Awhile back I made a resolution to read everything Charles Dickens ever wrote.
Recently a literary agent said to me, “The Sopranos is the new Dickens.”
Charles Dickens used to write for magazines in installments. He had a loyal near-cult following, readers who would wait for the next chapter in the next edition of the magazine, like many people today wait for the next episode of their beloved television show.
Reading old newspapers on microfilm
When I was a graduate student, I spent a lot of time reading old newspapers on microfilm in the basement of the library.
In 19th century papers in America I came across small ads or whole articles about when the next installment of Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens would be arriving by ship from England. Readers were so keen on the story that when the next chapter finally came they would swarm the shipyard docks to get their copies.
My mother, Lynn Margulis, is teaching at Balliol College at Oxford University and living in the Eastman House, right near the center of town.
There are many lovely things about her set-up this year but the best—to me—was that the house has the complete works of Charles Dickens in these gorgeous 19th century volumes.
Charles Dickens, a writer for children and adults
I started reading A Christmas Carol to the kids and we actually had to cut some of the pages as the book was uncut.
We didn’t finish it but the story hooked them. I just checked out a much less romantic copy of the book from the library.
In Oxford I finished Great Expectations (which we’re reading for my book club) and started Bleak House.
But I left the gorgeous 19th century edition behind in the Eastman House. Now I’m waiting for the local library to get a copy in.
In the meantime I keep thinking about Great Expectations. I’m haunted by Pip’s early experiences. How he helped a rogue convict. And the abuse he suffered at the hands of his sister.
Like so much of his other novels, Charles Dickens fills this book with heart and suffering and kindness and wisdom.
He is such a master at his craft. Dickens weaves his stories together so seamlessly that it’s hard to believe so many of them were written in installments.
Another of my favorite authors, Raymond Chandler, only wrote a handful of novels in his lifetime. The nice thing about reading Charles Dickens is, unlike Raymond Chandler, there’s still so much to look forward to.
Published: April 6, 2009
Updated: January 25, 2024
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