The George

[Mary Lou]

I though Kim and Peter, particularly, might be interested in this free virtual program offered by the Dickens Museum, but maybe others in the group, as well.

https://dickensmuseum.com/blogs/all-e...

[Kim]

Thank you Mary Lou, I now have a new artist to look up. I'm on a hunt for her already.

[Peter]

Thanks Mary Lou. There is so much to learn.

[Tristram]

Hello everyone,

Lest you wonder about any taciturnity on my part in the Little Dorrit thread, the simple reason is this: I am lagging behind a bit, and what's more, I will be lagging behind for at least two more weeks. At the moment, my mother-in-law has come for a visit from Argentina, and then this weekend and the next we are going to celebrate two Confirmation Ceremonies in my family - one of them, the second, being the one of my son - and then there is an unusual and unpleasant amount of work to do. So bear with me if my comments come later or not at all for a while ;-)

[Peter]

Tristram wrote: "Hello everyone,

Lest you wonder about any taciturnity on my part in the Little Dorrit thread, the simple reason is this: I am lagging behind a bit, and what's more, I will be lagging behind for at..."

Tristram

Enjoy your family, celebrate the Confirmation Ceremonies, and may your family all be healthy and safe.

[Kim]

I was reading an article earlier on things Pennsylvania was famous for. Some of them I knew already, but this one I had no idea. While we are given the credit for the guy and his unusual name, I see he was originally from Germany so it all makes sense, only someone from Germany could come up with a word or words this long:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_....

[Mary Lou]

He was obviously named by his father, because his mother would be the one who had to fill out all those school and medical forms. I'm getting writer's cramp just thinking about it. If I was one of his kids, I think I'd follow the lead of those celebrities who go by one name, like Adele or Bono.

My maiden name was also German, but just one syllable. Even so, I think people had more trouble pronouncing my name than they would Wolfe­schlegel­stein­hausen­berger­dorff, which seems fairly easy if you break it into parts.

[Tristram]

Wow, that's a tough name even for a German!

[Julie]

Tristram wrote: "Hello everyone,

Lest you wonder about any taciturnity on my part in the Little Dorrit thread, the simple reason is this: I am lagging behind a bit, and what's more, I will be lagging behind for at..."

Congrats on the upcoming ceremonies, Tristram!

[Mary Lou]

I missed your post, Tristram, until Julie responded. Hope all goes well, and that all of you, but especially your wife, enjoy her mom's visit.

[Tristram]

Thank you, Julie! We had a lovely day, a moving church ceremony and a jolly good meal. My son gave a nice speech, and then I spontaneously decided to say a few words about how that young man makes us proud as parents. It's strange to see one's children grow so fast.

[Tristram]

Mary Lou wrote: "I missed your post, Tristram, until Julie responded. Hope all goes well, and that all of you, but especially your wife, enjoy her mom's visit."

Thanks, Mary Lou! Everything runs smoothly, which is not always the case with a mom-in-law in the house ;-) But I'm on my best behaviour. We are even making plans for my in-law's dissolving her household in Buenos Aires and moving into a flat near where we are living now.

[Mary Lou]

Wow! That will be so nice for everyone to have her nearby, instead of on a different continent. While she's visiting, I hope she's on her best behavior, as well. ;-)

In news here, after 2+ years of avoiding Covid, my family has finally succumbed. My daughter, son-in-law, and both their girls are all down. It's killing me to not be able to help out, but my husband's got too many comorbidities to risk it. So, I'm making good use of my Amazon Prime account and sending care packages.

[[deleted user]]

I hope they'll get better soon, Mary Lou! And care packages from mom/gran are always great, right?

[Bobbie]

Congratulations to your son, Tristram, and your family. Yes, it is surprising how quickly they grow. That is happening now with our grandchildren.
Mary Lou, I am hopeful that they are having light cases of Covid and that they will be recovered very quickly.

[Peter]

Mary Lou

Sorry to read about the Covid cases in your family. Hang in there, and I hope the family will be up and about soon. In the meantime, enjoy going crazy with Amazon Prime.

[Bobbie]

Oh, that reminds me, I was able to order the Little Dorrit mini series from the 70s from the library so looking forward to that.

[Tristram]

Bobbie wrote: "Congratulations to your son, Tristram, and your family. Yes, it is surprising how quickly they grow. That is happening now with our grandchildren.
Mary Lou, I am hopeful that they are having light..."

Thank you, Bobbie! They grow quickly, but the good thing is they also grow the right way. When I'm looking at one of his former friends, oh dear ...

[Tristram]

Mary Lou wrote: "Wow! That will be so nice for everyone to have her nearby, instead of on a different continent. While she's visiting, I hope she's on her best behavior, as well. ;-)

In news here, after 2+ years o..."

I'm sure your daughter's family will be all right soon, Mary Lou. When we had that stuff in our family, after one or two days of fever and headaches, we were back to our own true selves quite quickly. I hardly noticed anything at all after two days of light headaches and a sore throat. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that your family will be equally lucky!!!

[Bobbie]

I just heard that our oldest grandchild has Covid so is quarantined in the "quarantine dorm" at college, but with no real symptoms so hopefully he will be fine. What a way to end your first year of college.
Good news, our house has sold and we will be moving to our new home in June or July. I will be so happy for this process to be completed.

[Mary Lou]

Congratulations, Bobbie! Have fun getting settled in to the new place. I hope you'll love it there.

[Peter]

Bobbie wrote: "I just heard that our oldest grandchild has Covid so is quarantined in the "quarantine dorm" at college, but with no real symptoms so hopefully he will be fine. What a way to end your first year of..."

Yes.moving is not high on any list of things one wants to do.

Pick a good place for your books and put a comfy chair nearby.

[Julie]

I really hope your family's doing well, Mary Lou, and I'm so glad we've got the vaccines to make all this not as worrisome as it used to be.

Best of luck on your move, Bobbie!

[Bobbie]

Thanks all, I already have a reading spot and chair planned.

[John]

Greetings All. I have fallen a bit behind on some of my reading, but I look forward to A Tale of Two Cities and will try to partake. I hope everyone is well.

I came across this brief and topical article. It generally covers the notable works in the Canon, though Martin Chuzzlewit getting listed surprised me. I would have ranked Our Mutual Friend ahead of it. As with all things Dickens, personal preferences can be the biggest factor. A tribute, in my opinion, to his humanity in the works.

https://happymag.tv/charles-dickens-b...

[Peter]

Thanks John.

I love “best of” lists of anything. They always make for great discussions, debates and disagreements.

[Mary Lou]

Especially disagreements! I agree with you, John, that Out Mutual Friend deserves a spot on the list. In fact, after out last reading of Little Dorrit, I think OMF had surpassed Amy and Arthur in my estimation. I still prefer them both to Oliver Twist, though.

[John]

I think my favorite Dickens remains Great Expectations. I also think a lot of what causes a person to be drawn to a particular book is the time period of your life when you read it.

In my last year in high school, I was finally able to reach Honors English. This was such a blessing for me because the class sent me on my career trajectory.

And we read GE in that class, along with a lot of other great books, and it just hit home for me, every word.

[Bobbie]

I believe that Our Mutual Friend also surpasses Little Dorrit for me and Great Expectations is probably my favorite. I may need to reread some before I can say for certain. I know that Oliver Twist is not as great a novel but I still really like it. I think I read that one early one and enjoyed it so much that it still holds a special place in my heart.

[Julie]

I can't believe I forgot A Christmas Carol!

Maybe not a novel, though?

[Tristram]

My long-time Dickens favourites are, clearly, Bleak House and Our Mutual Friend, although Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities also range high on the list. I think I have quite a soft spot for long novels - as much as for long words :-)

[Kim]

Here's my depressing moment of the day. My sister has been going through her daughter's things she left behind when she got her own place to live a few months ago. (I'm not sure my sister will ever recover from that). Anyway, she gathered up a bag of things, brought them to me, and I took them to my daughter's house last week. I hadn't looked in the bag, but apparently there were a few book covers in it. My daughter posted a picture of them because they couldn't figure out what they were, I couldn't either, they don't look like any book covers I've ever seen, they look like pillow cases. Anyway, my daughter asked my granddaughter if she wanted to keep them and my granddaughter said no, they don't use books in school anymore. That's sad.

[Peter]

Kim wrote: "Here's my depressing moment of the day. My sister has been going through her daughter's things she left behind when she got her own place to live a few months ago. (I'm not sure my sister will ever..."

We can hope that the students have e books on their tablets/computers. We can hope that the children will find books, be they paper or electronic, will stunt the students’ interest in social media.

How naive am I?

[Tristram]

So, then Ray Bradbury was right after all.

[Tristram]

Hello everyone,

The George is about to rise in the world, becoming Royal!

In other words, we are moving on to a new place, The Royal George in Dover, the place where Lucie Manette learned that her father was still alive and if not kicking then at least producing articles you can do a lot of kicking with.

So, one round of last orders here, my Curiosities, and then, on Tuesday, I am going to close this thread for now.