Wednesday 29 April 2009

Give Him Another Look


Charles Dickens: give him another look.

Trying to think of what might interest you in books for today's discussion, at first I thought, most people might be bored with what I am reading right now.
But after much thought, I realized that probably many of you have never read Charles Dickens, or, if you have, it has probably been, A Christmas Carol.
And even more than the reading, many of you may have only seen the movie!

Not that I am suggesting the movies aren't worth watching. On the contrary.
We recently watched the latest BBC version of Little Dorrit and I must say it was absolutely fantastic!
We enjoyed it so much, that we bought the DVD set to have as our own.
If you haven't seen it, borrow, buy or rent a copy - you won't be disappointed.

Back to today's book. Yes, it is true, I am actually reading, Oliver Twist.
No, a high school teacher is not twisting my arm, and yes, sometimes the language is challenging, however, the story - oh my!
The story is fantastic!
There is a reason this author has won so many hearts and his fame lives on over 100 years from his original publication dates, and his reputation for having written 'classics' holds true; his books tell marvelous stories and his characters are unsurpassed.
If you have never read Dickens, give his works another look. I am almost finished with Oliver Twist, so Little Dorrit, is next on my reading list . . . well, after the book I will talk about next week, anyway!
If you have read Dickens in the past, have another read. You will be glad you did!

xxx
Maggie

3 comments:

Goody Cake Shop said...

well maggie jo..... we saw the first several episodes on PBS and then, somehow, get distracted and forgot about the story! Now I'll order it on Netflix to finish it.. what we saw we loved, LOVED! I've read some Dickens but there is one or maybe two that are not on the list of the "best" and will look at Barnes and Noble tomorrow for them or at least one.. currently I have several books on the bedside table. One is I Captured the Castle, an old book written in the 40's I think. Laura read it and so I thought I would see what she is reading. It's very good and your imagination can play up quite a story of what the Castle looks like where they are living. Two teenage girls, a younger brother and a young man who helps around the place for a roof over his head, a father that once wrote a book and lives on that fame.. and his wife, a young hippie of the day.. their ins and outs of daily living and a story of love.. it's a really nice book. Then there are a few others that I will tell you about other weeks! Good reading!

Lalabibaby @ Dreaming of The Simple Life said...

Hi Maggie ... have to admit that I read a lot of Dickens in my younger days but never have the time to pick up a book now ... I always either seem to be looking after children or making something ... I thoroughly enjoyed watching Little Dorrit on the TV and in my ignorance always thought that it was a place and not a person. It was a lovely story and I think that everyone should watch a bit more of this type of programme which has a social message instead of watching reality junk TV. Keep up the Wednesday book club ... I am really enjoying it.

Sabine said...

Dickens was by far my favourite author when I was in my teens, together with the Brönte sisters. I read them in translation, as I am Belgian, and the language is not that easy...
This post makes me want to reread a Dickens story, or try a new one (I've never read "Bleak House"), and why not, give it a try in English!