Comments on: 7 Dickensian Tidbits to Honor the 164th Birthday of A Christmas Carol

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 13:25:44 +0000

If you love Dickens or are just an avid reader give the author Jasper Fforde a shot… hilarious tales of Thursday Next of the “fiction police” who tirelessly works to maintain the integrity of books from within.. and Jack Spratt the sometimes bumbling detective who solves those nasty nursery rhyme crimes…

By: Therese

Therese — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 13:47:44 +0000

Owen, thanks for the info on the Philly library display. Yes, there are quite a few interesting anecdotes about Grip, and I sometimes wonder if Dickens was fonder of the bird than of his wife. There was actually a second Grip, but not as beloved as the first.

By: Owen

Owen — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 23:14:05 +0000

Dickens is honored at the Philly Public Library with his own room in the rare book department. Many of the furniture he used in real life is there as well as many first additions of his works. Grip, his pet raven, is also there, stuffed of course, in a display case. When Grip died Dickens said that someone poisoned the bird because he succumbed rather fast. It is also believed that Grip was the model for Poe’s “The Raven”. Dickens and Poe were friends. It is said that Grip would chase the kids biting their ankles and his favorite saying was “Hola”

By: Terry

Terry — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 21:14:29 +0000

Rich, Some critics at the time called Dickens a “penny-a-liner,” and there have been other references to the author being paid by the word or line. However, even if it were sometimes true (and I have no proof that it was), it was certainly not the case throughout most of his career. If there’s a reason why his novels are long (other than that he liked them that way), I’m inclined to suggest it had more to do with the fact that his work was often serialized.

By: Coeli

Coeli — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 20:05:02 +0000

Just don’t bother reading Dickens’ *other* Christmas stories. They have not aged well and generally come across as overly-sentimental Victorian glurge.

By: Ashley

Ashley — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:08:25 +0000

Matt, Terry Pratchett is a genius.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 14:22:00 +0000

Has anyone read or seen the DVD version of Hogfather?

By: Rich

Rich — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 14:16:52 +0000

I once heard that Dickens’s novels were so long because he was paid by the word. Dunno if it’s true…

By: Terry

Terry — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 13:45:41 +0000

Amanda, Personally, I would never advocate my mom using Dickens’ will as a model… And if Mom dies in winter, I’ll wear a scarf if I want to!

By: csrster

csrster — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 10:14:14 +0000

I sometimes think some of
Dickens novels would still work better if one could read them serially
over the course of a year or two.