Great essay and a great reminder to read Dickens. You're right, our modern villains are Dickensian both in name and consistency of their vileness. A question though. There were no videos in 1941, and I've never read the term in writing from that time. To what was Nabokov referring? Films?
I was delighted to discover the subject of this week’s essay, as I am nearing the end of my first reading of A Tale of Two Cities. I have always enjoyed Dickens, but had never read
Sorry, let me continue. Dickens requires some concentration, which has been sorely lacking in my life for years, and it’s been a pleasure to immerse myself in the words, characters, and plot lines again.
Your descriptions really hit home, and helped clarify the reasons Dickens has been a favorite of mine throughout my 50 adult years. I always seem to agree with your points of view, and very much appreciate your ability to distill and express what my amorphous thoughts have been.
I look forward to every Sunday’s posting. Wishing you and your family the best of holiday seasons and a regenerative rest.
And you have articulated well something I was trying to express: because it DOES require some concentration, that makes it an antidote to the doomscrolling. That's its virtue, or one of them.
Thanks for suggesting my next read, Greg. I just finished two Dashiel Hammett novels, Red Harvest and The Dain Curse, and I am half-way through an anthology of Sci Fi short stories. Now that I have two weeks off to chill before school begins in the New Year, I feel it is time to sink my teeth into some Dickens, who I have neglected since reading Great Expectations about a decade ago. Peace, all.
Thanks, Derek. Your Hammett reference reminds me that I have yet to cover Raymond Chandler, one of my absolute favorites, on these pages. Something for 2025: The Big Sleep...
Have a wonderful holiday and best of luck to your wife in her untangling of the yarn. Some books need to wait years before we hear them say “pick me”. I’m going to go watch the Muppets Christmas Carol now 😊
What a delightful find in my email this morning. I'm something of a Dickens scholar, and Bleak House is his finest book, in my opinion. I'm even writing my own novel based on a character in it. I bathe in those long, observant paragraphs. And the parallels with our time are quite astonishing. I love it when Dickens roars aloud, as he does at the death of the pauper, Jo: "Dead, your Majesty. Dead, my lords and gentlemen. Dead, right reverends and wrong reverends of every order. Dead, men and women, born with heavenly compassion in your hearts. And dying thus around us every day."
Thanks so much, Bronwyn. That your are a Dickens scholar makes me even more pleased that the piece landed. Nabokov has a term for the "roar" technique. I think he calls it "apostrophe," and compares it to Carlyle. But I agree, I love when he does that. And that passage you cite is incredible. In fact, all of the death passages are.
I'm crazy for Nabokov too. I haven't read all his works, but he is absolutely astonishing. ".....tripping down the tongue to tap, on the teeth, at three: Lo-lee-ta." "the oval-backed mirror of O". He was much more a poet than Dickens, and more intellectual, but O! So much fun. (I'm crazy for Joyce, too.) Fun to chat with you, Greg. I always enjoy discussions of literature.
So, curious: which Dickens novel do you like the least?
I am fond of alliteration -- it makes for fun moments while reading. As of this morning, you win the Grand Prized for Alliteration, a nine-word sentence, seven words of which begin with the letter "d" (plus, the sentence is apt):
"Democracy doesn't die in darkness; democracy dies in deposition."
I love Dickens, and have read almost all of his works. I stalled on Nicholas Nickleby, but most of the others. And Bleak House was my favorite. My best paper in grad school was about how it uses fairy tales. And I've thought of Jarndyce a LOT in the past several years.
Didn't stop me from becoming a lawyer, though the obscure corner of law I practiced didn't have much of the ponderous crap so much of law does: it was more investigatory, with my client the "middle man" in a three way relationship (suretyship). It left me with enough ridiculous war stories to last several lifetimes.
I don't know if I knew you were a lawyer, Susan. I thought, or maybe just assumed, that you were a professor. Although I've no doubt you were fantastic at it. I've just googled "suretyship," and that is what Skimpole keeps trying to get people to do for him, and also, I think, is the relationship George has with the Bagnets that gets him in hot water with that asshole Smallweed. It almost inherently creates conflict, or the potential for conflict, seems to me. Fascinating stuff.
One of the beauties of BLEAK HOUSE is, at the beginning, when he describes Jarndyce as interminable and endless, we know it has to end before the book does. And we also know it has to end badly. And even knowing this, when it does finally wrap up, it's at least a little bit of a surprise.
The main literary example of suretyship is when Antonio stands surety to Shylock over the loan to Bassanio. We never had anyone claim a pound of flesh. In modern surety the Bassanios of the world have to sign agreements to indemnify the Antonio-sureties for whatever they pay Shylocks. I’m pretty sure a lot of indemnitors thought of us as taking a pound of flesh, because so many agents failed to explain that this wasn’t insurance for Bassanio.
Most sureties don’t guarantee loans; they guarantee that Bassanio will fulfill the terms of some contract or some statutory requirement for getting a license to do some trade. I did a lot of motor vehicle dealer bonds. THAT’s where the fraud war stories mostly come from, though I have to say that a lot of claims by customers turned out to be kinda fraudulent themselves. Used car dealers get a nastier rep than most deserve.
I was working on my dissertation in English Lit when I decided to switch to law school. And was married to a professor. That’s probably where the vibe comes from.
An English degree is great prep for law school. A steady diet of analyzing TS Eliot or John Donne or The Dream of the Rood makes doing the same for Supreme Court decisions a piece of cake.
And yes, that fog---nowadays, the thing would be typified by Alito talking about almost anything
There is SO MUCH GOOD FODDER in that. Oh my goodness. I'm getting "Glengarry Glen Ross" vibes. That's one of my favorite movies.
So is Portia then the greatest amateur surety lawyer of all time? ; )
I taught creative writing for three semesters. And I taught the Donne poem "Valediction: Forbidding Mourning." Explaining it, I took out a compass and showed them what the last line meant, making the circle, moving the two legs together, and watched as all of them, en masse, understood. That was my best moment as a professor.
LOVE your literary Sunday columns. Thank you again for all of these. This Dickens one is superb as usual. Perspective is a wonderful thing to have in these extremely distressing, troubling and frankly evil days. I appreciate your work so much.
I have also been reading longer books, mostly novels, as I am completely over non-fiction which, for me, generally settles on political history. After finishing Christopher Steele's book, I decided I needed a BREAK from all that. His seemed like a book pointed at the "non-believers," and I have never been one of those. After several years of THIS, I am able to believe any horrendous story about Trump that I hear.
As for Dickens, I have only read "A Christmas Carol." Any literature classes I took decades ago apparently didn't require reading of "the classics" of Dickens' output. I will look into BLEAK HOUSE because it sounds interesting and LONG! Right now, with ALL the books I have to read, I'm rereading, "A Little Life" by Hanya Yanagihara. I first read it about five years ago, and it has stuck with me enough to want to read it again. It's very long and involved, and doesn't reference any modern-day events or people, which I've seen some criticize, but for me, makes it timeless.
A very Merry Christmas to you and the family, Greg, and to LB, wherever she may be! Also, happy holidays to all here, constant readers and fellow Olear fans, who always make the comments a joy to read.
Thanks so much, Steve. Merry Christmas to you, too!
Interesting you took that away from the Steele. It had the opposite effect on me...not that it isn't written for a broader audience, but for me, it was an antidote to the gaslighting.
I have just looked up "A Little Life." I had never heard of it, although, wowsers, what reviews and accolades. I shall have to check it out, loving NYC books as I do. BLEAK HOUSE, incidentally, is also sort of timeless. There is some argument about when it takes place, but the historical events are vague enough not to know for sure, which is an interesting choice. As a novelist, I am fanatical about calendaring, so it's interesting that Dickens apparently didn't do that, or at least didn't worry about it that much.
Commenting on lawyers after taking in all the richness of this piece is like reducing Mike Pence’s legacy to the fly on his head. But when I was reading about the disdain for “the breed,” somehow Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns and Money” came to mind. I associate all three (where we’re talking money in excessive amounts) with the Republican Party. I don’t have much experience with lawyers—except for divorces and estate planning. But lawyers are known by the company they keep—with enablers of mass shooters and oligarchs.
Thanks, Earl. Obviously there are plenty of wonderful lawyers who are wonderful people. Some of my best friends are lawyers. But the scoundrels who are abetting Trump are the lowest scum.
Yes, the Zevon! We did an anti-trump event back in 2017, and I played that song for that. The best line: "Dad, get me out of this!"
Enjoy your time off
Thanks, Cal.
Great essay and a great reminder to read Dickens. You're right, our modern villains are Dickensian both in name and consistency of their vileness. A question though. There were no videos in 1941, and I've never read the term in writing from that time. To what was Nabokov referring? Films?
Thanks, Frank. Yes, I think so. It may also have been a subsequent edit, as he gave lectures for quite some time.
"What I like most about Dickens is that he addresses grim subjects without being a total downer—and thus avoids making us want to stop reading."
And that, kind sir, is one of the reasons why I continue to subscribe to your writings.
Thanks so much, Craig. Much appreciated!
Greg, I so appreciate that you reacquaint us with classic writing and illuminate it's relevance and wisdom. Thank you.
Thanks so much, Judy!
I was delighted to discover the subject of this week’s essay, as I am nearing the end of my first reading of A Tale of Two Cities. I have always enjoyed Dickens, but had never read
Sorry, let me continue. Dickens requires some concentration, which has been sorely lacking in my life for years, and it’s been a pleasure to immerse myself in the words, characters, and plot lines again.
Your descriptions really hit home, and helped clarify the reasons Dickens has been a favorite of mine throughout my 50 adult years. I always seem to agree with your points of view, and very much appreciate your ability to distill and express what my amorphous thoughts have been.
I look forward to every Sunday’s posting. Wishing you and your family the best of holiday seasons and a regenerative rest.
Thanks so much, Andrea. You too.
And you have articulated well something I was trying to express: because it DOES require some concentration, that makes it an antidote to the doomscrolling. That's its virtue, or one of them.
Thanks for suggesting my next read, Greg. I just finished two Dashiel Hammett novels, Red Harvest and The Dain Curse, and I am half-way through an anthology of Sci Fi short stories. Now that I have two weeks off to chill before school begins in the New Year, I feel it is time to sink my teeth into some Dickens, who I have neglected since reading Great Expectations about a decade ago. Peace, all.
Thanks, Derek. Your Hammett reference reminds me that I have yet to cover Raymond Chandler, one of my absolute favorites, on these pages. Something for 2025: The Big Sleep...
Dickens really tugs at your heart strings. Wonderful stuff Greg.
Thanks, Wayne!
Have a wonderful holiday and best of luck to your wife in her untangling of the yarn. Some books need to wait years before we hear them say “pick me”. I’m going to go watch the Muppets Christmas Carol now 😊
Can't go wrong with the Muppets. I'm pleased to report that my wife made good headway with her yarn. Happy holidays, Sally!
Thank you
Thanks, Richard!
What a delightful find in my email this morning. I'm something of a Dickens scholar, and Bleak House is his finest book, in my opinion. I'm even writing my own novel based on a character in it. I bathe in those long, observant paragraphs. And the parallels with our time are quite astonishing. I love it when Dickens roars aloud, as he does at the death of the pauper, Jo: "Dead, your Majesty. Dead, my lords and gentlemen. Dead, right reverends and wrong reverends of every order. Dead, men and women, born with heavenly compassion in your hearts. And dying thus around us every day."
Thanks so much, Greg.
Thanks so much, Bronwyn. That your are a Dickens scholar makes me even more pleased that the piece landed. Nabokov has a term for the "roar" technique. I think he calls it "apostrophe," and compares it to Carlyle. But I agree, I love when he does that. And that passage you cite is incredible. In fact, all of the death passages are.
Which character, or do you not want to tell?
I prefer not to tell!
I'm crazy for Nabokov too. I haven't read all his works, but he is absolutely astonishing. ".....tripping down the tongue to tap, on the teeth, at three: Lo-lee-ta." "the oval-backed mirror of O". He was much more a poet than Dickens, and more intellectual, but O! So much fun. (I'm crazy for Joyce, too.) Fun to chat with you, Greg. I always enjoy discussions of literature.
So, curious: which Dickens novel do you like the least?
I am fond of alliteration -- it makes for fun moments while reading. As of this morning, you win the Grand Prized for Alliteration, a nine-word sentence, seven words of which begin with the letter "d" (plus, the sentence is apt):
"Democracy doesn't die in darkness; democracy dies in deposition."
Thanks for making my day.
Thanks, Gary. Yes, I was pleased when I thought of that and ran back from the coffee pot to write it down before I lost it...
I love Dickens, and have read almost all of his works. I stalled on Nicholas Nickleby, but most of the others. And Bleak House was my favorite. My best paper in grad school was about how it uses fairy tales. And I've thought of Jarndyce a LOT in the past several years.
Didn't stop me from becoming a lawyer, though the obscure corner of law I practiced didn't have much of the ponderous crap so much of law does: it was more investigatory, with my client the "middle man" in a three way relationship (suretyship). It left me with enough ridiculous war stories to last several lifetimes.
I don't know if I knew you were a lawyer, Susan. I thought, or maybe just assumed, that you were a professor. Although I've no doubt you were fantastic at it. I've just googled "suretyship," and that is what Skimpole keeps trying to get people to do for him, and also, I think, is the relationship George has with the Bagnets that gets him in hot water with that asshole Smallweed. It almost inherently creates conflict, or the potential for conflict, seems to me. Fascinating stuff.
One of the beauties of BLEAK HOUSE is, at the beginning, when he describes Jarndyce as interminable and endless, we know it has to end before the book does. And we also know it has to end badly. And even knowing this, when it does finally wrap up, it's at least a little bit of a surprise.
The main literary example of suretyship is when Antonio stands surety to Shylock over the loan to Bassanio. We never had anyone claim a pound of flesh. In modern surety the Bassanios of the world have to sign agreements to indemnify the Antonio-sureties for whatever they pay Shylocks. I’m pretty sure a lot of indemnitors thought of us as taking a pound of flesh, because so many agents failed to explain that this wasn’t insurance for Bassanio.
Most sureties don’t guarantee loans; they guarantee that Bassanio will fulfill the terms of some contract or some statutory requirement for getting a license to do some trade. I did a lot of motor vehicle dealer bonds. THAT’s where the fraud war stories mostly come from, though I have to say that a lot of claims by customers turned out to be kinda fraudulent themselves. Used car dealers get a nastier rep than most deserve.
I was working on my dissertation in English Lit when I decided to switch to law school. And was married to a professor. That’s probably where the vibe comes from.
An English degree is great prep for law school. A steady diet of analyzing TS Eliot or John Donne or The Dream of the Rood makes doing the same for Supreme Court decisions a piece of cake.
And yes, that fog---nowadays, the thing would be typified by Alito talking about almost anything
There is SO MUCH GOOD FODDER in that. Oh my goodness. I'm getting "Glengarry Glen Ross" vibes. That's one of my favorite movies.
So is Portia then the greatest amateur surety lawyer of all time? ; )
I taught creative writing for three semesters. And I taught the Donne poem "Valediction: Forbidding Mourning." Explaining it, I took out a compass and showed them what the last line meant, making the circle, moving the two legs together, and watched as all of them, en masse, understood. That was my best moment as a professor.
I loved loved this article. I have never read Dickens so beautifully explained. Thank for this beautifully written article:
Thanks so much, Truscha. Much appreciated!
LOVE your literary Sunday columns. Thank you again for all of these. This Dickens one is superb as usual. Perspective is a wonderful thing to have in these extremely distressing, troubling and frankly evil days. I appreciate your work so much.
Thanks, Rick. I very much appreciate that. Happy holidays!
I have also been reading longer books, mostly novels, as I am completely over non-fiction which, for me, generally settles on political history. After finishing Christopher Steele's book, I decided I needed a BREAK from all that. His seemed like a book pointed at the "non-believers," and I have never been one of those. After several years of THIS, I am able to believe any horrendous story about Trump that I hear.
As for Dickens, I have only read "A Christmas Carol." Any literature classes I took decades ago apparently didn't require reading of "the classics" of Dickens' output. I will look into BLEAK HOUSE because it sounds interesting and LONG! Right now, with ALL the books I have to read, I'm rereading, "A Little Life" by Hanya Yanagihara. I first read it about five years ago, and it has stuck with me enough to want to read it again. It's very long and involved, and doesn't reference any modern-day events or people, which I've seen some criticize, but for me, makes it timeless.
A very Merry Christmas to you and the family, Greg, and to LB, wherever she may be! Also, happy holidays to all here, constant readers and fellow Olear fans, who always make the comments a joy to read.
Thanks so much, Steve. Merry Christmas to you, too!
Interesting you took that away from the Steele. It had the opposite effect on me...not that it isn't written for a broader audience, but for me, it was an antidote to the gaslighting.
I have just looked up "A Little Life." I had never heard of it, although, wowsers, what reviews and accolades. I shall have to check it out, loving NYC books as I do. BLEAK HOUSE, incidentally, is also sort of timeless. There is some argument about when it takes place, but the historical events are vague enough not to know for sure, which is an interesting choice. As a novelist, I am fanatical about calendaring, so it's interesting that Dickens apparently didn't do that, or at least didn't worry about it that much.
Commenting on lawyers after taking in all the richness of this piece is like reducing Mike Pence’s legacy to the fly on his head. But when I was reading about the disdain for “the breed,” somehow Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns and Money” came to mind. I associate all three (where we’re talking money in excessive amounts) with the Republican Party. I don’t have much experience with lawyers—except for divorces and estate planning. But lawyers are known by the company they keep—with enablers of mass shooters and oligarchs.
Thanks, Earl. Obviously there are plenty of wonderful lawyers who are wonderful people. Some of my best friends are lawyers. But the scoundrels who are abetting Trump are the lowest scum.
Yes, the Zevon! We did an anti-trump event back in 2017, and I played that song for that. The best line: "Dad, get me out of this!"