“Our Mutual Friend” by Charles Dickens: Book the First – “The Cup and the Lip” “Our Mutual Friend” by Charles Dickens: Book the Second – “Birds of a Feather” “Our Mutual Friend” by Charles Dickens: Book the Fourth – “A Turning” We now pick up again on Fledgeby and Mr Riah. This strand is frequently criticised as being [...]
Archive for February, 2012
21 Feb
Mighty opposites
Dickensians amongst us have been celebrating the bicentenary. Some Dickens-sceptics have tried from time to time to be party-poopers, but they have been politely told to piss off. And quite right too. Personally, I rather like these anniversaries. Why pass over an excuse to celebrate the works of a writer I love? But while I [...]
20 Feb
Does size matter?
I recently commented – although, admittedly, in a somewhat unfocussed manner – on the assumption often made, without any justification, that, in fiction, the shorter a work is, the better. Some works, I tried to argue, need to be long. Yes, it is no doubt true that certain works are unnecessarily long, and are padded [...]
16 Feb
Normal service will be resumed shortly
I realise it has been a bit quiet around here lately. And, due to unavoidable circumstances, I am afraid it will continue to be quiet for another week or so. But normal service certainly will be restored shortly. Quite apart from anything else, I still have to write up my impressions on the third and fourth [...]
6 Feb
“Needs a good editor…”
Books are often accused these days of being “over-written”, but rarely, if ever, “under-written”. Brevity and concision, even to the point of sparseness, seem to be valued for their own sake, and, if my forays around the net are anything to go by, “could have done with an editor” is a frequent criticism – as [...]
