So it looks like I decided to stick to chronological order and leave The Mystery of Edwin Drood for my final Dickens tome. Could go wrong...and probably will, since the book was unfinished...but that's the way it is.
So let's go.
Day 1 (DDRD 2,101) August 2, 2023
Read to page 10.
Here's a bit of Dickens perfection in the opening paragraph of Chapter II:
"Mr and Mrs Veneering were bran-new people in a bran-new house in a bran-new quarter of London. Everything about the Veneerings was spick and span new. All their furniture was new, all their friends were new, all their servants were new, their plate was new, their carriage was new, their harness was new, their horses were new, their pictures were new, they themselves were new, they were as newly married as was lawfully compatible with their having a bran-new baby, and if they had set up a great-grandfather, he would have come home in matting from the Pantechnicon, without a scratch upon him, French polished to the crown of his head."
Day 2 (DDRD 2,102) August 3, 2023
Read to page 40. All uphill, sorry to say.
UPDATE: Read to page 55. Still uphill.
Day 3 (DDRD 2,103) August 4, 2023
Read to page 90.
"And herein, he ranged with that very numerous class of impostors, who are quite as determined to keep up appearances to themselves, as to their neighbors." (66)
Ah, finally, with the introduction of Simon Wegg and Noddy Boffin, the gears engage.
Day 4 (DDRD 2,104) August 5, 2023
Read to page 120. Y'know, Dickens occasionally does some really gross stuff. Like the bit with the bird (& etc.) at the taxidermist's shop. Bleeeeh.
Day 5 (DDRD 2,105) August 6, 2023
Read to page 150. A hard 30 today. Need to g3t back to Simon and Noddy.
Day 6 (DDRD 2,106) August 7, 2023
Read to page 210.
A "beer engine" mentioned on page 205. As this was the name of A bar in Danville, Kentucky, I stopped to look up the term.
And https://www.dummies.com/article/home-auto-hobbies/food-drink/beverages/beer/dispensing-real-ale-178785/ had this:
So there you have it: beer engine, not just a cool name for a bar.
Day 7 (DDRD 2,107) August 8, 2023
Read to page 240. Which means tomorrow I hit the halfway point of the first half of this book. Woo-hoo.
Day 8 (DDRD 2,108) August 9, 2023
Read to page 270.
Day 9 (DDRD 2,109) August 10, 2023
Read to page 302. 340. I sure hope Volume II picks things up a bit.
Day 10 (DDRD 2,110) August 11, 2023
Read to page 371. Kind of ready for this to be over...and I've still got almost 700 pages to go. π
Day 11 (DDRD 2,111) August 12, 2023
Read to page 400.
As I sat down to read this morning, I felt a γGreat Sighγ emerging from my soul. I have loved most of Dickens' books...but Our Mutual Friend has been a chore, and you'd think that by the time you hit the 400th page of a book that would no longer be true...unless the book was, indeed, a chore.
So I looked up some reviews on the novel. Most of them were very favorable, some even contending that this was the reader's Favorite Dickens Novel. Which made me feel pretty bad. Clearly I was missing something, right? But then on Goodreads, I read a review by one Stephen Moss which begins:
"To be blunt – this is the worst book I have ever read. And I don’t mean just by Dickens – I mean by any author. To put that opinion into context, I should add that I genuinely enjoyed reading Great Expectations, David Copperfield and Oliver Twist. If ‘Our Mutual Friend’ had been written by a less well-known author, I am certain it would have been lost without trace by now, and consigned to the giant dust mound of forgotten literature. Why is it so bad? ‘Ponderous’ is a good one-word summary.
"The plot is rambling and does not justify 800 pages, delivered at a pace best described as ‘glacial’. For example, at the start of Chapter 1 of Book the Third, more than half a page and over 230 words are used to say ‘it was foggy’."
Ah...thank you, Mr. Moss. At least I'm not completely alone in my disdain for this book. And actually there were another dozen or so reviews of like ilk, but nobody said it better than Stephen Moss.
So with that said...of course I'll finish this book. I'll even continue to plug away at 30 (or more) pages per day. But I will just take it as it is, and stop thinking, "I must be missing something."
Sometimes you just need a little tea and sympathy.
Day 12 (DDRD 2,112) August 13, 2023
Read to page 430...so <100 pages to go. Finally.
Day 13 (DDRD 2,113) August 14, 2023
Read to page 461. I feel great pity for John Irving, Desmond (even though he's a fictitious character), and anyone else who saved this book for their Deathbed Reading as their Last Dickens. What a sad note to go out in.
Day 14 (DDRD 2,114) August 15, 2023
Read to page 492.
It's not just uphill...it's pitons and crampons time. Tomorrow I'll finish Volume I. Please, Lord, let Volume II be better.
Day 15 (DDRD 2,115) August 16, 2023
Read to page 522...The End. And what a long, boring trip it's been. Looking at 503 pages of Volume II with trepidation. Please...PLEASE!...be better than Volume I.
P.S. Just had a look at the Table of Contents for Volume II.
CHAPTER I: Lodgers in Queer Street
How is that NOT a hit musical?
CHAPTER XIII: Give a Dog a Bad Name, and hang him (sic)
CHAPTER XV: Mr. Webb prepares A Grindstone for Mr. Boffin's Nose
So some hope, I think, of Better Pages ahead.
Day 16 (DDRD 2,116) August 17, 2023
Read to page 30.
Mr. Fledgeby to Mr. Lammle:
"But whatever you do, Lammle, don’t—don’t—don’t, I beg of you—ever fall into the hands of Pubsey and Co. in the next room, for they are grinders. Regular flayers and grinders, my dear Lammle,’ repeated Fledgeby with a peculiar relish, ‘and they’ll skin you by the inch, from the nape of your neck to the sole of your foot, and grind every inch of your skin to tooth-powder."
And in case you're wondering...
"What Is A Shrub?
In terms of drinks, a shrub is a non-alcoholic syrup made of a combination of concentrated fruits, aromatics, sugar, and vinegar. This sweet, yet acidic mixer is traditionally enjoyed as a component of a mixed drink with soda water."
https://content.kegworks.com/blog/what-the-heck-is-a-shrub-2
But, sorry to say, the book is not "picking up."
Day 17 (DDRD 2,117) August 18, 2023
Read to page 60. Some hopeful signs in today's thirty...such as the guy who only buys books about the lives of misers. Definitely not an uphill day. Not downhill, either, but here's hoping.
Day 18 (DDRD 2,118) August 19, 2023
Read to page 90.
Day 19 (DDRD 2,119) August 20, 2023
Read to page 120. Uphill we go. 380 pages to go.
Day 20 (DDRD 2,120) August 21, 2023
Read to page 150. 183.
"No one is useless in this world...who lightens the burden of it for any one else." Rokesmith to Bella (135)
So there's that.
Day 21 (DDRD 2,121) August 22, 2023
Read to page 200. Yeah, a mere 17 pages. Partly because I'd done 63 pages Monday, partly because I felt a great need to get high, and I can't read whilst in an altered state. But I'll be back in the saddle tomorrow, and you know that for sure.
Day 22 (DDRD 2,122) August 23, 2023
Read to page 240. Really tried to push to make it to the halfway point (page 251.5), but it was just...SOOOO...boring. Maybe have another go at it later. Meanwhile, there's this:
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| Public Domain |
"...let it be fully understood that I shall not neglect bringing the grindstone to bear, nor yet bringing Dusty Boffin's nose to it. His nose once brought to it, shall be held to it by these hands, Mr. Venus, till the sparks flies out in showers." (203)
Well, that ought to do it.
Day 23 (DDRD 2,123) August 24, 2023
Read to page 270. πππ 280. Why. Is. This. Book. So. Hard. To. Read. ? There's just no life in it at all.
Day 24 (DDRD 2,124) August 25, 2023
Read to page 310. 192 pages to go.
Day 25 (DDRD 2,125) August 26, 2023
Read to page 340. 162 pages to go. Which should be five days. I think I can, I think I can....
(But oh how I wish that I could just sit down and plow through these last pages and Be Done With This.)
So the idea that some people think Our Mutual Friend is one of Dickens' best books continues to nip at my medulla oblongata. It helped that the fellow from goodreads felt the same way that I did, but it apparently wasn't enough to make me feel secure in my dislike of the novel.
So I went looking again. And this time I can up on Henry James. Specifically, The Nation, 21 December 1865 (which you can find in full at https://omf.ucsc.edu/publication/reviews/henry-james.html).
Mr. James's review starts with this: "Our Mutual Friend is, to our perception, the poorest of Mr. Dickens's works. And it is poor with the poverty not of momentary embarrassment, but of permanent exhaustion. It is wanting in inspiration."
He later goes on to say that the book is "lifeless, forced, mechanical. It is the letter of his old humor without the spirit. It is hardly too much to say that every character here put before us is a mere bundle of eccentricities, animated by no principle of nature whatever."
And then he ends by referring to the novel as "infinitely depressing and unprofitable."
Well. That pretty much sums it up for me to this point...and I doubt very much that anything will happen in the final 162 pages to change my mind.
So thank you, Mr. James, for giving me at least a bit of confidence in the idea that I am not totally full of shit.
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| Public Domain |
Day 26 (DDRD 2,126) August 27, 2023
Read to page 370. π΄ 132 to go.
Day 27 (DDRD 2,127) August 28, 2023
Read to page 446. Big Waiting day. (NOT because the book suddenly became thrilling.) 56 pages to go.
Day 28 (DDRD 2,128) August 29, 2023
Read to page 478. So a mere 24 pages to go. And today's reading actually ended on A somewhat interesting note, so you KNOW what I'm thinking, right? I don't know if I have it in me or not, but after dinner we'll see what happens.
Day 29 (DDRD 2,129) August 30, 2023
Last night: I got stoned and I missed it.
But this morning I read to page 502, aka The End. I can't even tell you how relieved I am to be shed of this one. But I'm going to write a letter to John Irving, because he deserves to spend the last days of his life reading a better book than this one.
On to The Mystery of Edwin Drood...my last Dickens!
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
(15) Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence 13 days, 304 pages(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
(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
(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
(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
(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
(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
(47) Little Dorrit 29 days, 1,606 pages
(48) A Tale of Two Cities 9 days, 460 pages
(49) Great Expectations 16 days, 580 pages
(50) Our Mutual Friend 29 days, 1,057
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