DDR: Hard Times by Charles Dickens

 

Public Domain

Another one I've read before...maybe more than once, but I'm not sure of that. 

Ten minutes later...

Yep. I first read this book in Dr. Kemme's Victorian Literature class at Bellarmine College way back in the early 1980s. And then I read it again when I taught it to one of my high school classes. So this will be my third time at it.

Looking forward to it, too.

XV + 444 = 459...guess it's a single then, ennit? And just about a two week traipse for moi.

P.S. Sir Dingle Foot. That's a real dude's name, believe it or not. And judging from his Introduction to Hard Times, he's an asshole. He spent most of his 9 pages here insulting Dickens and tearing down his writing. Hmmm...I don't seem to remember any great novels by Dingle Foot. At any rate, yes, I did get a start on Hard Times before Opening Day. So only 444 pages to go now. And strangely enough...not all of those pages are Hard Times. Whilst reading the Table of Contents (yes, I do) I saw that the novel actually ends on page 330, and then there are three other pieces included in this Volume: "Hunted Down" pages 333 - 360, "Holiday Romance" pages 363 - 406, and "George Silverman's Explanation" pages 409 - 444. So I guess it's not All Novels from this point on after all. That's disappointing.

Day 1 (DDRD 2,037) May 30, 2023

Read to page 30. Here's Dickens' description of a (bad) teacher: "...as he eagerly sparkled at them from the cellarage…..he seemed a kind of cannon loaded to the muzzle with facts, and prepared to blow them clean out of the regions of childhood at one discharge." (3)

Day 2 (DDRD 2,038) May 31, 2023

Read to page 85. Babysitting, so. But compelling, too.

Day 3 (DDRD 2,039) June 1, 2023

Read to page 120.  20- year old girl marrying a 50+ year old man. Hmpf. Here we go again. And yes, it does remind me of 21 year old girl marrying my 46 year old self, and yes, it does hurt.

Day 4 (DDRD 2,040) June 2, 2023

Read to page 154. Holy cow...I'm almost halfway through this book already.

Day 5 (DDRD 2,041) June 3, 2023

Read to page 192. 

Day 6 (DDRD 2,042) June 4, 2023

Read to page 242. (Church, early.)

Day 7 (DDRD 2,043) June 5, 2023

Read to page 273.

Day 8 (DDRD 2,044) June 6, 2023

Read to page 300. Which means tomorrow is it for Hard Times...though there will still be 114 pages to go in this Volume. Here's hoping that the short pieces which comprise those pages aren't as shitty as most of Dickens' short works.

Day 9 (DDRD 2,045) June 7, 2023

Read to page 332...aka The End of Hard Times. A good novel, I think...though the first which didn't compel me to write down a number of lines. This would probably be the best Entry Level Dickens as it is compact, has a number of great characters, and a pretty straightforward story. Also a good critique of the education system and Capitalism in general. On to the short pieces. (Sigh.)

Day 10 (DDRD 2,046) June 8, 2023

Read to page 360, all of "Hunted Down." Which wasn't a terrible story, actually. Although it didn't seem very Dickens-y. Two stories to go!

P.S. I was thinking about how much I'd like to finish off those two stories in two days...and how that might not happen, since the first of them was 43 pages long and the second 35. So since I had a little waiting time, I put a dent in "Holiday Romance" and read to page 370. It wasn't fun. This story is written in the first person from the point of view of an 8 year old boy. It's not funny. It's not cute. It's just tedious and stupid. I'm going to try to read another 6 to 11 pages. That way I'll be at two more 30 page days. 

I think I can.

P.P.S. Nope.

Day 11 (DDRD 2,047) June 9, 2023

Read to page 406, which finished off the truly wretched "Holiday Romance." The four stories--Part II was narrated by A 7 year old girl, Part III by A 9 year old boy, and Part IV by A 6 year old girl. For fuck's sake--were completely unconnected to each other, and none of them were the least bit interesting. Sigh. One story to go...and I might try to read it today just to get this over with.

P.S. Had a long wait and got to page 423. 21 pages to go. I can do that...right? Gritting teeth, tightening sphincter, clothespin on nose...okay. Let's go.

After a comic book. Or two.

P.P.S. Just one. And then I plowed through to the end of "George Silverman's Explanation" (page 444). It wasn't as bad as "Holiday Romance," but I wouldn't go so far as to say it was worth the time it took to read. Why oh why did you decide to insert this "surprise" in the Volume reserved for Hard Times, Heron Books? It was not a nice surprise.  Just NOVELS from here on out, ok?

Sheesh.

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 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

(43) Miscellaneous Papers Volume I 18 days, 542 pages

        + 25 pages Bleak Hose and 9 pages Miscellaneous Papers II = 2,000 days' worth.

2nd 1K Total: 29,801pages = 29.8 Average Pages Per Day

Grand Total: 43,250 pages, 21.625 Average Pages Per Day

(44) Miscellaneous Papers Volume II 28 days (don't count, while reading BH), 494 pages
(45) Bleak House 37 days, 1,098 pages

494 - 9 = 485 + 1098 - 25 = 1073 = 1,558 pages towards 3K...in 37 days, for a daily rate of 42+ pages (!).

(46) Hard Times 11 days, 459 pages