Charles Dickens

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zaidi
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Re: Charles Dickens compared with Enid Blyton

Post by zaidi »

I would just say what an excellent arguments were made by Timmy lover (is your name Deborah daisy wote)and Anita wonderful as if Timmy lover is Dickens and Anita is Enid you both should write a book you wrote such professionally i never seem to under stand some words.
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Re: Charles Dickens compared with Enid Blyton

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Wolfgang wrote:
Anita Bensoussane wrote:
Timmylover wrote:Have any other great authors been influenced by Blyton's writing?
I seem to remember reading somewhere that William Golding's Lord of the Flies was influenced by the Adventurous Four and Famous Five books! :wink:
Just wondering: did the same source mention a huge influence on TV shows like Lassie, Flipper or Black beauty? After all all those animals show a great intelligence and ways of communication with humans as did Timmy the dog and Kiki the parrot...
I was only joking about William Golding - the source was Stephen Isabirye's The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage! Children's literature and TV shows popularly feature animals, so I imagine that Lassie, Flipper and the others (just remembered Skippy!) would have materialised with or without Enid Blyton books. Anna Sewell's book Black Beauty predates Blyton, of course, though the TV series The Adventures of Black Beauty didn't bear much relation to the book.
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Re: Charles Dickens compared with Enid Blyton

Post by Timmylover »

zaidi wrote:I would just say what an excellent arguments were made by Timmy lover (is your name Deborah daisy wote)and Anita wonderful as if Timmy lover is Dickens and Anita is Enid you both should write a book you wrote such professionally i never seem to under stand some words.
Thank you very much for your kind comments, Zaidi, and yes, my name is Deborah. I was a little taken aback because, as I said, I found Dickens and Blyton not to be very appropriate subjects for a "compare and contrast" exercise. As I also said, I think it would have been better to compare Enid Blyton with another children's writer.

I am, however, glad that both you and Daisy enjoyed reading what Anita and I had to contribute, and I hope you're now encouraged to look at the works of Charles Dickens in a different light. I first read A Christmas Carol when I was eight years old, and Oliver Twist two years later. I have loved his books ever since.
"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers".
Charles W. Eliot, The Happy Life, 1896.
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Re: Charles Dickens compared with Enid Blyton

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Timmylover wrote:I first read A Christmas Carol when I was eight years old, and Oliver Twist two years later. I have loved his books ever since.
A Christmas Carol is a lovely one to start with - not only is it shorter than most of Dickens' other novels, but it centres around one main character and is beautifully-structured. A heartwarming and thought-provoking mix of spookiness, reflection, humour, melancholy and joy.

I re-read Oliver Twist some months ago and found the plot a little disjointed, but enjoyed it nevertheless. The musical Oliver! tempers the bleakness and harshness of the novel. Great Expectations is one of my personal favourites - a gripping story with some wonderful characters.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
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Re: Charles Dickens compared with Enid Blyton

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Anita Bensoussane wrote:Great Expectations is one of my personal favourites - a gripping story with some wonderful characters.
Great Expectations is my favourite Dickens novel. The characters are unforgettable and we are there, beside Pip, from the opening scene in the graveyard through his adventures into and out of wealth, and we share his shame when he realises how badly he has behaved towards those who have been his dearest friends.
This was the third Dickens book I read and I hold it in the highest esteem and affection.

There is so much more to say about this book, but I'll restrain myself!
Last edited by Timmylover on 11 Apr 2011, 17:50, edited 1 time in total.
"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers".
Charles W. Eliot, The Happy Life, 1896.
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Re: Charles Dickens compared with Enid Blyton

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Timmylover wrote:The characters are unforgettable...
Yes - Miss Havisham, Estella, Joe Gargery, Magwitch... Sheer genius!
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

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Re: Charles Dickens compared with Enid Blyton

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Anita Bensoussane wrote:Yes - Miss Havisham, Estella, Joe Gargery, Magwitch... Sheer genius!
Oh yes, and I've always loved the sound of the name uncle Pumblechook! Every Christmas we have to have a pork pie in honour of the one meant for uncle Pumblechook which Pip gave to Magwitch. We call it our "Pumblechook Pie"!
"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers".
Charles W. Eliot, The Happy Life, 1896.
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Re: Charles Dickens compared with Enid Blyton

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Goodness me - how could I have forgotten Pumblechook?! Especially after agreeing that the characters were "unforgettable"! :lol: And yes, it's such a marvellous name to say.
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"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
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Re: Charles Dickens compared with Enid Blyton

Post by Timmylover »

And what about Pip's sister, Mrs Joe, who brought him up "by hand". :lol:

I must start a reread of Great Expectations tonight!
"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers".
Charles W. Eliot, The Happy Life, 1896.
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Re: Charles Dickens compared with Enid Blyton

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Timmylover wrote:And what about Pip's sister, Mrs Joe, who brought him up "by hand". :lol:
I love the early scenes of Great Expectations and all the images of hardness and sharpness that are associated with Mrs. Joe - the pins and needles she keeps stuck in her apron, which find their way into the bread when she jams a loaf against her chest to cut it, and the ridgy feel of her wedding ring over Pip's bony body as she washes him. What happens to her eventually never fails to shock me, though.
Timmylover wrote:I must start a reread of Great Expectations tonight!
Happy reading! The opening chapters are so deliciously evocative and compelling.

Perhaps we ought to defect to a Charles Dickens forum, Deborah! :lol: :wink:
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Re: Charles Dickens compared with Enid Blyton

Post by Eddie Muir »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:Perhaps we ought to defect to a Charles Dickens forum, Deborah! :lol: :wink:
Can I join you? :wink:

Great Expectations is also my favoutite Dickens novel. :D
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Re: Charles Dickens compared with Enid Blyton

Post by Timmylover »

Eddie Muir wrote:
Anita Bensoussane wrote:Perhaps we ought to defect to a Charles Dickens forum, Deborah! :lol: :wink:
Can I join you? :wink:
Great Expectations is also my favourite Dickens novel. :D
With the greatest pleasure, Eddie. :D We've got quite a Dickens forum going on here, at the moment.
Anita Bensoussane wrote:I love the early scenes of Great Expectations and all the images of hardness and sharpness that are associated with Mrs. Joe - the pins and needles she keeps stuck in her apron, which find their way into the bread when she jams a loaf against her chest to cut it, and the ridgy feel of her wedding ring over Pip's bony body as she washes him. What happens to her eventually never fails to shock me, though.
Yes, Orlick was a true Dickensian villain and I was also shocked by his actions.

The opening chapters of Great Expectations make compelling reading. I've just remembered Mrs Joe's dreaded "Tickler" and the tar-water and her response to Pip's questions about the Hulks, when she tells him that people are sent there because they murder, and rob and they always begin by asking too many questions! :lol: Pip then goes to bed with his head tingling, because Mrs Joe's thimble had played tambourine on his head to accompany her last words to him. Nobody writes like Dickens, I never cease to be enthralled by him.
"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers".
Charles W. Eliot, The Happy Life, 1896.
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Re: Charles Dickens compared with Enid Blyton

Post by Eddie Muir »

Anita Bensoussane wrote: I love the early scenes of Great Expectations and all the images of hardness and sharpness that are associated with Mrs. Joe - the pins and needles she keeps stuck in her apron, which find their way into the bread when she jams a loaf against her chest to cut it, and the ridgy feel of her wedding ring over Pip's bony body as she washes him. What happens to her eventually never fails to shock me, though.
Timmylover wrote:The opening chapters of Great Expectations make compelling reading. I've just remembered Mrs Joe's dreaded "Tickler" and the tar-water and her response to Pip's questions about the Hulks, when she tells him that people are sent there because they murder, and rob and they always begin by asking too many questions! :lol: Pip then goes to bed with his head tingling, because Mrs Joe's thimble had played tambourine on his head to accompany her last words to him. Nobody writes like Dickens, I never cease to be enthralled by him.
I wholeheartedly agree with both of you, Anita and Deborah. I first read Great Expectations at my grammar school when I was 14 and I remember being spellbound by the power of Dickens's writing. Although I had read A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist at an earlier age, it was with Great Expectations that I began my lifelong love of the works of Charles Dickens. :D

By the way, I'm never sure whether it should be Dickens's novels or Dickens' novels! I've seen both in print, but I prefer to use the former.
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Re: Charles Dickens compared with Enid Blyton

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Timmylover wrote:The opening chapters of Great Expectations make compelling reading. I've just remembered Mrs Joe's dreaded "Tickler" and the tar-water and her response to Pip's questions about the Hulks, when she tells him that people are sent there because they murder, and rob and they always begin by asking too many questions! :lol: Pip then goes to bed with his head tingling, because Mrs Joe's thimble had played tambourine on his head to accompany her last words to him.
Last year my son, then aged ten, wanted to read Great Expectations after seeing the old black and white film version. He couldn't manage it on his own so we read it aloud to one another every evening, taking a few pages each, having previously done the same with A Christmas Carol. My son laughed aloud at the part about criminals beginning "by asking too many questions", as he asks a lot of questions too. He also loved the bit about Joe and Pip holding up their slices of bread and butter as they ate them, comparing their progress companionably, and Joe's shock at Pip having apparently "bolted" his slice (in reality, he had concealed it in his clothing to take it to the escaped convict).
Eddie Muir wrote:By the way, I'm never sure whether it should be Dickens's novels or Dickens' novels! I've seen both in print, but I prefer to use the former.
I tend to use the latter but I don't think it matters which one you use, as long as you're consistent.

Despite the bleakness of some of the subject matter, there's a childlike merriment and joie de vivre running through Dickens' books which I find uplifting. You can see it in his constant playing with language, his keen observations of individual quirks and mannerisms and his love of the absurd.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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Re: Charles Dickens compared with Enid Blyton

Post by Timmylover »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:Despite the bleakness of some of the subject matter, there's a childlike merriment and joie de vivre running through Dickens' books which I find uplifting. You can see it in his constant playing with language, his keen observations of individual quirks and mannerisms and his love of the absurd.
Like many creative people, Dickens retained much of the child in his character. His joy in introducing the comic and absurd into his narratives is very apparent, and this was clearly one of his fortes. He was, of course, also a master in portraying the grotesque and evil.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Dickens' unique talent for creating the most memorable names in English literature is another enjoyable aspect of his writing. Caddy Jellyby, Uriah Heep, Bayham Badger, Mr Fezziwig, Mr Grimwig, Anne Chickenstalker, Poll Sweedlepipe, Serjeant Buzfuz and Mr McChoakumchild immediately spring to mind. There are, of course, many others.
"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers".
Charles W. Eliot, The Happy Life, 1896.
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