Click the pic Thank you, JoeProBono
This Little Cutie Will Soon Be
Ready For His Bottle of Tabasco!
Become a monthly donor
And keep the FReepathon Dragons away
Sponsors will contribute $10
For each new monthly sign-up
Posted on 02/07/2012 7:41:19 AM PST by Borges
Great writer, but by many accounts, a wretched human being.
A lot of great artists would probably fall under that.
It was the best of times and the worst of times.
One could have a bit of light hearted fun here, I am sure Dickens would not have minded. While no favourites of Freepers in general, the ladies of "The View" bring to mind some of the characters in A Tale of Two Cities" At least to me at any rate.
Theresa Defarge gloated and shrieked at the demise of the aristocrats under the guillotine. A perfect choice for acting this part, would be Joy Behar. I confess a sneaking liking for Joy. She would play Defarge, shrieking for the heads of Republicans, er, I mean French aristocrats. Sweet Elizabeth could play equally sweet Lucy Manette.
Just a little lame humour on my part here.
I know exactly what you’re saying! Like my brothers, I’m usually defending as THE BEST whichever book I’m reading. But Bleak House, maybe because of the number of utterly memorable supporting characters (Jellybee, Chadband, the usurer, the printer & his wife, the sergeant, etc.) or because of the nature and faculty of the villain (Tulkinghorn)—what could be more evil (and timely) than a highly respected, utterly corrupt lawyer who accumulates and invests not gold but data? Or maybe it’s the arguments—religion vs. morality, law vs. morality, true charity vs. social dues, so many other timeless concerns.
Yes, the characters are wonderful, and no one has created so many so successfully (Melville tried and failed miserably, but Wodehouse comes close), but I think sometimes that those characters mask some brilliant plots—NN, BH, DC, ATOTC, MC, LD, GE, even OMF.
Maybe best of all, an avalanche of social criticism and not a single call for, or even a whisper of, socialism as the answer. Which is probably why G. B. Shaw just couldn’t rank Dickens among the greats. And today—who cares what the “great” Shaw thought?
“One must have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without laughing.”
—Oscar Wilde
I like it . . . no Miss Prosses there, though.
Not as depicted by Clare Tomalin in her recent biography, the most authoritative to date. The one blemish (and it's a big one) on an otherwise admirable life was his treatment of his wife.
George MacDonald—heavenly. That’s what children should be reading.
Insofar as ATOTC’s concerned, he couldn’t possibly have “evoked” better. It wasn’t until the release of (and now I’m not going to remember the name of the book) “Citizen” (I think) in the 1960s that Dickens’ take on the FR was deemed closer to true than what was being taught in American schools. Sure, Etienne Gilson had written about the indignities suffered by aristos and particularly Marie Antoinette; but his research made little impact. Witness Bill O’Reilly echoing libs’ outrage that Michelle Obama be compared to Marie Antoinette, implying that the sum total of the latter’s life lay in “let them eat cake,” a remark placed in her mouth by the rabble. Ann Coulter’s first two chapters of Demonic also gets it right.
Dickens’ evocation caught it all, first.
It took me 3 tries to finish Dombey and Son... I am so glad I finally completed the book. One of my favorites. Pickwick Papers is a personal favorite along with David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby and Martin Chuzzlewit.
enthralled with jolly old England.. always have been. Sure hope they make it.
My memory did not hold me in good stead. It should be Therese Defarge, not Theresa. Sweet Lucie it is, not Lucy.
Having cleared that up, I will agree that there are no brave, practical good women such as Miss Pross on the view.(Sorry about that). Quoth Miss Pross to evil Therese this- or like that.
"Thank God that I stronger than you".
This, as she prevented the harridan from rushing out to stop the escape of the defenseless. Well, one almost see a certain Mama Grizzly from Alaska in the role of Miss Pross. (chuckle).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.