2014年11月28日金曜日

Dickens in December: The Pickwick Papers readalong, part 2

So this is going to be short and sweet as I am not feeling particularly well.

I knew that Jingle would be back! Yay, I predicted something correctly for once! (It doesn't happen often).

I enjoyed the side anecdotes more this time round (maybe because I was expecting them and was thus mentally prepared for the break in tone from the rest of the book), but I still don't really think they belong in the story, and I kind of wish that Dickens had had a much more aggressive editor.

Ode to an Expiring Frog was amazing.

I couldn't have cared less about any of the election related stuff. My eyes kind of glazed over for most of that chapter.

I liked the old fashioned mic drop at the end of the story that the old man who was obsessed with inns was telling:

As the old man concluded his tale, he advanced to a peg in one corner, and taking down his hat and coat, put them on with great deliberation; and, without saying another word, walked slowly away.


(Although to be honest I'm not sure that the story that he told warranted it, but whatever)

I left it a bit late to start reading this week's chapters, so I'm going to try and start earlier next week. I definitely seem to enjoy the book more when I'm reading at a more leisurely pace without worrying that I'm getting behind.

I will have a more substantial post next week, I promise!

6 件のコメント:

  1. I agree with you on the last part (not that I don't also agree with the rest!) I started reading this quite early this week and I enjoyed it a lot more when I wasn't concentrating on getting through it in order to hit deadlines.

    A more aggressive editor? Agreed. I don't think I've ever felt that one of the shoved-in stories actually added anything to the whole.

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    1. Yup! Although having said that I was going to start early I haven't started on this weeks chapters yet, hahaha. Oh well.

      Yay for editors! That's one thing that I find about Japanese fiction (that I read in Japanese, stuff that is released in English sometimes has bits cut out of it apparently) is that stuff doesn't tend to be edited quite as much as with books written in English, so sometimes I'll get annoyed at stuff that I'm reading because it is so long-winded that it's getting really boring, hehe.

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  2. Hope you feel better soon!

    I find that I can't multitask music or tv with Dickens because all the side anecdotes are distracting enough from focusing on stringing together any sort of plot!

    The election part was infuriating - I'm with you on that! I may have fallen asleep while reading...

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    1. Thank you! I feel much better now :D

      I can only listen to music while reading this if the music itself is really unobtrusive and has no lyrics, otherwise I find myself unable to concentrate.

      And yes. Stupid election part! I'm glad it wasn't just because I was reading it in a bit of a bad mood (which I was), hehe.

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  3. The Ode to an expiring Frog section is possibly the single greatest page of a book I have read this year. I cried laughing, it was beautiful. :)

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