As a classic blog I would be remiss not to wish Mr. Dickens birthday. He would have been 200 years old today (putting aside the fact that he died in 1870) Sadly, and I’m embarrassed to say, I have only read A Christmas Carol, the first time I read A Christmas Carol was in 7th grade and did not pick it up again until last year. Perhaps, it was because of my age but I did not appreciate it the way I did when I read it last year. His writing/storytelling was spellbinding and other classics such as Oliver Twist and Great Expectations were soon downloaded to my kindle. In short, 10+ years later I realized what an amazing writer he is and am saddened that it took me so long to come to that conclusion. The unfortunate thing about posting at eleven in the evening is the coming of sleepiness, so I shall sign off now and perhaps read a few words of Dickens before I sleep. Happy Birthday Charles Dickens!
It seems likes it takes many readers a while to really appreciate Dickens. I know it was that way with me. I guess he's one of those writers that has to grow on you! 🙂
It's much easier to appreciate a novelist like Eliot or Tolstoy than Dickens (at first). But Dickens is a genius at greating novelistic totality. (All characters are inextricably connected in Dickens.) He brings together characters from opposite ends of the social world to reveal secret relationships between them.
They had a great exhibit at Morgan Library in NYC for his 200 b-day, which I went to. They had tons of his letters and drafts. It was really great fun.