Athena Posted October 19, 2013 Posted October 19, 2013 It's interesting to hear about Charles Dickens' life and what he did and went through. I feel sorry for his wife, it must've been difficult. I should really read more about it on Wikipedia or something, I know very little about the life of most famous authors. Quote
poppyshake Posted October 19, 2013 Author Posted October 19, 2013 Hard to figure this one out . For one, I guess when you marry a person , you are both different people in the beginning than you are as time goes on . Things change and so do people. We are all products of our experiences in life and how we handle them, so to think that Mrs. Dickens had changed after having so many kids isn't too hard to believe. And most people who have several kids do tend to get more meat on their bones as time goes by . All ladies tend to do that at a certain age I think . Catherine's sister, Georgina, lived with them and was .. well .. the person that ran the house really. She didn't marry or have children and kept her lovely figure. She wasn't kicked out when Catherine left, she stayed and ran things as before. There'd been another sister, Mary, living with them too but she died when fairly young and Charles never got over it. Actually .. though I could understand his depth of feeling it bordered on creepy .. he took a ring from her dead fingers and wore it from that day on .. he also had a lock of her hair in a locket which he constantly carried. Three years after her death he wrote to his friend, the writer John Forster .. The desire to be buried next to her is as strong upon me now as it was three years ago; and I know (for I don't think there ever was love like that I bear her) that it will never diminish. He idolised both sisters (that is Mary and Georgina .. not Catherine ) He said Mary had died in his arms and her last words were of him .. but one of his biographers said that, such was his egotism, that her last words were probably nothing of the sort Catherine miscarried from the shock of losing her sister. She also lost a daughter of eight months old which she found it hard to recover from Interestingly, because of all the speculation, Georgina Hogarth had to undertake a 'virginity test' in order to clear her name .. and the accusations came, not so much from Catherine, but their own mother who was incensed at the way Catherine had been usurped Putting up a wall in the bedroom was quite odd. Wonder what that was all about ? Really a strange situation. Maybe he didn't find her attractive after having so many kids ? It sounds very sad for her ,that her life didn't go as she had wished ,so it sounds like she was very lonely. I wonder how the kids dealt with it all , like did they side with one or the other parent, or try to stay neutral ? Mostly they stayed with their father, I think the eldest daughter Kate was the only one who openly sided with her mother but Catherine was reconciled with the other children later. It was difficult for them .. their father was the life and soul of the house and I don't think the place that Catherine was bundled off to would have been large enough for the children (who weren't children by then .. some of them were also not at home any longer.) Anyhow, I guess no one will ever know the whole story now ,will they ? If it were going on in today's world, it'd be plastered all over the news ,but sadly ,authors really don't get the celebrity status that they had during his times I don't think . Many are well known and have lots of fans, but as far as their personal lives, I don't hear much about any personal lives of any currently famous authors . Do you over that way ? No, not really .. a little about Jo Rowling but not really personal stuff (I think she had a very high wall built around her house ) Victorian authors were like film stars .. Dickens especially because old and poor alike read his stories. They'll on occasion have one on the morning news show if it's a really big name author ,and interview them about their newest book . It drives me bonkers when the interviewer hasn't read the book. Makes for a very disjointed conversation ,for both parties . The authors usually seem ticked off, as they have a right to be. If someone is going to interview them about their book, they should have read it so they know what questions to ask . It doesn't often happen here, the presenters on the morning shows seem pretty clued up when it comes to that sort of thing but they've probably just been well rehearsed by the research team. I have seen interviews like that and they make my toes curl .. it's so disrespectful. Anyhow, poor old Charles. I might be sticking up for the wrong side here . I guess I'll just say that he is still a wonderful author, but his private life sounds like it was pretty messed up . He is indeed a wonderful author and he wouldn't be the first man to peer over the garden fence as it were I expect he would be horrified at how much we know about his private life now and perhaps we shouldn't know so much (as we don't about our modern authors) but it's hard not to be curious One of my favourite stories about him (because it reminds me so much of people now rekindling relationships on the internet etc) was that .. when things began to go awry with Catherine .. he began corresponding with an old girlfriend (one who he had wanted to marry but her parents didn't approve or think him good enough) and they wrote quite a few silly letters to one another (especially considering how old they both were now) and eventually they met up and she turned out to be fat and toothless I don't think he replied to her letters after that Quote
poppyshake Posted October 19, 2013 Author Posted October 19, 2013 I just looked on Project Gutenberg to see whether they had the hard-to-find Catherine Dickens books. Unfortunately they don't, but I did find three volumes of Dickens' letters edited by Mamie Dickens. They have Kindle editions available for download (all free, of course) if you're interested in reading them. Thanks Kylie I'm definitely interested. I'll have a look to see if they're included in the Delphi Complete Works but if not then I'll download them for sure .. should be fascinating. He wrote such brilliant letters but what made me laugh was that, when he got home from his hols or whatever, he would ask his friends to send the letters he had sent them back to him so he could make a record of them ... he always had one eye on the publishing possibilities It's interesting to hear about Charles Dickens' life and what he did and went through. I feel sorry for his wife, it must've been difficult. I should really read more about it on Wikipedia or something, I know very little about the life of most famous authors. I don't know much about many of them, he is one of the most fascinating because of his beginnings and the prolific amount of books he wrote etc etc. Plus he was very famous in his lifetime which was quite unusual for the time. Quote
julie Posted October 19, 2013 Posted October 19, 2013 (edited) Poppy Charles certainly had lots of fodder in his own household and personal life to use as some examples for his books I guess. Quite an odd arrangement ,since it sounds like he fancied all the sisters in the beginning and must have chosen the wrong one to marry ,but he may have gotten to sample the wares of the others from the sounds of it . It always seems odd to me when I hear anything like this about him. From his pictures ,he looks like such a stuffed-shirt kinda guy. Grumpy and no life at all ,but apparently he had quite a lively time of it . The fat toothless old girlfriend story was funny . Ah well, who can judge ? None of them are alive any longer. It sure what have been interesting to meet him and see what he was like in person . It amazes me that he has such a sense of humor in his books since he looks so crabby . Edited October 19, 2013 by julie Quote
poppyshake Posted October 19, 2013 Author Posted October 19, 2013 Haha he does look crabby doesn't he :D I think he was one of those weird men who idolise unspoilt and chaste women (whilst totally spoiling some other poor creatures life) .. certainly Mary was only seventeen when she died .. and I think his love for her was something sacred and not sexual (though still I thought it was odd that he wanted to be buried next to her .. and not his parents, wife or children ) and Georgina proved her innocence too. He liked to put women on pedestals and wrote some awfully drippy females into his novels (though .. a lot of feisty ones too) but it seems he couldn't put you on a pedestal once you got a bit old and fat Here's Catherine at the start of her life with Charles and then at the end .. I think a nicer bonnet may have been all that was needed Quote
julie Posted October 19, 2013 Posted October 19, 2013 Haha he does look crabby doesn't he :D I think he was one of those weird men who idolise unspoilt and chaste women (whilst totally spoiling some other poor creatures life) .. certainly Mary was only seventeen when she died .. and I think his love for her was something sacred and not sexual (though still I thought it was odd that he wanted to be buried next to her .. and not his parents, wife or children ) and Georgina proved her innocence too. He liked to put women on pedestals and wrote some awfully drippy females into his novels (though .. a lot of feisty ones too) but it seems he couldn't put you on a pedestal once you got a bit old and fat Here's Catherine at the start of her life with Charles and then at the end .. I think a nicer bonnet may have been all that was needed Pops You've still got it . FUNNY !!! Maybe he couldn't put the MEATTY ones on a pedestal because he couldn't lift them . And your part about the bonnet ... I think she looks exactly the same, only older and meatier. Don't most of us tend to do that as we age ? I don't know very many people who still look like they did 30 years ago. He probably cut quite the figure as a young version, but his older pics make him look like an old grump . Quote
poppyshake Posted October 20, 2013 Author Posted October 20, 2013 Maybe he couldn't put the MEATTY ones on a pedestal because he couldn't lift them . Yes perhaps she broke the pedestal I agree .. she looked the same but older and meatier (nicely put ) .. he didn't get any meatier but he looked a lot better when younger (but la! what a hairdo ) Quote
poppyshake Posted October 20, 2013 Author Posted October 20, 2013 (edited) Many thanks to Julie for posting the link for the following challenge .. I love a challenge These are 'The Most Famous Books Set in Every (American) State' .. apparently. Progress 10/51 (51? ... is that right ) AL: To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee AK: Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer AZ: The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver AR: A Painted House - John Grisham CA: East of Eden - John Steinbeck CO: The Shining - Stephen King CT: Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates DE: The Saint of Lost Things - Christopher Castellani FL: To Have and Have Not - Ernest Hemingway GA: Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell HI: Hawaii - James Michener ID: Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson IL: The Jungle - Upton Sinclair IN: The Magnificent Ambersons - Booth Tarkington IA: A Thousand Acres - Jane Smiley KS: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Frank Baum (of course ) KY: Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe LA: Interview with a Vampire - Anne Rice ME: Carrie - Stephen King MD: Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant - Anne Tyler MA: Walden - Henry David Thoreau MI: The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides MN: Main Street - Sinclair Lewis MS: The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner (aaarrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! ) MO: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain MT: A River Runs Through It - Norman Maclean NE: My Antonia - Willa Cather NV: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson NH: The Hotel New Hampshire - John Irving NJ: Drown - Junot Diaz NM: Red Sky at Morning - Richard Bradford NY: The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald NC: A Walk to Remember - Nicholas Sparks ND: The Round House - Louise Eldrich OH: The Broom of the System - David Foster Wallace OK: Paradise - Toni Morrison OR: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey PA: The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold RI: My Sisters Keeper - Jodi Picoult SC: The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd SD: A Long Way From Home - Tom Brokaw TN: The Firm and The Client - John Grisham TX: No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy UT: The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff VT: Pollyanna - Eleanor H. Porter VA: Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson WA: Twilight - Stephenie Meyer DC: The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown WV: Shiloh - Phillis Reynolds Naylor WI: Little House in the Big Woods - Laura Ingalls Wilder WY: The Laramie Project - Moises Kaufman Some are known to me but some I've not even heard of .. it will be good to look them up (though my purse says not ) There are some obvious gems but some strange choices as well .. I do hope Mississippi has something better to offer than The Sound and the Fury I'd definitely rate The Help higher but perhaps it doesn't pack the same punch .. much more enjoyable read though. I wonder if we could come up with a similar challenge re: British Counties? .. Would be fun trying to work it out I'll put Wuthering Heights down for Yorkshire .. Pride and Prejudice for Hertfordshire .. To the Lighthouse for Inverness-shire .. Little Dorrit for London ... ermmmm ... I would say Rebecca for Cornwall but Wiki says it's only 'possibly Cornwall' .. .. anyway .. it's as good as written Edited November 18, 2013 by poppyshake Quote
julie Posted October 20, 2013 Posted October 20, 2013 Pops DC -- we have 50 states, but they included Washington DC on the list .. Hope you enjoy it . I need to look through and count how many I've read . Quote
poppyshake Posted October 20, 2013 Author Posted October 20, 2013 Pops DC -- we have 50 states, but they included Washington DC on the list .. Hope you enjoy it . I need to look through and count how many I've read . Aha .. thanks for clearing that up Julie .. somehow I had got 52 in my head .. not sure why? (other than I'm a dingbat .. I do keep forgetting that ) Quote
chesilbeach Posted October 20, 2013 Posted October 20, 2013 I wonder if we could come up with a similar challenge re: British Counties? .. Would be fun trying to work it out I'll put Wuthering Heights down for Yorkshire .. Pride and Prejudice for Hertfordshire .. To the Lighthouse for Inverness-shire .. Little Dorrit for London ... ermmmm ... I would say Rebecca for Cornwall but Wiki says it's only 'possibly Cornwall' .. .. anyway .. it's as good as written I was thinking the same thing! I've collected a list of counties in preparation for having more time to look into it. Perhaps I should just post the list of counties in a new thread and get everyone else to make suggestions, then we could create our own challenge. Quote
poppyshake Posted October 20, 2013 Author Posted October 20, 2013 I was thinking the same thing! I've collected a list of counties in preparation for having more time to look into it. Perhaps I should just post the list of counties in a new thread and get everyone else to make suggestions, then we could create our own challenge. Yes, yes, yes .. do that Claire .. we'll have so much fun and lots of fine arguments Quote
julie Posted October 20, 2013 Posted October 20, 2013 (edited) Yes perhaps she broke the pedestal I agree .. she looked the same but older and meatier (nicely put ) .. he didn't get any meatier but he looked a lot better when younger (but la! what a hairdo ) Pops Younger years, Dickens resembles Patty Duke . . Older years, Mr. Jingaling : Edited October 20, 2013 by julie Quote
willoyd Posted October 20, 2013 Posted October 20, 2013 (edited) Yes, yes, yes .. do that Claire .. we'll have so much fun and lots of fine arguments That British counties challenge looks a brilliant idea. But be warned, the arguments may be finer than you anticipate! I assume (big assumption!) that it would be the pre-1974 counties - they're pretty meaningless after that, especially when you get onto unitary authorities (ugh!). In which case, London isn't a county! But considering Middlesex, I'd challenge Little Dorrit straightaway! Just a couple for starters; Mrs Dalloway, Bleak House, London Belongs To Me, Mother London, Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem/Hawksmoor........ I'd also go for the three Ridings of Yorkshire, rather than just the one. Edited October 20, 2013 by willoyd Quote
julie Posted October 20, 2013 Posted October 20, 2013 Now I'll sound like a NitWit, but how many Counties do you guys have over there ? Quote
poppyshake Posted October 20, 2013 Author Posted October 20, 2013 That British counties challenge looks a brilliant idea. But be warned, the arguments may be finer than you anticipate! I assume (big assumption!) that it would be the pre-1974 counties - they're pretty meaningless after that, especially when you get onto unitary authorities (ugh!). In which case, London isn't a county! But considering Middlesex, I'd challenge Little Dorrit straightaway! Just a couple for starters; Mrs Dalloway, Bleak House, London Belongs To Me, Mother London, Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem/Hawksmoor........ I'd also go for the three Ridings of Yorkshire, rather than just the one. Gracious! .. we're starting already I love Bleak House as you know but a lot of it did take place in Hertfordshire whereas most of Little Dorrit was set in the Marshalsea. Still, we'll thrash it all out on the thread I wonder how they got everyone to agree on the 51 American states books? Quote
julie Posted October 20, 2013 Posted October 20, 2013 Would this list be right ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_counties Quote
julie Posted October 20, 2013 Posted October 20, 2013 Gracious! .. we're starting already I love Bleak House as you know but a lot of it did take place in Hertfordshire whereas most of Little Dorrit was set in the Marshalsea. Still, we'll thrash it all out on the thread I wonder how they got everyone to agree on the 51 American states books? Pops If you wanna know, we have a fairly new book out called How the States Got their Shapes " . I'm clueless. Haven't read it , and I have lived here 55 years . Quote
julie Posted October 20, 2013 Posted October 20, 2013 My list -- I've read 20 of these --(actually 21-- The Firm and the Client are both Grisham books listed for Tennessee ... he's not FROM Tennesee , but the books were set in Tennessee . ) AL: To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee AK: Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer AZ: The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver AR: A Painted House - John Grisham CA: East of Eden - John Steinbeck CO: The Shining - Stephen King CT: Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates DE: The Saint of Lost Things - Christopher Castellani FL: To Have and Have Not - Ernest Hemingway GA: Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell HI: Hawaii - James Michener ID: Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson IL: The Jungle - Upton Sinclair IN: The Magnificent Ambersons - Booth Tarkington IA: A Thousand Acres - Jane Smiley KS: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Frank Baum (of course ) KY: Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe LA: Interview with a Vampire - Anne Rice ME: Carrie - Stephen King MD: Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant - Anne Tyler MA: Walden - Henry David Thoreau MI: The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides MN: Main Street - Sinclair Lewis MS: The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner MO: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain MT: A River Runs Through It - Norman Maclean NE: My Antonia - Willa Cather NV: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson NH: The Hotel New Hampshire - John Irving NJ: Drown - Junot Diaz NM: Red Sky at Morning - Richard Bradford NY: The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald NC: A Walk to Remember - Nicholas Sparks ND: The Round House - Louise Eldrich OH: The Broom of the System - David Foster Wallace OK: Paradise - Toni Morrison OR: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey PA: The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold RI: My Sisters Keeper - Jodi Picoult SC: The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd SD: A Long Way From Home - Tom Brokaw TN: The Firm and The Client - John Grisham TX: No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy UT: The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff VT: Pollyanna - Eleanor H. Porter VA: Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson WA: Twilight - Stephenie Meyer DC: The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown WV: Shiloh - Phillis Reynolds Naylor WI: Little House in the Big Woods - Laura Ingalls Wilder WY: The Laramie Project - Moises Kaufman Quote
willoyd Posted October 20, 2013 Posted October 20, 2013 (edited) Would this list be right ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_counties That's the modern list, but most of them have little meaning historically, especially all those unitary authorities. I'd suggest going for either the pre-1974 list, or the ceremonial counties of England and Wales and the lieutenancy areas for Scotland. The latter, whilst being modern more closely reflect the pre-1974 list, but allow for some of the largest urban areas to be counted separately (e.g. Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Greater London, West Midlands, Tyne and Wear); a few counties are also lost (Westmoreland, Huntingdonshire jumping to mind). Edited October 20, 2013 by willoyd Quote
julie Posted October 20, 2013 Posted October 20, 2013 Will That sounds great-- you really know your stuff about this ! I'm impressed ! I would have no clue where any of these places even are located. I think it'd be a fun challenge, to also have a map,and tick off or color in the places ,maybe learning a bit about each one as we go .. what do you think ? Would it be a feasible plan ? Quote
poppyshake Posted October 21, 2013 Author Posted October 21, 2013 Pops Younger years, Dickens resembles Patty Duke . . Haha .. love the hairdo Older years, Mr. Jingaling : Gracious!! .. who on earth is Mr Jingaling? I don't know if overseas members can see this but here's a link to Sue Perkins' programme on Mrs Dickens .. very interesting but some people thought it too harsh on Dickens. Quote
poppyshake Posted October 21, 2013 Author Posted October 21, 2013 Will That sounds great-- you really know your stuff about this ! I'm impressed ! I would have no clue where any of these places even are located. I think it'd be a fun challenge, to also have a map,and tick off or color in the places ,maybe learning a bit about each one as we go .. what do you think ? Would it be a feasible plan ? Alan says he can draw us a literary map .. possibly .. it might be nice to actually see it all and would help those from overseas (and here for that matter .. I'm a bit hazy on some of them ) to see where the counties are placed Quote
julie Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 Pops The map sounds really great. That'd help to place everything . It certainly sounds like quite an achievement , but it'd definitely be a do-able event . Mr. JingAling was only on in our area . A local celebrity at the holidays .He was on every day during December , and had a huge set of keys on a big metal loop. Every day, he'd come in jingling his keys, sit down in his big chair, pick out a key ,and tell a story about that key . All Christmas themed type stories . He looked a little like a GREEN version of Santa , as his outfit was green ,but trimmed in white . He also appeared live at Halle's Department store in Cleveland . ( A little tidbit of trivia if you ever need it : Halle Berry got her name from that store. Her mom thought the name was so pretty, she named her daughter after the store .) Quote
poppyshake Posted October 21, 2013 Author Posted October 21, 2013 Pops The map sounds really great. That'd help to place everything . It certainly sounds like quite an achievement , but it'd definitely be a do-able event . I have asked him now .. it's in the lap of the Gods Mr. JingAling was only on in our area . A local celebrity at the holidays .He was on every day during December , and had a huge set of keys on a big metal loop. Every day, he'd come in jingling his keys, sit down in his big chair, pick out a key ,and tell a story about that key . All Christmas themed type stories . He looked a little like a GREEN version of Santa , as his outfit was green ,but trimmed in white . He also appeared live at Halle's Department store in Cleveland . ( A little tidbit of trivia if you ever need it : Halle Berry got her name from that store. Her mom thought the name was so pretty, she named her daughter after the store .) Oh you mean on TV I thought for a moment he came in your house every day and parked himself on your sofa (bit presumptuous .. I don't know about you but I'm always under tremendous Christmas pressure .. all of my own making .. but an extra old timer sitting in the corner would probably push me over the edge ) Oh to think I could have been called Harrods ... cept I don't think my mum had ever been in it .. Woolworth's more likely Quote
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