Book Review: The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

The Old Curiosity Shop is a cautionary tale wrapped up in a heart-warming adventure. The reader is cautioned against greed and the acquisition of the tangible, in favour of attaining the intangible--highly valued relationships.

The Old Curiosity Shop is set in Victorian England. Fourteen-year-old Nelly Trent lives with her grandfather in a grand old house in London. They are better off than many but that's not good enough for Nell's grandfather. He wants a brighter future for his granddaughter. For her betterment, he hatches a get-rich-quick scheme. Unfortunately, his scheme doesn't work and they end up homeless. They set out on an epic adventure. What do they find as they journey but life in all its splendid forms and heart--there beats compassion. 

The Old Curiosity Shop is peopled with an assortment of fascinating characters--saintly and evil, poor and rich. 

On one hand, we have the generous, the kind, the hard-working... We have Christopher "Kit" Nubble--poor in finances, but rich in character. Why he's almost saintly...

On the other, we have Daniel Quilp--greedy, vile, villainous. But, I wonder, is he a product of the cruel treatment he has received due to his appearance? Oh, I could write a thesis on Quilp.

Buy the Book

My edition was published in 1995

by Wordsworth Editions Limited.

'first issued serially in 1840-1841 in Dickens's own weekly, Master Humphrey's Clock; it was published in book form in 1841' -The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica

I met Charles Dickens in junior high (middle school). The assigned reading was Oliver Twist. Oh, how I loved that book. It wasn't an easy read--Dickens' prose reads like poetry and journeys far and wide--but still I fell in love. Later, while in university, I met Dickens again. My Introduction to Social Work course held him up as a hero of the poor and downtrodden. 

More...

An overlooked Charles Dickens novel shows the writer at his madcap best
by Simon Winder

madcap like: 'Dickens would plunge his head in the water, stand upright, give himself a shake and then keep on writing.'

The Enduring Appeal of Charles Dickens:  Still Entertaining Us, 150 Years Later (CBC podcast)

Spoiler alert:  listen to this podcast after you finish reading The Old Curiosity Shop.

Further reading...

Novels by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens:  A Life by Claire Tomalin

The Mystery of Charles Dickens by A.N. Wilson

Newly released (August 4) 
a biography that 'seeks to understand Dickens' creative genius and enduring popularity'. 

Next Sunday Evening...

Short story:  Visiting Iceland

It's hard for me to tell you about my time in Iceland. It's too enormous to sum up. But I'll say this... 

I'm still here.

photo by ldyck

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Thanks to a company called Allears, I've started adding recordings of my short stories to my blog. So far I have recorded...

Book Review: Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (tragic romance)

Ethan Frome

by Edith Wharton 

(nee Edith Newbold Jones)

Ethan Frome is a tragic love story--boy wants girl; boy can't have girl because boy has another girl.

Ethan Frome is a mystery--why does a man choose social isolation?

Ethan Frome is about being trapped in  a living hell because you're too worried about doing right by everyone except yourself.

Narrator:  Ethan '"looks as if he was dead and in hell now!"' (p. 6)

Ethan is engaged in studies at Worcester technological college when he is called back home to Starkfield, New England--a remote farming community. His father is dead and Ethan must take responsibility for running the farm and the lumber mill. Due to the remoteness of the farm (and possibly grief), Ethan's mother's health begins to suffer. The weight of the farm, the lumber mill and his mother are too heavy for Ethan to carry alone so he asks his cousin Zenobia "Zeena" Pierce to move to the farm to nurse his mother.

After his mother dies, Ethan marries Zeena.

Ethan is told:  '"I don't know anybody round here's had more sickness than Zeena...I don't know what she'd 'a' done if she hadn't 'a' had you to look after her; and I used to say the same thing 'bout your mother. You've had an awful mean time, Ethan Frome."' (p. 142)

Zeena's poverty-stricken cousin Mattie Silver comes to Frome farm to serves as Zeena's unpaid aid. And Ethan 'had taken to the girl from the first day.' (p. 32) For him, Mattie's presence is like 'the lighting of a fire on a cold hearth.' (p. 33) and she looks 'like a window that has caught the sunset.' (p. 35) He is smitten.

Buy this book

Published in 1911, 1939, 1970

Published by Charles Scribner's Sons

Ethan Frome is a classic

Introducing Ethan...

Out on daily errands, an unnamed narrator is brought 'up sharp' (p. 3) by a local man--Ethan Frome--who had 'something bleak and unapproachable in his face'. (p. 3-4) Another local tells the narrator that Ethan has looked '"that way ever since he had his smash-up; that's twenty-four years ago come next February."' (p. 4) And that Ethan has '"been in Starkfield too many winters. Most of the smart ones get away."' (p. 6) The narrator wonders, 'how could any combination of obstacles have hindered the flight of a man like Ethan Frome?' (p. 9) And we must read on to solve the mystery.

Then and Now...

Ethan Frome was assigned reading in my junior high (middle school) Language Arts class.

When I first learned about Ethan Frome the solution to his problem was so clear to me. He should have been straight with his wife. He should have simply told her that he no longer loved her. Then he would have been free to have a happy life. Back then things were so clear to me. Things were either black or white. I'd yet to learn of life's many shades of gray. I'd yet to learn that the path to happiness isn't always straight or level. Sometimes you have to deal with bumps and curves.

What initially attracted me to Ethan Frome was his moral dilemma.

What lingers after this reading are questions for three women--Edith, Zeena and Mattie.

To Edith Wharton...

Edith, you've written that you were drawn to write Ethan Frome because 'the New England of fiction bore little--except a vague botanical and dialectical--resemblance to the harsh and beautiful land as I had seen it.' Yet after reading these articles Edith Wharton, A Writing Life by Robert Armitage, Edith Wharton:  A Biography, and Edith Wharton: American Writer about your life, I was struck by the similarities between you and Ethan. Both of your spouses suffered from ill health and were several years your senior--Ethan's seven and yours twelve. Yet, whereas Ethan elected to devote his life to caring for his wife, you divorced your husband. Your life, Edith, was full. You 'established workrooms for unemployed seamstresses, convalescent homes for tuberculosis sufferers, hostiles for refugees, and schools for children fleeing war-torn Belgium' (Edith Wharton:  A Biography). You 'published more than 50 books.' (Edith Wharton:  American Writer) You wrote short story collections, short novels, novels and non-fiction books. You received an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Yale University, a full membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and, in 1921, you were the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize. Contrarily, Ethan's life was a living hell. I wonder, Edith, if--in writing Ethan Frome--you were justifying your decision to leave your husband--if only in your own mind? Did you wish to make a case against a life of duty, against conforming to societal expectations?

'Because of their shorter length, novellas have less time to explore subplots and tend to focus on the main plot. Novellas generally have one main character and a handful of secondary characters. Because of length constraints, most of the characters development will be found on the protagonist.' -How to Write a Novella:  Step-by-Step Guide

I long to learn more about Zeena (Ethan's wife) and Mattie (his love interest).

To Zeena...

Zeena, what is it like for you to live out your days in a house, with a man, without love? Why do you stay on the Frome farm? Is it out of a sense of duty? Are you conforming to societal expectations? Do you still love Ethan? Did you ever love him? What hopes and dreams did you have for your life?

To Mattie...

Mattie, why did you allow yourself to fall in love with your cousin's husband? Did it just happen or did you see Ethan as a solution to your problems? Did you see him as someone who would take care of you? Did you see him as a way to escape poverty?

Zeena to Mattie:  '"--and now you've took from me the one I cared for most of all--"' (p. 127)

June on this blog... 

On June 7th, we'll kick the month off with a bang by reviewing the 2019 Scotiabank Giller Reproduction by Ian Williams. You think you've read novels. Well you haven't seen anything yet, Charlie.

I've been working on this list for a while. All I know about blogging wrapped up in a nice neat little bundle delivered to you on June 14th. Hopefully, you'll find it helpful.

I loved reading Crow Winter by Karen McBride and on June 21st I'll review it--I feel the pressure.

On June 28th, we'll end the month with a short story--Independence--to honour Canada Day (July 1st) and Independence Day (July 4th).

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I Value Canadian Stories--The Podcast
a collection of interviews with authors of books for children

I wrote this short story for you...

A Dream Within A Dream

In my dream, I stumbled down the hall heading for the...

Book Review: Independent People (an Icelandic classic) by Halldor Laxness

Knowing that my mom's people came from Iceland, a friend lent me her copy of...

"an Icelandic classic" ldyck

Buy this book

first published (in two volumes) in 1934-1935

first published in Great Britain in 1945

paperback published in 2001 

by The Harvill Press an imprint of Random House

Set in rural Iceland before, during, and after World War I, Independent People follows Bjartur of Summerhouses', a sheep farmer, struggle for independence.

Bjartur of Summerhouses:  ' "People who aren't independent aren't people. A man who isn't his own master is as bad as man without a dog." ' (p. 41)

Fell King:  ' "The love of freedom and independence has always been a characteristic of the Icelandic people. Iceland was originally colonised by freeborn chieftains who would rather live and die in isolation than serve a foreign king." ' (p. 79)

This epic tale transcends the written word. Told in the old way, at night, around a campfire, you carefully listen to the storyteller. The story demands your attention.

'Poetry...shows us the lot of man so truthfully and so sympathecially and with so much love for that which is good that we ourselves become better persons and understand life more fully than before, and hope and trust that good may always prevail in the life of man.' (p. 244)

Bjartur fails to achieve his goal of financial independence, but, in the final pages, he learns that there's something more important--being connected to family.

 More...

'If you look at novels from a couple of centuries back, they are full of description, because novel writing evolved from storytelling. Modern readers consider that sort of lengthy description an intrusion by the author and an impediment to the flow of the story.' 

Gordon Long, 6 Key Differences Between Storytelling and Writing

"writers at the workshop" ldyck

Next post:  Sunday, June 24 (approximately 5 PM PST)

On June 8, Author Susin Neilsen visited the Mayne Island library and she... Well, you'll read all about her writers' workshop and author talk next Sunday.

"Abby at one of her favourite places" ldyck

Sharing my author journey...

Book review: Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger

I always manage to find an intriguing read at the church fair and this year was no exception.

A Perfect Day for Bananafish was recommended in an online article I read recently. And it is included in this collection. In fact, it is the first story in this collection. This is my only complaint. Not that I didn't enjoy reading it, I did. Simply because it casts a certain hue on the rest of the stories.

It's plain to see, especially in stories such as Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut, J.D. Salinger ability to develop young adult characters. An ability that is utilized to great effect in his young adult best-seller The Catcher in The Rye. 

First published by Little, Brown in 1953 and again in 1965 (with subsequent printings by Modern Library in 1959, and Bantam in 1964 and 1981), some of the language and attitude is dated but the underlying messages in the stories are timeless.

Favourite Quote...

'The worst that being an artist could do to you would be that it would make you slightly unhappy constantly.' -from the short story De Daumier-Smith's Blue Pencil

More...

If you enjoy reading this book, you may also enjoy Stone Mattress and The Path of Most Resistance. I did.

Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood
published by McClelland & Stewart (2014)

In this nine story collection, the grand dame of Canadian literature writes for her age cohorts. I was delighted to discover that many of the stories were written about writing. In Alphinland, an aging author finds comfort from her lonely reality in the world she created. In Revenant, a senior poet dies but lives on in his world. In Dark Lady, the poet's female muse deals with his death. In The Dead Hand Loves You, an elder horror author confronts the toll his fame has taken on his relationship with three decades-old friendships. Torching the Duties is a horror story set in a manor house for the elderly. In Stone Mattress an elderly woman finally takes revenge on the man who sexually assaulted her. Lusus Naturne and The Freeze-Dried Groom don't feature senior protagonists. Both fit into the horror genre.

I closed the book with an increased respect and passion for short stories.

The Path of Most Resistance by Russell Wangersky
published by House of Anansi (2016)

The first story in this collection--Rage--is a work of genius. The ending draws from the story--everything points to it--and yet it surprised me. Having written all of that, if I had to choose, I'd say Farewell Tour was my favourite story in this collection.

On the whole, I'm impressed by Wangersky's mastery of description but puzzled by his sparse dialogue--both internal and external. It's like he's afraid to allow his characters to speak.

photo by LDyck

Sometimes endings are very hard to write...