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My grandfather, who was born when Charles Dickens was still alive and writing, left me his books, including copies of David Copperfield, Bleak House and Barnaby Rudge, which is good because at no point in either grade school or high school did Dickens appear on any reading list. Dickens was – and still is – one of the most famous novelists ever, but like Mark Twain and Tolstoy, I have no sense whatever that he's being read. Back at the end of World War Two, when David Lean was a young director presented with Dickens' Great Expectations as his next...

The BBC’s modern reworking of Great Expectations has suffered a ratings flop, losing nearly 3 million viewers since the first episode aired last month. Steven Knight’s adaptation, which stars Olivia Colman as Miss Havisham and Fionn Whitehead as Pip, has been mired in controversy over accusations of wokery and the inclusion of opium addiction and sadomasochism. Episode one pulled in 4.4 million viewers, reaching a peak of 5.5 million, but 1.8 million had switched off by episode two. Last week’s penultimate episode only managed to draw in 1.5 million, some 2.9 million down on the first instalment.

I thought I would give this a shot. As perhaps some Freepers with historical interest notice a certain Mr. Homer Simpson posts scanned copies of Harper's Weekly magazine form 150 years ago as the United States was headed to Civil War. Staring this week Harper's Weekly will be publishing as a serial Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations". Some would argue "Great Expectations" is Mr. Dickens' greatest work and it is my Dickens; novel. I have seen various movie and TV adaptations. Some of my favorites are the David Lean 1946 version with a young Jean Simmons as young Estella, the gritty...

At 46 she's considerably younger than her character, the decrepit Miss Havisham. But Helena Bonham Carter can be seen looking haggard and tortured as the heiress locked in the past in the new trailer for the latest adaptation of Charles Dickens’s novel Great Expectations. The English actress is seen sporting huge bags under her eyes, a grey pallor and a wretched look on her face.

A number of economic reports in the last few days indicate that the U.S. economy has not only not failed to recover from the recession, but continues to fall deeper into a hole. Banking, consumer confidence, employment numbers, durable goods and the housing industry - each representing a different aspect of the economy - are all sending out troubling signs. Despite the onslaught of negative data, mainstream economists continue to echo the official U.S. government view that "the recovery is still on track." Updated statistics from the FDIC indicate that there were 702 banks on the troubled list at the...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The U.S. economy grew slightly faster than previously reported in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department estimated Friday, but details of the revision to gross domestic product show final sales in the United States were actually weaker than reported a month ago. U.S. real gross domestic product increased at a 5.9% seasonally adjusted annualized pace in the final three months of 2009, revised up from 5.7% estimated last month. The revision was exactly in line with expectations of economists surveyed by MarketWatch. Read our complete economic calendar. In the third quarter, GDP rose at a 2.2% annual...

Deficits: The media breathlessly report an "unexpectedly" large increase in unemployment applications with inflation rising "faster than expected." Given the wasteful spending spree we've been on, what do they expect? The economic gurus at major media outlets such as Reuters are having a dickens of a time explaining why the economy is not responding to the massive doses of monetary steroids we've been injecting. Last Thursday, after the Labor Department announced that claims for state unemployment benefits increased by 31,000 to 473,000, Reuters reported that the surge was "unexpected." The market, we were told, was looking for 430,000. We were...

This 18-pound (8-kilogram) iron ball-and-chain set was found in the mud on the banks of the Thames River and is thought to date to the 17th or 18th century. LONDON - An iron ball and chain found on the banks of London's River Thames is causing a stir among archaeologists who say the 300-year-old artifact used to restrain convicts on ships may have a gruesome story to tell. The leg irons, believed to date from the 17th or 18th century, were pulled from the mud with the lock fastened, suggesting a convict could have drowned while trying to escape.

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole! But not yet weary are our feet... First thread: New Zealander builds Hobbit holeSecond thread: The New Hobbit HoleThird thread: The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads! (Congratulations, we filled it up!) Fourth Thread: The Hobbit Hole IV - The Road Goes Ever On...Fifth Thread: The Hobbit Hole V - Where Many Paths and Errands Meet...Sixth Thread: The Hobbit Hole VI - And Whither Then? I Cannot Say... New verse: Upon the hearth the fire is red, Beneath the roof there is a bed; But not yet weary are our feet, Still round...