The Chimes (hosted by Petra)

[Petra]

Tugby Turns Meg Away by Charles Green

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Would you like me to add the rest of the ones I scanned from my book by Charles Green now Petra? I was going to do it on Thursday, as our read goes on until a week today (17th), but some are clearly drawing to a conclusion. I'll keep my 2 reviews of it back yet awhile though.

I do think there's plenty in this final Quarter. The mood is so very different, from the first 3, for a start. The change-around was such a surprise. Time travel, like in A Christmas Carol.

I expect some are still reading it, and will post their thoughts later this week, maybe :)

[Petra]

I also find the mood so different in this chapter, Jean. I have hopes that others will be popping in here soon. The weekends can be busy for many.

I found this chapter exciting and thrilling. I was thrilled that Toby saw the gold he carries in his heart and in his life, surrounded by love and friendship.

It would be nice to post your pictures over the week, Jean, whenever is convenient to you. I am posting a picture a day (two today) to last through the week. The pictures you have would be a great addition. Thank you!

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Petra wrote: "I was thrilled that Toby saw the gold he carries in his heart and in his life, surrounded by love and friendship ..."

Yes, another sort of redemption, but more subtle than Scrooge's.

There doesn't seem any hint at first that this will be anything other than bitterly sardonic, and I wonder if some give up, thinking "this isn't a Christmas story". But it is a sort of rebirth :)

[Petra]

I've read some reviews, after finishing my review, and found that many of the low star reviews mention that this is a depressing story and not for holiday reading. They may not have finished reading, which is sad. This is such a wonderful story.

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Yes! Oh that is the case then. How sad. They should come and join us :D

I'll miss out the 2 by Charles Green for the 4th Quarter that you've just posted, but include the one where the aspect ratio went funny. I'm amazed you've found them at all Petra, as I didn't think they were on the Net at all (until this - quite often I'll see an image I've scanned attributed to "Dickensians" as well as the artist - which is quite nice :)

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Mr. and Mrs. Tugsby - Charles Green

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Mrs. Tugsby and the Gentleman - Charles Green

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Meg and Will Fern - Charles Green

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

To the Rolling River - Charles Green

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Trotty Laughed and Cried Together - Charles Green

(I love this one!)

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Wedding - Charles Green

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Wedding Procession - Charles Green

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Trotty and Mrs. Chickenstalker

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

That's all I have - and have just reread your post and realised you might have meant me to space them out. Sorry! Maybe you have some by other artists though :)

[Petra]

Jean, these are wonderful!
I really like the one of Trotty, laughing & crying.
From this picture onwards, the scenes are full of joy and happiness. They really bring these emotions to the surface.

Thanks, Jean!
No problems on the posting. They are perfectly timed.

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

I like the last one too - Trotty's demeanour is perfect. They are almost like photographs, aren't they?

[[deleted user]]

I love The Chimes almost as much as A Christmas Carol. The first time I read Chimes, I remember thinking well this isn't much of a Christmas story. But as you both said, Petra and Jean, reading through to the end gets you to a happier place.

What I love about Chimes is the strength and power of Dickens' indignation, anger, fiery passion about the subject. Dickens poured his heart and soul into this story - really raging against the hypocrisy of public "leaders". I wonder if Dickens' childhood experiences influenced him, along with the laws of his day. He certainly worked hard to avoid repeating his father's mistakes. Dickens had so much confidence, industry, and determination. I can't imagine he would ever be persuaded by anyone to think he should be "put down" or that he was "born bad".

Looking at the illustrations of the bells, with all those figures swirling round Toby, I imagine Dickens writing Chimes and being surrounded by his own personal demons.

I've run on a bit here, but I like pondering how the pieces of his childhood and his adulthood may have converged in this story.

Others mentioned this and I agree - I always hoped Toby and Mrs Chickenstalker would marry.

I love how Dickens switches from dark and sad to hopeful and happy at the end of the fourth quarter. He takes us from the horrifying and tragic scene of Meg on the verge of drowning herself and her baby to Toby finding himself with a happy Meg about to marry a happy Richard. It makes me laugh when Meg says -

'And whatever you do, father,' said Meg, 'don't eat tripe again, without asking some doctor whether it's likely to agree with you; for how you have been going on, Good gracious!'

Dickens gives us a joyful, exuberant celebration full of life and hope at the end.

[Petra]

Cozy_Pug, I love your post. It sums up this story and Dickens so well.

Dickens never, it seems, forgot his time as a poor lad working for a living. It left him with a very strong desire or need to stay far away from "poor" again.
Yet, despite having moved out of that sort of desperation, he kept the class in his heart and never stopped advocating and fighting for them. They had a true ally in him.

Dickens had a love of Life that we feel even today in his words and works.

[Petra]

Trotty’s Dream by Harry Furniss



“Furniss offers an innovative "alternative" ending to Dickens's novella by implying that even the New Year's dance is part of Trotty's dream. Since he had in all likelihood studied R. W. Buss's watercolour study of 1870-75 Dickens's Dream, in which the fifty-eight-year-old author nods off at his desk at Gadshill surrounded by the creations of his imagination, it is not implausible to interpret this lithograph in light of Buss's watercolour. “
- From The Victorian Web


Dickens’ Dream by Robert William Buss

[[deleted user]]

Petra wrote: "Trotty’s Dream by Harry Furniss



“Furniss offers an innovative "alternative" ending to Dickens's novella by implying that even the New Year's dance is part of Trotty's dream. Since he had in all ..."

This is my favorite tidbit you've shared during this read, and you've shared some fascinating things. I love this!

[Petra]

Thank you, Cozy_Pug! I'm so glad that you are enjoying the "extras". It's been a lot of fun finding these and sharing them.

[Curt]

wonderful drawings. Bravo! Such a great story.

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Cozy_Pug - I too enjoyed your post very much. It's so good to have you back with your insightful comments :)

Petra - this is a fascinating snippet! Thank you :)

Petra has found another great illustration by George Alfred Williams. I'll post it in the next comment.

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

"Follow Meg To Desperation" - George Alfred Williams

[Petra]

Thank you, Jean, for posting this picture.

It's a shame that George Aflred Williams' illustrations aren't more accessible. I find them very intense and with a spooky aspect that brings a power to them.

In this illustration, I find that Trotty looks held back. But by what? It could be that he's afraid to believe. Or afraid to help. Or afraid to step forward. All these things and more are needed to help the Poor and unfortunate.

It's a wonderful scene.

Thank you again, Jean, for posting this.

[Petra]

The New Year’s Dance by John Leech

[Petra]

The Chimes greeting card:

Pink Christmas



Vintage Christmas cards from:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/2633199...

[Curt]

I like this.

[Curt]

Great picture.
Awesome

[Bridget]

It took me until last night to finish The Chimes, so I'm a little behind this discussion. But I've just had a wonderful morning reading through all the insightful comments and looking at the illustrations!

I enjoyed this story, and I've very glad to have read it. But, I did find it confusing at times, and the ending notwithstanding, I thought it darker and more depressing than A Christmas Carol.

I just love Trotty from the first moment we meet him. He has such a hard life, and yet he keeps working hard with a great attitude. Until he meets the Alderman, Filer and Worthy who look down on him and his ilk, belittling them and almost dehumanizing them. (I mean, Trotty himself might as well just be another horse on the street to them, "trotting" around delivering their messages.)

Trotty is so worn down by the mean people he encounters, that by the time the Goblins of the Bells appear I'm ready for something good to happen to poor Trotty. But instead of pleasing messengers like the ghosts of Christmas past and present, who were startling, but not scary; we meet scary goblins who sometimes seem like demons and are often disembodied voices.

And I think that is the biggest difference for me. There is no relief for the reader in feeling dread for Trotty -- until the very end of the story. The whole time I’m reading I’m thinking Trotty deserves so much better than these scary goblins. He’s certainly more deserving of benevolent ghosts than Scrooge ever was. In A Christmas Carol there is a slow build towards the joyful ending. In The Chimes, everything is dreary until the very end.

Which is not to say that I don’t like this story. I do like it very much! It's by Charles Dickens, how could I not enjoy reading it? I just like A Christmas Carol better.

[Petra]

Thank you, Curt. I'm glad you are enjoying the pictures. This story has inspired wonderful artwork.

[Petra]

Bridget, thank you for posting! I really like your thoughts and insights.

This is a darker story. I think that Charles Dickens made Trotty's "sins" deeper and more harmful than Scrooge's and that may have inspired the darker goblins.

Scrooge was a miser and a meanie but he had no thoughts about the Poor or the circumstances of others. He simply had blinders on.
Trotty knew and understood the circumstances of the Poor and still turned his back on them by stopping to believe in them and himself. The "sin" of blaming the Poor for their own unfortunate circumstances and not standing by & with them made Trotty's actions more harmful than Scrooge's.
I think that's why Trotty got the darker story.

[Petra]

I found this quote on The Victorian Web:

"Alexander Welsh contends that the perspective in The Chimes is external as opposed to the internal perspective of A Christmas Carol.

In the first Christmas Book, we as members of the comfortable middle class, with sufficient income to purchase a nicely bound and lavishly illustrated commodity text, read about the experiences and relationships of one of our own, the businessman Ebenezer Scrooge.

Trotty Veck, his daughter Meg, her fiancé Richard, the guests Will Fern and his niece Lilian are members of that class glimpsed only briefly in the Carol: the working poor.

We cannot wholly comprehend their world, except in relation to ours, the social stratum of Alderman Cute, Mr. Filer, and the Young England gentleman. Walsh contends that we never really enter Trotty's thoughts, even though we sympathize with him."

[Petra]

I'm always interested in "perspective" being such a large part of "understanding".

Welsh seems to imply that we cannot truly understand Trotty and his class because we are not a part of that world. Some things need to be experienced before they can be internally understood.
It's easier to say the right words, such as the Alderman and Bowley, than it is to "walk a mile in the shoes" of Trotty and his class in order to fully understand their feelings, wants and needs.
This disconnection makes it difficult, even today, perhaps, to find an effective way to eradicate the needs through Help. Somehow, we have to find a way.

[Bridget]

Petra, I really like your very wise perspective in comment #483. I also like the above quote from Alexander Welsh. I had been thinking along those lines but could never articulate it as well as he does.

I've been wondering today whether if I had read "The Chimes" before "A Christmas Carol" would I have liked it more? Of course, there is no way to know the answer to that. For better or worse "A Christmas Carol" is woven into my life, or rather my ideas of Christmas at least.

But that thought lead me to wonder what it must have been like for Charles Dickens to write another Christmas story after the phenomenal success of "A Christmas Carol". I can only imagine the pressure. I'm so happy he wrote a completely different story and didn't pander to the public and the publishers by writing something like "Scrooge the Sequel; Or What Happened to Tiny Tim".

[Petra]

I like the idea that we have read A Christmas Carol and The Chimes in the order that Dickens wrote them. I imagine that he, too, was getting his thoughts, themes and ideas in order, so to speak, and the stories progress as his thoughts do. It would be interesting to read onwards one day.

A Christmas Carol is such a part of my life, too, that it's difficult to think of Christmas without it.

I like that we read The Chimes over New Year Day. It's appropriate and in it's right Time, I think.

What a wonderful thought, Bridget! I hadn't thought about the pressure that Dickens could have been under to write another Holiday story after such success with his first one. I wonder if he felt such a pressure.

[Kathleen]

I agree that The Chimes was darker. I like the two of them as a pair, and think Petra is right it was so good to read The Chimes for New Years.

But I think you make a very interesting point about which one is read first, Bridget. We can't really compare anything to A Christmas Carol, which is so woven into our lives, but this one is similar so we can't help but compare. I can see loving this one best if it was read first.

[Petra]

I really liked the idea that Trotty gets a new perspective and, in a way, a new lease on a happy life at the turning of the Year. It seemed appropriate for new beginnings to happen on New Year's Day with a new year spread out in front of him.
Dickens is quite poetic, don't you think?

[Petra]

Dickens reading The Chimes to his friends

This is a pencil drawing done by Daniel Maclise on the evening when Dickens read The Chimes to his friends, just before publication



From The Victorian Web:
( https://victorianweb.org/authors/dick... )

"Finishing the second Christmas Book on November 3 after two months of sustained effort, Dickens resolved to make a flying, one-week visit to London to oversee the publication of The Chimes and read it to a select group of Liberal, artistic, and humanitarian friends. The book brought Dickens precisely what he had hoped: initial sales of 20,000 copies, a substantial profit (1,065 pounds 8 shillings and tuppence), and a widespread public debate about the issues that The Chimes had raised. No book was more hotly disputed in the press at the time since in it "Dickens is clearly placing the blame for the frequency of behaviour such as prostitution, infanticide, and suicide by the poor on society's failure to help those who desperately need help" (Thomas 43). In eschewing Pickwickian comedy in favour of pathos, melodrama, and social criticism, The Chimes anticipates the later, big novels of the next decade, Bleak House and Little Dorrit, of whose thematic unity, somber mood, well-integrated symbolism, and tighter narrative construction The Chimes is the harbinger. "

[Petra]

It seems appropriate that The Chimes is the (theme & mood) precursor for Bleak House, our next group read.

[Paul]

Petra wrote: "Dickens reading The Chimes to his friends

This is a pencil drawing done by Daniel Maclise on the evening when Dickens read The Chimes to his friends, just before publication



From The Victorian ..."

His social commentary was important, to be sure, but I'll admit a strong preference to the likes of PICKWICK PAPERS and MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT over BLEAK HOUSE and LITTLE DORRIT any day of the week.

[Paul]

Petra wrote: "It seems appropriate that The Chimes is the (theme & mood) precursor for Bleak House, our next group read."

Having just said that I prefer the lighter more comedic titles over BLEAK HOUSE, I'm looking forward to the group read. It's entirely possible that a deeper understanding of the novel (that will hopefully be afforded by the group discussion) may change my mind (or at least move my enjoyment of BLEAK HOUSE up a few notches).

[Petra]

Paul, it's good to hear that you'll be participating in our upcoming Big Read discussion. The discussion will be a good one. That's guaranteed.

[[deleted user]]

Petra wrote: "Dickens reading The Chimes to his friends

This is a pencil drawing done by Daniel Maclise on the evening when Dickens read The Chimes to his friends, just before publication



From The Victorian ..."

I love the sort of rays of light drawn over Dickens' head. Makes me think of a king - I wonder if Maclise intended that interpretation. Maybe it signifies Dickens was the star of the evening, or how highly his friends esteem him. Dickens looks so young in the illustration, especially compared to the others whose faces we can see.

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Paul - not to worry, we read both Charles Dickens's whimsical humorous early works as well as his more intense middle and later novels here. Our read of Bleak House is well overdue, as it was voted in over a year ago, but we try to vary our reading of his work.

I suspect that we will be reading one of the lighter novels next ... but I also suspect that you will be won round and find you thoroughly enjoy and greatly admire Bleak House, his most critically acclaimed book :) As Petra says, a great discussion is guaranteed. I've been preparing for our Bleak House read since about November (apart from the illustrations which I started collating last summer) and am really looking forward to our slow read. It's a thrilling tale, but also I am sure you will be amazed, as you hint, at discovering with us just how much more there is to love about this incredible novel.

But this is largely off-topic, and we can chat in the parlour about it, so let's return now to Genoa - or briefly to London :)

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

I love this famous sketch, as you know Petra. Thank you so much for posting it :) I do hope everyone who has finished our phenomenal read will see this!

Yes Cozy_Pug - Charles Dickens certainly was the "king" or star of the show - and he knew it! Daniel Maclise was just making a little impromptu sketch in the corner, and will have had no idea that it would be preserved for posterity, so that well over a hundred years later we can enjoy it! I think it's a little like a cartoon, but with none of the cruelty of a caricature.

And can't you just imagine Charles Dickens in his element "acting" the story as he reads it. He would have held his audience rapt, with his hypnotic gaze ... how I would have loved to be a servant just peeping round the corner at it all!

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

It's so great to have this little sketch of Charles Dickens's friends too, all carefully labelled by Daniel Maclise. We've heard about them in John Forster's biography, and now we see them. I think it's more revealing in a way, than a posed portrait of each ever could have been. It shows what they looked like; their expressions and their demeanour with their friend. I love the two on the right, (Dyce and Harness) covering their faces, because they are so affected and want to be in their own little world to listen. And John Forster squatting at the end left, really looking quite grumpy. And Charles Dickens is flanked by Thomas Carlyle - whom we've talk about a lot in this thread - and Fox. Each one of these men was handpicked and had a special relationship to Charles Dickens. It's absolutely priceless :)

Charles Dickens had dashed back to London for this quick reading to his friends, and organise publication, before returning to his family in Genoa just before Christmas 1844. He was still very much at home in Italy, and as Petra says, was to remember this time in his life, particularly drawing on it as we have seen in Little Dorrit and the earlier Bleak House, which we are to read next. We are getting a very full picture of Charles Dickens.

[Kathleen]

Bionic Jean wrote: "It's so great to have this little sketch of Charles Dickens's friends too, all carefully labelled by Daniel Maclise. We've heard about them in [author:John Forster|2..."

This is a wonderful sketch. I'm curious about the shadowy figures on the left--it looks like two faces. Ghosts?

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Kathleen wrote: "I'm curious about the shadowy figures on the left--it looks like two faces. Ghosts?..."

Ah well spotted Kathleen! It hasn't ever been proved conclusively, I don't think. There's a well defined one in profile facing right, then 2 more faintly sketched: one full face and another in profile facing the other way.

They don't seem to be a painting, or a reflection. The first could be an attending servant, "off set" as it were. The others - well the one facing is so impish that I wonder if he is a goblin of the bells!

Daniel Maclise does seem to be doodling his thoughts about the story he is listening to. And this reminds me of the famous portrait "Dickens' Dream" by Robert William Buss (which Petra posted, earlier in this thread), of Charles Dickens surrounded by characters from his stories.

What do others think?