DDR: Reprinted Pieces by Charles Dickens

These page numbers do not correspond to my copy of the book, btw.

I'm still reading A Child's History of England--and enjoying it--but I thought I'd have a little look at one of the three remaining Not Novels, and I picked up Reprinted Pieces to see what I could see.

3/24/23: Read Introduction by Michael Foss. Spine of book split. I think was the first introduction I've read in this series which was at least in part insulting and derogatory towards Mr. Dickens. So that was refreshing.

3/25/23: Read first piece: "The Long Voyage." It started with an excellent paragraph:

"When the wind is blowing and the sleet or rain is driving against the dark windows, I love to sit by the fire, thinking of what I have read in books of voyage and travel.  Such books have had a strong fascination for my mind from my earliest childhood; and I wonder it should have come to pass that I never have been round the world, never have been shipwrecked, ice-environed, tomahawked, or eaten."

It then became a recounting of a shipwreck, then switched to a different shipwreck story, then ended with a brief meditation on death. Not a great piece of writing. Nor did it fill me with desire to continue reading in this book right now.

However...it occurred to me that in trying to take on these last three Not Novels, maybe I shouldn't try to bull my way straight through--assuming that all three will be as Not Good as the other Not Novels have been. I could cut my main Daily Devotional Reading session down to 20 pages and then do 10 pages a day in a Not Novel. That would insure that I didn't end up with The Least of Dickens after I finish the novels.

Seems like a viable plan.

Addendum: Finished reading the second piece, "The Begging-letter Writer"--essentially a screed against giving money to charlatans posing as the poor, and encouragement to give to the truly poor. Of course, discerning which is which might be more difficult than Dickens implies gere. In my book, this piece ended on page 23. There were XIII Introduction plus etcetera pages, so that puts me 36 pages into this XIII + 355 = 368 page book, so about 10% in. Not bad for a pretty minimal bit of effort.

3/26/23: Read " A Child's Dream of a Star," which was short, thank God, and "Our English Watering-place" which was not, alas. That took me through to page38...and the undeniable realization that this is going to be A Very Long Slog. These pieces remind me a lot of the material in Sketches by Boz--tedious, trite, and boring. Not pointless, but not nearly pointed enough. Maybe Mr. Foss should have been a little meaner to Dickens vis-a-vis this one, eh?

3/27/23: Read "Our French Watering-place," which was not good. Tried to read a bit of the next piece, "Bill-sticking," but had to stop just a page in because it was even less good. That put me at page 55. Which is about 15% of the journey...but the fact that I'm already thinking of per cent finished for the second consecutive day doesn't bode well, does it? Sigh. On the other hand, this is after reading 30 pages of A Child's History of England, so it's not as little as it sounds. Still, I AM wondering how I'm ever going to make it through this thing.

3/28/23: Finished "Bill-sticking." 15 pages about a guy who pastes posters to walls. It wasn't funny. It wasn't interesting. It wasn't informative. It wasn't entertaining. It was just 15 pages. Which took me to page 69. I wish I could put down some more pages tonight, but I haven't the strength.

Oh, yeah. 19%.

Which means I could bear down full strength--30 pages a car--needs be done with this awful book in 10 days. 

3/29/23: "Births. Mrs. Meek, of A Son" is six pages whose focus is a father who is so stupid that he thinks the women caring for his wife and new born son are torturing said son. Ha fucking ha. And then "Lying Awake," 9 pages detailing the thoughts, many of them lurid and even disgusting, which run through "Dickens'" mind as he (unsuccessfully) tries to fall asleep. That might be all I can take for today.

To page 84. 23%. All sweat equity.

3/30/23: Well...I finished A Child's History of England today, so today is my last "Free Day" of reading Reprinted Pieces. Tomorrow will officially be Shit or Get Off the Pot day. Start Bleak House and continue reading Reprinted Pieces as a side hustle or buckle down and knock it out in a week and a half.

Decisions, decisions.

Oh. I also read to page 105 in Reprinted Pieces. 

Which is 29%.

Day 1 (DDRD 1,977) March 31, 2023 23

And our survey says...I'm going to put the pedal to the metal and take this thing to the wall. Not because it's gotten better...because it hasn't...but because I want to get it over with as soon as possible, and focusing on it us the best way to get there.

So first, A reboot:

Day 8 (DDRD 1,977) March 31, 2023 23

And awaaaaay we go.

In "Out of the Season" Dickens refers to going for a walk--ten miles out and ten miles back. That's one hell of a walk...but he doesn't make any fuss about it at all, as if it was not such a big or even noteworthy deal. He also refers to a book by one Madame Roland which fascinated him. I took a look around and found a copy published during Dickens' time:

It was published in French, thus clearly Monsieur Dickens was (at the least) bilingual. I wouldn't have guessed that, to be honest. Just sayin', sir.

"The Noble Savage" is an 8 page screed in which Dickens expresses his hatred of "savages." This is not the Dickens I was looking for, and I had to stop and catch my breath after reading it. Strange, too--in that in his novels I got the impression that Dickens had a much gentler view of "the uncivilized." There was a slight turn at the end, wherein Dickens implies that "modern" English society is of like ilk in many ways, but it's too little and too late.

Ended up reading to page 151 today...a pretty good chunk made possible because I had to wait for Joe to get off work. Which puts me at a solid 41% completed.

Day 9 (DDRD 1,978) April 1, 2023 22

I was checking the Table of Contents I posted here (above) and was starting to feel like The End was in sight. There were 13 pieces left (I was on "The Detective Police"), but all if them were pretty short, and I was thinking I could knick them out lickety split. Then I happened to look at the TOC in my copy of the book, and saw, much to my surprise / regret / dismay...

           ...not only a whole other section,but a section with much longer pieces in it.

Sigh.

While I was "there," I had a look around for information about this Lamplighter Saga, and found this:

“The Lamplighter” is a wild farce. It feels a little as if someone deleted all the plot, characterization, and heavy themes from one of Dickens’ shorter novels and just left us with a dozen pages of the funny bits.

It kicks off at a kind of Lamplighters Local meeting. One member decides to relate the legendary tale of Tom Grig, a lamplighter who was fated by the stars to make a great marriage to a beautiful, wealthy heiress. Err… well, sort of. The story is a little muddier than that, and it’s full of all the wild exaggerations and self-mythologizing of a twice told tale among friends. In the end we’re not even sure if Tom Grig’s story was anything more than a dream. But no matter, it’s still a fascinating and funny tale featuring some quippy dialogue.

A lighter side of Dickens for those only used to his heavier works.

Review by Matthew

I have to say that this does not inspire me with confidence vis-a-vis the quality of this section. In fact, it sounds like the thing an enthusiastic neophyte would say about Sketches by Boz, which I found to be as painful as a sustained kicking of the nuts.

But time will tell.

BTW... read to page 180. And the last 40 (and the next 10) pages have been Police Stories of one sort or another, and while they're nowhere near the level of Dickens' best writing, they're several cuts abive his worst, and I've actually not minded reading them. I wouldn't go so tar as to say I'd recommend them, mind you, but the brief cessation of pain has been much appreciated, for sure.

49%

ADDENDUM: Read a bit more, to page 189. Which was the end of the police stories (😞) and puts me at 51% (🌝).

Day 10 (DDRD 1,979) April 2, 2023 21

Read to page 220. Rough reading today. I think the Fairy Tale--"Prince Bull"--is the worst piece of Dickens writing I've yet encountered...and it definitely had some competiton.

60% down. Aka 148 pages to go. = 5 days. 5 looooooong days.

Read to 240. (Church, Early.) Also realized I'm been figuring % finished incorrectly. As of now, it should be XIII + 240 = 253 of 368 = 69% down. Much better.

Day 11 (DDRD 1,980) April 3, 2023 20

Read to page 271. 

77% down.

Day 12 (DDRD 1,981) April 4, 2023 19...which is about 570 pages's worth. 97 of them belong to Reprinted Pieces, which leaves 473. So I'll be needing a 473 page book for the next one, then, won't I? (The first Volume of Bleak House is 565 pages... not too far off.)

Read to page 304. 

86%

There was a rather curious bit in "The Lamplighter" (which wasn't bad...one of the best in this Volume, actually, but was hardly worthy of the high praise I've read about it):

'Tom Grig, gentlemen,’ said the chairman, ‘was one of us; and it happened to him, as it don’t often happen to a public character in our line, that he had his what-you-may-call-it cast.’

‘His head?’ said the vice.

‘No,’ replied the chairman, ‘not his head.’

‘His face, perhaps?’ said the vice.  ‘No, not his face.’  ‘His legs?’  ‘No, not his legs.’  Nor yet his arms, nor his hands, nor his feet, nor his chest, all of which were severally suggested.

‘His nativity, perhaps?’

‘That’s it,’ said the chairman, awakening from his thoughtful attitude at the suggestion.  ‘His nativity.  That’s what Tom had cast, gentlemen.’

‘In plaster?’ asked the vice.

‘I don’t rightly know how it’s done,’ returned the chairman.  ‘But I suppose it was.’

It turns out that this "casting" refers to an astrological procedure... seeing the future of the character in the stars. But...well, is it me, or does Dickens make this sound like a casting is being made of Tom Grig's penis? I Googled around to see if "nativity" ever was a euphemism for a man's penis, but the closest I got was this:

nativity-water  n. Obsolete rare (apparently) a person's urine used in astrological divination.

1631   B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre i. ii. 3 in Wks. II   My mother has had her natiuity-water cast lately by the Cunning men in Cow-lane.

https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/125310

So I guess it could be a reference to that...or....

Well.

Day 13 (DDRD 1,982) April 5, 2023 18

Read to page 334. 

94% done. 21 pages to go.

Day 14 (DDRD 1,983) April 6, 2023 17

Read to page 355...The End...At Last! It's been a looooooong two weeks, for sure. But there is this, at least: 

In the "II AS SABBATH BILLS WOULD MAKE IT" section / chapter of "SUNDAY UNDER THREE HEADS," Dickens has this

"The idea of making a man truly moral through the ministry of constables, and sincerely religious under the influence of penalties, is worthy of the mind which could form such a mass of monstrous absurdity as this bill is composed of."

and this

"The next time this bill is brought forward (which will no doubt be at an early period of the next session of Parliament) perhaps it will be better to amend this clause by declaring, that from and after the passing of the act, it shall be deemed unlawful for the wind to blow at all upon the Sabbath.  It would remove a great deal of temptation from the owners and captains of vessels."

to say about Said Sabbath Bills. Which is a nice combination of anger and humor. And a good note to end this Not So Good and DEFINITELY NOT RECOMMENDED book on.

Onward...and hopefully upward.

DDR Day 1 to 1,000: 13,449 pages read, 13.45 Average Pages Per Day

A History of Philosophy Volumes I - XI

History of Civilization in England by Volumes I - III

Miscellaneous and Posthumous Works of Henry Thomas Buckle Volumes I - III

Civilization and Capitalism, 16th - 18th Century Volumes I - III

The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip IIl Volumes I - III

This Happened In My Presence: Moriscos, Old Christians, and the Spanish Inquisition in the Town of Deza, 1569-1611

The Stolen Village: Baltimore and the Barbary Pirates

Peat and Peat Cutting

+

DDR Day 1001 to Day 2000:
(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

(12) The Pacific Trilogy: Pacific Crucible 23 days, 640 pages
(13) The Pacific Trilogy: The Conquering Tide 28 days, 656 pages
(14) The Pacific Trilogy: Twilight of the Gods 31 days, 944 pages

(15) Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence 13 days, 304 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

(24) The Pickwick Papers 28 days, 983 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

(29) Master Humprhey's Clock 4 days, 145 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

(35) Christmas Books 17 days, 525 pages

(36) The Annotated Christmas Carol  7 days, 380 pages

(37) Dombey and Son 30 days, 1,089 pages

(38) Sketches by Boz 22 days, 834 pages

2nd 1K Total: 26,834 pages (to SBBII) = 28.76 Average Pages Per Day

Grand Total: 40,273 pages, 20.83 Average Pages Per Day

(39) David Copperfield 21 days, 1,092 pages(
(40) The Uncommercial Traveller 12 days, 440 pages
(41) A Child's History of England 10 days, 491 pages
(42) Reprinted Pieces 14 days, 368 pages