DC Chp 32-34

[Tristram]

Let's keep our eyes open, Bobbie, and maybe we will get more glimpses of David's later family life. It kind of destroys suspense a little bit, doesn't it, and so there ought to be a reason why Dickens is doing this.

[Kim]

I'm not sure why but when I read the part about the daughter I thought, well she must be dead. I don't know why except it seems like whenever there is a character who is deeply loved they end up dead. So if the daughter doesn't end up dead I'm betting the angelic Agnes will.

[Kim]

Peter wrote: "This chapter begins with a confession from David. He states “I never loved Steerforth better than when the ties that bound me to him were broken.” Davi..."

I wonder what Ham would have thought if he knew David felt this way.

[Kim]

Tristram wrote: "Maybe, the second wife was in the grips of jealousy, the green-eyed monster, and your friend just didn't have the guts to stand up for your friendship. Still, it was a kind of betrayal to fob you o..."

I suppose it's possible, although I'm having trouble picturing myself causing anyone any serious jealousy problems. As far as I can tell your wife hasn't been complaining about our friendship, and my husband and son just had to listen to another Tristram story during supper. :-)

[Kim]

Tristram wrote: " Strangely, I never thought of Ham as a strong and masculine man like that"

Did you picture him the way Kyd did?

[Kim]

If I had been David, I would be sad for the loss of a friendship that had meant so much to me and I would have felt like that friend had died; however I am pretty certain that I would not love Steerforth better than ever. I think the present Steerforth and the past Steerforth would seem like two different people to me.

[Kim]

I have a question. When the Peggotty group says the word don't it's always spelled "doen't". When anyone else says it it is spelled "don't". Why? It gets on my nerves.

[Mary Lou]

Does anyone know who - if anyone - Steerforth represents in Dickens' life?

[Tristram]

Kim wrote: "Tristram wrote: "Maybe, the second wife was in the grips of jealousy, the green-eyed monster, and your friend just didn't have the guts to stand up for your friendship. Still, it was a kind of betr..."

Yes, but then our spouses are extremely self-confident - otherwise, they couldn't be married with us, could they?

[Tristram]

Kim wrote: "Tristram wrote: " Strangely, I never thought of Ham as a strong and masculine man like that"

Did you picture him the way Kyd did?

"

Heaven forbid!

[Tristram]

Kim wrote: "I have a question. When the Peggotty group says the word don't it's always spelled "doen't". When anyone else says it it is spelled "don't". Why? It gets on my nerves."

The peculiar spelling is probably meant to indicate that the Peggottys pronounce "don't" in a dialect variant, maybe in two syllables, such as "doe-ent"? There are sometimes spellings that don't or doen't make a lot of sense to me, such as, for instance, "vittles". I mean, how else do you pronounce "victuals"?

[Tristram]

Mary Lou wrote: "Does anyone know who - if anyone - Steerforth represents in Dickens' life?"

I have no idea, Mary Lou, but for Dickens's sake, I hope that he made the character up completely. Otherwise, he might have found himself in for yet another libel suit.

[Kim]

William Rainey

The Imperial Edition - 1902

[Peter]

Kim wrote: "

William Rainey

The Imperial Edition - 1902"

What is it about tea? Is it still true that a “cuppa” is the staff of life?

[Mary Lou]

Peter wrote: "What is it about tea? Is it still true that a “cuppa” is the staff of life?"

I thought bread was the staff of life.

But a nice cuppa does help me hit the pause button on life (or at least the slo-mo feature), take a breath, and gather my thoughts. By the time I'm done, I can focus better and face whatever comes next with renewed vigor.

[Kim]

Tristram wrote: "There are sometimes spellings that don't or doen't make a lot of sense to me, such as, for instance, "vittles". I mean, how else do you pronounce "victuals"?

I don't think I've ever used either word, although for once I actually knew what it meant. Here's the definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary anyway:

Definition of vittles:

supplies of food : VICTUALS —now chiefly used playfully to evoke the supposed language of cowboys

The vendors sold souvenirs and knickknacks and all manner of local vittles.
— Frank Deford

… Taco Cabana of San Antonio makes sure its vittles are the freshest Tex-Mex north of the Rio Grande.
— Richard S. Teitelbaum

My mother turned an icy stare on her, leaving my father to try to make amends. "All you kids have to stay for dinner. Leo and I'll rustle up some vittles." "Vittles?" my mother asked with disdain. "Food," my father said. "In cowboy movies, they call it vittles." "I abhor cowboy movies," she said, and returned to her room.
— Pat Conroy

I'll take their word for it. We already know I haven't seen any "cowboy movies".

[Tristram]

Interestingly, I didn't get that word from cowboy movies, but from Charles Dickens :-)

[Kim]

Tristram wrote: "Interestingly, I didn't get that word from cowboy movies, but from Charles Dickens :-)"

I wonder what Dickens would have thought of cowboy movies.

[Tristram]

Surely, he would have loved them: Those damsels in distress, those schoolmarms spreading the values of civilizations, those upright heroes and their funny sidekicks, and, last but not least, those dyed-in-the-wool villains.

But I think he would also have loved the more mature westerns with their broken, more ambiguous heroes.

[Kim]

Tristram wrote: "Surely, he would have loved them: Those damsels in distress, those schoolmarms spreading the values of civilizations, those upright heroes and their funny sidekicks, and, last but not least, those ..."

Do you think he would have become a writer of movies? I think he would love them.

[Julie]

I think he would have been in television 20 years ago and on YouTube now. Man was an innovator.

[Tristram]

Kim wrote: "Tristram wrote: "Surely, he would have loved them: Those damsels in distress, those schoolmarms spreading the values of civilizations, those upright heroes and their funny sidekicks, and, last but ..."

I'm sure that scriptwriting is a talent Dickens would have possessed - just look at all the brilliant dialogue pervading his novels. On the other hand, I'm glad that Dickens lived in the 19th century because how could he have translated descriptions like the opening of Bleak House adequately into his film scripts. In short, Dickens is so much more than movies!!!

[Kim]

Yes, but which actors would he have chosen? In DC for instance who would he have picked to play David? Would he choose a very good looking man see how David is really Dickens. :-)

[Tristram]

I hope he wouldn't have chosen Elijah Wood because I would not like to think of David as a hobbit :-)

[Kim]

Tristram wrote: "I hope he wouldn't have chosen Elijah Wood because I would not like to think of David as a hobbit :-)"

Well he'd have to choose someone very talented. Sometimes he'd have to act like David, at times like Trot, and a Daisy, even a Doady when he's with Dora. It seems like different people to me. At least it should be. All these names get confusing.

[Kim]

Tristram wrote: "Surely, he would have loved them: Those damsels in distress, those schoolmarms spreading the values of civilizations, those upright heroes and their funny sidekicks, and, last but not least, those ..."

This week is Halloween week and horror movies have been on constantly. I have found the perfect movies for you this week:

https://www.liveabout.com/the-weird-w...

[Tristram]

That's a very interesting list, Kim, and I only know "Westworld" of all the films presented there. When it comes to "Westworld", however, I'd call it more a science fiction movie than a horror film. The westerns I have seen that come closest to horror are "The White Buffalo" with Charles Bronson and "The Night of the Grizzly" with Clint Walker.

I think that good horror movies are few and far between because a horror movie always has to surprise, whereas good westerns are ten a penny because they like noir, the western is generic: Even if it strictly follows a pattern, as long as it gives depth to its characters and creates the typical mood, visually and emotionally, it will be loved by the genre aficionado. There are lots of westerns I really love but only a handful of horror films - and these I don't love with as much emotion and nostalgia as, let's say, "The Wild Bunch", "The Searchers" or "Devil's Doorway".

The first movies on the list intrigued me, though, and I'd love to hunt them up.

[Kim]

Well, while I would agree to watch some of them with you, you are on your own with Cowboys vs. Vampires and Cowboys vs. Zombies they just sound too stupid to spend time with.

[Tristram]

I would not waste my time on Vampire and Zombie westerns, either.

[Kim]

Tristram wrote: "I would not waste my time on Vampire and Zombie westerns, either."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EL5l...

[Kim]

Tristram wrote: "I would not waste my time on Vampire and Zombie westerns, either."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4s11...

[Bobbie]

Wow! Very interesting!

[Tristram]

Kim,

You are a treasure! It's fun to see those animated bats - are they smiling? And once again, I must say that Duke had a wonderful, resonating voice.

[Kim]

Tristram wrote: "Kim,

You are a treasure! It's fun to see those animated bats - are they smiling? And once again, I must say that Duke had a wonderful, resonating voice."

What do you think of this list? You're the expert.

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...

[Bobbie]

Tristram, and others. Have you ever seen Rawhide (the movie not the series) with Tyrone Power and Susan Hayward? It was made in 1951 and I saw this as a child and could not remember the title but when I was older I search for it and found it. It has a very frightening scene with a small child. Check it out if you've not seen it. I see that I can watch it on Prime Video and plan to do so again soon.

[Tristram]

I throroughly love lists like that, Kim, and the first two films would be on my personal list as well, exactly as numbers 1 and 2. But after that, it becomes difficult to make clear decisions. I think that number 3 should go to The Naked Spur by Anthony Mann, and there ought to be Devil's Doorway by the same director and Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance in its close vicinity. They are not even on that list. The Ox-Bow Incident is a classic, but I am missing Forty Guns and I shot Jesse James by Sam Fuller.

What about Ulzana's Raid? It's far better than Vera Cruz by the same director. I would definitely strike off Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Rio Bravo and also The Good, the Bad and the Ugly to make room for some of the westerns I mentioned above. And for Bullet for a Badman, an underestimated gem of the genre.

As to new westerns, there ought to be the Coen version of True Grit on the list as well. Interestingly, however, I would most of the other westerns named there somewhere on the list - plus Boetticher's The Tall T.

You see it's very difficult to make a truly reliable Best 20 Westerns list :-)

[Tristram]

Bobbie wrote: "Tristram, and others. Have you ever seen Rawhide (the movie not the series) with Tyrone Power and Susan Hayward? It was made in 1951 and I saw this as a child and could not remember the title but w..."

Bobbie, that's a very good western, and I think it was Lee Van Cleef who had the frightening scene with the child. I used to post lots of film reviews on the German Amazon site and I also wrote a review on Rawhide, as on most of the westerns on Kim's list (and on the one I puzzlled together).

[Kim]

I couldn't find your reviews on the German Amazon site. Of course once I found the German Amazon site I couldn't make heads or tails out of what it said. :-)

[Tristram]

Kim wrote: "I couldn't find your reviews on the German Amazon site. Of course once I found the German Amazon site I couldn't make heads or tails out of what it said. :-)"

Well, it's in German, and German is tricky to make heads or tails of, as you should know by now. As to finding my reviews, the Amazon site is very bad to navigate, and that's why I have taken to posting film reviews on letterboxd.com, under the sobriquet of DekeThornton - the guy from The Wild Bunch. Some of these reviews are even in English.

[Kim]

Oh now you tell me who Deke Thornton is, after I looked him up already after reading your review on one of our other threads I forget which one. I never heard of letterboxd.com, but I'm off to look for you.

[Kim]

He looks nothing like you.

[Tristram]

Deke Thornton was one of the tragic characters in Peckinpah's great western The Wild Bunch, a man who wanted to pay back betrayal by counter-betrayal and then realized that it would just not do, albeit belatedly.

Letterboxd.com is quite a good film reviewing site. I came across it when I entered the following tag into Google: "goodreads for movies".

In case you really want to look at my reviews, Kim, note that I spelled the name DekeThornton. I don't have a lot of reviews there, but some are in English.

[Kim]

I do want to read your reviews, so I'll be off to read them after I finish here unless someone else calls me. You would think being told to stay home people would have better things to do than call me, but as far as I can tell no one is able to stay home, so they go out, get the virus, call the church to tell them they have the virus, and someone calls me to tell me that person has the virus so I can pass it on to my group. I'm pretty sure half the church has the virus and yet they keep meeting together. I am at a loss as to what to say to these people anymore.

[Kim]

Tristram wrote: "Deke Thornton was one of the tragic characters in Peckinpah's great western The Wild Bunch, a man who wanted to pay back betrayal by counter-betrayal and then realized that it would just not do, al..."

I wonder if I can find your movie anywhere to watch, it would be my first western.

[Tristram]

Kim, I am sure that The Wild Bunch is not hard to find because it is one of the Top Ten Western movies, not just of my personals ones, but probably objectively ;-) It's quite long, though, and you need to be in the right mood for it.

[Bobbie]

I already found it on Prime Video and put it on my watchlist. I have never seen it either.

[Tristram]

I'd like to know what you think of it, Bobbie. It's my second favourite western after The Searchers.

[Kim]

The Searchers, now I have to put that on my list too. But there better not be any dentist scenes in it.

[Tristram]

No dentist scenes - but a lot of psychological drama anyway!

[Kim]

At this moment I am sitting in the parking lot at the dentist's office. When they called to make the appointment they said to wait in the car and call them to say I'm here. Someone will come out and get me. No one is answering the phone and here I sit.