I know I said I wasn’t going to read any more Dickens for the rest of the year, after gulping down Martin Chuzzlewit and Little Dorrit back-to-back this spring, but I am a weak, weak little mortal, as I found when I saw Virgin Megastore had the Wordsworth edition of Nicholas Nickleby on sale for 17 dirhams. And it had notes. And illustrations by Phiz! Still, I was going to leave it there on the shelf, and go have some pious, non-Dickensian coffee with my seventeen dirhams, but I had to open it up at random (you know, to see what I was missing):
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“We keep twenty women constantly employed in the establishment,” said Madame.
“Indeed, m’am!” replied Kate, timidly.
“Yes; and some of ‘em demd handsome, too,” said the master.
“Mantalini!” exclaimed his wife, in an awful voice.
“My senses’ idol!” said Mantalini.
“Do you wish to break my heart?”
“Not for twenty thousand hemispheres populated with – with – with little ballet-dancers,” replied Mantalini in a poetical strain.
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So of course it had to come home with me; I am halfway through, and enjoying it greatly. (Pointless justification: It’s Early Comedic Dickens, not Late Gloomy Dickens.)
July 3, 2008 at 2:42 pm
You are a far better reader than I am, Ms. Ella. It took me a year to plow through Nicholas Nickelby. Don’t get me wrong; his characters are fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed getting acquainted with the Mantalinis, the nasty Squeers, and most especially Mr. Browdie. But it’s pretty clear that he got paid by the word. It’s a great story, but in my opinion, Dickens needed an editor.
Perhaps I’m just a less advanced reader. However, I must admit, I have found myself gravitating towards the more easy reads lately. I had to put Umberto Eco’s “Foucault’s Pendulum” aside so that I could delight in Lian Hearn’s last book in the Tales of the Otori. But I’ll get back to Eco eventually.
July 4, 2008 at 6:40 am
I almost bought a Dickens the other day…it called to me! I was shocked. It was Dombey and Son.
You’ll be happy to hear that I’m reading a Henry James novel. At project Gutenberg. So I’m being all green and intellectual.
July 4, 2008 at 10:26 am
Kat, my dear, I was thinking of your recommendation when I picked up the book! And yes, Mr. Dickens probably wouldn’t suffer too much under abridgement, but I find his decorative style very endearing. (I also enjoy those overdone Baroque churches, so maybe there’s something wrong with my taste on a very basic level?) And there’s nothing wrong with short books, I’m definately going to need a palatte cleanser after I finish this one.
Bybee, I hope you like the James. Which one are you reading?
July 5, 2008 at 12:33 am
What Maisie Knew (1897). So far it’s pretty good, but I can’t read onscreen for too long at a time; it gives me a headache.