Buddy Read of Little Dorrit mid-Sept onwards with Janelle, Bridget, Lori and others Showing 1,101-1,118 of 1,118

[Lori]

I agree Daniela! It’s been such fun to wake up and read my chapter with my coffee. I’m not sure how to express how I feel right now. I’m satisfied with the end for Arthur and Little Dorrit. I almost typed Amy but she was so adamant about being called Little Dorrit even in the last chapter. It’s what he called her and so endearing to honor him this way. Bridget thanks for summarizing the last chapter. I’m of the same mind as you in thinking it wrapped up quicker than David Copperfield. But Dickens didn’t leave anyone out, even the Vicar at the church had an ending.

[Fiona]

I’m with you all. I’ll miss my morning appointment with Little Dorrit and my evening appointment with my buddies!

I also agree that it all wrapped up very quickly. Dare I say, it was almost as if Dickens had a deadline to keep and had to tie up his loose ends as quickly as possible. One thing puzzles me though. Prisoners could not leave the Marshalsea unless they had paid off their debts. Assuming that Arthur lost the assets of the business, who paid off his creditors? Doyce offers him a return to their partnership and it seems that’s all that’s required to get him out of jail.

Lori - it was very satisfying to return to the church again. I’d forgotten about the connection so that was a nice loose end to tie up.

And finally, Happy Thanksgiving to my US buddies!

[Sue]

I agree that the ending seemed quick but also complete. The only people we didn’t see right at the end were those from the Circumlocution Office but they had already checked in on Arthur several chapters back. Even Flora’s mother in law gets a part to play.

I loved that Arthur and Little Dorrit would be taking care of Fanny’s neglected children.

[Sue]

And I must say thank you to our leaders and the group as a whole for another great reading experience.

[Lori]

Fiona, about the debt - it was mentioned that Arthur made a miscalculation so maybe there was not a complete loss after all. I'm not 100% clear on that but it seemed everyone was no longer angry with Arthur and he could leave the prison. Maybe, since Doyce was doing so well there wasn't any worry that a loss would put the business under.

[Janelle]

Fiona, i understood that Meagles and Doyce settled all the creditors before they went to Arthur to tell him there’s no reason to stay in the Marshalsea anymore.

I’m the same , I feel it ended in a big rush. But maybe it’s because I could spend more time with a lot of these characters.

Thanks so much to everyone in the group. It was so much fun reading with all of you.

[Lori]

It is such fun reading with this group! Thanks everyone for making it so rewarding and exciting to read Dickens every day. My husband likes to tease me about "writing my book reports" but I wouldn't have it any other way. Reading Dickens is a group affair for me now!

Janelle, you're right, I remember that Meagles and Doyce spent a few weeks working things out prior to coming to see Arthur. Thanks for the eagle eye!

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Fiona wrote: "I also agree that it all wrapped up very quickly. Dare I say, it was almost as if Dickens had a deadline to keep and had to tie up his loose ends as quickly as possible ..."

Charles Dickens did write his first few serials "on the hoof" as it were, with only vague plans as to how the stories would go. But then he started to be very disciplined. His first carefully planned out novel was Dombey and Son. He had a notebook of what he called "mems" with chapter headings on one side, and on the opposite page, details of the characters and action - for every single chapter.

Little Dorrit was 4 books later. So in fact, it was very carefully planned indeed.

As for whether he had a deadline, well please remember that he owned the magazine it was published in, "Household Words", so he decided for himself how long his serials would be.

[Sue]

Thanks for that bit Jean. That kind of reminder helps us know that he wrote just what he wanted to write.

[Fiona]

Jean - thanks for the above. I didn’t mean it was slapdash. It’s just that the pace does seem quicker.

Lori / Janelle - thanks for clearing up re Arthur’s debt. It seems no matter how carefully you read Dickens, you always miss something.

I second Sue’s thanks to our group leaders. You have been terrific!

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Fiona - Yes, I understand your feelings - it was just clarification - a reminder, as Sue says :)

[Fiona]

Bionic Jean wrote: "Fiona - Yes, I understand your feelings - it was just clarification - a reminder, as Sue says :)"

I took it as such, Jean. Your input is always much appreciated.

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

My guess is that this morning everyone has mixed feelings about finishing, so just to say this thread will stay just where it is, and remain open.

Thank you to everyone who participated, and made this such a great buddy read. It's quite an achievement to read a novel by Charles Dickens taking one chapter a day - and sticking to it. I think we all find it worthwhile and that this unusual way of reading and discussing adds to our enjoyment :)

And thanks especially to Janelle, Lori and Bridget, who have all led this read so well, putting in a lot of work to enrich the experience as well as keeping everyone on track! It's really raised buddy reads to a new level :) I certainly hope you (and others) will each be leading one or more of our short reads in 2022.

Please don't miss the final posts Bridget directed you to (thanks Bridget!) Even if you just skim them, the photos of the church are worth a look (and took me a while to track down :D) And Robin is leading our current group read of The Holly-Tree Inn right now, LINK HERE, with Petra following with The Chimes to take us through until our group read of Bleak House in 2022. I'm really excited about that, as everyone has been requesting it for so long - so need to get my skates on now this has finished!

[Daniela]

Lori wrote: "I'm going to repost this list of Panck's clues as I needed to be reminded on them again and we can maybe add to the discussion with what Bridget mentioned earlier.

a churchyard in Bedfordshire
an..."

So, what was the sense of this list? (message 546)

[Bridget]

Daniela wrote: "Lori wrote: "I'm going to repost this list of Panck's clues as I needed to be reminded on them again and we can maybe add to the discussion with what Bridget mentioned earlier.

a churchyard in Be..."

Great question Daniela! I've been wondering the same thing. I odn't think we ever got an answer to what each item meant in the list. The only thing we learned was that Mr. Dorrit inherited a fortune. Maybe I'm not remembering something?

[Fiona]

I thought it was just me! I decided it was how Pancks worked things out but didn’t understand how.

[Janelle]

There’s probably enough material there for at least another novel :)
Certainly a modern novelist could’ve turned it into at least a trilogy!!

[Sue]

Now if we could only talk with the author! :-)