Little Dorrit

Did I love Little Dorrit? Yes, I think I did. Little Dorrit, by Charles Dickens, is very long. It's full of many colourful, interesting, complex characters. Once or twice, I had to use the internet to look up who someone was, since if they hadn't been mentioned for a while, I might have forgotten. Because Little Dorrit was LONG. Like really long. I thought Middlemarch was long (and it was), but Dickens was very generous with words. My one reprieve was that I could take a break. Little Dorrit is split into too "books", Poverty and Riches. So, when Poverty was done, I took a break. I read three other books, I think, in that time. I still wanted to know, longed to know, what would happen to Little Dorrit and Mr. Clennham, but I needed that break.

To stick it out for over 800 pages of Victoria Literature, the characters need to be compelling, and they were. I adored Amy Dorrit. She worked so hard to make her father happy, to give her siblings something, some meaning to their lives. They knew, but chose to pretend not to know, so much about Little Dorrit, the name she preferred for herself. Little Dorrit is just an amazing person, caring for her family and friends, loving, kind. I just rooted for her the whole time. I wanted her to be happy.

I wanted Arthur Clennham to be happy too. He seemed to long to be loved by his mother, but gave that up. He wanted to right some wrong he believed his father had done. He wanted Daniel Doyce to be a success. He wanted Little Dorrit and her family to be free. He spend time, money and emotion to better the life of the people he cared about. He thought he could be happy with Pet, but I'm kind of glad for him that it didn't work out (though not glad for her). When something terrible happened, though not his fault, he took all the consequences on himself. I was so worried about him, worrying that I might end up with sad ending, like Villette.

Because it was the characters that made the book for me, the last few chapters were the best. Dickens took the time to go back over the characters he introduced. We found out what happened to the Meagles, Merdles, Gowans and Casbys. We learn about Doyce and Pancks, and other residents of Bleeding Heart Yard. Dickens takes us on a journey of goodbyes, where he readers don't have to wonder what happened to all these people.

Though Little Dorrit was a lengthy tome, it was worth every minute. Dickens brought these places and people to life. Life at the Marshalsea, inspired by his father, was depressing, but could also have hope. Though the story didn't always take place there, the debtor's prison was the centre of this tale. How easily a man could end up there, how easily his whole family. How does a person ever get out without a stroke of luck? It was interesting how it was its own community, inside of London, how status was still maintained there. The Marshalsea seemed to have its own personality and change a person, as soon as they entered its walls. It really leaves you thinking about how far a person can fall and how far a person can climb back up.

I Didn't Finish My Spin Book

I thought I had more time, but nope. Today is May 2nd and my Classics Club Spin book is only halfway done. I finished the first "book" to Little Dorrit, entitled Poverty. I will be starting the next half soon.

So far I like it. I like Arthur Clennam, and of course Amy Dorrit. I'm interested to see how their relationship continues to evolve. I think his mother and her father are horrible, as are her siblings. I'm wondering what's going to happen with Pet, Gowan, and the Barnacles. Little Dorrit has a complex plot and I'm enjoying all the twists and turns. I look forward to continuing the journay with Arthur and Little Dorrit.

The Spin Number Is....

8!

Which means I have to read Little Dorrit, by Charles Dickens by May 2nd. That's probably the book on my list I wanted to read the least.  I'll do it though. I mean, I do want to read it. I own a copy. I guess after Middlemarch I'm just not in the mood to read something else so Victorian. I did enjoy David Copperfield and Great Expectations when I read them, though. I'm sure it'll be fine.

First Sentences

I recently changed the entire first page of my work-in-progress and that got me thinking of first sentences. The first one that popped into my head was from Pride and Prejudice, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." While I enjoyed Jane Austen's most famous work, part of the reason I thought of this quote was because that line gets a lot of air play. Then I wondered, what were the first sentences of some of my favourite books...

The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless, but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in an old house, a strange tale should essentially be, I remember no comment uttered till somebody happened to say that it was the only case he had met in which such a visitation had fallen on a child. – The Turn of the Screw, Henry James

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. – David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

We slept in what had once been the gymnasium. – The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. – The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

The servants called them malenchki, little ghosts, because they were the smallest and the youngest, and because they haunted the Duke’s house like giggling phantoms, darting in and out of rooms, hiding in cupboards to eavesdrop, sneaking into the kitchen to steal the last of the summer peaches. – Shadow and Bone, Leigh Bardugo

There was once, in the country of Alifbay, a sad city, the saddest of cities, a city so ruinously sad that it had forgotten its name. – Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Salman Rusdie

The day I died started out bad and got worse in a hurry. – Undead and Unwed, MaryJanice Davidson

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed. – The Gunslinger, Stephen King

Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. – Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself. – Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf

A few years ago it dawned on me that everybody past a certain age – regardless of how they look on the outside – pretty much constantly dreams of being able to escape from their lives. - The Gum Thief, Douglas Coupland

My mother thinks I'm dead. - Legend, Marie Lu

All this happened, more of less. - Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Across genres and eras, the first sentence of a novel is important. It can captures a reader's interest or make them roll their eyes in annoyance. I've learned that not all first lines hold mystery, sometimes it takes the first paragraph or first page. I have a lot of respect though, for writers that can take you away, pull you in, grab and never let go, with that first sentence.

Random List: Books I Probably Wouldn't Have Read If Not For Required Reading

Inspired by a post I saw on a blog I can't remember (sorry), I decided to create this little list.  I was then reminded I hadn't finished it when I saw The Broke and The Bookish's A Cocktail and Conversation. I decided to post some of my favourite books that were required reading.  I'm not saying I would have never read these books, but way back in my school days, I probably wouldn't have picked them up by choice.  These required books, from both high school and university have stayed with me over the years.  They have led me to favourite authors and enriched my reading life.

1. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

2. Coming Through Slaughter, by Michael Ondaatje

3. A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal, by William Wordsworth (I know it's a poem, but I had to include it.)

4. The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath

5. The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham

6. Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare

7. David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens

8. Kindred, by Octavia Butler

9. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston

10. Sophie's World, by Jostein Gaarder

I decided to stick with ten, a nice round number.  I should mention though, that I would never have read Ethel Wilson, Edith Wharton, Henry James or Thomas Hardy without required reading... and probably a whole slew of other fantastic authors.  I know required reading is often dreaded, but so many times I didn't need to worry.

Literary Blog Hop: Believing Literary Hype

This week the Literary Blog Hop asks: Do you find yourself predisposed to like (or dislike) books that are generally accepted as great books and have been incorporated into the literary canon? Discuss the affect you believe a book’s “status” has on your opinion of it.

I don’t like a book just because other people like it, literary or not. I may choose a book based on others’ opinions, but I always reserve judgment until after I’ve read it. I also don’t find I like all books found to be part of the “literary canon”. I’ve mentioned this book several times before, but I couldn’t stand it and barely got through it. William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair is regarded as a literary classic. I enjoy many of Thackeray’s contemporaries. I loved Dicken’s David Copperfield and Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. I just couldn’t deal with Vanity Fair. Sometimes I’d rather forget it, but it’s the best example I have.

I can’t imagine anyone liking all books in the literary canon.

A Chrstmas Carol

I really wanted to read the unabridged, original, unillustrated, A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. I finished it, appropriately enough on Christmas Eve. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though I found it difficult to get into initially. It had nothing to do with Dickens’ writing – this is the third book by him I’ve read and the others were much longer. The difficulty lay more in the fat that I already knew what was going to happen. How many times have you heard the story, read a children’s version or seen a movie adaptation? There’s even A Muppet’s Christmas Carol! I can understand the appeal after finishing the original work. The story has a cinematic quality, which creates a vivid narrative. There are a few things, as with every original piece, that were left out. In the end, it is a wonderful story that every holiday lover should read.

The Haunted House

What a strange story. I’m not sure what to make of it. Normally, I love Dickens. David Copperfield and Great Expectations were fabulous novels. From that experience, I was quite eager to read The Haunted House. Now, I don’t really understand what kind of conclusion I am supposed to draw.

I read the introduction to the collection (something I don’t always recommend doing; they often give away the story). I’m glad I did. Maybe I should go back and read the section on Dickens again. (I skimmed it when it was giving too many details). It’s good to know that this story is actually an introduction to a collection of Dickens’. There is a lot of character and scene introduction. I wondered why. Byatt thought to include this story, because it does have a sense of being complete. I disagree. You could feel that something was missing. I’m sure something better could have been selected.

Perhaps, with the rest of the collection, everything will be easier to understand.