Friday, March 17th, 2023
Shhh, don't tell, but even though (AOTW) I still have 105 pages to go in The Uncommercial Traveller, I started in on A Child's History of England. Read the 5 page Introduction by Derek Hudson, respected author of such notable works as Talks with Fuddy and Other Papers. He had lots of desultory things to say about this Dickens book, including his perception that parts if it are "deplorable" and suggesting that Dickens shouldn't have published it. Yowza. These Introductionists have got some fuckin' nerve. Just wait until somebody asks me to write an introduction to a new edition of Talks with Fuddy and Other Papers. I'm gonna gut that fish.
So I started in on the text proper. And...I found it delightful. It's definitely written with a softer touch than Dickens' other works: shorter sentences, simpler vocabulary and less complex syntax. As one would want in a book aimed at "A child."
So I'm starting to think that I might could make this my next book.
One of the topics that came up in the first pages of the book was Hadrian's Wall. I don't know a whole lot about this, and as I read I realized that I didn't even know how tall / wide this wall was. So I did what you would do: I looked it up on Wikipedia. And?
So there you have it. Definitely high enough to make somebody stop and think about it, and most definitely high enough to keep horses from leaping over it.
I also started wondering if an original copy of the book version (since it was first published in installments in a magazine) of A Child's History of England could be had. And the answer it: of course, it's the 21st century, FF'sS. The first version I found was pretty weak looking:
Not that I would spend $1,600 on a book...but it's nice to know that it's out there. Only problem being that AbeBooks is now owned by Amazon, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do, y'know?
Saturday, March 18th, 2023
Still reading on the down low...and I think I'm going to keep doing that as I finish up The Uncommercial Traveller. It helps to counteract the nausea I am feeling during and after reading TUT. I know that things are always subject to change, but at the moment (page 37, Thank You), I am enjoying this book SO much that I find it hard to believe that anyone wouldn't enjoy it.
In Other News...
I was just wondering how long I'd been on this Dickens Project, thinking that it hadn't been that long, and went to check. It's been almost ten months, and my first anniversary will be on May 25, 2023. I'm thinking I can finish off several more books before then, maybe putting me at 25 down or more by then.(21 1/2 down at the moment.) That would put me just shy of 70% of The Complete Dickens. Not bad for one year.
Sunday, March 19th, 2023
And yes, still d-l reading...but looks like I'll be finishing The Uncommercial Traveller tomorrow, so Tuesday will be my official Day One for A Child's History of England. Speaking of...I read to page 57 today, and I'm still Sunday Afternoon Groovin' on this book. In addition to the other charms I've mentioned previously / above, it's also a nice little refresher course for me...as I taught British Literature (and thus invoked British History for context) for A couple if decades way back when.
An interesting little side note on today's reading: Dickens made reference to someone signing something " with the sign of the cross." And I stopped and thought, "Is THAT what an X meant?" So I had a little look around, and sure enough:
"Signing letters with an ‘X’ dates back to the Middle Ages. At this time, many couldn’t read or write, so this was an easy way for someone to sign something and, particularly in legal documents, assert that whatever was said in the document was true. Specifically, the X represented a Christian cross/Christ at this time, so by signing X, you’re essentially saying 'In Christ’s name, it’s true / I assert.'”
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/548349/what-is-the-origin-of-x-mark-used-as-a-signature-of-illiterate
Is that cool or what? And one more added level of coolness: after making this mark, the " signer" would kiss the X reverently, and that's how the X became associated with "kisses."
Annotated books are really the only way to go, y'know?
P.S. I seem to have neglected to mention this: XVIII + 473 = 491 pages. Minus 75, of course. (And counting.)
Monday, March 20th, 2023
I (finally--it was a very long 12 days) finished off The Uncommercial Traveller, this morning, so it's one more down-low day for A Child's History of England and then on to Day 1 (DDRD 1,967) March 21, 2023 33. Which, of course, is very exciting for me.
Meanwhile...read to page 88 today, which (with the intro pages) means 106 pages down, 385 to go. Not a bad start...especially considering I haven't "started" yet. So 13 days ought to do it for the rest of this, and then I think it's time to go full metal Bleak House...which I'm really looking forward to.
In today's reading there was a reference to Castle Oxford, and I got excited, thinking we were going to have a brush with Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (and obviously the man behind the nom de plume William Shake-speare). Turns out that it was a different thang, though.
 |
| Oxford Castle |
 |
| Castle of the Earls of Oxford |
Disappointing. I've been hoping for an invocation of de Vere ever since Dickens started talking about the Norman Invasion...since Aubrey de Vere gained great honors from his participation in that action...but no dice.
But I still love Dickens. And I am really enjoying this book. Might even read a few more pages later tonight after I get through some Dad Duties.
Oh, and here are some words for the wise"
"As one false man usually makes many...a false King, in particular, is pretty certain to make a false Court...."
Are you listening, G.O.P.?
Day 1 (DDRD 1,967) March 21, 2023 33
Read to page 128. English history--and all history, I suppose --certainly is replete with cruelty, deception, and depravity. Strangely (given that this is "a child's history"), Dickens doesn't hold back on many of the gory details, so there are beheadings, mutilation of corpses, torture, etcetera. There was even a new detail (no spoilers) which was so disgusting that I had to stop reading for a minute and catch my breath. But hey...that's history, right?
Day 2 (DDRD 1,968) March 22, 2023 32
Read to page 160.
Day 3 (DDRD 1,969) March 23, 2023 31
Read to page 220. And guess what? There was a reference to an Earl of Oxford! Not the 17th, but to whoever held that title in 1346. And one Google search later we find...that that would have been John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford. I'll leave it to you to figure out how many "greats" go before "grandfather" with respect to our Edward. Unfortunately, all JdV gets here is a passing mention, but it was still a nice little bit of excitement for me.
Also had the William Wallace story, and a side order of Robert (The) Bruce. Woot!
Day 4 (DDRD 1,970) March 24, 2023 30
Read to page 250. The best part of today's reading was the story of Joan of Arc. Dickens didn't have any respect for her visions, referring to them as her "disorder" and her "disease," but he did a good job of telling her story with respect.
In other news, I've now passed the halfway point of this book, have a mere 223 pages to go, and will probably read some more later today as I'll have more than a little bit of wait time in my car.
News as it happens.
Day 5 (DDRD 1,971) March 25, 2023 29
Read to page 290. On to Henry VIII now, so not far (A mere generation) from Shakespeare's time. And already into Shake-speare's time, if you dance to that tune.
Last night I had a little peek into the volume entitled Reprinted Pieces, and even read the short introduction--it was unique among introductions in this series in that it did not once mock or insult Dickens. And it made it sound like the pieces in this volume would be pretty good...and possibly very good. So now I'm wondering if maybe I should try to squeeze it in before going on to the known glories of Bleak House. Maybe. Ill do a little more sampling before I get serious about that possibility.
Day 6 (DDRD 1,972) March 26, 2023 28
Read to page 320. We're getting close to putting Elizabeth on the throne now, so we're into the Age of Edward de Vere. Keeping my eyes peeled for connections.
ADDENDUM: Church day = lots of wait time; read to page 345, and Elizabeth I is in the throne. It's De Vere Time! (he said, hopefully). Also, this puts me about four days out from finishing this volume, woot woot!
Day 7 (DDRD 1,973) March 27, 2023 27
Read to page 380. Elizabeth has come and gone, and though we got close to de Vere with several references to Lord Burleigh and the Earl of Essex...not to mention Shakespeare...there was no Earl of Oxford to be seen. So on to King James, for whom Dickens clearly has no respect. (He refers to him throughout this section as His Sowship--which is what one of the King's favorites called him, BION.) Also he ends the chapter on King James (XXXII) with these comments:
"I know of nothing more abominable in history than the adulation that was lavished on this King, and the vice and corruption that such a barefaced habit of lying produced in his court. It is much to be doubted whether one man of honour, and not utterly self-disgraced, kept his place near James the First. Lord Bacon, that able and wise philosopher, as the First Judge in the Kingdom in this reign, became a public spectacle of dishonesty and corruption; and in his base flattery of his Sowship, and in his crawling servility to his dog and slave, disgraced himself even more. But, a creature like his Sowship set upon a throne is like the Plague, and everybody receives infection from him."
That's not love.
Day 8 (DDRD 1,974) March 28, 2023 26
Read to page 410. Two thoughts occurred to me whilst reading today: (1) even though (per the Introduction) Dickens did no personal field research in the writing of this book, it's clear that he must have spent many an hour reading other histories and working to distill their contents into a form that he could then express in his own words. (2) Even though it's tempting to see the state of things in today's America as horrible and violent and lawless, it's clear that other nations gave gone through similar, and in some cases even more extreme, times of strife. And yet they survived. So maybe we will, too.
Day 9 (DDRD 1,975) March 29, 2023 25
Read to page 440. Which means tomorrow is it for this Volume!
Day 10 (DDRD 1,976) March 30, 2023 24
Here's an interesting thing:
And Wikipedia says...yep. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_burning.) The things you learn whilst reading Dickens.
BTW, I saw this bit of loveliness
at Goodwill today and was seriously tempted to pick it up. I would very much like to know more about the man behind the plume, and Goodwill's prices are unbeatable--a buck or two for this tome. But at 1,195 pages...not to mention 4 pounds and 2.5 x 6.6 x 9.7 inches...I decided that it was going to be too much for me after finishing (🤞) 36 volumes of Dickens, so I reluctantly put it back on the shelf for someone else to discover.
And yes, today I read to page 473...The End. It was a good read. Makes me wish that Dickens had done more non-fiction...and skipped the short stories.
Just sayin', sir.
(1) Leviathan 63 days, 729 pages
(2) Stalingrad 27 days, 982 pages
(3) Life and Fate 26 days, 880 pages
(4) The Second World War 34 + 32 + 40 + 43 + 31 + 32 days = 212 days, 4,379 pages
(5) Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming 10 days, 572 pages
(6) The Great Bridge 25 days, 636 pages
(7) The Path Between the Seas 29 days, 698 pages
(8) Blake: Prophet Against Empire, 23 days, 523 pages
(9) Jerusalem 61 days, 1,266 pages
(10) Voice of the Fire 9 days, 320 pages
(11) The Fountainhead 15 days, 720 pages
(13) The Pacific Trilogy: The Conquering Tide 28 days, 656 pages
(14) The Pacific Trilogy: Twilight of the Gods 31 days, 944 pages
(16) Toward Jazz 18 days, 224 pages
(17) The Worlds of Jazz 13 days, 279 pages
(18) To Be or Not...to Bop 14 days, 571 pages
(19) Kind of Blue 4 days, 224 pages
(20) Kind of Blue: Miles Davis and his Masterpiece: 5 days, 256 pages
(21) Miles: The Autobiography 16 days, 445 pages
(21) A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album: 8 days, 287 pages
(22) Ascension: John Coltrane and His Quest 8 days, 304 pages
(23) Living With Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings 11 days 325 pages
(25) Oliver Twist 16 days, 542 pages
(26) Nicholas Nickleby 27 days, 1,045 pages
(27) The Old Curiosity Shop 22 days, 753 pages
(28) Barnaby Rudge 24 days, 866 pages
(30) Martin Chuzzlewit 32 days, 1,045 pages
(31) American Notes 10 days, 324 pages
(32) Pictures From Italy 7 days, 211 pages
(33) Christmas Stories Volume I 10 days, 456 pages
(34) Christmas Stories Volume II 15 days, 472 pages
(39) David Copperfield 21 days, 1,092 pages
(41) A Child's History of England __ days, 491 pages
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