully for both Barnaby Rudge and A Tale of Two Cities, because he was trying to capture the violence of the riots (and my goodness, how he succeeded!) Some say that his writing in Barnaby Rudge is similar to Victor Hugo.
By the time Charles Dickens wrote his second historical novel, he did a lot of prior research, spending a lot of time with Thomas Carlyle discussing the French Revolution as well as borrowing many of Carlyle's books on the subject. In fact he carried The French Revolution: A History around with him everywhere! This was because Barnaby Rudge had been criticised for having some historical inaccuracies. I also read somewhere that their friendship was a bit one-sided, with Thomas Carlyle just putting up with Charles Dickens's incessant demands.
Which other books by Judith Flanders would you recommend, Judy?
I think several may use the Autumn months to complete side reads, Sue :)
Adding your three, Chris
Bionic Jean wrote: "... Which other books by Judith Flanders would you recommend, Judy?..."Obviously I don’t know which books Judy would recommend! But I highly recommend Inside the Victorian Home: A Portrait of Domestic Life in Victorian England. It includes a lot of practical information about the way people lived & used their homes. I think you would enjoy it as Thomas Carlyle’s house in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea (London) was used for some of the research & photos in the book. As mentioned above, Dickens was a regular visitor to this house.
(This book isn’t listed in my own Goodreads books as I read it before joining here, but I would probably give it 4 or 5 stars.)
Trisha wrote: "Bionic Jean wrote: "... Which other books by Judith Flanders would you recommend, Judy?..." I thought I'd read more by her, but looks as if The Victorian City is only my second book by Judith Flanders! The other one I've read is Consuming Passions: Leisure and Pleasure in Victorian Britain, which I found fascinating, with a lot of detail about the Great Exhibition and things like panoramas recreating scenes from around the world.
Trisha, thank you for recommending Inside the Victorian Home, also published as The Victorian House - that is one I've been meaning to get to. I've also had A Circle of Sisters: Alice Kipling, Georgiana Burne Jones, Agnes Poynter, and Louisa Baldwin recommended to me.
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I do find Judith Flanders's titles difficult to remember! It's probably just me though. Thank you for these! Hope you'll be able to join in our summer reads Trisha - Judy is hosting one :)
Bionic Jean wrote: "Thank you Trisha and Judy! I have an idea the one I was trying to identify, as I remember hearing about it, is [book:Inside the Victorian Home: A Portrait of Domestic Life in Victorian England|5285..."Thank you, Jean & Judy. I had forgotten this book has 2 different titles. I enjoy this group & have learnt a lot from you. My biggest problem with it - which is entirely my own fault - is the way the books are read. I struggle to read any book just one chapter at a time, it feels endless & I lose interest. My only solution so far is to wait for at least a couple of weeks after you start, then read the book. Not ideal, & it makes participation in discussions difficult. Sorry, I’ll have to try again.
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Thank you for your kind words, and I am so pleased to hear that you enjoy the reads, as a comparatively "silent" member :) Maybe you could put a few comments at the end of one or two of the threads, if you're reading along but ahead? I know others do this; finding the closest to where they are by using the summaries links, to find where the story has got to. It's always great to hear from other members who didn't follow the chapter a day route - and you'll be sure to get a response!
Given the speed you prefer to read, I think the short summer reads will be ideal for you! I expect almost everyone will have read the relevant story before they comment on the thread :)
Please keep an eye on the GR message alerts, in case you do fancy joining in.
Bionic Jean wrote: "Not to worry Trisha! I confess I had looked at where you were in Dombey and Son, saw you'd finished at the end of March, and deduced the rest :) Sadly the speed can't be right for ever..."Yes, Jean, I plan to join the summer reads. Shorter reads will be much easier to time correctly with the group - it’s the long reads that I find frustrating, I start to lose interest. I know the group speed is right for most people & respect that, so I’ll aim to fit in as much as possible. In future I will try to comment more too.
I really want to read Hard Times and Barnaby Rudge now, after reading the descriptions! Unfortunately, there is no way I could read more than one Dickens novel at a time!
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Trisha - I am so happy the short reads will suit you better, as a "way in".
Of the books on Jean's list I would vote for The Vicar of Wakefield. I am all for the idea of reading Bleak House beginning in January. This will be a re-read for me but I would love to read and discuss it with the group. I'm sure I will get a lot more out of it.
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I think a lot of us feel the same way about a reread of Bleak House :)
Jean, I have also joined the DC buddy read. I read it in 2017, but not in a group so it will be interesting to discuss it this time. Knowing a bit about the story should stop me reading ahead just to find out what happens! That’s the plan anyway...
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Dickensians!
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I just finished Anna Karenina and was thinking about Dickens at the beginning and close to the end during the railroad station scenes. I'm curious about why there aren't any Russian novels listed given that he was so influenced by them.