The Pickwick Club discussion
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David Copperfield
David Copperfield
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Reading schedule, and general remarks
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Hilary
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Feb 14, 2015 10:07AM
'The Hunger Games' in novel form, Tristram! Kill me now! I was encouraged by my children to watch the first one and as I expected I hated it! Then my daughters coaxed me to go out for a meal and to the cinema with them to see the second. Such an outing Is a rare occurrence, so I went. Apart from the fact that it was Philip Seymour Hoffman's last film (which in the end made it worth it for me) I doubly hated it. Even my daughters were unimpressed. Banging my head against a brick wall for a couple of hours strikes (sic) me as a much more pleasing activity!
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Oops the P Seymour Hoffman comment might be ambiguous! Just to underline that what I mean is I wanted to see him in his last film as I love him as an actor!
Tristram wrote: "Peter wrote: "Would it be possible to teach DC to all your classes, at a pace of one chapter per week? With reviews, time for group activities and all that other stuff you should be able to limp th..."Tristram
You and I would get along just fine in an English department. While I was joking (?) about teaching Dickens for an entire semester, I know you are not joking about many of our recently minted teachers and the focus of English studies these days.
Kurtz anyone? ... The horror, the horror
Hilary wrote: "Oops the P Seymour Hoffman comment might be ambiguous! Just to underline that what I mean is I wanted to see him in his last film as I love him as an actor!"No fear, Hilary, I got you right the first time, and it needs a lot of ill-will to misunderstand your words, and ill-will is a sentiment alien to Pickwick Club members.
I also watched the first part of The Hunger Games and did not particularly enjoy it because the story was quite predictable and it had all those new actors in it whose names I don't know. Give me Jimmy Stewart, or Duke, or Bogey but spare me all those pale new actors.
Peter wrote: "Tristram wrote: "Peter wrote: "Would it be possible to teach DC to all your classes, at a pace of one chapter per week? With reviews, time for group activities and all that other stuff you should b..."Actually in our staff there are some teachers who have been completely brought up on Young Adult Fiction and who regard Nick Hornby as the top notch of English literature. When it came to analysing film, they even watched and worked on a film like "Hangover". Can it get more horrible than that?
Indeed Tristram I also love the old actors. 'Casablanca' is one of my all-time favourites. I do, however, appreciate many of the young actors; my 20 year old film buff of a daughter sees to that, though I do struggle to remember names. Jennifer Lawrence (Hunger Games), Carey Mulligan and Michael Fassbender are some that I like. Fassbender (sp) is Irish with a German father, so we can both claim him! He has done some magnificent work!
The Hangover - hahaha - a couple of hours I'll never get back again ...
Tristram wrote: "Actually in our staff there are some teachers who have been completely brought up on Young Adult Fiction and who regard Nick Hornby as the top notch of English literature. When it came to analysing film, they even watched and worked on a film like "Hangover". Can it get more horrible than that?"That's both funny and obviously quite sad.
Now, I read the Hunger Games trilogy and liked the first two. I like to read a wide range of books, and I am always intrigued by the super popular books at the time and sometimes have to satisfy my curiosity just to see what the fuss is all about. So, I've read the Hunger Games, the Twilight books (yes, I made it through all of them...), all the Harry Potters, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, among others. As long as books get kids excited to read, such as the Harry Potters did (NOT including the Dragon Tattoo books here as those are definitely not kids' books), I'm all for them. But to call this stuff literature and teach nothing but these types of books, I just shake my head at that notion.
Totally Linda. I've also read Harry Potter and The Twilight Saga and really enjoyed them. So I agree that they have their place.
Tristram wrote: "Peter wrote: "Would it be possible to teach DC to all your classes, at a pace of one chapter per week? With reviews, time for group activities and all that other stuff you should be able to limp th..."I can second that. I doubt many of our students would understand Dickens either. Sad, but true. Probably a good job I am teaching Geography because the classics are being pushed aside. It's disheartening.
Lucky you, Barbs. My aunts are relatively un-aunty.
Kate wrote: "Tristram wrote: "Peter wrote: "Would it be possible to teach DC to all your classes, at a pace of one chapter per week? With reviews, time for group activities and all that other stuff you should b..."My second subject is History, but I haven't taught it for about six years, which I am quite happy about given that the new curricula and reductions in lessons curtailed certain liberties we used to have. In English, it is not quite as bad as that.
Tristram wrote: "Lucky you, Barbs. My aunts are relatively un-aunty."If you want to know about aunts, you need to read either Arthur Ransome (where there is the GA, but also some good ones) and/or Jeeves, who has Aunt Dalia (Dahlia?) and Aunt Agatha, very different aunts.
@ Barbs: Lucky you!
Ooh Aunt Agatha, quite the character! Just reminds me I haven't read PG in a long while. He always manages to put a smile on my face. :-)
Arthur Ransome? Aunt Agatha? Jeeves? - I have never heard about them ... I will ask Aunt Googlia about them, though.
Tristram wrote: "I will ask Aunt Googlia about them, though."lol! Let me know what you find because I have no idea who these people are either.
I'm guessing Agatha Christie, perhaps?
I don't know who Arthur Ransome is, but Aunt Agatha and Jeeves are characters in a hand full of P. G. Wodehouse books. They are written in first person by a dashing, completely brainless fellow named Bertie Wooster, with Aunt Agatha being his (much feared) aunt and Jeeves being his valet who did all his thinking for him.
Arthur Ransome - children's stories set in the country early in the 20th century. Try Swallows and Amazons.
Barbs wrote: "Tristram wrote: "Lucky you, Barbs. My aunts are relatively un-aunty."Mine was a nut-job!"
So were mine. Each and every one of them.
Tristram wrote: "Arthur Ransome? Aunt Agatha? Jeeves? - I have never heard about them ... I will ask Aunt Googlia about them, though."You have great joy awaiting you.
Arthur Ransome wrote a marvelous series of children's books. I think your children are about the right age for them -- run, do not walk, to the nearest bookstore and demand a copy of Swallows and Amazons. If they don't have it, find a bookstore that deserves your patronage, because they don't.
Read it to your children. If they and you don't fall totally in love with it, I can do nothing but grieve for you and your lost childhoods.
And Jeeves. P.G. Wodehouse's magnificent creation. For sheer delight there is nobody but Jeeves. He would be one of the five most delightful literary creations if there were another four I thought worthy to include in the same sentence with him.
I can only envy you having all of Arthur Ransome and Jeeves to look forward to. You lucky bum!
Everyman,that really sounds as though great joys were still lying ahead of me, and I had always thought to have reached the climax of happiness on my wedding day ;-)
Apparently there are hardly any German copies, so I would either have to teach my son English - he knows some, but not enough to understand a book - or read it myself and translate it for him - although half an hour translation is as exhausting as a good day's work.
But I'll keep them all in the back of my head, or as Cpt. Cuttle would say, "Make a note of it". At the moment, I'm discovering a very entertaining book, which was written by a person I had never heard of before: Charles Reade, and the book is Gaunt Griffith. Simply breathtaking ...
Thinking of aunts, my first association would not be literary but televisionary, namely "Auntie Wainwright".
I remember reading The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade as a teenager and quite enjoying it.
I'm so happy that I can finally join in on a read! Everytime I've checked in the past, it was already halfway through.Happy reading! :)
PaytonYes. Perfect timing. Please join in with lots of comments.
Jean wrote: "I remember reading The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade as a teenager and quite enjoying it."Jean,
I have got the complete Reade on Kindle now, and as far as I have got, I really enjoy reading him.
Payten wrote: "I'm so happy that I can finally join in on a read! Everytime I've checked in the past, it was already halfway through.Happy reading! :)"
Happy reading to you, Payten! I'm looking forward to your participating in our group read - the more the merrier!
Hi Joy,I am also looking forward to "Bleak House" as it is my favourite Dickens novel. It is definitely bleaker than most of Dickens's novels but also, like "DC" or "Dombey and Son" a complete microcosm of a book.
As to "The Three Musketeers", I don't think it is to be taken seriously. I never really finished it, anyway. I like "The Count of Monte Cristo" but I am not sure whether both books were written by the same Alexandre Dumas.
Joy, I was saying that I could not take the book in itself very seriously - its tone was somehow silly to me. But that's just my impression.As to the Louvre, people would have been hanging out there - especially soldiers - since at the time of the novel it still was the royal palace (together with Les Tuileries). It was not before Louis XIV. that the royal family moved to Versailles (1681 or 1682?), but in the French Revolution, Louis XVI. was made to return to Paris.
No problem! I was glad I could be of any help!
Hi AllI feel like I've deserted the board for way too long. I'm missing all your discussion.
I dare not look at how far I have fallen behind with David Copperfield, however, unfortunately I'm going to have to leave it a little longer before I can attempt to catch up. Work and family are not allowing me very much time to do anything for myself at the moment.
Anyway, I thought I'd drop by and say hi. I'll be back as soon as I can.
Kate :)
Kate wrote: "Hi AllI feel like I've deserted the board for way too long. I'm missing all your discussion.
I dare not look at how far I have fallen behind with David Copperfield, however, unfortunately I'm g..."
I was just thinking about you yesterday, I even checked to see when you had last posted - I won't tell you when it was. It's good to know you're still with us. :-)
Kate wrote: "Hi AllI feel like I've deserted the board for way too long. I'm missing all your discussion.
I dare not look at how far I have fallen behind with David Copperfield, however, unfortunately I'm g..."
Hi Kate
You are missed. As long as you are thinking about Dickens you are never too far away. Take care.
Peter
Hi Kate,I think that we will be around for quite a while still so that you will always meet some Pickwickians to discuss books with here! Don't feel too bad about missing DC, sometimes other things just take their toll.
All this forgiveness and sweetness and light about Kate having deserted us. Bah. Humbug. Giving Family, Work, and Life precedence over Dickens? Inexcusable!
How can one give life precedence over Dickens, Everyman? The two are inextricably linked ;-)
Haha E & T. Great to hear from you, Kate! :-)(Oh, ET ...)
Although I joshed Kate about being absent, I admit that I've been dilatory about DC for the past two or three weeks. I had a temporary but significant back injury which means I can't read in bed, which is where I was reading my regular Dickens episodes. Didn't bring the book downstairs because I already have too many things down here on my reading pile, so it sat unloved and neglected. :(
I hope you are up and about soon. The weather is grand, the Orca pods are busy attracting the tourists and we are nearing some grand chapters in DC.Take care.
Everyman wrote: "Although I joshed Kate about being absent, I admit that I've been dilatory about DC for the past two or three weeks. I had a temporary but significant back injury which means I can't read in bed, w..."What happened? And are you not able to go upstairs, not able to lie down in bed when you do get there, are not able to read while lying down?
Oh really so sorry, Everyman. How I hate all injuries to do with the back. This is where my husband goes: "oh I remember having that, indeed it's killing me right now." He maintains that I can never have anyone suffer from an illness wherein I have not ventured. (Please understand that these are his endearing words to me!)In other words, Everyman, I can empathise. I think I rabbited on about it on another thread or, more probably, every thread possible. MRI due on Monday 8th. Thank the Lord!
I really do hope that you find yourself well very quickly and even unwittingly take the stairs two or three at a time! Health and happiness to you, Everyman!
Kim wrote: "What happened?"Badly pulled muscle/ligaments. Can lie down in bed, but can't sit up to read, and can't read lying down in bed. Have used my reading bet time instead listening to audio books, but didn't have one of DC.
Everyman,I'm sorry to hear about your back injury. Since my stay in hospital - where I saw what some people have to contend with - I have come to appreciate the gift of good health in a way I never did before, when I took it, somehow, for granted. So I sincerely wish you all the best!
Our group seems to be going through a bad patch of loss and health issues recently. Take care everyone and may our next Dickens read find us all in houses filled with sun and in better spirits and health.
Peter wrote: "Our group seems to be going through a bad patch of loss and health issues recently. Take care everyone and may our next Dickens read find us all in houses filled with sun and in better spirits and..."They're just getting old. Except me. :-)
Kim wrote: "They're just getting old. Except me. :-) "Nope. You can't get what you already are. :)
I don't know what the trouble should be about getting old. It's a nice thing provided you succeed in taking as many parts of your body as possible with you through this slow but irreversible journey through time. Age makes you a lot more relaxed about many things young people worry about, like the future, for instance. I have grown more lenient with people in general, especially with myself, and I have noticed that some problems don't need attending to because either they will disappear on their own, or somebody else will take up the challenge ;-) I'm really looking forward to being "a tattered rag upon a stick" one day!
Tristram wrote: "I'm really looking forward to being "a tattered rag upon a stick" one day!"Ha! That made me laugh, Tristram. :)
Linda wrote: "Tristram wrote: "I'm really looking forward to being "a tattered rag upon a stick" one day!"Ha! That made me laugh, Tristram. :)"
... which is one of the best pastimes, no matter whether you're young or old, Linda!
The Pickwick Club
Books mentioned in this topic
The Cloister and the Hearth (other topics)The Cloister and the Hearth (other topics)
Griffith Gaunt, Or, Jealousy (other topics)
Swallows and Amazons (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Charles Reade (other topics)Charles Reade (other topics)
Arthur Ransome (other topics)
