Did anyone celebrate Charles Dicken's birthday yesterday?

[markfp]

I knew I wouldn't have time yesterday,so instead of watching The Super Bowl on Sunday, I watched David Lean's brilliant versions of OLIVER TWIST and GREAT EXPECTATIONS two of my very favorite British films.

Dickens has always been a literary favorite of mine ever since I started to read his books in high school. I read an article just last week that said his works have been the basis for over 360 films worldwide. Pretty impressive.

Happy 200th Charles!

[moirafinnie]

YES!! I was reminded by my sister that it was Dickens' big day so I waited for her to turn off all the lights (which she does every night when she gets ready to watch HGTV...don't ask, but we really did have the same parents even if she is only partial to Errol Flynn's classic movies). Then I leapt down the stairs and did my Magwitch imitation, telling her not to tell anyone. I agree about Lean's Great Expectations. It is the best I"ve ever seen. Have you seen Nicholas Nickleby (2002)? I really was charmed by much of that, especially the theatrical allusions in the movie and thought that Christopher Plummer was brilliant as the evil, but essentially lonely Ralph Nickleby.

I hope you saw the Google tribute yesterday on their homepage with a cartoon in homage to the author. When you are clicked on the Google, it linked to all the free ebooks by and about Dickens that can be read by anyone (no nook needed).

[Mary-Kate]

Oh darn, I forget. Should have watched The Pickwick Papers (1952). My internet connection was gone most of the day, otherwise I would have been reminded of it by Google (my lame excuse.)

Too funny about the Magwitch imitation! Even scarier would have been an Orlick (regrettably absent from the Lean version) imitation: "oh you enemy!"

Speaking of Nicholas Nickleby, I love, love the brilliant filmed stage adaptation of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1982) Too long to watch all in one sitting, however

[charliechaplinfan]

Yes, I celebrated it and was not impressed with my children's school for them not mentioned it, they didn't mention the Diamond Jubilee either so they had a lesson at the dinner table about who he was, his books, his chronicling of Victorian society, his larger than life characters. David Lean's Great Expectations has never been surpassed, I studied Great Expectations at school, it grabs you straight away because of Magwitch and when you find out more about Dickens and how he creates his characters it's usually from his own life experiences. The world of Dickens is a very rich world, when I was having my son I reread lots of Dickens work, which I hadn't read since I was in my teens and found more things in them.

Does anyone have a favourite Dickens book? I can't decide, maybe Oliver Twist, perhaps Great Expectations. Hard Times is special because it's set in my nearest city, Preston and it's about the cotton mills where most of my ancestors laboured.

[Mary-Kate]

Yes, I celebrated it and was not impressed with my children's school for them not mentioning it

"What do they teach them at these schools?"

Does anyone have a favourite Dickens book? I can't decide, maybe Oliver Twist, perhaps Great Expectations. Hard Times is special because it's set in my nearest city, Preston and it's about the cotton mills where most of my ancestors laboured.

That's very interesting ... my great-great grandfather was born in Lancashire (but his father originally came from Monmouthshire).

Hard Times is my favorite. Being neither Capitalist or Socialist, I really feel for poor Stephen Blackpool stuck in the midst of the "muddle." (But I've only read some of Dickens' works, so I really should say it's my favorite of the books I've read.)

There's quite a bit of humor (albeit, dark) in Hard Times ... Mr. Bounderby is further example of Dickens' ability to create characters who manage to be both amusing and despicable.

[CharlieT]

I just started reading Hard Times on my nook. Still very early in the story.

[charliechaplinfan]

Where abouts in Lancashire Mary Kate? He mighr know something of the cotton mills himself. If you want another couple of books from that time period that link you with the area although not by Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton and North and South are highly recommended by me.

[kingrat]

My favorite Dickens novels--at an earlier phase I read them all--are Great Expectations, Bleak House, Little Dorrit, and David Copperfield. Favorite character, however, is Mrs. Gamp in Martin Chuzzlewit. It's interesting that Nicholas Nickleby, one of the weakest, has done so well in adaptations.

Dickens' language makes him seem like a great poet as a well as a great novelist.

[Mary-Kate]

Where abouts in Lancashire Mary Kate? He might know something of the cotton mills himself. If you want another couple of books from that time period that link you with the area although not by Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton and North and South are highly recommended by me.

Thanks for the recommendations; I'll have to make a note of them.

He was born in Oldham (not officially in Lancashire any more, but it was when he was born), and the family emigrated while he was still quite young. His father was an Iron worker... I was very puzzled at first when I saw "Puddler" listed as an occupation!

[charliechaplinfan]

Oldham isn't far from here and very definitely in the industrial North of the time, it's close to Manchester where Gaskell's novels take place. Those census occupations can be quite mystifying, it needs a social historian to explain some of them.

There is also a BBC program called Mitchell and Kenyon which features films shot at the beginning of the 20th century in Lancashire, they were discovered 10 years ago in the basement of a shop in Lancashire. MItchell and Kenyon used to go to towns and shot factory workers leaving the mills, or on the fairground, at work at play and then show the films at night in the cinemas of the time and peope would go to see themselves on screen. They're really interesting if you like social history.

[Mary-Kate]

It's interesting that Nicholas Nickleby, one of the weakest, has done so well in adaptations.

That does seem to be the general opinion on Nickleby. Maybe I'm missing something, but comparing the book to the play, I really can not see where they changed much for the stage. The book is rather in the old fashioned melodrama mold (wicked uncle, long lost child, noble, earnest young hero, innocent, persecuted young heroine) but the old fashioned theatricality of it translated brilliantly to the stage.

Oldham isn't far from here and very definitely in the industrial North of the time, it's close to Manchester where Gaskell's novels take place. Those census occupations can be quite mystifying, it needs a social historian to explain some of them.

At first, it was confusing to me that Oldham used to be in Lancashire, but now (I think) is listed as being in Greater Manchester(?) Isn't that the truth about those occupations! What is the most baffling one you've encountered?

There is also a BBC program called Mitchell and Kenyon which features films shot at the beginning of the 20th century in Lancashire, they were discovered 10 years ago in the basement of a shop in Lancashire. MItchell and Kenyon used to go to towns and shot factory workers leaving the mills, or on the fairground, at work at play and then show the films at night in the cinemas of the time and peope would go to see themselves on screen. They're really interesting if you like social history.

That is very interesting. I've looked at some old filmed footage of the Welsh coalfields and mining towns, which is where that branch of my family went back to originally. It creates an odd feeling ... rather similar to walking in an old church yard, among the decrepit head-stones. Both the faces in the films, and the names above the graves, are lost to recognition. (But perhaps the show identifies some of the people in the films...)

[markfp]

[quote="moirafinnie". Have you seen Nicholas Nickleby (2002)? I really was charmed by much of that, especially the theatrical allusions in the movie and thought that Christopher Plummer was brilliant as the evil, but essentially lonely Ralph Nickleby.

Hi Magwitch, oops, I mean Moira,

I have not seen that version, but you can bet I will now.

The thing that I love about Dickens is even though his stories are fiction, he so perfectly captures what it was really like during those times in Britain. From what I've read, his depiction of the squalor and poverty in the slums of London in OLIVER TWIST hits the nail right on the head. I would dare say that Fagin and the child pickpockets were based on their real counterparts who he would have seen or at least heard of in his travels about the city.

It's interesting and sad how many schools today don't require Dickens in English lit classes anymore. There's a young woman I know,who lives nearby, and her only exposure to his works was when her high school drama club did the musical OLIVER. She had no idea who he was. I soon corrected that by loaning her the book. When she returned it, she said she never thought how good such an old book could be and asked if I had any more. She' working on GREAT EXPECTATIONS right now. Whether it's a classic book or a classic film , I love getting people hooked.

[charliechaplinfan]

Here's a link Mary Kate to the films, they might be stocked by a rental service or library.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss? ... and+kenyon

[Mary-Kate]

Here's a link Mary Kate to the films, they might be stocked by a rental service or library.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss? ... and+kenyon

Thank you! In the slightly melancholy words of Edward Thomas: "The past is the only dead thing that smells sweet / The only sweet thing that is not also fleet."