The Pickwick Club discussion

Dear Pickwickians,

Kim and I were wondering how to fill the time until December when we will start our next Christmas read. There is not a lot of time, and so we thought that it would not be good to start another novel, which would in fact be Great Expecations. If we did, we would have to interrupt reading this wonderful book during December, which would not do it justice at all.

Therefore we thought that we might throw in some Sketches and short stories. This would be our plan:
20/10/2016 – 26/10/2016 General Reflections upon A Tale of Two Cities
27/10/2016 – 02/11/2016 Sketches by Boz: Characters, 6-9
03/11/2016 – 09/11/2016 Sketches by Boz: Characters, 10-12
10/11/2016 – 16/11/2016 Sketches by Boz: Tales, 1 “The Boarding-house”
17/11/2016 – 23/11/2016 Hunted Down
24/11/2016 – 30/11/2016 George Silverman’s Explanation

We thought that some Sketches might be welcome but we also wanted to include two short stories from outside the Sketches. These two short stories are relatively easy to obtain.

If you have other suggestions, e.g. other short stories, put them down here, and we might have a poll.

Thanks from Kim and Tristram

I'm happy reading Dickens. This schedule looks fine to me.

Absolutely! I shall have to dig out 'Sketches' again. I don't have the other two. At least I believe not. I'm excited that before long we shall be reading Our Mutual Friend and The Mystery ... These are the only two Dickens novels I have never read, so I have been waiting for these with some anticipation.

Looks good to me. I haven't read any Sketches yet, so I would really love to check them out.

Tristram wrote: "...when we will start our next Christmas read. ..."

Sigh. Must we face yet another December of maudlin sappiness?

Sounds great to me! Including the Christmas read - I'm really enjoying discussing those with you guys (so there, Everyman! ;) )

Everyman wrote: "Tristram wrote: "...when we will start our next Christmas read. ..."

Sigh. Must we face yet another December of maudlin sappiness?"

Yes. Tristram says so.

Wow, Kim, that one just leaves me speechless ;-)

But then I feel I have recovered my speech again and may express my delight in most of you wanting to read along with us into some of Dickens's shorter works.

The two short stories "Hunted Down" and "George Silverman's Explanation" can probably be found somewhere in the Internet. If you have an E-reader, I strongly recommend you the Delphi edition of Charles Dickens's works. I find it a very good source of obtaining the less widely published works of the Inimitable, and, by the way, since I also like my dose of Dickens when I am on my way to work (public transport), or when I am having my meals in town, the E-reader is brilliant because you can carry the whole of Dickens (and others) around with you.

Frankly, apart from A Christmas Carol I did not enjoy any of the other Christmas stories we read, but then while I am reading a book I dislike I console myself with the prospect of writing a review about it ;-)

No, Everyman, I will not, under any circumstances, engage in sappiness.
It's 'soppiness' where I come from ...

Hilary wrote: "No, Everyman, I will not, under any circumstances, engage in sappiness.
It's 'soppiness' where I come from ..."

I accept the amendment, with pleasure. Soppiness is even more disgusting than sappiness!

Tristram wrote: "I did not enjoy any of the other Christmas stories we read..."

Whew. There's is hope for you yet!

Everyman wrote: "Tristram wrote: "I did not enjoy any of the other Christmas stories we read..."

Whew. There's is hope for you yet!"

.....it could be perhaps that his shoes were too tight,
it could be his head wasn't screwed on just right......

... it could be that he has acquired a certain taste for literature,
it could be that he does not regard stale syrup as sentiment,
it could be that he had too Great Expectations because of A Christmas Carol,

and it could also be that ... ahem these other Christmas stories were just stories Dickens felt obliged to write, or tempted (for financial reasons) ...

Tristram wrote: "... it could be that he has acquired a certain taste for literature,
it could be that he does not regard stale syrup as sentiment,
it could be that he had too Great Expectations because of A Christ..."

I'm going with the head not being screwed on just right.

Hahaha! You darling people provide me with endless hours of amusement! [g]

Kim wrote: "I'm going with the head not being screwed on just right"

Of course it's not. His head is screwed with metric threading, whereas Goodreads, being an American site, uses Imperial threading. No way he can screw his head on properly on this site

Kim wrote: "I'm going with the head not being screwed on just right."

With the head not being srewed on just right, you shouldn't be going, Kim, but rather taking some rest, now, shouldn't you? ;-)

Everyman wrote: "Kim wrote: "I'm going with the head not being screwed on just right"

Of course it's not. His head is screwed with metric threading, whereas Goodreads, being an American site, uses Imperial threadi..."

Good thing then that this isn't an Australian or South American site, because then, additionally, we would have this Coriolis thing, i.e. my head would be screwed on in the wrong direction ...

Tristram wrote: "Everyman wrote: "Kim wrote: "I'm going with the head not being screwed on just right"

Of course it's not. His head is screwed with metric threading, whereas Goodreads, being an American site, uses..."

I was just sitting here thinking I could have meant either one of you two.

Dear Pickwickians,
since we have now finished A Tale of Two Cities, I would like to remind you of the reading schedule I have proposed in the first post of this thread. In order to be able to start our Christmas Read in season, we might stick to my proposal and start with the next major Dickens novel in 2017. This way, we also make sure that we won't run out of novels too quickly ;-)

Yes. Let's start Great Expectations in the New Year.

Let's not count how many novels are left. :-((