The Pickwick Club discussion

Thanks Kim - it was lovely! :)
Tristram got in first for "R" a while earlier - maybe it was on the page turn. So do you want to save your Rouncewell for next time?

Currently playing off S

S:

Solomon Daisy from Barnaby Rudge

T:

Oh, Tristram! Now only do I get to use another character from The Old Curiosity Shop, but I get to use your very favorite character in the book:

Poor little Nell Trent

If you associate the letter T with Nell Trent, this will make me a T-totaller.

U:

Richard Upwitch The Pickwick Papers

He's a greengrocer - a member of the jury who try Pickwick for breach of promise after his so-called proposal of marriage to Mrs Bardell.

Finally someone came up with an answer to U, which was too difficult for me. So thank you, Jean!

V: is a lot easier

Mr. Vholes from Bleak House

W is for Wackles, mother or one of the daughters. Wouldn't school be more fun with wots and wots of Wackles?

O.K. Perhaps I did use up more than one person with my W, but just in case someone already mentioned one Wackle there's always more ;>)

X:

The Ghost of Xmas Yet to Come A Christmas Carol

and what is now becoming a tradition, I think Tristram may have a suggestion for the next one ;)

Tristram wrote: "Finally someone came up with an answer to U, which was too difficult for me. So thank you, Jean!

V: is a lot easier

Mr. Vholes from Bleak House"

Yes, I'm giving up on U and X, at least for now. You have Y covered for a few more times through.

So let's do it then:

Y:

York, Sister of, No 3 ;-)

Not sure I can think of another Z. So I suggest we play off A again, unless anyone else feels inspired...

A:

the Artful Dodger - Oliver Twist

B:

Barkis_ David Copperfield.

Married Clara Peggotty, David's nurse. He also transported him to and from school and on one of the trips, he gave David a message for Clara and the message was "Barkis is willin." He died holding on to all the money he saved through out his life...his arms around the bag which held it all as "he went out with the tides."

C:

I forgot about this game.

Bob Cratchit, A Christmas Carol of course.

264 days until Christmas.

Oh, and 4 hours, 40 minutes, 3 seconds...2....1

D:

David Copperfield (yet another eponymous character!)

E:

Edwin Drood from............. The Mystery of Edwin Drood (of course)

F is for The Finches of the Grove. Silly boys with too much time on their hands. GE

G:

Did we already have Mr. Gradgrind, the teacher who does not want to teach anything by facts, facts, facts, from the so saddly under-estimated Hard Times?

No we haven't! Good choice Tristram. And I agree ;)

H:

Since I can't think of an H from "A Christmas Carol" I'll go with that villain from "Nicholas Nickleby":

Sir Mulberry Hawk

I:

Ivins - Miss Jemima Evans from Sketches by Boz

J is for Jerry Cruncher who needs a good nail file in Great Expectations

K:

Miss Knag - the most appropriately named forewoman in Madame Mantalini's establishment in Nicholas Nickleby

LOL Peter!

L:

Mr. Timothy Linkinwater from Nicholas Nickleby. An old clerk who works for the Cheeryble brothers.

Can you tell which novel I am reading at present? :D

Jean wrote: "L:

Mr. Timothy Linkinwater from Nicholas Nickleby. An old clerk who works for the Cheeryble brothers.

Can you tell which novel I am reading at present? :D"

Hmmm ...

Is it before OCS?

Not much of a challenge really, was it... I am wondering if I can continue through the alphabet with my current read. Someone else for M though?

M is for Miss Monflathers who I'm positive did not teach in our English Department. (OCS)

And I can't even remember her! So it's high time I read The Old Curiosity Shop again... On to N...

N:

Newman Noggs from Nicholas Nickleby

That must be some kind of record... :)

O:

The One-Eyed Bagman in The Pickwick Papers.

Or is that cheating? It's a tricky one...

P is for MIss Pankey another tortured border at Mrs. PIpchin's, a school I'm glad I never attended.

This game has been languishing! Thought I'd give it a kick-start :)

Q: for Quilp!

Not the ogre, but how about Betsy Quilp the long-suffering and timid wife of that hideously evil money-lender Daniel.

R is for Rouncewell, an ironmaster in Bleak House. A clever man who made the life of captive birds easier.

Oh! I haven't had the pleasure of playing this game yet. Now that I have three Dickens under my belt, let me give it a go.

S is for James Steerforth who (view spoiler)[sweeps away Lil Em'ly, but who himself gets swept in by the sea (hide spoiler)].

Not sure about revealing spoilers in this game, so I played it safe just in case.

Linda wrote: "Oh! I haven't had the pleasure of playing this game yet. Now that I have three Dickens under my belt, let me give it a go.

S is for James Steerforth who [spoilers removed].

Not sure about revea..."

Linda

Nice tag line with the spoiler Linda. Jean is catching up with her reading so I guess it's up to her whether a spoiler should be used. If she is OK with spoilers pre BH we should be fine.

How is your summer? Like Washington State we want rain here in BC. We have not had a decent rain since April.

T is for Tulkinghorn. A man of some mystery, but is as keen as a bloodhound and is tracking someone very closely.

Peter wrote: "Jean is catching up with her reading so I guess it's up to her whether a spoiler should be used. If she is OK with spoilers pre BH we should be fine."

Oh, maybe I shouldn't have used a spoiler at all, hidden or not. I will be more careful.

Summer is going well, but too quick as it seems to each year. School will be up and running for the kids in two weeks, but before then we have a beach vacation planned on the Oregon coast.

We got a very nice thorough downpour here on Friday, complete with thunder and lightening. That made for a cooler weekend and perfect for working in the yard as all the weeds were much easier to pull up after the rain.

I think that's an excellent idea, Linda! People join this group at all stages of their reading of Dickens, don't they? So it's probably best not to assume someone knows the plots of those which have, so far, been group reads, I think.

U:

is for Uriah Heap or "Uri" as his devoted mother calls him. Unforgettable character in David Copperfield

V

Lord Frederick Verisopht from NN. Poor guy.

I always think that too! Poor show there Dickens :(

Off topic, sorry, but Linda provoked me! ,g.

Linda wrote: "We got a very nice thorough downpour here on Friday, "

I'm jealous. We got virtually nothing up here (.03" in the official gauge) and my tanks that hold 6,000 gallons of water collected from the roof during the winter and whatever summer rain we get for use in gardening are getting close to dry. Even a quarter inch would have been extremely welcome here! (We need to keep the well water for domestic use.)

Wells, Everyman? That segues nicely into

Sam Weller for W - posibly my favourite character from The Pickwick Papers - friend and ostensibly servant to the innocent Mr. Pickwick, a cheeky knowing Cockney, clever, kind and loyal.

I think we can miss X out don't you? So ... Y anyone?

Not me, I can't think of a X, Y or Z.

A is for Artful Dodger because I dodged X, Y and Z. :-)

Peter wrote: "A is for Artful Dodger because I dodged X, Y and Z. :-)"

Virtual applause for that one, Peter! :)

Priceless! That's absolutely brilliant Peter :D

B is for

Good Mrs. Brown, the terrifying and wicked witch who (view spoiler)[ kidnapped poor little Florence Dombey in order to steal her clothes, and had designs on her hair too (hide spoiler)] in Dombey and Son

C

Reverend Chadband , the extremely annoying reverend from Bleak House.

D is for

Dombey, and I'm electing Florence Dombey, as at the moment I'm feeling very sorry for her (as I'm halfway through reading Dombey and Son)

E is for Emily, poor Little Em'ly who was steered the wrong way in DC.

Peter wrote: "E is for Emily, poor Little Em'ly who was steered the wrong way in DC."

steered - I see what you did there. Very clever, Peter. :)